Great Throughts Treasury

"For centuries, the old have considered the young to be rebellious and unwise, and the young have thought the old stifling and complacent. I myself am a young progressive; however, my fellow young person would do well to keep in mind the idea that looking within oneself and deciding what one believes and will do is different, and dare I say purer, than simply reacting or rebelling. So often, the rebel is low in integrity; the only thing they know about themselves is that they are not you."

"For many reasons, I believe true altruism is rare or mythical. But do good, by all means! Even if the reasons are selfish to some degree, the world becomes a better place as acts of goodness proliferate."

"For some folks, it's not what they do for work; it's what they do when they're not working that defines their health and constitutes their challenge."

"For people with an "emotional distance/closeness" problem, there is a gross paradox; for they long for closeness until such time as they have it, and then they long for distance once again."

"Fulfillment and meaning make life worth living."

"For those people who have a strong urge to "help" others, not helping is the harder of the two options. And, in many cases, more honor is gained doing that which does not come as naturally as more habitual acts."

"Freedom and peace are two of the highest states of humankind. There is no alternative for those who really understand what these ideas are about."

"God works in mysterious ways. But so does the devil."

"Fun is as deep as seriousness."

"Great spirits exemplify numerous virtues; they view the world in vibrant hues. She personifies the loftiest human values; he knows many elusive and profound truths."

"He does right, pleasing himself and his counselor, but his decision was not based purely on lofty virtues. Fear, obligations, and pressure muddy the water; if one is forced, one did not of their own volition choose."

"He who values principles and exercises control, faces the omnipresent threat of adversity. Perceived as odd, foolhardy, and droll, despite the failure of respect from his society, by crushing the dice rather than letting them roll- he can sleep at night sure of his integrity."

"Hesitance is as true as dogmatism."

"Greed, fear, arrogance, and complacency taint the American greatness."

"Hope rides shotgun for the strong, whereas it carries the weak."

"How is it that so many wealthy, capitalistic, suburban-dwelling, golf-playing individuals decry the merit of trying to change the world, while at the same time work so hard and are so successful in their particular occupation? What if they dedicated themselves to being magnanimous more so than profitable, how would the world be in twenty years?"

"How could Thomas Aquinas or Pope Merciless IX know more about the Creator than the boy next door?"

"I could easily be a hero, were it not for the physical and mental pain involved."

"I fantasize of her as a man imprisoned, as if her smile hides the key. Her intellect frees me from chains; her wit allows me to more truly be."

"I have a hard time with criticism. It reminds me of my smaller self. It is easier to just be confident, that makes me feel big. But sometimes, in deflecting criticism with confidence, I am standing in unreality."

"I am frightened by the possibility that revealing a lie I told to one of my professors will set in motion a cascade of damaging consequences - possibly even nullifying my achieved education since that class. But, if so, I cannot call her a liar, and I will not keep this mar on my "record" any longer. I must go through with it; I cannot do otherwise. Whatever happens, I will face it with courage and honor, virtues conspicuously absent when I committed my wrong."

"I think back on my father's example of responsibility; when a spider was frightening me by crawling up the wall, he would be called. He would come quickly, wearing a serious and dutiful expression on his face. My dad would actually trap the spider with a little cup and a piece of stiff paper, and then release it outdoors. As I saw the objectionable thing crawl away, not much registered except for relief that I would not be traumatized by that wicked little arachnid after all! However, unbeknownst to me, my mind was being taught; I was learning some deep lessons about how to be in the world."

"I think so as to better understand what I believe."

"I think that liberty is beautiful, but we must watch ourselves to ensure that our libertarian desires are not simply functioning to grant us privacy to do that which is unethical - without some external entity interfering. Liberty can honorably be invoked for something like political dissent, but not child abuse."

"I was perplexed to discover that Hitler was an avid enthusiast of jokes. How could the same person who decided who should and shouldn't die really value humor?"

