Where wisdom is called for, force is of little use.
Interpretation
Wisdom is more effective than physical force in resolving issues.
This quote by Herodotus emphasizes the importance of wisdom over brute strength in making decisions and solving problems. It suggests that in situations requiring careful thought and understanding, using force is not only ineffective but may also lead to undesirable outcomes, highlighting the value of knowledge and reason in human interactions.
In practice
During a debate on policy, this quote can be used to advocate for thoughtful discussion over aggressive tactics.
The Scythians take kannabis seed, creep in under the felts, and throw it on the red-hot stones. It smolders and sends up such billows of steam-smoke that no Greek vapor bath can surpass it. The Scythians howl with joy in these vapor-baths, which serve them instead of bathing, for they never wash their bodies with water.
The man who has planned badly, if fortune is on his side, may have had a stroke of luck; but his plan was a bad one nonetheless.
Men trust their ears less than their eyes.
Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks.
The worst pain a man can have is to know much and be impotent to act.
All men's gains are the fruit of venturing.
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.
If you're on a freeway and want to know if you're being followed, what you do is enormously vary your speed. You accelerate to 100 and slow down to 30 and then accelerate again. In a city, you make a lot of turns against the stream of traffic. You go around a roundabout twice.
The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems.
Truth is something which you must see immediately β and to see something clearly you must give your heart and your mind and your whole being to it immediately.
No hour is ever eternity, but it has its right to weep.
It has been well said that no man ever sank under the burden of the day. It is, when tomorrow's burden is added to the burden of today, that the weight is more than a man can bear. Never load yourselves so, my friends. If you find yourselves so loaded, at least remember this: it is your own doing, not God's. He begs you to leave the future to Him, and mind the present.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.