—IMMANUEL KANT
Study everything, and put intellect first.
—PYTHAGORAS
Do not be afraid of the way your intellect calls into question old stories and legends. The pure intellect cannot destroy anything without replacing it with the truth: this is one of its essential qualities.
December 6
We have misconceptions not because we think illogically but because we live our lives badly.
Ignorance cannot lead to evil, misconceptions lead to evil. It’s not what people do know, it’s what they pretend that they do.
—JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU
Every misconception is a poison: there are no harmless misconceptions.
—ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER
One of the evil properties of man is that he loves only himself and wants goodness only for himself. But woe to him who loves only himself!
—BLAISE PASCAL
The fight between the spiritual and material inner nature goes on in everyone. Thus, all people have misconceptions, and many will always mistake them for the truth.
To feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to visit the ill in the hospital—these are acts of mercy, but there is one charitable deed which cannot be compared to them: to free your brother from misconception.
December 7
Life consists of numerous invisible, imperceptible changes, changes that began at birth and end with death. It is not possible for us humans to observe them all.
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.
—JOHN 12:24-25
Life is changing all the time, and only the ignorant do not look into the depth of things.
—LUCY MALORY
Why are you so afraid of change? Nothing in this world can be done without change. Only one rule should remain constant: do not do anything inhumane to others.
—MARCUS AURELIUS
Everything in this world blooms, grows, and returns to its roots. Returning to one’s roots means becoming united with nature; becoming united with nature involves eternity. The destruction of your body holds no danger in itself.
—LAO-TZU
Death is a change to a form with which our spirit is united. You should not confuse the form with those things with which it is united.
December 8
It seems so easy to fulfill the law of God that is expressed in the Christian teaching, but we are still so far from this fulfillment!
The law of right living is not immediately clear to the wise man, but it becomes much clearer when he follows it. The law of right living is immediately clear to the ordinary person, but it becomes less obvious when he tries to follow it.
—CONFUCIUS
There is only one eternal law. It does not change and it governs all people at all times.
—MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO
December 9
Man’s purpose is to serve all mankind, not to serve only one man while doing harm to others.
For a Christian, the love of one’s motherland can be an obstacle to the love of one’s neighbor.
Lost souls escape their loss of control in patriotism.
—DR. SAMUEL JOHNSON
Patriotism is not a virtue. Sacrificing your life for an institution which embodies prejudice cannot be your duty.
People do many bad things for selfish reasons; they do worse things for their families. But they do the worst in the name of patriotism, and they are made proud by these crimes: spying, unduly heavy tax collecting, sacrificing lives, and waging wars.
Loving your country and loving your family are both virtues that can become vices when they become overwhelming and damage your love for your neighbor.
December 10
One of the worst things possible is to follow the rule: “Be like everyone, follow the crowd.”
Woe to the world because of its stumbling block! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! And if your hand or your foot cause you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than having two hands and two feet, to be cast into the eternal fire.
—MATTHEW 18:7-9
One of the major obstacles impeding any positive future change in our lives is that we are too busy with our current work or activity. Levi quit his tax-work, Peter stopped fishing at a lake, Paul ceased being a priest. They all left their jobs because they thought it was necessary.
—JOHN RUSKIN
If a person’s hand is not damaged, then it can withstand the bite of a poisonous snake. Its poison poses no danger to a healthy hand. Evil is harmless for him who is not an evildoer.
—BUDDHIST WISDOM
False shame is the devil’s favorite emotion; it is even worse than false pride. Pride can support evil, but false shame stops goodness.
—JOHN RUSKIN
There is no evil in the world itself. All evil exists in our souls, and can be destroyed.
December 11
Nothing is more joyful than the labor of a farmer tilling the soil.
The best food is the food you or your children make by yourself.
—MOHAMMED
Those who provide for their own food by themselves deserve more respect than those who claim to be religious.
—The TALMUD
Working on the land and making your own bread isn’t necessary for all people, but no type of work is more important for humanity, and no type of work offers a greater degree of independence and good.
December 12
Kindness defeats everything and can never be defeated.
You can stand firm in a fight against everything except kindness.
—JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU
It is not the blaming of evil but the glorifying of goodness that creates harmony in our life.
—LUCY MALORY
If a good action has an ulterior cause, then it is not truly good. If it expects reward, it is not truly good. Good things are beyond reason and consequence.
In the same way that fireworks and torches cannot be seen in the light of the sun, the best intellect and the greatest beauty cannot be seen in the light of the kindness of a single heart.
—ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER
The most tender plants can push their way through the hardest rocks, and it is the same with kindness. Nothing can stop a truly kind and sincere person.
—HENRY DAVID THOREAU
The person does not exist to whom you cannot do good.
—Lucius ANNAEUS SENECA
We do good to people not in hope of reward, but because we see the divine spirit within everyone.
The best and easiest way to thwart evil in this world is to respond to it with kind words, return an evil action with good.
December 13
True faith is faith only if the actions of your life are in harmony with it and never contradict it.
During the day you should behave in such a way that you can sleep at night in peace; and in your youth you should behave in such a way that you can live in your old age in peace.
—INDIAN PROVERB
Those who have weak faith themselves cannot arouse faith in others.
—LAO-Tzu
Those who give second place to God in their hearts do not give Him a place at all.