Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth.
Fyodor DostoevskyRead
Grown-up people do not know that a child can give exceedingly good advice even in the most difficult case.
Interpretation
Children can often provide surprisingly insightful advice, even to adults facing complex challenges.
This quote emphasizes the value of perspective, suggesting that wisdom is not solely confined to age or experience. It highlights the idea that children, with their fresh and uninhibited viewpoints, can offer meaningful insights that may elude adults, reminding us to remain open to learning from others, regardless of their age or status.
In practice
In a discussion about problem-solving during a team meeting.
Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth.
What if, when this fog scatters and flies upward, the whole rotten, slimey city goes with it, rises with the fog and vanishes like smoke.
Love the animals: God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled.
Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love.
But do you understand, I cry to him, do you understand that if you have the guillotine in the forefront, and with such glee, it's for the sole reason that cutting heads off is the easiest thing, and having an idea is difficult!
...to return to their 'native soil,' as they say, to the bosom, so to speak, of their mother earth, like frightened children, yearning to fall asleep on the withered bosom of their decrepit mother, and to sleep there for ever, only to escape the horrors that terrify them.
The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice, there is little we can do to change; until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds.
I will not just live my life. I will not just spend my life. I will invest my life.
Being brilliant is no great feat if you respect nothing.
My thing is this; if I'm sick enough to think it, then I'm sick enough to say it.
The people who say: 'You are what you eat' have always seemed addled to me. In my opinion, you are what you think, and if you don't think, you can eat all the meat in Kansas City and still be nothing but a vegetable.
If we are strong, our strength will speak for itself. If we are weak, words will be of no help.
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