Alan Watts
Never pretend to a love which you do not actually feel, for love is not ours to command.
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The intelligent man is one who has successfully fulfilled many accomplishments, and is still willing to learn more.
Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead.
The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.
Love is letting go of fear.
You know, maybe I was wrong and luck is like love. You have to go all the way to find it.
We are made for loving. If we don't love, we will be like plants without water.
Happiness can be defined, in part at least, as the fruit of the desire and ability to sacrifice what we want now for what we want eventually.
Leadership is much more an art, a belief, a condition of the heart, than a set of things to do. The visible signs of artful leadership are expressed, ultimately, in its practice.
Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, working together is success.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed We hold these truths to be self-evident , that all men are created equal.
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost , that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.
We don't stop playing because we grow old, we grow old because we stop playing.
It doesn't matter which side of the fence you get off on sometimes. What matters most is getting off. You can not make progress without making decisions.
A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties. No religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.
In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.
Ideals are like stars, you will not succeed in touching them with your hands, but like the seafaring man on the desert of waters, you choose them as your guides, and following them, you reach your destiny.
There are only two things more beautiful than a good gun, a swiss watch and a woman from anywhere.
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you can not do.
The history of the world is but the biography of great men.
Indecision is the seedling of fear.
I love you, not only for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you.
When one door closes another opens, but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.
Don't hide your light under a bushel.
Don't call me a saint - I don't want to be dismissed that easily.
You can be greater than anything that can happen to you.
We belong dead.
Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.
Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.
The heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden flight. But they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night.
Are we to love only those who deserve our love ? Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you , that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.
When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give the world your best anyway.
Mrs. Robinson, you're trying to seduce me. Aren't you ?
One of the oldest human needs is having someone to wonder where you are when you don't come home at night.
Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
When you face your fear, most of the time you will discover that it was not really such a big threat after all. We all need some form of deeply rooted, powerful motivation - it empowers us to overcome obstacles so we can live our dreams.
If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
Those people who develop the ability to continuously acquire new and better forms of knowledge that they can apply to their work and to their lives will be the movers and shakers in our society for the indefinite future.
When a problem comes along, study it until you are completely knowledgeable. Then find that weak spot, break the problem apart, and the rest will be easy.
Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.
When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.
Spoken about by, radio announcer and good friend : never let a day go by that he didn't learn something new and, in turn pass it on to others. It was his consuming passion.
I may not be perfect, but some parts of me are excellent.
Never say die.
He who has hope has everything.
If you want to win friends, make it a point to remember them. If you remember my name, you pay me a subtle compliment ; you indicate that I have made an impression on you. Remember my name and you add to my feeling of importance.
A man builds a fine house ; and now he has a master, and a task for life ; he is to furnish, watch, show it, and keep it in repair, the rest of his days.
Even when change is elective, it will disorient you. You may go through anxiety. You will miss aspects of your former life. It doesn't matter. The trick is to know in advance of making any big change that you're going to be thrown off your feet by it. So you prepare for this inevitable disorientation and steady yourself to get through it. Then you take the challenge, make the change, and achieve your dream.
Equations are more important to me, because politics is for the present, but an equation is something for eternity.
Kindness is an inner desire that makes us want to do good things even if we do not get anything in return. It is the joy of our life to do them. When we do good things from this inner desire, there is kindness in everything we think, say, want and do.
The winners in life think constantly in terms of I can, I will, and I am. Losers, on the other hand, concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have or would have done, or what they can't do.
Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.
We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.
Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.
Do not wait for ideal circumstances, nor for the best opportunities, they will never come.
The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.
The aims and ideals that move us are generated by imagination. But they are not made out of imaginary stuff. They are made out of the hard stuff of the world of physical and social experience.
When I exercise, I wear all black. Its like a funeral for my fat.
Every action that helps us manifest our divine nature more and more is good, every action that retards it is evil.
If you realize how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought
They may take away our lives, but they'll never take our freedom !
Kindness is a language which the dumb can speak, the deaf can understand.
Misfortunes, untoward events, lay open, disclose the skill of a general, while success conceals his weakness, his weak points.
A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds.
We are born in relationship, we are wounded in relationship, and we can be healed in relationship.
People are like stained glass windows, they sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.
Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, and live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.
You are the only person on earth who can use your ability.
You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this ? And radio operates exactly the same way : you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat.
If people find fault with you and try to put you into bad light, wrongly slandering and vilifying you, just step back and observe yourself. Don't harbor any dislike, don't enter into it any contests, and don't get upset, angry, or resentful. Just cut right through it and be as if you never or saw it. Eventually malevolent pests will disappear of themselves. If you contend with them, then a bad name will bounce back and forth with never an end in sight.
Unless a man undertakes more than he possibly can do, he will never do all that he can.
A bold onset is half the battle.
Love is a bird, she needs to fly.
Always mistrust a subordinate who never finds fault with his superior.
Desire can be eradicated from the roots by firmly imbibing the four attributes of : Jnan, Atmanishtha, Vairagya, and the full fledged devotion to god. Faith is in the younger generation, the modern generation, out of them will come my workers.
It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts.
This was love at first sight, love everlasting, a feeling unknown, unhoped for, unexpected in so far as it could be a matter of conscious awareness, it took entire possession of him, and he understood, with joyous amazement, that this was for life.
The battle is all over except the "shouting" when one knows what is wanted and has made up his mind to get it, whatever the price may be.
They will rise highest who strive for the highest place.
To reach a port we must sail, sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it. But we must not drift or lie at anchor.
A gentleman can withstand hardships , it is only the small man who, when submitted to them, is swept off his feet.
Instruction does not prevent wasted time or mistakes, and mistakes themselves are often the best teachers of all.
Self-suggestion makes you master of yourself.
For a crowd is not company, and faces are but a gallery of pictures, and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love.
Never fear what will become of you, depend on no one. Only the moments you reject all help, are you free. Fear is death, fear is sin, fear is hell, fear is unrighteousness, and fear is wrong life.
The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echoes of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration.
He who speaks the loudest is the least heard.
The best job goes to the person who can get it done without passing the buck or coming back with excuses.
The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.
Be strong ! You talk of ghosts and devils. We are the living devils. The sign of life is strength and growth. The sign of death is weakness. Whatever is weak, avoid ! It is death. If it is strength, go down into hell and get hold of it ! There is salvation only for the brave. "None but the brave deserves the fair". None but the bravest deserves salvation.
Title of newspaper article yesterday - Vandals made off with all toilet seats in the local precinct. Police have nothing to go on.
Experience is a wonderful thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.
If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, the excitement, and the mystery of the world we live in.
The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise grows it under his feet.
The miracle power that elevates the few is to be found in their industry, application and perseverance, under the promptings of a brave determined spirit.
I do not think there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.
We must not say every mistake is a foolish one.
Don't water your weeds.
All misfortune is but a stepping stone to fortune.
Great and glorious events which dazzle the beholder are represented by politicians as the outcome of grand designs whereas they are usually products of temperaments and passions.