The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.
Thomas CarlyleRead
The greatest fault is to be conscious of none.
Interpretation
The biggest mistake is to be unaware of our own flaws.
This quote emphasizes the importance of self-awareness and recognizing our imperfections. Being conscious of our faults allows for personal growth and improvement, while ignorance of them can lead to stagnation and failure in life.
In practice
In a speech about personal development at a workshop.
The work an unknown good man has done is like a vein of water flowing hidden underground, secretly making the ground green.
Thirty millions, mostly fools.
There is a great discovery still to be made in literature, that of paying literary men by the quantity they do not write.
For the superior morality, of which we hear so much, we too would desire to be thankful: at the same time, it were but blindness to deny that this superior morality is properly rather an inferior criminality, produced not by greater love of Virtue, but by greater perfection of Police; and of that far subtler and stronger Police, called Public Opinion.
Enjoying things which are pleasant; that is not the evil; it is the reducing of our moral self to slavery by them that is.
Clean undeniable right, clear undeniable might: either of these once ascertained puts an end to battle. All battle is a confused experiment to ascertain one and both of these.
She sat in her room on the couch my parents had given up on and worked on hardening herself. Take deep breaths and hold them. Try to stay still for longer and longer periods of time. Make yourself small and like a stone. Curl the edges of yourself up and fold them under where no one can see. ~pg 29, Susie's sister Lindsey dealing with grief.
In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.
Vision is knowing who you are, where you're going, and what will guide your journey.
Writing improves in direct ratio to the things we can keep out of it that shouldn't be there.
Patience is...clearly not fatalistic, shoulder-shrugging resignation. It is the acceptance of a divine rhythm to life; it is obedience prolonged. Patience stoutly resists pulling up the daisies to see how the roots are doing.
Remember: no attachment should grow, no clinging should grow. They are all against your independence, your freedom, your individuality.
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