Quotes by Philosophers - Page 239

The early bird gets the first worm, but the wisest bird gets the fattest one.
Matshona Dhliwayo
It is difficult to fill a broken vessel, and impossible to fill a leaking one.
Matshona Dhliwayo
People only stone a tree that is full of ripe fruit.
Matshona Dhliwayo
A sage is a library whose bookshelves are in his soul.
Matshona Dhliwayo
It is better to be a star for one day than a moon for a lifetime.
Matshona Dhliwayo
In knowledge there is strength, in understanding there is might, and in wisdom there is power.
Matshona Dhliwayo
If a fly lands on your food, do not use a hammer to remove it.
Matshona Dhliwayo
A scholar’s pen is more valuable than a warrior’s sword.
Matshona Dhliwayo
A gardener tending to his flowers is as noble as a warrior battling his opponents.
Matshona Dhliwayo
It is not how fast a tree grows, but how well. It is not how big a fruit is, but how sweet.
Matshona Dhliwayo
One who throws stones at others has less to use to build his own house.
Matshona Dhliwayo
If you teach a wolf how to hunt, it will reward you by devouring you.
Matshona Dhliwayo
The further you venture down a river the bigger the fish.
Matshona Dhliwayo
If you fish without proper bait, you will only catch disappointment.
Matshona Dhliwayo
The elephant is the largest, but not the fiercest. The giraffe is the tallest, but not the strongest. The cheetah is the fastest, but not the wisest. The ant is the smallest, but not the gentlest.
Matshona Dhliwayo
If you swim with sharks, make sure you have the appetite of a whale.
Matshona Dhliwayo
A tree’s nature does not change because the wind blew off a few of its leaves.
Matshona Dhliwayo
To learn how to swim, observe fish; how to hunt, observe lions; how to work, observe bees, and how to live, observe sages.
Matshona Dhliwayo
If you hide honey in the dark, bees will still find it.
Matshona Dhliwayo
If you can't climb a tree, shake it, and its fruit will fall.
Matshona Dhliwayo
A fish is a genius in water, an eagle is a genius in air, a fox is a genius on land, and a sage is a genius in life. 
Matshona Dhliwayo
A wolf's thoughts are seldom far from its appetite.
Matshona Dhliwayo
The hen that lays the most eggs deserves the most food.
Matshona Dhliwayo
The earliest bird gets the worm only if the worm is stupid enough to show up.
Matshona Dhliwayo
An apple only falls far from its tree when carried away by divine winds.
Matshona Dhliwayo
If men could fit water into their pockets, the ocean would be empty.
Matshona Dhliwayo
Be humble to those who praise you, pleasant to those who honor you, kind to those who cherish you, good to those who love you, and generous to those who adore you.
Matshona Dhliwayo
A wolf only attends a rabbit’s funeral to eat its young.
Matshona Dhliwayo
One who wishes to cross the ocean first builds a ship.
Matshona Dhliwayo
Beatings from truth are better than kisses from lies.
Matshona Dhliwayo
A wound won't heal if you keep touching it.
Matshona Dhliwayo
The world’s greatest classroom has no walls: nature.
Matshona Dhliwayo
Ability and necessity dwell near each other.
Pythagoras
Pebbles that bring you joy are better than diamonds that bring you sorrow.
Matshona Dhliwayo
If a lion invites you to dinner, turn down the offer, no matter how hungry you are.
Matshona Dhliwayo
If you waste time watering a fruitless tree, fruitful ones may die of thirst.
Matshona Dhliwayo
A lion's greater talents are revealed in the jungle, not in the circus.
Matshona Dhliwayo
The quickest way to find honey is to follow bees.
Matshona Dhliwayo
A tree's beauty lies in its branches, but its strength lies in its roots.
Matshona Dhliwayo
An original pebble is better than a counterfeit diamond.
Matshona Dhliwayo
If a lion takes its advice from sheep, it will go hungry.
Matshona Dhliwayo
When sheep grow blind, it is only wolves that rejoice.
