Western Wisdom Quotes

Free trade holds much of the blame for continued international conflict. Markets are said to possess wisdom that is somehow superior to man. Those of us in business who travel in the developing world see the results of such western wisdom and have a rumbling disquiet about much of what our economic institutions have bought into. ~ Anita Roddick

If he closes his eyes he sees the streets of Asia full of fire. It rolls across cities like a burst map, the hurricane of heat withering bodies as it meets them, the shadow of humans suddenly in the air. This tremor of Western wisdom. ~ Michael Ondaatje

If someone says, "You can make it!" down a vertical mountain when you don't ski very well, think about it before launching. This can be a turning point in your life. It sure was in mine when I slammed into the mountain.
I wish I'd said, "F'getabout it, sucka," and gone to the Kiddie Corral. Would have saved a lot of pain and surgery.
Think about this. What are you really up for? Is the thrill worth the cost? ~ Sandy Nathan

Letter to the tech giants:

When fame and abundance kiss somebody's feet before that person is wise enough, he or she is very likely to lose track of what's necessity and what's luxury. And modern society is filled with examples of such intelligent stupidity – stupidity that is carried out by apparently smart humans. Because being smart is not the same as being wise. The world has enough smartness, but not enough wisdom to bring that smartness into proper productive practice – and I mean productive practice not sophisticated practice – there is a difference. A person smart enough to visualize a Falcon rocket engine can easily pinpoint the locations of various organizations that spread terrorism, yet the person chooses to explore the space further instead of prioritizing the technological advantages to first fix real issues of the human society that inflict harm to the humans every walk of the way.
The world is a miserable place not because we have lack of resources, but because those who have an abundance of resources do not have the slightest idea of true human need. The resources needed for colonizing Mars if put to proper practice can fix the world's global warming issues – it can fix the world's climate change issues – it can fix the world's terrorism issues, yet people are more interested in the pompous idea of living in Mars for whatever reason, instead of paying attention to improving human condition on earth. I am not against technological advancement, ~ Abhijit Naskar

The reality is that every time we manipulate nature's rhythms, we create unintended consequences that then require us to make still further changes."

~ Glenn Aparicio Parry ~ Glenn Aparicio Parry

The attempt to combine wisdom and power has only rarely been successful and then only for a short while. ~ Albert Einstein

The light teaches you to convert life into a festive promenade. ~ Dejan Stojanovic

When one practices discipline and moves from the beginner's territory to immovable wisdom, one makes a return and falls back to the level of the beginner. ~ Takuan Soho

To understand the song of life, listen to the melody of wind and ocean and watch the dance of waves and water. ~ Debasish Mridha

Wisdom cannot be directly transmitted, and does not readily accumulate through the ages. ~ Edwin Powell Hubble

The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our separate ways, I to die, and you to live. Which of these two is better only God knows. ~ Socrates

We are lucky because we still have a magnificent temple called nature where we can find peace of mind in it! ~ Mehmet Murat Ildan

... And when the time comes to choose yet another dream, I shall smile knowing that I had a life with no less challenges than others, but I chose to respond to them with love. ~ Raphael Zernoff

V has finally learned that sitting calm within herself and waiting is often the best choice. And even when it's not, those around you become uncomfortable because they think you are wise. ~ Charles Frazier

To be a true success, you must prepare yourself for an ocassional failure to gain experience and wisdom. ~ Debasish Mridha

The future is terrifying because it's full of stuff, not because it's empty. ~ Alexis Hall

Unity is the intentional inclination to corporately control our destination. In other words, achieving the dream takes a team! ~ DeWayne Owens

Knowing the truth is so minuscule compared to having the nerve to say it ... and even more to live it. ~ Criss Jami

With wisdom all choices are made with Divine Intent. With compassion all choices are made with Love. Divine Inspiration comes through the heart. Through the mind comes the ability to manifest the inspiration in the physical. ~ Sharon Ellis

The idea of the universe as an interconnected whole is not new; for millennia it's been one of the core assumptions of Eastern philosophies. What is new is that Western science is slowly beginning to realize that some elements of that ancient lore might be correct. ~ Dean Radin

...life's about accumulating wrinkles, deep as rivers and as wide as is needed to travel along their path, so that by the time you're ready to die, your life can be read. ~ Liam Howley

We think that maybe feminism isn't appropriate anymore, since Western women have really made enormous strides. But check out the rest of the world if you'd like to not be able to sleep tonight. ~ Elizabeth Lesser

But only a few have the will -- be it born of courage or recklessness, folly or sublime wisdom -- to act and, by their action, transform themselves. They will pay for their courage, of course; the world does not treat its "others" lightly. But so will the rest of us -- the ones who love them -- haunted as we are by our envy of their bright, burning beauty, which we can bear neither to look at nor to turn away from. ~ Ed Tarkington

Life is about accumulating a group of stories so rich and interesting that they'll serve you well beyond the time that whatever career you have has ended. That's what this day-to-day shit is really about. The accumulation of amazing stories and having the bruises to show for them. ~ Jason Myers

