Gems of Wisdom & Virtue

I'm weary of conjectures, — this must end 'em.
Thus am I doubly armed: my death and life,
My bane and antidote, are both before me:
This in a moment brings me to an end;
But this informs me I shall never die.
The Soul, secured in her existence, smiles
At the drawn dagger, and defies its point.
The stars shall fade away, the sun himself
Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years;
But thou shalt flourish in immortal youth,
Unhurt amidst the war of elements,
The wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds.

Joseph Addison.
 
It is of dangerous consequence to represent to man how near he is to the level of beasts, without showing him at the same time his greatness. It is likewise dangerous to let him see his greatness without his meanness.
It is more dangerous yet to leave him ignorant of either; but very beneficial that he should be made sensible of both.

Pascal
 
Book XVI of Bhagavad Gita
The Master Krishna said:
Valor, cleanness of heart, steadfast union with illumination, generous giving, control, sacrifice, study, fervor, righteousness,
Gentleness, truth, freedom from anger, detachment, peace, loyalty, pity for all beings, a chaste mind, mildness, modesty, steadfastness,
Fire, patience, firmness, purity, good-will, absence of conceit, these belong to him who is born to the godlike portion,
 
The gods in bounty work up storms about us,
That give mankind occasion to exert
Their hidden strength, and throw out into practice
Virtues that shun the day, and lie conceal'd
In the smooth seasons and the calms of life.

Joseph Addison d. 1719
 
Still in the paths of honour persevere,
And not from past nor present ills despair;
For blessings ever wait on virtuous deeds,
And, though a late, a sure reward succeeds.

William Congreve d. 1729
 
If common life is to be lived nobly and well ... it must be by common people exerting themselves as strenuously for some form of ideal excellence as they would for a great career; it must be by multitudes of common people living lives of greatness in obscurity without thought of applause or reward, but solely for the sake of the life itself, knowing it to be worth all it costs.

Lucien Price, in Another Athens Shall Arise
 
THE LOST WORD-You cannot say it unless
you have first learned to live it.

PRAYER is magic incantation, but unless your
life is a prayer, you will never get the answer.

When you have set your goal, never harbor a
thought of fear or failure, but cultivate an attitude
of invincible determination to accomplish your ohject
despite all obstacles, holding the thought of
success constantly.

Prayer is like the turning on of the electric
switch, that does not create the current but simply
provides a channel through which the electric current
may flow. In like manner prayer creates a
channel through which the divine life and light
may pour itself into us for our spiritual illumination.

Max Heindel
 
If, having knowledge and choice, man ranges himself on the side of good and right, he cultivates virtue and wisdom. If he succumbs to temptation and does wrong knowingly, he fosters vice.

In service is the only true greatness. Yet no matter how efficiently we may serve, if we glory in our services, that self-glory is our only reward.

Max Heindel
 
A truism?
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Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine
 
Men do not know themselves, and therefore they do not understand the things of their inner world. Each man has the essence of God, and all the seeds of wisdom and power in himself; he possesses one kind of knowledge as much as another, and he who does not find that which is in him cannot truly say that he does not possess it, but only that he was not capable of successfully seeking for it.

Paracelsus
 
No more to fabled names confined,
To thee, supreme, all-perfect mind,
My thoughts direct their flight:
Wisdom's thy gift, and all her force
From thee derived, unchanging source
Of intellectual light!

O send her sure, her steady ray
To regulate my doubtful way
Through life's perplexing road,
The mists of error to control,
And through its gloom direct my soul
To happiness and good!

Elizabeth Carter- d. 1806: Ode to Wisdom
 
From the Prophet by Kahlil Gibran

On Children

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to any.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.
 
No other means to dispel all the stains exist apart from
the knowledge of suchness. The suchness of phenomena admits of no differentiation,
and the subject, mind, that knows it is likewise undifferentiated.
Thus the Buddha taught to us beings a single, unmatched vehicle. 11.45

Chandrakirti, Entering Middle Way
 
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