Echoes

In the words of the ancients, one should make his decisions within the space of seven breaths. It is a matter of being determined and having the spirit to break right through to the other side.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

Our patience will achieve more than our force.

Sitting quietly, doing nothing, spring comes, and the grass grows by itself.

To do nothing is sometimes a good remedy.

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.

We have a given problem to solve. If we undertake the solution, there is, of course, always danger that we may not solve it aright; but to refuse to undertake the solution simply renders it certain that we cannot possibly solve it aright.

Slow and steady wins the race.

He that can have patience can have what he will.

You may never know what results come of your actions. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.

My Son, patience and humility in adversities are more pleasing to Me than much comfort and devotion in prosperity.

For if he who resolveth bravely oftentimes falleth short, how shall it be with him who resolveth rarely or feebly?

Let us be silent, that we may hear the whisper of the gods.

It is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half of the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what might happen.

It is to this law that our souls must adjust themselves, this they should follow, this they should obey. Whatever happens, assume that it was bound to happen, and do not be willing to rail at Nature. That which you cannot reform, it is best to endure, and to attend uncomplainingly upon the God under whose guidance everything progresses; for it is a bad soldier who grumbles when following his commander.

Perseverance is more prevailing than violence; and many things which cannot be overcome when they are together, yield themselves up when taken little by little.

Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.

...why did we wait for any thing? — why not seize the pleasure at once? — How often is happiness destroyed by preparation, foolish preparation!

O God, give us the serenity to accept what cannot be changed, the courage to change what should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.

I assert once again as a truth to which history as a whole bears witness that men may second their fortune, but cannot oppose it; that they may weave its warp, but cannot break it. Yet they should never give up, because there is always hope, though they know not the end and more towards it along roads which cross one another and as yet are unexplored; and since there is hope, they should not despair, no matter what fortune brings or in what travail they find themselves.

The man of perfect virtue is cautious and slow in his speech. When a man feels the difficulty of doing, can he be other than cautious and slow in speaking?

Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish; but wish the things which happen to be as they are, and you will have a tranquil flow of life.

Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail.

Do the duty which lies nearest thee, which thou knowest to be a duty! Thy second duty will already have become clearer.

By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try, the world is beyond the winning.