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Wisdom Quotes Homepage
Wisdom Quotes from Wise Men & Women To Impart Knowledge
& Deepen Understanding In All Arenas of Life - Page 2
Commentary © 2007 Richard J. Chandler & Bonnett Chandler
Creativity described by the founder of the ‘Innovation Network’ and author of ‘Mindmapping, Your Personal Guide to Exploring Creativity and Problem-Solving’…
“One purpose of life is to discover who we are. Finding out who we are, though, is not as easy as it would seem. We are so much a part of the group that we have to listen very closely to discover our inner self… what our uniqueness is. It is when we finally hear the truth of ourselves that we discover our own creativity. This process of self-discovery is as important as the possible products of that discovery.”
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John Locke, a physician and philosopher whose writings significantly influenced the founding fathers of the United States, states a truth which many agree with, and few refrain from acting upon as he described.
“New opinions are always suspected, and usually opposed, without any other reason but because they are not already common.”
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Descartes has been referred to as the father of modern philosophy as well as the father of modern mathematics. His most famous quotation is: Cogito ergo sum - French: Je pense, donc je suis; English - I think, therefore I am. One way in which we can understand the insidiousness of prejudice is to see it as subconscious programming, absorbed at an early, impressionable age.
“The chief cause of human errors is to be found in the prejudices picked up in childhood.”
- Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
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To Reinhold Niebuhr’s measure of rationality we might add equal measures of unbiased inquiry and equanimity... as rationality, by itself, may not be enough.
“The measure of our rationality determines the degree of vividness with which we appreciate the needs of other life, the extent to which we become conscious of the real character of our own motives and impulses, the ability to harmonize conflicting impulses in our own life and in society, and the capacity to choose adequate means for approved ends.”
- Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971)
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Francis Bacon has been credited as the first English essayist and the man who laid the philosophical framework of scientific inquiry as a methodology for discovering truth.
“If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties.”
- Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
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The hardest part for me, when trying to follow the counsel of Mr. Smith, is to gain enough clarity on the nature of the discontent, and to be emotionally cooled down, so a productive “frank explanation” will ensue.
“I am for frank explanations with friends in cases of affronts. They sometimes save a perishing friendship, and even place it on firmer basis than at first, but secret discontent must always end badly.”
- Sidney Smith (1771–1845)
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This brilliant and prolific writer, teacher, philosopher and psychologist felt that an open mind coupled with pragmatic methodology made discovery of truth more certain.
“A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.”
- William James (1842-1910)
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From Erich Fromm, the deeply influential psychological and philosophical writer, teacher and practicing psychologist…
“Who will tell whether one happy moment of love, or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air, is not worth all the suffering and effort which life implies?”
- Erich Fromm (1900-1980)
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Like most all of the truly paramount aspects of our lives, we have found that this one is best practiced on a daily basis…
"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person."
- Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983)
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