Life never presents us with anything which may not be looked upon as a fresh starting point, no less than as a termination.
Andre GideRead
When intelligent people pride themselves on not understanding, it is quite natural they should succeed better than fools.
Interpretation
Intelligent individuals may choose to ignore certain complexities, leading to greater success than those who misunderstand them.
This quote by Andre Gide suggests that those who possess intelligence might benefit from a deliberate choice to avoid overthinking or misunderstanding situations. In contrast, individuals who lack understanding or insight may struggle to navigate challenges effectively. Hence, the ability to overlook complexities can be a form of strength, suggesting that wisdom often involves knowing what not to engage with.
In practice
During a team meeting, I referenced this quote to encourage strategic thinking.
Life never presents us with anything which may not be looked upon as a fresh starting point, no less than as a termination.
Do not do what someone else could do as well as you. Do not say, do not write what someone else could say, could write as well as you. Care for nothing in yourself but what you feel exists nowhere else. And, out of yourself create, impatiently or patiently, the most irreplaceable of beings.
Old hands soil, it seems, whatever they caress, but they too have their beauty when they are joined in prayer. Young hands were made for caresses and the sheathing of love. It is a pity to make them join too soon.
Through fear of resembling one another, through horror of having to submit, through uncertainty as well, through skepticism and complexity, there is a multitude of individual little beliefs for the triumph of strange little individuals.
It is the special quality of love not to be able to remain stationary, to be obliged to increase under pain of diminishing.
It is with noble sentiments that bad literature gets written.
The compensations of calamity are made apparent to the understanding also, after long intervals of time.
God rarely allows a person to see how great a blessing he is to others.
may my heart always be open to little birds who are the secrets of living whatever they sing is better than to know and if men should not hear them men are old may my mind stroll about hungry and fearless and thirsty and supple and even if it's sunday may i be wrong for whenever men are right they are not young and may myself do nothing usefully and love yourself so more than truly there's never been quite such a fool who could fail pulling all the sky over him with one smile
Authentic empowerment is the knowing that you are on purpose, doing God's work, peacefully and harmoniously.
Evils in the journey of life are like the hills which alarm travelers upon their road; they both appear great at a distance, but when we approach them we find that they are far less insurmountable than we had conceived.
Genius is another word for magic, and the whole point of magic is that it is inexplicable.
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