Never promise more than you can perform.
Publilius SyrusRead
Many receive advice, few profit by it.
Interpretation
While many may hear and seek advice, only a few actually benefit from it.
This quote emphasizes the idea that simply receiving advice does not guarantee that one will use it effectively or gain any advantage from it. It suggests that wisdom involves not only acquiring knowledge from others but also being able to apply that knowledge in practical and beneficial ways.
In practice
During a workshop on personal development, this quote can be used to encourage participants to actively apply the insights they gain.
Never promise more than you can perform.
Pain forces even the innocent to lie.
In a heated argument we are apt to lose sight of the truth.
Admonish your friends privately, but praise them openly.
What a tragedy is help where it harms what it supports!
The miser is as much in want of what he has as of what he has not.
Baldwin often times stumbles over the truth, but he always picks himself up and hurries on as if nothing had happened.
If you do not know how to ask the right question, you discover nothing.
The beauty and mystery of this world only emerges through affection, attention, interest and compassion . . . open your eyes wide and actually see this world by attending to its colors, details and irony.
Being brilliant is no great feat if you respect nothing.
Things you like to do should be a hobby of yours, but things the world does should be a business of yours.
Get to the end of yourself where you can do nothing, but where He does everything.
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