Wisdom Quotes - Page 16

Dear young woman, do not place your sense of beauty and self worth, upon the plastic pedestal called "what other people say to you", "what other people think about your photo", "how many 'likes' your pictures get", "how many guys tell you that you look sexy", "how skinny can you be?". A plastic pedestal that is but the dismal shadow of the real one. Dear young woman, place your sense of self worth and beauty upon the Roman marble pedestal that will exist even when all other people are no longer there. If you were the very last person on this planet, you should still be able to know within your heart that you are worthy, you are beautiful, you are wanted. Even if you become the very last person on Earth, you should be fully wanted. Want yourself. Know yourself. See yourself as beautiful, see yourself as worthy.

If we are stretching to live wiser and not just smarter, we will aspire to learn what love means, how it arises and deepens, how it withers and revives, what it looks like as a private good but also a common good. I long to make this word echo differently in hearts and ears—not less complicated, but differently so. Love as muscular, resilient. Love as social—not just about how we are intimately, but how we are together, in public. I want to aspire to a carnal practical love—eros become civic, not sexual and yet passionate, full-bodied. Because it is the best of which we are capable, loving is also supremely exacting, not always but again and again. Love is something we only master in moments.

In Egyptian Arabic, the word 'insan' means 'human'. If we remove the 'n', the word becomes 'insa', which means 'to forget'. So you see, the word 'forget' is taken from the word 'human'. And since it was God who created our minds and hearts, He knew from the very beginning that we would quickly forget our history, only to keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again. So the ultimate test of every human is to seek wisdom. After all, wisdom is gained from having a good memory. Only after we have passed this test will we evolve to become better humans. Man is only a forgetful mortal, but God — He sees, hears and remembers everything.

Who we are is who we ACTUALLY are. It's never who we create in order for people to see. You might really hate who you actually are, so then you create a sub-genus type of yourself for other people to see. But that never changes who you are. The sub-genus type won't change your genus. The only way we change who we are is by looking at ourselves in the mirror long enough to make us vomit over our disgusting waywardness and long enough to fall in love with our strengths. But you can't just fall in love with your strengths. You also need to vomit over your hypocrisies and all of your other bullshit. And you can't just vomit, either. You also have to clean it up and embrace yourself afterwards. This is how you change your genus.

Whatever you do, let it be lovely.

Not every woman has a Boaz in her life. Sometimes the male voices we hear are cautioning us to hold back instead of urging us to serve God wholeheartedly with them. Sometimes the cautioning voices we hear belong to other women. Sometimes those who have the power to facilitate our callings and clear a path for us set up roadblocks instead. Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz remind us powerfully that even in a dark era like the days of the judges, God always has his people and the Blessed Alliance is still alive and well. He is working in our hearts, summoning us to be strong and courageous like Ruth - to embrace and embody his gospel on our 'bit of earth.

Carolyn Custis James

The darkest part of the storm paints the brightest part of the rainbow.

Matshona Dhliwayo

A book is the only vehicle that can take you around the world in one hour.

Matshona Dhliwayo

Yesterday, I was clever, I wanted to be rich. Today, I am wise, I want to be happy.

Matshona Dhliwayo

If you have the power to put a smile on one person’s face, you have the power to change the world.

Matshona Dhliwayo

A rose does not answer its enemies with words, but with beauty.

Matshona Dhliwayo

Darkness is a prison from which only light escapes.

Matshona Dhliwayo

If the grass is greener on the other side, try planting better seeds.

Matshona Dhliwayo

An Oak tree is a daily reminder that great things often have small beginnings.

Matshona Dhliwayo

It is in the roots, not the branches, that a tree’s greatest strength lies.

Matshona Dhliwayo

The early bird gets the first worm, but the wisest bird gets the fastest one.

Matshona Dhliwayo

There are three things that a beggar and a rich person share every day: the sun, the moon, and the stars.

Matshona Dhliwayo

One who fishes in shallow waters limits the kind of fish he can catch.

Matshona Dhliwayo

Helping yourself is common sense, helping others is virtue, helping yourself and others is enlightenment.

Matshona Dhliwayo

If beautiful lilies bloom in ugly waters, you too can blossom in ugly situations.

Matshona Dhliwayo

A lion conquers more in one day than a sheep in a lifetime.

Matshona Dhliwayo

When you count your blessings, count life twice.

Matshona Dhliwayo

Life is like that...sometimes you have to peel off the bitterness in order to get to the part that is sweet.

