Regard as your most faithful friends, not those who praise everything you say or do, but those who criticize your mistakes.
IsocratesRead
Of all our possessions, wisdom alone is immortal.
Interpretation
Wisdom is the only possession that lasts beyond our earthly life.
This quote by Isocrates emphasizes the enduring value of wisdom over material possessions. While material things may fade or be lost, the insights and understanding we gain throughout our lives remain with us and contribute to our legacy.
In practice
During a graduation speech, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of wisdom gained through education.
Regard as your most faithful friends, not those who praise everything you say or do, but those who criticize your mistakes.
But I marvel when I observe these men setting themselves up as instructors of youth who cannot see that they are applying the analogy of an art with hard and fast rules to a creative process
Spend your leisure time in cultivating an ear attentive to discourse, for in this way you will find that you learn with ease what others have found out with difficulty.
And let no one suppose that I claim that just living can be taught for, in a word, I hold that there does not exist an art of the kind which can implant sobriety and justice into depraved natures. Nevertheless, I do think that the study of political discourse can help more than any other thing to stimulate and form such qualities of character
It is more important to know where you are going than to get there quickly. Do not mistake activity for achievement. Remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs, therefore avoid undue elation in prosperity or undue depression in adversity.
Abhor flatterers as you would deceivers; for both, if trusted, injure those who trust them. If you admit as friends men who seek your favor for the lowest ends, your life will be lacking in friends who will risk your displeasure for the highest good.
For most of us, for almost all of us, truth can be attained, if at all, only in silence. It is in silence that the human spirit touches the divine.
Living out here, I have found that many creatures would prefer not to fight. But if your first instinct is to reach for your sword, you will never discover that.
Vision without execution is delusion.
An honest tale speeds best being plainly told.
Engage people with what they expect; it is what they are able to discern and confirms their projections. It settles them into predictable patterns of response, occupying their minds while you wait for the extraordinary moment - that which they cannot anticipate.
Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.
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