You can never know everything, and part of what you know is always wrong. A portion of wisdom lies in knowing that. A portion of courage lies in going on anyway.
Interpretation
Recognizing the limits of knowledge is a key aspect of wisdom and courage.
This quote emphasizes that complete knowledge is unattainable and that misconceptions are inevitable. True wisdom involves the acknowledgment of our ignorance, while courage is defined by the ability to continue pursuing our goals despite the uncertainties and possible errors in our understanding.
In practice
In a discussion about personal growth and lifelong learning.
Fantasy is an area where it is possible to talk about right and wrong, good and evil, with a straight face. In mainstream fiction and even in a good deal of mystery, these things are presented as simply two sides of the same coin. Never really more than a matter of where you happen to be standing.
The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.
Til shade is gone, til water is gone Into the shadow with teeth bared Screaming defiance with the last breath To spit in Sightblinder’s eye on the Last Day.
He came like the wind, like the wind touched everything, and like the wind was gone. -from The Dragon Reborn. By Loial, son of Arent son of Halan, the Fourth Age.
The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived.
Duty is heavier than a mountain, Dai Shan.' That time, Lan did flinch. How long had it been since someone had been able to do that to him with mere words? He remembered teaching that same concept to a youth out of the Two Rivers. A sheepherder, innocent of the world, fearful of the fate laid out before him by the Pattern.
It hurt, of course, but more often than not the best things do, I've found.
When we are motivated by compassion and wisdom, the results of our actions benefit everyone, not just our individual selves.
The Indian knew how to live without wants, to suffer without complaint, and to die singing.
Your Remedy is within you, but you do not sense it._x000D_ _x000D_ Your Sickness is from you, but you do not perceive it._x000D_ _x000D_ You Presume you are a small entity,_x000D_ _x000D_ But within you is enfolded the entire universe._x000D_ _x000D_ You are indeed the evident book,_x000D_ _x000D_ By whose alphabet the hidden becomes the manifest._x000D_ _x000D_ Therefore, you have no need to look beyond yourself,_x000D_ _x000D_ What you seek is within you, if only you reflect.
There is no fire like greed, No crime like hatred, No sorrow like separation, No sickness like hunger of heart, And no joy like the joy of freedom. Health, contentment and trust Are your greatest possessions, And freedom your greatest joy. Look within. Be still. Free from fear and attachment, Know the sweet joy of living in the way.
The key to growth is the introduction of higher dimensions of consciousness into our awareness.
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