Pithy sentences are like sharp nails which force truth upon our memory.
Interpretation
Pithy sentences effectively convey profound truths and help us remember important insights.
Denis Diderot's quote suggests that concise and impactful statements, much like sharp nails, drive significant truths into our minds. Such sentences have the power to capture complex ideas in a way that makes them memorable and relatable, thus serving as reminders of the wisdom they encapsulate.
In practice
In a motivational speech to inspire action, one could quote Diderot to emphasize the impact of concise messages.
The arbitrary rule of a just and enlightened prince is always bad. His virtues are the most dangerous and the surest form of seduction: they lull a people imperceptibly into the habit of loving, respecting, and serving his successor, whoever that successor may be, no matter how wicked or stupid.
This root [the potato], no matter how much you prepare it, is tasteless and floury. It cannot pass for an agreeable food, but it supplies a food sufficiently abundant and sufficiently healthy for men who ask only to sustain themselves. The potato is criticized with reason for being windy, but what matters windiness for the vigorous organisms of peasants and laborers?
Do you see this egg? With this you can topple every theological theory, every church or temple in the world.
There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge... observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination.
In order to get as much fame as one's father one has to much more able than he.
All abstract sciences are nothing but the study of relations between signs.
There are no variations except for those who know a norm, and no subtleties for those who have not grasped the obvious.
You have to know who you are to grow to your potential. But you have to grow in order to know who you are.
So, my unsolicited advice to women in the workplace is this. When faced with sexism, or ageism, or lookism, or even really aggressive Buddhism, ask yourself the following question: βIs this person in between me and what I want to do?β If the answer is no, ignore it and move on. Your energy is better used doing your work and outpacing people that way. Then, when youβre in charge, donβt hire the people who were jerky to you.
We cannot ignore our pain and feel compassion for it at the same time.
It is in the character of growth that we should learn from both pleasant and unpleasant experiences.
I am learning to understand rather than immediately judge or to be judged. I cannot blindly follow the crowd and accept their approach. I will not allow myself to indulge in the usual manipulating game of role creation. Fortunately for me, my self-knowled
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