Ideas don't desert you; ideas aren't treasonous to you, but people can be.
Interpretation
Ideas are loyal and consistent, while people may betray you.
This quote highlights the reliability of ideas over the unpredictability of human relationships. It suggests that while your thoughts and creative inspirations remain steadfast, the betrayal or inconsistency of people can lead to disillusionment, urging us to value our ideas and be cautious about placing too much trust in others.
In practice
In a motivational speech about creativity, emphasizing the permanence of ideas.
Ed Koch will never "rest in peace." That was not his way. He was always nervously squirming, while making others squirm as well. Comfort was not his goal. He understood that to be a proud and assertive Jew meant never being able to leave a sigh of relief and say "it's over, we are at peace, we can now put down our guard and relax."
It's never acceptable to target civilians. It violates the Geneva Accords, it violates the international law of war and it violates all principles of morality.
When I was growing up, my mother would always say, 'It will go on your permanent record.' There was no 'permanent record.' If there were a 'permanent record,' I'd never be able to be a lawyer. I was such a bum, in elementary school and high school... There is a permanent record today and it's called the Internet.
A good lawyer knows how to shut up when he's won his case.
Scientists search for truth. Philosophers search for morality. A criminal trial searches for only one result: proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
Let no one ever shy away from the claim that Jews have power, that Jews have influence. We have learned the terrible lesson of history; that unless we have influence and power, disproportionate to our small numbers - immoral results will occur. We need power. And we must continue to use our power. Power which we earned, power which no one gave us on a silver platter, power which we worked hard for - use that power in the interests of justice.
Remember, until you become a buddha you have wasted your life. Buddhahood is your flowering, your fragrance. A tree is fulfilled when it blooms, and a man is fulfilled when he releases the fragrance of buddhahood, when he becomes luminous; then he comes to know who he is. In knowing that, all is known. In knowing that, God is known. In knowing that, truth is achieved - you become the truth, and truth liberates. Truth is freedom.
I believe in order that I may understand.
There is something terribly morbid in the modern sympathy with pain. One should sympathise with the colour, the beauty, the joy of life. The less said about life's sores the better.
Truth derives its strength not so much from itself as from the brilliant contrast it makes with what is only apparently true. This applies especially to Chess, where it is often found that the profoundest moves do not much startle the imagination.
I never think of myself as wise. I think of myself as possessing a critical intelligence which I intend to allow to operate.
The greater part of human pain is unnecessary. It is self-created as long as the unobserved mind runs your life.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.