April 14

We cannot hope to obtain any sort of perfection in a society which is divided into two parts: rich people who rule the world and poor people who obey their orders.

We came to strange conclusions in this world: we say that we live in society but at the same time we live lonely lives.

— Thomas Carlyle

If there are millionaires, there should be paupers.

— Henry George

If you have an income without working hard, then someone worked hard without receiving an income.

— Maimonides

It is worse to be an oppressive master than an obedient slave. Excessive wealth is worse than poverty. 

November 22

The more busy you are with the improvement of your inner life, the more active you become in social life, helping other people.

It is as wrong for one person to rule many as it is for many to rule one.

— Vladimir Chertkov

What is truth? For the majority of people, truth is the majority of counted votes.

— Thomas Carlyle

When I sit on the seashore and listen to the waves beating on the sand, I feel free from any obligation, and I think that all the people of the world can change their constitutions without me.

— Henry David Thoreau

Never build, but always plant: in the case of the first, nature will interfere and destroy the creation of your work, but in the case of the second, nature will help you, causing growth in everything you planted. The same thing happens in your spiritual life: those things which are in harmony with the eternal laws of human nature will grow, but those things which correspond to the temporal wishes of people will not. 

November 20

Remember: Those who suffer through to the end will be saved. Very often a person becomes desperate or even stops in his purpose when only a small effort is needed to achieve it.

But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

— Matthew 10:17-20

Right cannot be defeated, because it is done not by your will but according to the eternal laws of God.

— Thomas Carlyle

Persecution and suffering are the necessary conditions of the fulfillment of Christian law. Persecution is precious because it reveals whether a person lives with real faith.

Do not seek love in other people, and do not complain about the absence of their love for you. Some people love wrong, not right; therefore, try to please God, rather than people. 

November 12

The land is the general and equal possession of all humanity, and therefore property of individuals.

My intellect teaches me that land cannot be sold.

— Black Hawk

The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.

— Leviticus 25:23

To be honest, the earth has two masters: the first is almighty God and the second are his sons; all the people who have worked and will work on it.

— Thomas Carlyle

All people, from the first, and without any judicial act, should possess the earth. They should be able to live where nature and chance have brought them.

— Immanuel Kant

The possession of land as property is one of the most unnatural crimes there is. We cannot see the horror of this crime because in our world this crime is accepted as law. 

August 4

Self-abnegation is not the rejection of your entire self, just the rejection of your animal being.

Every person has within himself the capability to understand the life of all humanity. This capability is hidden deep in the soul, but it exists, and sooner or later, a person will find it.

—Edward Carpenter

The greatest bliss a person can know is the state of complete freedom and happiness that can only come thru self-sacrifice and love.

Deny your personality, and you will come to understand the highest good in life: love.

Real life starts with self sacrifice.

—Thomas Carlyle

The more a person gives to other people, and the less he asks for himself, the better for him. The less he gives to others, and the more he wants for himself, the worse for him. Our contemporaries think it the reverse.

April 28

Work is the necessary condition of happiness. First, favorite and free work; secondly, the physical work which arouses your appetite and afterward gives you tranquil and sound sleep.

Manual labor does not exclude intellectual activity, but improves its quality and even helps it.

Constant idleness should be included in the tortures of hell, but it is, on the contrary, considered to be one of the joys of paradise.

— Charles De Montesquieu

When a person sets to work, even if it is the most unqualified, primitive, simple work, the human soul calms down. As soon as a person starts to work, all the demons leave him and cannot approach him. A man becomes a man.

— Thomas Carlyle

Work is necessary. If you want a good disposition of your spirit, work until you become tired. But not too much. Not until you become exhausted. A good spiritual disposition can be destroyed by excessive work as well as by idleness. 

April 14

We cannot hope to obtain any sort of perfection in a society which is divided into two parts: rich people who rule the world and poor people who obey their orders.

We came to strange conclusions in this world: we say that we live in society but at the same time we live lonely lives.

— THOMAS CARLYLE

If there are millionaires, there should be paupers.

— HENRY GEORGE

If you have an income without working hard, then someone worked hard without receiving an income.

— MAIMONIDES

It is worse to be an oppressive master than an obedient slave. Excessive wealth is worse than poverty.

July 16

Nothing can support idleness better than empty chatter. People would be better to keep silent and not speak the boring, empty things they routinely say to entertain themselves. How can they endure it?

The person who speaks much will seldom fulfill all his words in his actions. A wise person is always wary lest his words surpass his actions.

— Chinese Wisdom

First think, then speak. Stop when told “enough.” A person is higher than an animal because of his ability to speak, but he is lower than an animal if he cannot properly use this ability.

— Muslih-Ud-Din Saadi

Those people speak most who do not have much to say.

If you want to stop a person from an action, ask him to speak more on the topic. The more people speak, the less desire they have to act.

— Thomas Carlyle

The less you speak, the more you will work.