QuoteVille

08/04/2024

"It‘s all in your head. You have thee power to make things seem hard or easy or even amusing. The choice is yours"
Seneca 💚

08/04/2024

/ Marcus Aurelius /
"Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?"
"Marcus Aurelius , in full Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus orig. Marcus Annius Verus, (born April 26, AD 121, Rome—died March 17, 180, Vindobona [Vienna] or Sirmium, Pannonia), Roman emperor (161–180). He was born into a wealthy and prominent family. Hadrian arranged that Marcus and Lucius Verus be adopted by the designated future emperor Antoninus Pius, who dutifully groomed Marcus as his heir. On his accession, Marcus nevertheless shared power with his adoptive brother as coemperor, though he himself remained the more dominant. His reign was marked by numerous military crises, all the major frontiers being threatened by invasion. Struggles against the Parthians (162–166) were successful, but returning troops brought a devastating plague to Rome. With a concurrent German invasion, Roman morale declined; the Germans were repulsed, but Verus died during the campaign (169). Marcus made his son Commodus coemperor in 177. Though a man of gentle character and wide learning, Marcus opposed Christianity and supported persecution of its adherents. His Meditations on Stoicism, considered one of the great books of all times, gives a full picture of his religious and moral values. His reign is often thought to mark the Golden Age of Rome." (Britannica)
Marcus Aurelius, C. Scot Hicks, David Hicks (2002). “The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations”, p.120, Simon and Schuster

04/04/2024

~ Marcus Aurelius

25/03/2024

14/11/2023

~ Lao Tzu

05/11/2023

A fool is known by his speech; and a wise man by silence.
- Pythagoras

02/11/2023

Lucille Ball ❤️

02/11/2023

/ Arthur Schopenhauer /
"A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free."
"Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work The World as Will and Representation, which characterizes the phenomenal world as the product of a blind noumenal will. Building on the transcendental idealism of Immanuel Kant, Schopenhauer developed an atheistic metaphysical and ethical system that rejected the contemporaneous ideas of German idealism. He was among the first thinkers in Western philosophy to share and affirm significant tenets of Indian philosophy, such as asceticism, denial of the self, and the notion of the world-as-appearance. His work has been described as an exemplary manifestation of philosophical pessimism. Though his work failed to garner substantial attention during his lifetime, Schopenhauer had a posthumous impact across various disciplines, including philosophy, literature, and science. His writing on aesthetics, morality, and psychology have influenced many thinkers and artists."
W
Born: February 22, 1788, Danzig (Gdańsk), Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Died: September 21, 1860, Frankfurt, German Confederation
Nationality: German
Education: Illustrious Gymnasium, Gotha, University of Göttingen, University of Jena (PhD, 1813)
image by internetpillar.com
Arthur Schopenhauer (2015). “Counsels and Maxims”, p.36, Arthur Schopenhauer

02/11/2023

/ Sophocles /
"All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride."
"Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those of Aeschylus; and earlier than, or contemporary with, those of Euripides. Sophocles wrote over 120 plays, but only seven have survived in a complete form: Ajax, Antigone, Women of Trachis, Oedipus Rex, Electra, Philoctetes and Oedipus at Colonus. For almost fifty years, Sophocles was the most celebrated playwright in the dramatic competitions of the city-state of Athens which took place during the religious festivals of the Lenaea and the Dionysia. He competed in thirty competitions, won twenty-four, and was never judged lower than second place. Aeschylus won thirteen competitions, and was sometimes defeated by Sophocles; Euripides won four. The most famous tragedies of Sophocles feature Oedipus and Antigone: they are generally known as the Theban plays, though each was part of a different tetralogy."
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Born: 497/496 BC, Colonus, Attica
Died: 406/405 BC (aged 90–92), Athens
Occupation: Tragedian
Genre: Tragedy
Notable works: Ajax, Antigone, Oedipus Rex, Electra, Oedipus at Colonus
Sophocles (1977). “The Oedipus Cycle: An English Version”, Harcourt

27/10/2023

/ Cato /
"I begin to speak only when I'm certain what I'll say isn't better left unsaid."
"Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis – Cato the Younger (95 – 46 BC)
Cato the Younger, or Cato Minor, is a statesman in the late Roman Republic. He is also a follower and enthusiast of the Stoic philosophy. A valued speaker, he very often displays stubbornness and tenacity, especially in his lengthy conflict with Julius Caesar. Incorruptible attitude, moral integrity and a famous distaste for dishonesty are among his notable features. His epithet “the Younger” distinguishes him from his great-grandfather, Cato the Elder.
At the basis of Cato’s own philosophy lies the value of acting in the name of duty and service, with no regard to the future. He thinks that everybody has to play an active part. However when one is disabled from carrying out the right principles, he has to retire. In politics he abhorres compromise.
He composes no works, therefore leaves to posterity no other instruction than his example. The only composition by him which we possess is a letter to Cicero (“Ad Fam. xv. 5″). It is a polite refusal of the orator’s request that he would work to give him the honour of a triumph. The school of the Stoics, which has a leading part in the history of Rome under the earlier emperors, highly regards Marcus..."
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22/10/2023

/ Friedrich Nietzsche /
"I was in darkness, but I took three steps and found myself in paradise. The first step was good thought; the second, a good word; and the third a good deed."
"Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a German philosopher, cultural critic and philologist whose work has exerted a profound influence on modern intellectual history. He began his career as a classical philologist before turning to philosophy. He became the youngest person ever to hold the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel in 1869 at the age of 24. Nietzsche resigned in 1879 due to health problems that plagued him most of his life; he completed much of his core writing in the following decade. In 1889, at age 45, he suffered a collapse and afterward a complete loss of his mental faculties, with paralysis and probably vascular dementia. He lived his remaining years in the care of his mother until her death in 1897 and then with his sister Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche. Nietzsche died in 1900, after many strokes and pneumonia. Nietzsche's writing spans philosophical polemics, poetry, cultural criticism, and fiction while displaying a fondness for aphorism and irony."
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Born: Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, October 15, 1844, Röcken, Saxony, Prussia, German Confederation
Died: August 25, 1900, Weimar, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Germany
Alma mater: University of Bonn, Leipzig University
Friedrich Nietzsche collection: The Best of Friedrich Nietzsche -
'Thus Spoke Zarathustra'