Perhaps it is even more important to know what one should not think about than what one should think about.
Our thoughts, depending on whether they are good or bad, can bring us either to paradise or to hell; this happens, neither in heaven nor under the earth, but here, in this life.
—LUCY MALORY
A thought seems to be free and independent, but a human being has something stronger than thought, something which could guide our thoughts.
In order to change the nature of things, either within yourself or in others, one should change, not the events, but those thoughts which created those events.
February 6
Sexual desire is the most all-consuming of desires. This desire is never sated, for the more it is satisfied, the more it grows.
Very often people are made proud by their control over their own desires, and by the force and passion with which they master them. What a strange delusion!
Many people worry, and suffer, because they have been involved in so many bad things in their lives. In truth, though, good things often happen in spite of our wishes, and sometimes even in opposition to our wishes, and often after our excitement and suffering over unworthy things.
Remember how passionately you yearned in the past for many of the things which you hate or despise now.
Remember how many things you lost trying to satisfy your former desires. The same thing could happen now, with the desires which excite you at present. Try to tame your present desires, calm them; this is most beneficial, and most achievable.
February 7
Perfecting the self is both an inner and an outer work: You cannot improve yourself without communicating with other people, influencing them, and being influenced by them.
Three temptations torture people: sexual desire, pride, and lust for wealth. All the misfortunes of mankind come from these three cravings. Without them, people would live in happiness. But how can we get rid of these terrible illnesses? … Work on yourself and improve yourself; this is the answer. Start the improvement of this world from within.
—F. ROBERT DE LAMENNAIS
“Be perfect, as your heavenly Father,” Christ said. This does not mean that Christ asked people to be as good as God; only that everyone should strive for perfection.
Pure perfection can be found only in God; one’s life consists of becoming closer to God. And when a person knows that good is good and that evil is evil, then he or she gets closer to good, and moves farther from evil.
—CONFUCIUS
There is nothing more harmful to you than improving only your material, animal side of life. There is nothing more beneficial, both for you and for others, than activity directed to the improvement of your soul.
February 8
Why do people like to blame others so much? He who casts blame on another person is quick to think that he would not do the very same thing. It is the same with people who like to listen to the fault-finding of their neighbors.
When two people have a dispute, both are to blame. And therefore, a dispute will stop only when at least one person understands that he or she is guilty.
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
—MATTHEW 7:1-2
Stop blaming other people, and you will feel what an alcoholic feels when he stops drinking, or what a smoker feels when he stops smoking. You will feel that you have brought relief to your soul.
February 9
The material evil caused by war is big, but it is incomparably small in comparison with the perversion or the understanding of good and bad which happens during the war, and which is put into the souls of people who do not think.
A child meets another child with a smile, displaying his friendly attitude and joy. This same behavior lives in all sincere people. But very often, a man from one nation already hates a man from another nation, and is ready to cause him sufferings and even death, even before he meets him. Those who create these feelings in nations commit a terrible crime!
The most powerful weapon known is the weapon of blessing. Therefore, a clever person relies on it. He wins with peace, not with war.
—LAO-TZU
War creates a state in which power and glory is at the end too often received by the most undeserving and vicious people.
February 10
The higher the opinion a person has of himself, the more unstable is his position; the lower he moves in his selfesteem, the firmer he stands.
To be strong, you have to be like water: if there are no obstacles, it flows; if there is an obstacle it stops; if a dam is broken, then it flows further; if a vessel is square, then it has a square form; if a vessel is round, then it has a round form. Because it is so soft and flexible, it is the most necessary and the strongest thing.
—LAO-TZU
The more a person analyzes his inner self, the more insignificant he seems to himself. This is the first lesson of wisdom. Let us be humble, and we will become wise. Let us know our weakness, and it will give us power.
—WILLIAM ELLERY CHANNING
Water does not stay on a mountaintop, but flows into the valley. In the same manner, real virtue does not remain with those people who want to be higher than the others; but virtue stays only with people who are humble.
—After the TALMUD
Try to find out your potential. After you know it, do not be afraid to underestimate it. Be cautious not to exaggerate it.
February 11
A person’s life is good only to the extent that it fulfills the expectations of the will of God.
Evil, in the form of suffering and death, is everywhere apparent to a person who accepts the law of his material, animal existence as the major law of his life. Only when a man lowers himself to the state of an animal does death and suffering scare him. The only road open for him to escape that fear is the road of fulfillment of the law of God, the law which is expressed in love. There is no death and no suffering for a man who lives according to the law of God.
Be as you are, as you have to be, and the rest is God’s business.
—HENRI AMIEL
The fulfillment of our duties and the satisfaction of our personal pleasures are two different things. Duties have their own laws, and even if we try to mix our duties with our pleasures, they will separate themselves.
—After IMMANUEL KANT
We know the law of God, both as it is presented to us by the different religions of the world and as our own conscience, when it is not obscured by passion and prejudice, and we can easily understand the applications of this law to our life, for all real good stems from its requirements.
February 12
It is obvious for everyone that death expects us all in the long run; but nevertheless we live our lives as if there will be no death.
If only God is among us, and eternity exists, then everything is different. We can distinguish good from evil, light from darkness, and despair disappears.
—ERASMUS
One of the key questions we face is whether our lives end after death. Whether we believe in eternity or not determines our actions. Therefore, it is crucial that we determine what is mortal in us, and what is eternal, and that we cherish those things eternal. Most people do exactly the opposite.