Prejudices are what fools use for reason.
VoltaireRead
Life is thickly sown with thorns. I know no other remedy than to pass rapidly over them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes the greater is their power to harm us.
Interpretation
Life is full of challenges, and dwelling on them only increases their impact.
Voltaire's quote reflects a philosophical view on the nature of life and suffering. He suggests that life is inherently filled with difficulties, represented by 'thorns,' but emphasizes the importance of moving past these challenges quickly. By doing so, we diminish their ability to cause harm and suffering in our lives. It points to the idea that fixation on misfortunes can amplify their negative effects, urging individuals to adopt a forward-thinking approach to life's adversities.
In practice
During a motivational speech on overcoming adversity, this quote can inspire resilience.
Prejudices are what fools use for reason.
He was a great patriot, a humanitarian, a loyal friend; provided, of course, he really is dead.
It is dangerous to be right in matters where established men are wrong.
It is not sufficient to see and to know the beauty of a work. We must feel and be affected by it.
We are all full of weakness and errors; let us mutually pardon each other our follies - it is the first law of nature.
It is better to risk saving a guilty man than to condemn an innocent one.
Be still. it takes no effort to be still; it is utterly simple. When your mind is still, you have no name, you have no past, you have no relationships, you have no country, you have no spiritual attainment, you have no lack of spiritual attainment. There is just the presence of beingness with itself.
Charity feeds the poor, so does pride; charity builds an hospital, so does pride. In this they differ: charity gives her glory to God; pride takes her glory from man.
Our revenge will be the laughter of our children.
My golf is so delicate, so tenuously wired together with silent inward prayers, exhortations and unstable visualizations, that the sheer pressure of an additional pair of eyes crumbles the whole rickety structure into rubble.
We control the world basically because we are the only animals that can cooperate flexibly in very large numbers. And if you examine any large-scale human cooperation, you will always find that it is based on some fiction like the nation, like money, like human rights.
There is only one basic human right: the right to do as you please, without causing others harm. With it comes our only basic human duty: the duty to accept the consequences of our actions.
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