If a man insisted always on being serious, and never allowed himself a bit of fun and relaxation, he would go mad or become unstable without knowing it.
Interpretation
Life requires a balance of seriousness and enjoyment for mental stability.
This quote by Herodotus emphasizes the importance of integrating fun and relaxation into our daily lives. It suggests that being overly serious can lead to madness or instability, highlighting the necessity of maintaining a healthy balance between work and play for overall well-being.
In practice
During a team meeting, to encourage a lighter atmosphere, you might say, 'Remember, serious work also needs some fun; otherwise, we may lose our minds.'
The Scythians take kannabis seed, creep in under the felts, and throw it on the red-hot stones. It smolders and sends up such billows of steam-smoke that no Greek vapor bath can surpass it. The Scythians howl with joy in these vapor-baths, which serve them instead of bathing, for they never wash their bodies with water.
The man who has planned badly, if fortune is on his side, may have had a stroke of luck; but his plan was a bad one nonetheless.
Men trust their ears less than their eyes.
Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks.
The worst pain a man can have is to know much and be impotent to act.
All men's gains are the fruit of venturing.
There is no persuasiveness more effectual than the transparency of a single heart, of a sincere life.
Indeed, I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman.
What though care killed a cat, thou hast mettle enough in thee to kill care.
When the spirit shines, even foggy skies make pleasant light.
Does he council you better who bids you, Money, by right means, if you can: but by any means, make money ?
I find as long as I acknowledge the truth of something, then that's it. I know what it is and then I can operate. But if I overestimate the downside of something or the challenge of something and I get too obsessed about the difficulty of it, then I don't leave enough room to be open to the upside, the possibility.
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