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.
Human knowledge has been changing from the word go and people in certain respects behave more rationally than they did when they didn't have it. They spend less time doing rain dances and more time seeding clouds.
All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If people speak or act with evil thoughts, pain follows them. If people speak or act with pure thoughts, happiness follows them, like a shadow that never leaves them.
She says it has nothing to do with what you look like, or what you have. It has only to do with what you think of and what you do.
Pitching always beats batting β and vice-versa.
It's almost like the better I do, the more my feeling of inadequacy actually increases, because I'm just going, 'Any moment, someone's going to find out I'm a total fraud, and that I don't deserve any of what I've achieved. I can't possibly live up to what everyone thinks I am and what everyone's expectations of me are.'
The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.
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