Consciousness and Self-Knowledge

Certitude is not the test of certainty. We have been cocksure of many things that were not so.

Before you judge me, try hard to love me, look within your heart

I am the family face;

When I play with my cat, who knows whether she isn’t amusing herself with me more than I am with her?

I am I plus my surroundings, and if I do not preserve the latter I do not preserve myself.

The ruling passion, be it what it will,

Fine art is that in which the hand, the head, and the heart of man go together.

Every man, wherever he goes, is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions, which move with him like flies on a summer day.

Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity.

He who is plenteously provided for from within, needs but little from without.

My importance to the world is relatively small. On the other hand, my importance to myself is tremendous. I am all I have to work with, to play with, to suffer and to enjoy. It is not the eyes of others that I am wary of, but of my own. I do not intend to let myself down more than I can possibly help, and I find that the fewer illusions I have about myself or the world around me, the better company I am for myself.

The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.

Duties are not performed for duties' sake, but because their neglect would make the man uncomfortable. A man performs but one duty, the duty of contenting his spirit, the duty of making himself agreeable to himself.

In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.

My first act of free will shall be to believe in free will.

What I am looking for is not out there … it’s in me.

Do not be embarrassed by your mistakes. Nothing can teach us better than our understanding of them. This is one of the best ways of self-education.

Bad habits are like chains that are too light to feel until they are too heavy to carry.

Face your deficiencies and acknowledge them; but do not let them master you. Let them teach you patience, sweetness, insight.

GOOD AND BAD MEN ARE EACH LESS SO THAN THEY SEEM.

The unconscious self is the real genius. Your breathing goes wrong the moment your conscious self meddles with it.

EACH FRIEND REPRESENTS A WORLD IN US, A WORLD POSSIBLY NOT BORN UNTIL THEY ARRIVE.

You cannot believe in honor until you have achieved it. Better keep yourself clean and bright: you are the window through which you must see the world.