Meditation here may think down hours to moments. Here the heart may give a useful lesson to the head and learning wiser grow without his books.
Interpretation
Meditation allows for deep reflection, transforming long periods into impactful moments, teaching us valuable lessons beyond traditional learning.
In this quote, William Cowper emphasizes the power of meditation in compressing time and enhancing our understanding. He suggests that through meditative practice, we can derive wisdom and insights that transcend the limitations of formal education, enabling us to learn profoundly from our inner experiences and emotions.
In practice
During a mindfulness retreat, the instructor quoted Cowper to encourage participants to reflect on their experiences.
Knowledge, a rude unprofitable mass, the mere materials with which wisdom builds, till smoothed and squared and fitted to its place, does but encumber whom it seems to enrich. Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much; wisdom is humble that he knows no more.
This cabin, Mary, in my sight appears,_x000D_ _x000D_ Built as it has been in our waning years,_x000D_ _x000D_ A rest afforded to our weary feet,_x000D_ _x000D_ Preliminary to - the last retreat.
Strength may wield the ponderous spade, May turn the clod, and wheel the compost home; But elegance, chief grace the garden shows, And most attractive, is the fair result Of thought, the creature of a polished mind.
No wisdom that she may gain by experience and reflection hereafter, will compensate the loss of her present hilarity.
Even in the stifling bosom of the town,_x000D_ _x000D_ A garden, in which nothing thrives, has charms_x000D_ _x000D_ That soothes the rich possessor; much consol'd,_x000D_ _x000D_ That here and there some sprigs of mournful mint,_x000D_ _x000D_ Or nightshade, or valerian, grace the well_x000D_ _x000D_ He cultivates.
Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast, Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa around, And while the bubbling and loud-hissing urn Throws up a steamy column, and the cups That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each, So let us welcome peaceful evening in
For even the very wise cannot see all ends.
My behavior is a product of my own conscious choices based on principles, rather than a product of my conditions, based on feelings.
One-half of the ills of life come because men are unwilling to sit down quietly for thirty minutes to think through all the possible consequences of their acts.
I find, the older I get, the more surprised I am about how hesitant people are to say what they really want, what they really dream about, what really drives them. It's as if sometimes we're sort of embarrassed, as we get older, to be transparent about that. But you save so much time if you're transparent about what you want.
The big print giveth and the small print taketh away.
Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.
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