Matshona Dhliwayo
If you place two flowers in the same vase, they will not argue over who is more beautiful.
Matshona Dhliwayo
A wolf can only curse a lion when surrounded by its peers.
Matshona Dhliwayo
Counting your chickens before they hatch is only wise if God has told you how many will survive.
Matshona Dhliwayo
Many of us fight for and boast our freedom of what is ultimately the ability to prove ourselves to other people. It is unfortunate that only a few of us are so free in our joy, we no longer feel the need to prove ourselves to anyone.
Criss Jami
I won't be stuck in traffic 'til I see how rugged my path isAnd right now I'm loving how fast my troubles are fastingNo they don't bother me oh realizing I'm psychopathicA wild beast, baby I'm gladly running afterYes a thing called peace outlasting any madnessThe devil fears me oh he's feelingLike a fragment of a fractionNo he won't come near me'Cause his hat trick's out of practice
Criss Jami
My contemplation is an excruciation only because it is also a joy.
Simone de Beauvoir
Truth’s nakedness is not concerned with whom it strikes - painfully, or with pleasure; responding appropriately to its ingenuous temperament, however, rewards perceptions of unbiased transparency.
T.F. Hodge
Fresh, solid ideas feel like gifts to writers, therefore every morning is Christmas.
Criss Jami
As a poet there is something about joy I find hard to express, whereas every other emotion is rather simple. For instance, you never feel so bad that you can't describe how bad you feel, but joy on the other hand is far too divine for human language.
Criss Jami
One gains a profoundly personal, selfish joy from the mere existence of the person one loves. It is one’s own personal, selfish happiness that one seeks, earns and derives from love.
Ayn Rand
When my late father died — now I'm in mourning for my late mother — that sense of grief and bereavement suddenly taught me that so many things that I thought were important, externals, etc., all of that is irrelevant. You lose a parent, you suddenly realize what a slender thing life is, how easily you can lose those you love. Then out of that comes a new simplicity and that is why sometimes all the pain and the tears lift you to a much higher and deeper joy when you say to the bad times, "I will not let you go until you bless me.
Jonathan Sacks
And because she worshipped joy, Kira seldom laughed and did not go to see comedies in theaters. And because she felt a profound rebellion against the weighty, the tragic, the solemn, Kira had a solemn reverence for those songs of defiant gaiety.
Ayn Rand
If it be a point of humanity for man to bring health and comfort to man, and especially to mitigate and assuage the grief of others, and by taking from them the sorrow and heaviness of life to restore them to joy, that is to say, to pleasure, why may it not then be said that nature does provoke every man to do the same to himself?
Thomas More
The joy you feel when you become a small life particle sun and share its brightness and warmth with those around you is indescribably great.
Ilchi Lee
When I speak of good hearing, I do not mean listening to others; I mean simply listening to yourself. When I speak of good eyesight, I do not mean looking at others; I mean simply looking at yourself. He who does not look at himself but looks at others, who does not get hold of himself but gets hold of others, is getting what other men have got and failing to get what he himself has got. He finds joy in what brings joy to other men, but finds no joy in what would bring joy to himself.
Zhuangzi
You should find the same joy in one condition as in the other and thereby be free of care, that is all. But now, when the things that happened along take their leave, you cease to be joyful. From this point of view, though you have joy, it will always be fated for destruction.
Zhuangzi
The idea of Zen is to catch life as it flows. There is nothing extraordinary or mysterious about Zen. I raise my hand ; I take a book from the other side of the desk ; I hear the boys playing ball outside my window; I see the clouds blown away beyond the neighbouring wood: — in all these I am practising Zen, I am living Zen. No wordy discussions is necessary, nor any explanation. I do not know why — and there is no need of explaining, but when the sun rises the whole world dances with joy and everybody’s heart is filled with bliss. If Zen is at all conceivable, it must be taken hold of here.
D.T. Suzuki
For the normal man, life is an undisputed reality; only the sick man is delighted by life and praises it so that he won't collapse.
Emil M. Cioran