Forbearance

“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness."

No nation was ever so virtuous as each believes itself, and none was ever so wicked as each believes the other.

"The new year begins in a snow-storm of white vows. "

If a person, whether your friend or not, fails in his attempt and your heart is wide enough to clap at his effort, only then you have a human heart in the real sense. Many people feel happy at others' failure, out of jealousy.

If your neighbor falls ill and you feel the pain, if any of your known people is in trouble or misery and your heart aches, only then you have a human heart in the real sense.

What you believe in is what you become.

How rare it is to find a soul quiet enough to hear God speak. ( François Fénelon )

Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.

Everywhere we look, ideology slouches along the freeways and autoroutes, sometimes carrying a cross, sometimes a sickle, sometimes a crescent, but always busy doing somebody in somewhere, somehow.

“There is a teasing irony: we spend our lives evading our own redemption. And this is naturally so because something in us knows that to be fully human we must experience pain and loss. Therefore, we are at ceaseless effort to elude this high cost, whatever the cost, until at last it overtakes us. And then in spite of ourselves we do realize our humanity. We are put in worthier possession of our souls. Then we look back and know that even our grief contained our blessing.”

“I tell you, one must have chaos in one to give birth to a dancing star.”

“A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has never overcome them.”

“If people can be open-minded and magnanimous, be receptive to all, take pity on the poor and the old, assist those in peril and rescue those in trouble, give of themselves without seeking reward, never bear grudges, look upon others and self impartially, and realize all as one, then people can be companions of heaven. If people can be flexible and yielding, humble, with self-control, entirely free of agitation, cleared out all volatility, not angered by criticism, ignoring insult, docilely accepting all hardships, illnesses, and natural disasters, utterly without anxiety or resentment when faced with danger or adversity, then people can be companions of the earth. With the nobility of heaven and the humility of earth, one joins in with the attributes of heaven and earth and extends to eternity with them.”

“First they ignore us, then they laugh at us, then they attack us- then we win.”

“God enters through the wound.”

“The discipline of suffering, of great suffering- do you not know that only this discipline has created all enhancements of man so far? That tension of the soul in unhappiness which cultivates its strength, its shudders face to face with great ruin, its inventiveness and courage in enduring, preserving, interpreting, and exploiting suffering, and whatever has been granted to it of profundity, secret, mask, spirit, cunning, greatness- was it not granted to it through suffering, through the discipline of great suffering?”

“The more we know, the more pain we have. But because we are human beings, this must be. Otherwise we become objects rather than subjects.”

Democracy destroys itself because it abuses its right to freedom and equality. Because it teaches its citizens to consider audacity as a right, lawlessness as a freedom, abrasive speech as equality, and anarchy as progress.

You need only claim the events of your life to make yourself yours. When you truly possess all you have been and done, which may take some time, you are fierce with reality.

"We must use that gift wisely, our power to change what we touch. The problem therein; destruction is far too easy whereas in direct contrast, creation takes far too long."

Every major horror of history was committed in the name of an altruistic motive.

Oh, it is excellent to have a giant's strength; but it is tyrannous to use it like a giant.

O FRIEND! In the garden of thy heart plant naught but the rose of love, and from the nightingale of affection and desire loosen not thy hold. Treasure the companionship of the righteous and eschew all fellowship with the ungodly.

"...religion must be the cause of unity, harmony and agreement among mankind. If it be the cause of discourd and hostility, if it leads to separation and creates conflict, the absence of religion would be preferable in the world...

Each one of us here today will, at one time in our lives look upon a loved one who is in need and ask the same question. "We are willing to help, Lord, but what, if anything, is needed?" It is true we can seldom help those closest to us. Either we don't know what part of ourselves to give or more often than not, the part we have to give is not wanted. And so it is those we live with and should know who elude us, but we can still love them. We can love completely, without complete understanding.

The serenity of mind, gentleness, silence, self-restraint, and the purity of mind are called the austerity of thought.

Just because something is true doesn't mean you have to say it.

The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers. Martin Luther King Jr., 'Strength to Love,' 1963

Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind

Forgiveness demands not Justice and Justice demands not Forgiveness.

The most difficult thing in the world is to know how to do a thing and silently watch someone else do it wrong.

I have learned through bitter experience the one supreme lesson: to conserve my anger, and as heat conserved is transmitted into energy, even so our anger controlled can be transmitted into a power...

No wind, no waves.

We are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out.

If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man's life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.

When we think carefully, we see that the brief elation we experience when appeasing sensual impulses may not be very different from what the drug addict feels when indulging his or her habit. Temporary relief is soon followed by a craving for more. And in just the same way that taking drugs in the end only causes trouble, so, too, does much of what we undertake to fulfill our immediate sensory desires.

Anybody can become angry, that is easy; but to be angry with the right person, and to the right degree, and at the right time, and for the right purpose, and in the right way, that is not within everybody's power, that is not easy.

Hold no man responsible for what he says in his grief.

Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.

Forbearance is the greatest virtue. Cover the blemishes, faults and weaknesses of others. Excuse their feelings, buiry their weakness in silence . . . and forgive.

Anyone who has the power to make you believe absurdities has the power to make you commit injustices.

Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.

How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.

The best way of avenging yourself is not to become like the wrongdoer.

Never answer a critic, unless he's right.

The highest proof of virtue is to possess boundless power without abusing it.

I think the first virtue is to restrain the tongue; he approaches nearest to gods who knows how to be silent, even though he is in the right.

That one I love who is incapable of ill will, and returns love for hatred. Living beyond the reach of I and mind, and of pain and pleasure, full of mercy, contented, self-controlled, with all his heart and all his mind given to Me -- with such a one I am in love.

Prudent, cautious self-control, is wisdom's root.

The basic difference between being assertive and being aggressive is how our words and behavior affect the rights and well being of others.