"In a relationship, the two members are always being challenged. If one person feels anger in reaction to the other, that first person's task is to have enough responsibility for themselves to avoid hurtful words; the other, to tolerate that misstatement. I do not know which is more difficult."

"In any given situation, the ideal thing to believe or do may have some elements of the "left" and the "right," but that does not necessarily mean that the best course of action truly "lies in the middle;" perhaps truth is to be found in some fusion of progressive and conservative principles - but that is not the same thing as a watered-down amalgam of both philosophies."

"If comfort with aloneness is good, then comfort with togetherness is great."

"If one doesn't cling immodestly to facts or beliefs, then it doesn't hurt to renounce them."

"If anyone does something nice to you, the second motive to consider is altruism; the first is gain."

"If one seeking an answer is good, and he looks within his heart, goodness he will find. If however, one who is not does, his heart will lead him thusly."

"If our creator is good, powerful, knowledgeable, and everywhere, then how can all manner of evil deeds escape his watchful eye? As humans torture, deceive, litigate, and abandon their humanity, what can explain why people suffer silently and then just die?"

"If the strong were good, society's problems would begin to disentangle immediately."

"If the company who employs you has solid values that differ significantly from yours, then you have one of two choices: conform or leave. I suggest you leave, if at all possible."

"I'm through looking for a beautiful woman who doesn't wield her beauty like a sword."

"It is very disheartening to the aspiring truth-seeker to note two apparently brilliant thinkers being diametrically opposed on a topic of importance."

"Is not the stifling of another's opinion worse than any single opinion, no matter how subversive it is?"

"Intelligence is a necessary, but not sufficient, precondition of enlightenment."

"Is honor an archaic concept? Is it becoming the appendix of the human mind? Those who do value it seem suspect. Seeing a Catch-22 and a double-bind, people fold instead of standing erect- true honor is becoming difficult to find."

"In dark hours, I am crushed by the weight of the idea that the values I aspire to make living life too difficult to bear."

"It is true that armor can feel cumbersome; the weight of duty does encumber the good. He or she who is heroic strives to become; our hearts drive us to do as we know we should."

"Isn't it fitting that blood symbolizes both wounds and familial relationship?"

"Learning to do it for oneself, to live deliberately and with confidence, knowing how to love oneself, and resigning oneself to be consistently proud - although perhaps not always easy - are fundamental to happiness and fulfillment. Indeed, it is similar to oiling a rusty axle; it takes time and energy to do so, but since one must travel the distance with or without efficiency and quiet, why not choose to make the journey as pleasant as possible?"

"It's curious that I feel so alone on a planet with 5 billion other people."

"I've seen a broken, homeless person dreading the impending night; I've seen the plush suede interior of a private jet; I've heard a woman moan my name; I've known a person right there across from me want to die; what an incredible range of emotions this world has for us."

"Let us create a society in which no business person would dump waste into the riverbed, because, after all, it is their ocean; in which no person sleeps under the overpass, because, after all, they have a home; and in which no youth writes graffiti on the walls, because, after all, why would they want to do such a thing with their time?"

"Life's cruelty strongly indicates the dispassionate nature or perhaps randomness of the universe behind the day-to-day happenings of the earth."

"Live your life such that if you were to die at that very moment you would feel proud to have it described in your epitaph. For example, "So-and-so died while helping an old lady cross the street" is considerably preferred to, "So-and-so died while engaging in autoerotic asphyxiation.""

"Living a "life of value" takes actual learning, thinking, consciousness, conscientiousness, and practice. Developing one?s ethical, spiritual, and emotional life does not happen as easily as gaining weight - it is more akin to exercising. But when you think of Jesus, see that movie character doing the right thing, hear the Dalai Lama, watch a religious figure in your place of worship, or think of Martin Luther King or Helen Keller, do you - like me - get the feeling that they practice and really "live" their chosen values?"

"Living by your ideals requires that strength and courage be your allies."