Consciousness and Self-Knowledge

We do know that no one gets wise enough to really understand the heart of another, though it is the task of our life to try.

A sudden, bold, and unexpected question doth many times surprise a man and lay him open.

Is there any self-existent fire? and do all those things which we call self-existent exist? or are only those things which we see, or in some way perceive through the bodily organs, truly existent, and nothing whatever besides them? And is all that which we call an intelligible essence nothing at all, and only a name?

Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few engage in it.

He flattered himself on being a man without any prejudices; and this pretension itself is a very great prejudice.

The tools that would teach men their own use would be beyond price.

We know what a person thinks not when he tells us what he thinks, but by his actions.

Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change.

Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.

I am one thing, my writings are another.

Conscience is a mother-in-law whose visit never ends.

It is easier to be wise for others than for ourselves.

Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.

If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.

No more the victory of spirit over matter and definitely not the victory of matter over spirit – the next stage is not one overcoming the other, but a merge.

And as long as you are in any way ashamed before yourself, you do not yet belong with us.

To him who feels himself preordained to contemplation and not to belief, all believers are too noisy and obtrusive; he guards against them.

He who truly knows has no occasion to shout.

It’s not enough that you believe what you see. You must also understand what you see.

Every action needs to be prompted by a motive. To know and to will are two operations of the human mind. Discerning, judging, deliberating are acts of the human mind.

An open mind leaves a chance for someone to drop a worthwhile thought in it.

I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is over self.

No man is hurt but by himself.

It has always been a peculiarity of the human race that it keeps two sets of morals in stock-the private and the real, and the public and the artificial.