Nothing is more durable than the dynasty of Doubt; for he reigns in the hearts of all his people, but gives satisfaction to none of them, and yet he is the only despot who can never die, while any of his subjects live.
Charles Caleb ColtonRead
There are three difficulties in authorship: to write anything worth publishing, to find honest men to publish it, and to find sensible men to read it.
Interpretation
Writing and publishing require integrity and discernment from all involved.
This quote by Charles Caleb Colton highlights the multifaceted challenges of authorship, emphasizing that it is not only difficult to create a valuable piece of work, but also challenging to locate trustworthy publishers and perceptive readers. It suggests that the entire literary process hinges on the quality of involved parties—writers, publishers, and readers alike—all needing to exhibit honesty and sensibility for the work to truly resonate and matter.
In practice
During a writing workshop, I cited this quote to discuss the challenges new authors face.
Nothing is more durable than the dynasty of Doubt; for he reigns in the hearts of all his people, but gives satisfaction to none of them, and yet he is the only despot who can never die, while any of his subjects live.
It is astonishing how much more people are interested in lengthening life than improving it.
The benevolent have the advantage of the envious, even in this present life; for the envious man is tormented not only by all the ill that befalls himself, but by all the good that happens to another; whereas the benevolent man is the better prepared to bear his own calamities unruffled, from the complacency and serenity he has secured from contemplating the prosperity of all around him.
Happiness, that grand mistress of the ceremonies in the dance of life, impels us through all its mazes and meanderings, but leads none of us by the same route.
Our minds are as different as our faces. We are all traveling to one destination: happiness, but few are going by the same road.
Moderation is the inseparable companion of wisdom, but with it genius has not even a nodding acquaintance.
The Yoga of the Dream State has always held to be one of the fastest, most efficient ways of reaching a plateau experience of subtle and causal realms, thus quickly opening the door to stable adaptation at - and transcendence of - those realms.
It is hard to remember that you are a cherished spiritual being when you're burping up apple fritters and Cheetos.
Remember that if the opportunities for great deeds should never come, the opportunities for good deeds are renewed day by day. The thing for us to long for is the goodness, not the glory.
It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.
Keep the Feast of the Resurrection. Be a Peter or a John; hasten to the Sepulchre, running together, running against one another, vying in the noble race (cf. Jn. 20:3-4). And even if you be beaten in speed, win the victory of zeal; not looking into the tomb, but going in.
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.
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