March 28

Wisdom can be achieved by inner work, through solitary communication with yourself; it also can be achieved when you communicate with other people.

Listen and be attentive, but do not speak too much; and when you are asked a question, answer briefly. Do not be ashamed to accept that sometimes you do not know an answer to what you were asked. Do not get into an argument just for the sake of argument; and do not boast.

— Sufi Wisdom

You can view your own drawbacks only through the eyes of other people.

— Chinese Proverb

I have learned many things from my teachers; I have learned many things from my friends; and I have learned even more from my students.

— The Talmud

If you see a holy man, think how could I become like him? If you see a dissipated man, think: don't I have the same vices?

— Chinese Wisdom

Real love is not in words but in deeds, and only love can give you real wisdom.

When you are in company, do not forget what you have found out when you were thinking in solitude; and when you are meditating in solitude, think about what you found out by communicating with other people. 

March 13

The condition of wisdom is purity; the consequence of wisdom is the peace of your soul.

A man who follows his wishes changes his attitude with time. Very soon he is not satisfied any more with the things he does.

Those people who have nothing to lose are very rich.

— Chinese Proverb

A wise person never considers himself to be wise. And a person never considers himself wise when he has the image of God before him.

Wisdom is limitless, and the closer you approach it, the more important it becomes for your life. A person can always improve himself. 

February 27

A charity is only then a charity when it involves sacrifice.

Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire.

— James 5:3

In money—in the money itself, in its acquisition, in its possession—there is something immoral.

A truly kind person cannot be rich. A rich person, without question, is not a kind one.

— Chinese Proverb

Then said Jesus unto His disciples, Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

— Matthew 19:23-24

January 17

Live for your soul, and without trying or even understanding that you're doing it, you will contribute to the improvement of society.

Why do you torture yourself? You want kindness, but you do not know where to find it. Know that you cannot achieve anything without God. God is your only Lord, your only Master, and you do not need another. God will make you free.

— F. Robert De Lamennais

It would be nice if wisdom had such a quality that it could flow from one man who is full of wisdom to another man who has no wisdom, just as with two connected vessels water flows from one vessel to the other until the water level is the same in both of them. The problem is that to obtain wisdom, you must make an independent, serious effort of your own.

If you can teach a person kindness and love, but you do not, you lose a brother.

— Chinese Proverb

Improve your own soul, and be confident that
only in so doing can you contribute to the improvement of the larger society of which you are part.

January 13

Faith is the understanding of the meaning of life and the acceptance of those duties and responsibilities connected to it.

Who is a good man? Only a man who has faith is good. What is faith? This is when your will is in consent with the world’s conscience and the world's wisdom.

— Chinese Proverb

We should do only one thing: give ourselves into the hands of God, whatever our ultimate fate. Allow that which should happen to happen. What will happen will be good.

— Henry Amiel

They say that Judgment Day will come and that God will be furious. But a good God cannot bring anything but good. Do not be afraid: the end will full of joy.

— Persian Wisdom

You should not worry too much about what will happen after death. Deliver yourself to the divine creature and bless it: you know that it is love, therefore, why should you be afraid?

       When Christ died, he said, "Father! I deliver my spirit into Thy hands." Those who say these words, not with their tongue but with all their heart, do not need anything else. If my spirit returns back to its Father, this is the best place for it, and nothing can be better.

Don't think that you can find peace for your soul without faith.

January 4

Even if we don't want to, we can't help but feel our connection to the rest of mankind: we are connected by industry, by trade, by art, by knowledge, and most importantly, by our common mortality.

 

Kind people help each other even without noticing that they are doing so, and evil people act against each other on purpose.

— Chinese Proverb

 

Every person has his burden. One cannot live without the support of other people, therefore we have to support each other with consolation, advice, and mutual warnings.

— From the Book of Divine Thoughts

 

All the children of Adam are members of the same body. When one member suffers, all the others suffer as well. If you are indifferent to the sufferings of others, you do not deserve to be called a man.

