Genuine good taste consists in saying much in few words, in choosing among our thoughts, in having order and arrangement in what we say, and in speaking with composure.
Francois FenelonRead
As long as anything in this world means anything to you, your freedom is only a word. You are like a bird that is held by a leash; you can only fly so far.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Attachments can limit our freedom and potential.
This quote by Francois Fenelon suggests that true freedom is compromised by emotional attachments and dependencies. It implies that as long as we are tied to worldly desires or obligations, our ability to truly be free is restricted, akin to a bird whose movement is limited by a leash.
Themes
FreedomAttachmentLifeDesiresLimitations
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about personal growth and letting go of limiting beliefs.
More from Francois Fenelon
All quotes βTrue prayer is only another name for the love of God. Its excellence does not consist in the multitude of our words; for our Father knoweth what things we have need of before we ask Him. The true prayer is that of the heart, and the heart prays only for what it desires. To pray, then is to desire -- but to desire what God would have us desire. He who asks what he does not from the bottom of his heart desire, is mistaken in thinking that he prays.
Francois FenelonRead
The greatest of all crosses is self. If we die in part every day, we shall have but little to do on the last. These little daily deaths will destroy the power of the final dying.
Francois FenelonRead
How rare it is to find a soul quiet enough to hear God speak.
Francois FenelonRead
If we were faultless we should not be so much annoyed by the defects of those with whom we associate.
Francois FenelonRead
If the crowns of all the kingdoms of the empire were laid down at my feet in exchange for my books and my love of reading I would spurn them all.
Francois FenelonRead
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People intoxicate themselves with work so they won't see how they really are.
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Experience is, for me, the highest authority.
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On no account brood over your wrongdoing. Rolling in the muck is not the best way of getting clean.
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To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable.
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Meditation is simply about being yourself and knowing something about who that is. It is about coming to realize that you are on a path whether you like it or not, namely, the path that is your life. Meditation may help us see that this path we call our life has direction; that it is always unfolding, moment by moment; and that what happens now, in this moment, influences what happens next.
Jon Kabat-ZinnRead