Advice and Useful Quotes

2021-04-02

"Be patient and calm; No one can catch a fish with anger." - Herbert Hoover

"There seems to be some perverse human characteristic that likes to make easy things difficult." - Warren Buffett

“Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.” - Henry David Thoreau

I hope you can keep simple and stay honest in this society. I will bless you in another world. - Huixiang Chen

Some say that my teaching is nonsense. Others call it lofty but impractical. But to those who have looked inside themselves, this nonsense makes perfect sense. And to those who put it into practice, this loftiness has roots that go deep.

I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and in thoughts, you return to the source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are. Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world.

Chapter 67, Tao Te Ching, Stephen Mitchell translation

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of the intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that one life has breathed easier because you lived here. This is to have succeeded.

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A rational person can find peace

by cultivating indifference

to things outside of their control. - @naval

  • When you're finally wealthy, you'll realize that it wasn't what you were seeking in the first place. But that's for another day. - @naval (twitter)
  • Redesign your life so the actions that matter most are also the actions that are easiest to do. - Atomic Habits, James Clear
  • It's easy to get forced into inaction by too many differing opinions. Sometimes trying things yourself and learning from the experience is the best way to expand your own skill set. - Marty from MCM
  • If anyone tells you that a person speaks ill of you, don’t make excuses about what is said of you, but answer: ‘He does not know my other faults, or he would not have mentioned only these.’ — Epictetus
  • "Only a fool trips over the rocks laid behind him." - Marcus Aurelius

Jordan Peterson:

Tell the truth.

Do not do things that you hate.

Act so that you can tell the truth about how you act.

Pursue what is meaningful, not what is expedient.

If you have to choose, be the one who does things, instead of the one who is seen to do things.

Pay attention.

Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you need to know. Listen to them hard enough so that they will share it with you.

Plan and work diligently to maintain the romance in your relationships.

Be careful who you share good news with.

Be careful who you share bad news with.

Make at least one thing better every single place you go.

Imagine who you could be, and then aim single-mindedly at that.

Do not allow yourself to become arrogant or resentful.

Try to make one room in your house as beautiful as possible.

Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.

Work as hard as you possibly can on at least one thing and see what happens.

If old memories still make you cry, write them down carefully and completely.

Maintain your connections with people.

Do not carelessly denigrate social institutions or artistic achievement.

Treat yourself as if you were someone that you are responsible for helping.

Ask someone to do you a small favor, so that he or she can ask you to do one in the future.

Make friends with people who want the best for you.

Do not try to rescue someone who does not want to be rescued, and be very careful about rescuing someone who does.

Nothing well done is insignificant.

Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world.

Dress like the person you want to be.

Be precise in your speech.

Stand up straight with your shoulders back.

Don't avoid something frightening if it stands in your way — and don't do unnecessarily dangerous things.

Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them.

Do not transform your wife into a maid.

Do not hide unwanted things in the fog.

Notice that opportunity lurks where responsibility has been abdicated.

Read something written by someone great.

Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street.

Do not bother children when they are skateboarding.

Don't let bullies get away with it.

Write a letter to the government if you see something that needs fixing - and propose a solution.

Remember that what you do not yet know is more important than what you already know.

Be grateful in spite of your suffering.

“Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.” - Dalai Lama

Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt. Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench. Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner.

Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity.

"Be happy and fearless. Remember that you are a child of Divinity. Loss and gain cannot even touch your shadow." - Swami Rama