Think not, is my eleventh commandment; and sleep when you can, is my twelfth.
Interpretation
The quote suggests prioritizing rest and reflection over excessive overthinking.
Herman Melville's quote conveys the importance of rest and the value of not overthinking things. By stating 'Think not,' Melville implies that too much contemplation can lead to unnecessary stress, while 'sleep when you can' highlights the rejuvenating power of rest. Together, these commands encourage a balanced approach to life where one can recharge and find clarity without being overwhelmed by thoughts.
In practice
In a motivational speech about work-life balance, one could quote Melville to emphasize the importance of taking breaks.
A good laugh is a mighty good thing, and rather too scarce a good thing; the more's the pity. So, if any one man, in his own proper person, afford stuff for a good joke to anybody, let him not be backward, but let him cheerfully allow himself to spend and be spent in that way. And the man that has anything bountifully laughable about him, be sure there is more in that man than you perhaps think for.
The Marquesan girls dance all over; not only do their feet dance, but their arms, hands, fingers, ay, their very eyes seem to dance in their heads.
Dream tonight of peacock tails, Diamond fields and spouter whales. Ills are many, blessing few, But dreams tonight will shelter you.
Why did the old Persians hold the sea holy? Why did the Greeks give it a separate deity, and own brother Jove? Surely all this is not without meaning. And still deeper the meaning of that story of Narcissus, who because he could not grasp the tormenting mild image he saw in the fountain, plunged into it and was drowned. But that same image, we ourselves see in all rivers and oceans. It is the image of the ungraspable phantom of life; and this is the key to it all.
If some books are deemed most baneful and their sale forbid, how then with deadlier facts, not dreams of doting men? Those whom books will hurt will not be proof against events. Events, not books should be forbid.
You cannot spill a drop of American blood without spilling the blood of the whole world.... We are not a nation, so much as a world.
I'm probably my biggest critic. I worry that if you spend any quality time reveling in good things then karma will slap you upside the head, so I try to stay as even keel as I'm able.
Ask yourself not if this or that is expedient, but if it is right.
This is what I am learning, at 82 years old: the main thing is to be in love with the search for truth.
In the practice of sitting meditation you relate to your daily life all the time. Meditation practice brings our neuroses to the surface rather than hiding them at the bottom of our minds. It enables us to relate to our lives as something workable.
Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.
Rhetoric is not important. Actions are.
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