Discipline is the highest of all virtues. Only so may strength and desire be counterbalanced and the endeavors of man bear fruit.
Nikos KazantzakisRead
Take your focus off how others see you. Cease being obsessed with the need to impress your friends and your foes. Keep your concern on the vision you see in the mirror. Don’t allow the approval of others to obstruct your view of you.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Focus on your own self-perception rather than the opinions of others.
This quote emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and the need to prioritize our own vision and understanding of ourselves over the judgments and expectations of others. It encourages individuals to cultivate a strong sense of self that is not reliant on external approval or validation, reminding us that our self-image should be built on our own values and beliefs, rather than the fleeting opinions of those around us.
Themes
Self-ImageSelf-AwarenessApprovalJudgmentVisionFocus
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about self-acceptance, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of individual values.
Similar quotes
Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone forever.
Samuel SmilesRead
I didn't set out to discover a truth. I was actually sent to the Outer Fringes to conduct a chair census and learn some humility. But the truth inevitably found me, as important truths often do, like a lost thought in need of a mind.
Jasper FfordeRead
The more ignorant, reckless and thoughtless a doctor is, the higher his reputation soars even amongst powerful princes.
Desiderius ErasmusRead
Pity is like a knife, sometimes, and it may pierce one who employs it more shrewdly than the victim it would save.
Edwin Arlington RobinsonRead
There [is] no innocence more dangerous than the innocence of age.
Gabriel Garcia MarquezRead