Echoes

Stubborn and ardent clinging to one's opinion is the best proof of stupidity.

It is always easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them.

The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die.

The most dangerous worldview is the worldview of those who have not viewed the world.

One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.

Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open?

Great truths do not take hold of the hearts of the masses...And now, as all the world is in error, I, though I know the true path,—how shall I guide? If I know that I cannot succeed and yet try to force success, this would be but another source of error. Better, then, to desist and strive no more. But if I strive not, who will?

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.

When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.

A man must shape himself to a new mark when the old one goes to ground.

The most common form of despair is not being who you are.

Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.

The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism.

Of all men's miseries the bitterest is this: to know so much and to have control over nothing.

Re-examine all you have been told. Dismiss whatever insults your own soul.

It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises partly from fear of the opponents, who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them.

Every generation has the obligation to free men's minds for a look at new worlds… to look out from a higher plateau than the last generation.

The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.

To find yourself, think for yourself.

I know that I know nothing.

Everything in the universe is within you. Ask all from yourself.

Do not go by revelation; Do not go by tradition; Do not go by hearsay; Do not go on the authority of sacred texts; Do not go on the grounds of pure logic; Do not go by a view that seems rational; Do not go by reflecting on mere appearances; Do not go along with a considered view because you agree with it; Do not go along on the grounds that the person is competent; Do not go along because "the recluse is our teacher." Kalamas, when you yourselves know: These things are unwholesome, these things are blameworthy; these things are censured by the wise; and when undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill, abandon them... Kalamas, when you know for yourselves: These are wholesome; these things are not blameworthy; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness, having undertaken them, abide in them.

The first principle is that you must not fool yourself — and you are the easiest person to fool.

I cannot help fearing that men may reach a point where they look on every new theory as a danger, every innovation as a toilsome trouble, every social advance as a first step toward revolution, and that they may absolutely refuse to move at all.

Therefore, this terror of the mind and the darkness must be dispelled not by the rays of the sun or the bright light of day, but by the appearance and reasoning of nature.