Life is a sacred bliss. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

At times anger will trigger harsh words. After a cooling period wisdom sets in; finally, the ability to speak from the heart with love and compassion. ~ Ana Monnar

You are put on this earth to fulfill your purpose and that is to love, live, serve, share, care, and be happy on the way of life. ~ Debasish Mridha

Take the wheat, not the measure in which it is contained ~ Idries Shah

Abundance of knowledge does not teach men to be wise. ~ Heraclitus

You are always self-employed. You are always the president of your own personal services corporation, no matter where you might be working at the moment. When you see yourself as self-employed, you develop the entrepreneur mentality. The mentality of the highly independent, self-responsible, self-starting individual. Instead of waiting for things to happen, you make things happen. You see yourself as the boss of your own life. You see yourself as completely in charge of your physical health, your financial well-being, your career, your relationships, your home, your car, and every element of your existence. This is the mindset of the truly excellent person. ~ Brian Tracy

I'm among the first girls ever to play Little League baseball, and to my knowledge, the very first in western Illinois. It was 1976, and I was a nine-year-old tomboy whose older brothers had played. ~ Therese Fowler

Forget the mediocrity, live an extraordinary life. ~ Debasish Mridha

All times are connected; past, present and future. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

And the big question for the West, of course, and to the Europeans is, what other countries, which were formerly part of the Soviet bloc, should be incorporated into western institutions? ~ Samuel P. Huntington

At times we must forgive others even when they don't deserve it. We forgive them because we deserve it. Free yourself. ~ DeWayne Owens

[Europe has] this tradition of self revelation in popular music. We have it here - it's called Country Western Music ... I think that's where the deeper and more complex subjects are treated. ~ Leonard Cohen

What people these days call "Vibes" is a smell, a taste of the soul. ~ Saroj Aryal

Religion is a language, if you can speak it, it's a bridge, if not, then it's a barrier. ~ Abhijit Naskar

I'll suggest that the happiness hypothesis offered by Buddha and the Stoics should be amended: Happiness comes from within, and happiness comes from without. We need the guidance of both ancient wisdom and modern science to get the balance right. ~ Jonathan Haidt

Today, when we live in a what is called Western democracy here ... you're not taken seriously all the time. You can write what you want because nobody cares about it. But at that time, they cared very much about what you wrote, so that's an entirely different feeling. ~ Stefan Heym

Love everyone before judging them. ~ Debasish Mridha

She was sitting up. She lifted and pulled at her blankets, but it was gone. The hippopotamus of wisdom was nowhere in sight. ~ Christopher Bram

Neither compares nor competes. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

Hear others, and you will be heard.
Understand others, and you will be understood.
Help others, and you be will be helped.
Love others, and you will be loved. ~ Matshona Dhliwayo

Sociologists argue that in contemporary Western society the marketplace has become so dominant that the consumer model increasingly characterizes most relationships that historically were covenantal, including marriage. Today we stay connected to people only as long as they are meeting our particular needs at an acceptable cost to us. When we cease to make a profit - that is, when the relationship appears to require more love and affirmation from us than we are getting back - then we "cut our loses" and drop the relationship. This has also been called "commodification," a process by which social relationships are reduced to economic exchange relationships, and so the very idea of "covenant" is disappearing in our culture. Covenant is therefore a concept increasingly foreign to us, and yet the Bible says it is the essence of marriage. ~ Timothy Keller

Where can we find greater structural clarity than in the wooden buildings of old? Where else can we find such unity of material, construction and form? here, the wisdom of whole generations is stored. ~ Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe

Adventure is not outside man; it is within. ~ George Eliot

A rich person who has no love in his heart is poorer than a poor person who has no money in his pocket. ~ Debasish Mridha

The fact was, as a story - even leaving out the supernatural, especially leaving out the supernatural, taking it all as metaphor, I mean - the Bible made perfect sense to me from the very beginning. I saw a God whose nature was creative love. He made man in his own image for the purpose of forming new and free relationships with him. But in his freedom, man turned away from that relationship to consult his own wisdom and desires. The knowledge of good and evil was not some top-secret catalogue of nice and naughty acts that popped into Eve's mind when a talking snake got her to eat the magic fruit. The knowledge was built into the action of disobedience itself: it's what she learned when she overruled the moral law God had placed within her. There was no going back from that. The original sin poisoned all history. History's murders, rapes, wars, oppressions, and injustices are now the inescapable plot of the story we're in. The ~ Andrew Klavan

Decision power is knowledge-based, wisdom-driven and character-oriented. ~ Pearl Zhu

Jesus, the son of Mary, peace be upon them, was accustomed to say, "O my God, surely I have entered into the morning unable to neither forestall what I fear nor hasten what I hope for. The whole affair is in another's hand. I have arisen bound to my deeds. There is no one poorer than me. Do not make me the cause of my enemies being cursed, nor make me the reason any harm should come to a friend. Do not place tribulation in my spiritual path, nor empower anyone over me who shows me no mercy."

"Walk on Water: The Wisdom of Jesus"
From Traditional Arabic sources, translated by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf. ~ Ibn Abī Al-Dunyā