Never promise more than you can perform.
Publilius SyrusRead
He who lives only for himself is truly dead to others.
Interpretation
Living solely for oneself disconnects a person from others and lacks true vitality.
This quote suggests that a person focused entirely on their own desires and needs becomes insulated from the connections and relationships that give life meaning. By neglecting the impact of their actions on others, they lose the essence of what it means to be alive and engaged in the human experience.
In practice
In a discussion about selflessness and community service, this quote could highlight the importance of connections.
Never promise more than you can perform.
Pain forces even the innocent to lie.
In a heated argument we are apt to lose sight of the truth.
Admonish your friends privately, but praise them openly.
What a tragedy is help where it harms what it supports!
The miser is as much in want of what he has as of what he has not.
I have seen (as far as it can be seen) many persons changed in a moment from the spirit of horror, fear, and despair to the spirit of hope, joy, peace; and from sinful desires, till then reigning over them, to a pure desire of doing the will of God.
Show me who makes a profit from war, and I'll show you how to stop the war.
The truth is that everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits.
I have not slept. Between the acting of a dreadful thing And the first motion, all the interim is Like a phantasma, or a hideous dream: The Genius and the mortal instruments Are then in council; and the state of man, Like to a little kingdom, suffers then The nature of an insurrection.
People see in stories what theyβre looking for, my young friend.
The chief purpose of life, for any of us, is to increase according to our capacity our knowledge of God by all means we have, and to be moved by it to praise and thanks.
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