Never promise more than you can perform.
Publilius SyrusRead
He has existed only, not lived, who lacks wisdom in old age.
Interpretation
True living in old age requires wisdom and the ability to reflect on life.
This quote suggests that merely existing is not enough for a fulfilling life, especially in old age. It emphasizes the importance of gaining wisdom through experiences and reflections over time, highlighting that a truly lived life is characterized by understanding and insight rather than just survival.
In practice
In a graduation speech, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of learning from experiences.
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.
Do not let it be your aim to be something, but to be someone.
The value of actions lies in their timing.
Meditation is like a single log of wood. Insight and investigation are one end of the log; calm and concentration are the other end. If you lift up the whole log, both sides come up at once. Which is concentration and which is insight? Just this mind.
The Difficulty lies, in finding out an exact Measure but eat for Necessity, not Pleasure, for Lust knows not where Necessity ends.
Sorrow is a kind of rust of the soul, which every new idea contributes in its passage to scour away. It is the putrefaction of stagnant life, and is remedied by exercise and motion.
Better three hours too soon than a minute too late.
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