Don't return to philosophy as a task- master, but as patients seek out of relief in a treatment of sore eyes, or a dressing for a burn, or from an ointment. Regarding it this way, you'll obey reason without putting it on display and rest easy in its care.
Ryan Holiday, The 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
When philosophy is wielded with arrogance and stubbornly, it is the cause for the ruin of many. Let philosophy scrape off our own faults, rather than be a way to rail against the faults of others. — Seneca, Moral Letters, 103.4b-5a
The teachings of the Buddha in short: — Know the truth — Say nothing to hurt others — Practice meditations — Control your thoughts — Resist evil — Free your mind of evil — Work for the good of others — Respect life
Ryan Holiday, The 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
When the standards have been set, things are tested and weighed. And the work of philosophy is just this, to examine and uphold the standards, but the work of a truly good person is in using those standards when they know them. — Epictetus, Discourses, 2.11.23-25
Ryan Holiday, The 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
First practice not letting people know who you are — keep your philosophy to yourself for a bit. In just the manner that fruit is produced — the seed buried for a season, hidden, growing gradually so it may come to full maturity. But if the grain sprouts before the stalk is fully developed, it will never ripen... That is the kind of plant you are, displaying fruit too soon, and the winter will kill you. — Epictetus, Discourses, 4.8.35b-37
The young nurse closes her story, saying, "I keep thinking about her... It occurred to me that I owe her an awful lot. Except for Eileen, I might never have know what it's like to give myself to someone who can't give back."
Lessons from a young nurse
Rebecca Manley Pippert (From Out of the Saltshaker & Into the World)
Ryan Holiday, The 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
You'll more quickly find an earthly thing kept from the earth than you will a person cut off from other human beings. — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 9.9.3
