Wisdom
Wisdom
December 2005/ January 2006
Challenge
“I shall never stop practicing philosophy and exhorting you and elucidating the truth for everyone that I meet. I shall go on saying...Are you not ashamed that you give your attention to acquiring as much money as possible, and similarly with reputation and honor and give no attention to truth and understanding and the perfection of your soul?...I shall do this to everyone I meet, young or old, foreigner or fellow citizen, but especially to you, my fellow citizens.”
Plato, Apology
Wisdom
“There can be no judge of a criminal on earth until the judge knows that he, too, is a criminal, exactly the same as the one who stands before him, and that he is perhaps most guilty of all for the crime of the one standing before him....However mad that may seem, it is true. For if I myself were righteous, perhaps there would be no criminal standing before me now....And if, having received your kiss, he goes away unmoved and laughing at you, do not be tempted by that either: it means that his time has not yet come, but it will come in due course; and if it does not come, no matter: if not he, then another will know, and suffer, and judge, and accuse himself, and the truth will be made full. Believe it, believe it without doubt, for in this lies all hope and all the faith of the saints....If you are surrounded by spiteful and callous people who do not want to listen to you, fall down before them and ask their forgiveness, for the guilt is yours, too, that they do not want to listen to you. And if you cannot speak with the embittered, serve them silently and in humility, never losing hope.”
Feodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
Wisdom
November, 2005
“Let them remember that there is a meaning beyond absurdity. Let them be sure that every little deed counts, that every word has power, and that we can, everyone, do our share to redeem the world in spite of all absurdities and all the frustrations and all disappointments. And above all, remember that the meaning of life is to build a life as if it were a work of art. You’re not a machine….Start working on this great work of art called your own existence. One of the ways of doing it-two ways of doing it-is, one remember the importance of self-discipline; second, study the great sources of wisdom. Don’t read the bestsellers. And, third, remember that life is a celebration or can be a celebration. There’s much entertainment in our life. And entertainment is destroying much of our initiative and weakens our imagination. What’s really important is life as a celebration.”
Abraham Heschel, Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity