One could spend a whole lifetime trying to acquire the wisdom of small children.

Pain is a great teacher. The best students learn to leave their teachers behind.

All historic events seem absurd until they actually happen. Afterwards, they seem inevitable.

One could fill twelve universes with the things made using the work that was put off until tomorrow.

In the land of the blind, the eye doctor must be very careful.

The work of creation is measured in decades and centuries. The work of destruction is measured in minutes and seconds.

People today believe in progress. But real progress would mean leaving our current beliefs behind, including our belief in progress.

The greatness of art is that it teaches us what we already know. The greatness of science is that it teaches us what we do not know. 

Philosophy is a game of cutting – cutting away at the mind that philosophizes.

The last stage of reason is for reason to admit its own foolishness.

It is when you are certain that you know the way that you know you are truly lost.

If you wish to be deeply loved, you must be willing to risk being deeply hated.

Few places are more lonely than the summit of a mountain. Few curses are more terrible than to have known only success.

The voice of a songbird does not become less beautiful if no one hears it. The words of a poet do not become less precious if they remain unread. 

If a caterpillar were to gain the use of reason, it would pass its time attempting to prove the non-existence of butterflies.

Beware of wearing the mask too long. It might become inseparable from your face.

Many in this country say you should follow your dreams. They forget that a dream is something you must wake up from.

Imagination is like a spider’s web – beautiful but fatal to those trapped in it.

The sun is not troubled that some of its light illuminates the moon. The good are not troubled that some of their light enables others to shine.

Thirst is not quenched through salt water. Neither is peace found through wealth or fame.  

There are few surer paths to conformity than striving to become original.

Salvation is not gained through knife wounds alone.

If the world were to begin speaking to us, we would hear from it only a confirmation of what we already believe.

No weapon is more lethal than a mirror, for it inflicts on us what we are least able to withstand.

Those who are quick to judge the flaws of others succeed only in revealing the flaws in themselves.

There is no deeper form of cruelty than the one that wears a mask of love.

Love is the strangest of all possessions, for the only way to obtain it is to give it away.

Those who have never known the darkness of the night will never know the splendor of the dawn.

Every day is the first of its kind in the history of the universe. This day has never come before and will never come again, so let us make the most of it.

Gratitude is the lighting of a candle. It takes from the blessings of the past to illuminate the present without diminishing either.

The soul is an unusual organ. It heals itself by healing others after it has been injured.

The self is a prison you are meant to escape from. Love is the key that unlocks the door.

The hardiest plants are grown from harsh climates. So too, the strongest souls are those who have been tested by adversity.

Every breath you take contains at least one atom of oxygen that was breathed by every person who has ever lived. Therefore, honor the dead, for you are connected to them always.

Dostoevsky showed us the world as it would be if people lived with their eyes open. Tolstoy showed us the world as it is, given that people live with their eyes closed.

There are as many bytes of information in a single brain as there are in the entire internet. Therefore, marvel when you look at another person, for you behold another cosmos.

There were people in previous centuries who spent entire fortunes in order to hear music that is now available for free on youtube.

Metals are often strengthened by being mixed together with impurities. So too we are often strengthened by listening to those with whom we disagree. 

You could not guess the nature of ice by observing only liquid water. So too, you could not guess the thoughts of others by listening only to those who think as you do.

Sunlight focused by a magnifying glass has the power to start a fire. A single life focused by clarity of purpose has the power to change the world.

Those who ignore the past will become prisoners of the present. Those who ignore the present will become prisoners of the past.

Beware the danger of the spotlight. Fame will blind the soul as quickly as bright lights blind the eyes.

The opposite of a wise saying is also a wise saying, and therefore the opposite of a wise saying is never a wise saying.

There has never been a painting more impressive than the sky at sunrise, never a sculpture more impressive than the world’s mountains. All you must do is look outside to see the world’s greatest art museum.

People without boundaries are like houses without walls. The things you will not do are the things that make you who you are.

Every generation is fated to be dismissed by its parents and condemned by its children.

Never cling too tightly to a piece of the truth. You will be cut by the sharp edges from what was not included.

Never mistake mystery for wisdom. The darkest waters are often the most poisonous.

There are two consistent ways of looking at the world. One is to treat everything as significant. The other is to treat nothing as significant. The former is called psychosis. The latter is called depression. Sanity is a mixture of two insanities.

​The most common mental disorder in the world is the one we call sanity.

A small stream can over time erode the largest boulder. A patient soul can over time overcome the largest obstacle.

History is a little boy building sand castles, never realizing that his creations will be washed into the sea.

​Blessed are those who do not doubt, for theirs is the faith that moves mountains. Blessed are those who doubt, for they prevent the earth from being ripped in half.

​Truth is a lake frozen over in winter. You must strike it with an axe to find that it is liquid.

Thought without action is sterile. Action without thought is dangerous.

A nation that forgets its past is like a tree whose roots have been killed. Water will not save it, for it is already dead.

Do not fear the days of trouble, for they will pass away. Always cherish the days of happiness, for they will also pass away.

Every moment of your life is the moment you can change your life forever. Change your life now before it’s too late.

The blossoms of spring can appear only after a journey through winter. The strongest joys can appear only after a journey through suffering.

Be grateful for your hardships, for they help you become stronger. Be grateful for your blessings, for they let you put that strength to good use.

Wealth and luxury will give you a comfortable life. Kindness and generosity will give you a life worth living.

Every second of your life is an opportunity to begin your life anew. How generous of life to offer 3,600 opportunities per hour and 86,400 opportunities per day.

Death is the reverse side of life’s tapestry. Let us accept it even as we resist it with all our tenacity.

There is no such thing as a tragic ending. Endings can never be tragic because every ending is also a beginning.

​The future is a wondrous carnival, dazzling everyone with possible joys and possible terrors. Carnivals are entertaining, but you are not meant to live there.

​Memory is an unpredictable sea, heaving sunken treasures up to the surface even as it sends other treasures down to the bottom.

The pleasant is the enemy of the beautiful. To see that trees are beautiful, you must first see that trees are not pleasant.

Perhaps it is true that we should question everything. But if so, we should also question the idea that we should question everything.

​Nothing is more useful than the truth. Those who choose the useful over the true will arrive at ideas that are neither true nor useful.

Remember the past or else you will move through life aimlessly. Forget the past or else you will be unable to move at all.

​The main difference between astrologers and political pundits is that astrologers need to say something plausible.

Cherish the world or else you will succumb to despair. Forget the world or else you will become a slave to it.

​Language is a great illusionist, changing the entire world into a mere string of letters. Illusionists are quite interesting, but it is dangerous to trust them.

​Expectations are the enemy of insight. The more you try to guess the future, the less you will understand the future when it finally arrives.

​​To harm another is to harm your own soul and thereby receive the worst harm possible. Therefore, love your enemies, for they have been harmed more than you have.

​Death is the reverse side of life’s tapestry. It is only after you have died that you begin to truly live.

If your life is about you, your life will feel small even when others judge it to be large. If your life is about others, your life will feel large even when others judge it to be small.

​Resentment is a thorn in your chest that grows larger the longer you leave it in. Forgive others and pluck out the thorn before it kills you. 

​The future is a ballroom where hope is forever dancing alongside fear. One would have to be truly wise to know whether the dance is wise or foolish.

​Every story you tell about yourself is a potential usurper. It begins as your servant but risks becoming your overlord.

There are many kinds of flowers that are at their best when they grow in the shade. There are many kinds of people who are at their best when they slip into the background.

Do not reject the old. They have a wisdom the young have not yet gathered. Do not reject the young. They have a wisdom that the old have forgotten.

Do not attempt the new before you have mastered the old. You must be as ancient as starlight before you can be as young as the dawn.

​Give of yourself until you have nothing left. After you have given it all away, you will find that you have more than when you began.

You will never know God through your own cleverness. The only way to know God is to begin by accepting that you are not God.

Pride is a far worse enemy than ignorance. Those who wish to know must start by knowing that they do not know.

​As dewdrops vanish in the heat of the sun, so too your life will vanish through the passage of time. Cherish your life before it is taken from you.

​Good intentions are like unborn children. If you do not act on them, they will be stillborn and will be only a source of grief.

It is true that sometimes ignorance is bliss. It is also true that sometimes bliss can be fatal.

Hope is the one thing that will never leave you. All you need to find it is to know that you don't know everything.