April 7

To repay evil with goodness is easier, wiser and more natural than to repay evil with evil.

Repay evil with goodness.

— The Talmud

And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

— Luke 23:33-34

Conquer rage with humility, conquer evil with goodness, conquer greed with generosity, and conquer lies with truth.

— Dhammapada, a book of Buddhist Wisdom

When we treat our neighbors as they deserve to be treated, we make them even worse; when we treat them as if they were who we wish they were, we improve them.

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Those who take joy in repaying an evil with goodness will always try to experience this joy again. 

February 28 and February 29

February 28

Art is a means of unifying people.

If beautiful art does not express moral ideas which unite people, then it is not art, but only entertainment. People need to be entertained in order to distance themselves from disappointment in their lives.

— Immanuel Kant

It is possible to imagine that art could die, but it is not possible to imagine that real art could live if it became a slave of wealth that laughed at the poor.

Art is one of the most powerful means of convincing people of anything, both good and bad; therefore, you must be very careful in its use.

An artist is one of two things: he is either a high priest, or a more or less smart entertainer.

— Giuseppi Mazzini

Meditations or discussions about art are the most useless pastimes known. Those who really know art know that art can speak well with its own language, and that to speak about art with words is useless. Most people who speak about art do not understand or feel real art.

February 29

To move, you must know where to go, in terms both of everyday motion and of your whole life. In order to live a good life, you must know where life leads.

Perfection is of God. To wish for perfection is of man.

— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Life is not given to us that we might live idly without work. No, our life is a struggle and a journey. Good should struggle with evil; truth should struggle with falsehood; freedom should struggle with slavery; love should struggle with hatred. Life is movement, a walk along the way of life to the fulfillment of those ideas which illuminate us, both in our intellect and in our hearts, with divine light.

— After Giuseppe Mazzini

The ideal is within you, and the obstacle to reaching this ideal is also within you. You already possess all the material from which to create your ideal self.

— Thomas Caryle

We should believe that the goodness which exists in us and in this world will be fulfilled. This is the major condition to make it happen.

December 24

Starting from early childhood, as we age we feel the growth of our spiritual power and the diminution of our physical power.

 

Older people who live spiritual lives ever widen their spiritual horizons, and ever expand their consciences. Older people who live only a daily routine become more and more stupid over the years.

— the Talmud

 

One becomes older in order to become kinder; there is no mistake which I have not already made.

— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

 

The growth and development of the soul is more important than power and glory.

— Henri Amiel

 

The growth of our physical energy prepares us for spiritual work, for serving God and mankind; this work starts when our body begins to fade away.

 

Grow spiritually and help others to do so; it is the meaning of life.

 

Terrible is the situation of those who cannot perceive spiritual growth in themselves. They can see only physical life, which will disappear in time. When you understand your spiritual being and live with it, then instead of despairing you understand the joy that can never be destroyed, which always grows.

November 17

We suffer from the past, and we spoil our future because we neglect the present.

The best the future can offer is dreams. There is only one thing which really exists: the present.

Be attentive to the present. Only in the present time can we understand eternity.

— After Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Use your body, your vessel, today; tomorrow it can he broken.

— The Talmud

There is no past and no future; no one has ever entered those two imaginary kingdoms. There is only the present. Do not worry about the future, because there is no future. Live in the present and for the present, and if your present is good, then it is good forever.

If you have difficult times, if you suffer from the loss of loved ones or from fears about the future, remember that life exists only in the present and direct all your thoughts and memories to this present. All your anguish about the past and your worries about the future will disappear, and you will feel freedom and happiness. 

October 26

For the moral, spiritual life, the importance of things is measured not by their material value, but by their level of goodness.

The majority of people want to do something unusual and difficult in order to improve their lives, but they would be better to purify their wishes, and improve their inner selves.

The second things are much more important than the first.

— After Francois Fénelon

A person understands himself not thru thoughts, but with actions. It is only thru making an effort that a person will understand his worth.

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

To move yourself from the material to the spiritual means to do only spiritual things. My material body pulls my inner self to itself, but I try to separate my spiritual self from the material body. Though I use my body, I live within my spiritual life, which is my real life.

August 25

Work is the condition of existence in the material, physical world. If Robinson had not worked, he would have frozen to death and died from hunger, and everybody can see this. So labor is the necessary condition for the spiritual life as well, but not all people can see this clearly, though it is as obvious as the necessity of physical labor for the body.

If any would not work, neither should he eat.

— 2 Thessalonians 3:10

If you are doing nothing, it means you are doing bad things.

Those who do nothing, do bad things. Those who do nothing, have many associates and supporters. The brain of a lazy and idle person is the favorite stopping place of the devil.

Nature does not stop in its development, and it executes all kinds of idleness.

— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

You should never be ashamed of any work, even the lowest and dirtiest, but you should be shamed only of the dirtiest moral state, that is the idleness of your body, which is the necessary result of the consumption of the labor of others.

August 7

Vanity has no limits.

A person filled with vanity is so involved with himself that there is no room inside him for anyone or anything else.

—Pan

As rules go, “You should behave just as other people behave.” Is among the most dangerous; it almost always results in your behaving badly.

—Jean De La Bruyére

Real virtue never looks back on its shadow, fame.

—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

It’s not wise to be interested in fame and the appreciation of others, because no two people’s opinions about what is good are the same.

April 7

To repay evil with goodness is easier, wiser and more natural than to repay evil with evil.

Repay evil with goodness.

— The TALMUD

And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

— LUKE 23:33-34

Conquer rage with humility, conquer evil with goodness, conquer greed with generosity, and conquer lies with truth.

— DHAMMAPADA, a book of BUDDHIST WISDOM

When we treat our neighbors as they deserve to be treated, we make them even worse; when we treat them as if they were who we wish they were, we improve them.

— JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE

Those who take joy in repaying an evil with goodness will always try to experience this joy again.