— Muslih-Ud-Din Saadi

The history of mankind is the movement of humanity toward greater and greater unification.

January 3

Those who know the rules of true wisdom are baser than those who love them. Those who love them are baser than those who follow them.

— Chinese Proverb

The most important question to keep before ourselves at all times is this: Do we do the right thing? During this short period of time which we call our life, do our acts conform to the will of the force that sent us into the world? Do we do the right thing?

When I am in difficult circumstances, I’ll ask God to help me. But it is my duty to serve the Lord, and not His to serve me. As soon as I remember this, my burden becomes lighter.

We have to fulfill honestly and irreproachably the work destined for us. It does not matter whether we hope that we will become angels some day, or believe that we have originated from slugs.

— John Ruskin

Just imagine that the purpose of your life is your happiness — only then life becomes a cruel and senseless thing. You have to embrace what the wisdom of humanity, your intellect, and your heart tell you: that the meaning of life is to serve the force that sent you into the world. Then life becomes a constant joy.

October 21

In the same way as the storm troubles and muddies the waters, so too passions trouble our souls and interfere with our understanding of this life.

People with great and wonderful souls are always quiet and happy. Those people who do not have spirituality are always unhappy.

— Chinese Proverb

Do not be concerned too much with what will happen. Everything which happens will be good and useful for you.

— Epictetus

A person will understand his place in the world only when he understands his soul.

— Chinese Wisdom

Real power is not in momentary desires, but in complete calmness.

Complete outer calmness is impossible. But when there are some calm periods, we should appreciate them and make them last longer. This is the time when useful thoughts appear; they become stronger and guide us in life.

August 27

The best and the most important object for every person is his inner self, his spiritual being.

A person who knows all sciences but does not know himself is a poor and ignorant person. He who does not know anything except for his inner spiritual self is an enlightened person.

When you feel the desire for power, you should stay in solitude for some time.

— Henry David Thoreau

The way to fame goes through the palaces, the way to happiness goes through the markets, the way to virtue goes through the deserts.

— Chinese Proverb

A person always has a place to be safe from all of his misfortunes, and this place is his soul.

If you could only know who you are, all your troubles would seem utterly unnecessary and trivial.

July 5

Solomon and Job knew and spoke wisely about the uselessness of human life. The first was the happiest, the second the unhappiest of all men. One knew the vanity of pleasure; the other, the reality of misfortune.

— Blaise Pascal

Follow the best way of life you possibly can, and habit will make this way suitable and pleasant for you.

This is the divine law of life: that only virtue stands firm. All the rest is nothing.

— Pythagoras

If you fear woes and misfortunes, then you are already unhappy. Those who fear misfortunes usually deserve them.

— Chinese Proverb

Happiness and calmness are neither inside us nor outside us. They are in God, who is both inside and outside us.

— Blaise Pascal

Everything is from God; therefore, everything is good. Evil is goodness which we did not understand because of our shortsightedness.

When one understands that kind of evil which is in his deeds, then all other misfortunes to which he can be subjected are nothing as compared with the pleasure and freedom he can then experience.

May 15

Truth is not virtue, but the lack of vices.

The most common and the most widely used deceit is the wish to deceive not other people, but yourself. And this kind of life is the most harmful.

There are thousands of ways which lead to deception, and there is only one way which leads to the truth.

— Jean Jacques Rousseau

People should follow only the indisputable truth.

— Confucius

Truthfulness is the only real currency which circulates everywhere.

— Chinese Proverb

Let us be truthful. This is the mystery of rhetoric and virtue, this is the biggest mystery, this is the highest achievement in art and the major law of life.

— Henri Amiel

One of the most common mistakes is to think that you can live without truth. The inner and outer consequences of even the smallest lies are usually more harmful than those small unpleasant things which result from telling the truth directly.