PEARLS OF WISDOM AND INSPIRATION: Life, Happiness, Beliefs, Character, Knowledge, Achievemement, Success, Leadership, Problem Solving

Pearls of Wisdom and Inspiration

East & West

Compiled by Anastasia Bibikova and Vadim Kotelnikov

EAST*

WEST

Life

The very purpose of our life is to seek happiness through training the mind. – Dalai Lama
We live in the world when we love it. – Rabindranath Tagore
Life is really simple, but men insist on making it complicated. – Confucius

Life is a tragedy for those who feel, and a comedy for those who think. – Jean de la Bruyere
Life is like an onion: you peel off layer after layer and then you find there is nothing in it. – J.G. Hunekar
I don't want to achieve immortality through my work... I want to achieve it through not dying. – Woody Allen

To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind. – Buddha
They must often change who would be constant in happiness or wisdom. – Confucius
Happiness is a continuous creative activity. – Baba Amte

Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort. – Franklin D. Roosevelt
Always leave something to wish for; otherwise you will be miserable from your very happiness. – Gracian Baltasar
There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. – William Shakespeare

To be able under all circumstances to practice five things constitutes perfect virtue; these five things are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness and kindness. – Confucius
We believe in self creation. That's why Buddhists believe in the Four Noble Truths. – Dalai Lama
To achieve self-liberation and nirvana you need to perform your duties without expecting any reward for it. – Hinduism

Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. – Jesus Christ
Refrain from doing ill; for one all powerful reason, lest our children should copy our misdeeds. – Juvenal
There is no real excellence in all this world which can be separated from right living. – David Starr Jordan

Vain indeed is all overweening pride in the conquest even of the entire universe if one has not conquered one's own passions. – Sri Aurobindo
Conduct yourself in this world, as if you are here to stay forever; prepare for eternity as if you have to die tomorrow. – Muhammad
He who merely knows right principles is not equal to him who loves them. – Confucius

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. – Aristotle
Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones. – Churchill, Winston
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but were he stands at times of challenge and controversy. – Marin Luter King

For knowledge add a little every day, for wisdom erase a little every day. – Lao Tzu
Real knowledge is to know the extent of ones ignorance. – Confucius
We begin to ask questions, such as: "What is the purpose of life? What is my true nature? What is the source and origin of this entire creation?" When questions of this kind arise in a person's mind, his or her quest for knowledge begins. – Swami Tejomayananda

Every man is a fool for at least five minutes every day; wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit. – Elber Hubbard
The most important thing in terms of your circle of competence is not how large the area of it is, but how well you've defined the perimeter. – Warren Buffett
Super-competence is more objectionable than incompetence. – Peter's Observation, Murphy's Law

Achievement, Winning, Fulfillment

Though he should conquer a thousand men in the battlefield a thousand times, yet he, indeed, who would conquer himself is the noblest victor. – Buddha
He who conquers others is strong; he who conquers himself is mighty. – Lao Tzu
The most excellent Jihad is that for the conquest of self. – Muhammad

He who rules his spirit has won a greater victory than the taking of a city.– Jesus Christ
Carry the battle to them. Don't let them bring it to you. Put them on the defensive. And don't ever apologize for anything. – Harry S. Truman
The roots of true achievement lie in the will to become the best that you can become. – Harold Taylor
For unflagging interest and enjoyment, a household of children, if things go reasonably well, certainly all other forms of success and achievement lose their importance by comparison. – Theodore Roosevelt

If you really want everything, then give up everything. – Lao Tzu
He is able who thinks he is able. – Buddha
By touching you may kill, by keeping away you may possess. – Rabindranath Tagore

The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn't like to do. – Edison, Thomas
Even if at first you do succeed, you will still have to work hard to stay there. – Richard C. Miller
Fail often to succeed sooner.– Tom Kelley

Desires are the cause suffering. If desire, which lies at the route of all human passion, can be removed, then passion will die out and all human suffering will be ended. – Buddhism
He who wants to do good knocks at the gate; he who loves finds the gate open. – Rabindranath Tagore
Everything will settle in its own place automatically. – Lao Tzu

For every thousand hacking at the leaves of evil, there is one striking at the root. – Henry David Thoreau
When the solution is simple, God is answering. - Albert Einstein
Problems are just opportunities in their work clothes. - Henry Kaisers

When Master rules, people cannot make note of his existence. – Lao Tzu
We have to be the change we want in the world. – Mahatma Gandhi
To govern is to be correct. If you set an example by being correct, who would dare remain incorrect? – Confucius

Leadership is done from in front. Never ask others to do what you, if challenged, would not be willing to do yourself. – Xenophon
No person can be a great leader unless he takes genuine joy in the success of those under him. – W.A. Nanc
Don't be afraid to challenge the pros, even in their own backyard. If you have a yes-man working for you, one of you is redundant. – Colin Powell