Don’t waste time watering a weed hoping to transform it into a flower.

Matshona Dhliwayo

If you want to shine, sit before a lamp; if you want to shine brighter, sit before a fire; but if you want to shine the brightest, sit before a sage.

Matshona Dhliwayo

Ignorance is your opponent, fear is your enemy, vice is your adversary, virtue is your friend, and wisdom is your helper.

Matshona Dhliwayo

Be happy when you work, thankful when you earn, cautious when you spend, shrewd when you save, and charitable when you give.

Matshona Dhliwayo

One who thinks for himself is a threat to his enemies, a refuge to his acquaintances, a prize to his friends, and a gift to the world.

Matshona Dhliwayo

If you have the power to think, you have the power to change your world.

Matshona Dhliwayo

If birds sing without worrying about who is listening to them, and monkeys dance without worrying about who is watching them, and hyenas laugh without worrying about who is mocking them, then you too must do what you do best without worrying about who is ridiculing you.

Matshona Dhliwayo

One good friend is better than a thousand acquaintances.

Matshona Dhliwayo

Listen to all, believe few, count on some, but trust none.

Matshona Dhliwayo

Faith moves mountains, intelligence goes over them, wisdom goes around them, but love levels them.

Matshona Dhliwayo

Be merry, because it confuses your enemies; happy, because it annoys them; cheerful, because it angers them; and joyful, because it kills them.

Matshona Dhliwayo

The early bird gets the worm, and the early fox gets the bird.

Matshona Dhliwayo

The worm’s bad luck is the bird’s good fortune.

Matshona Dhliwayo

If you pour more water into a river, it will not drown the fish.

Matshona Dhliwayo

If bees only gathered nectar from perfect flowers, they wouldn’t be able to make even a single drop of honey.

Matshona Dhliwayo

Yesterday says, “Forget me, but learn from me.” Today says, “Embrace me, yet utilize me.”Tomorrow says, “Anticipate me, then prepare for me.

Matshona Dhliwayo

Life is short, death is long, days are narrow, and years are wide.

Matshona Dhliwayo

Knowledge gives you the world, intelligence gives you the sky, understanding gives you the stars, but wisdom gives you the universe.

Matshona Dhliwayo

The past is your teacher. The present is your opportunity. The future is your reward.

Matshona Dhliwayo

What you think is a seed, what you say is the bud, and what you do is the fruit.

Matshona Dhliwayo

Only dead leaves allow the wind to blow them to and fro.

Matshona Dhliwayo

Wine had to be grapes first. Diamonds had to be rocks first. Butterflies had to be caterpillars first. Rainbows had to be storms first.

Matshona Dhliwayo

A bird will only fall from the sky when it stops believing in its ability to fly, and a fish will only drown in water when it stops believing in its ability to swim.

Matshona Dhliwayo

They know your face, but not your mind.They understand your words, but not your heart.They hear your name, but not your soul.They grasp your past, but not your future.

Matshona Dhliwayo

A flower in a desert still has no reason to envy a thorn in a rainforest.

Matshona Dhliwayo

Learn from a river; obstacles may force it to change its course, but never its destination.

Matshona Dhliwayo

One who is not afraid to die lives, and one who is afraid to live dies.

Matshona Dhliwayo

If you live in the desert, view the sun not as your enemy, but as your friend. If you live in the wilderness, view nature not as your adversary, but as your companion.

Matshona Dhliwayo

If the sky had no tears, the world would have no rainbows.

Matshona Dhliwayo

Learn from acquaintances, and you are clever; from friends, and you are intelligent; from enemies, and you are shrewd; but learn from all, and you are wise.

Matshona Dhliwayo

At ten, you are foolish. At twenty, you are naive. At thirty, you are alert. At forty, you are experienced. At fifty, you are wise.

Matshona Dhliwayo

Planting your own garden is better than waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

Matshona Dhliwayo

A shrub that bears fruit deserves to be watered more than a tree that does not.

Matshona Dhliwayo

Time is your acquaintance, life is your friend, death is your enemy, and existence is your soulmate.

Matshona Dhliwayo

If the world gives you a thousand reasons to cry, find a thousand and one reasons to smile.

Matshona Dhliwayo

A bird that sings too much will only lose its voice, but a bird that does not sing at all will lose its symphonies.

Matshona Dhliwayo

Your mind has the intellect to lift the world,your heart has the wisdom to better the world, and your soul has the genius to elevate the world.

Matshona Dhliwayo

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