It has been more than 10 years since I last posted anything here. In fact I didn't think I would come back and post anything again at all. But life doesnt always go the way we intend it to, and here I am. I have been advised by a good friend to just post things - my writings, musings, etc. - here whether anyone reads them or not. Not someone used to listening to good advice, I decided to put my beliefs aside and for once listen to my well-wisher.
The following are a set of quotes attibuted to the Greek philosopher Socrates. I have given my own interpretations of each of his phrases of wisdom. Hope all you non existent readers enjoy it as much as I did.
Socrates’ Pearls of
Wisdom for the layman
“The
only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
― You
know nothing. Sooner you realise that the better.
“The
unexamined life is not worth living.”
― If
you stop using your brain, you become like a donkey.
“I
cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think”
― I
am totally useless, but I can make people think otherwise.
“There
is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.”
― Either
you know or you don’t know. There is no middle path.
“Be
kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
― You
are not the only one in deep shit.
“Wonder
is the beginning of wisdom.”
― Curiosity
doesn’t always kill the cat.
“Strong
minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss
people.”
― Caste
system can be developed out of thin air, even by classifying what you
think and talk about.
“To
find yourself, think for yourself.”
― Never
listen to anyone. No one knows anything for sure.
“Education
is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.”
― I
told you, I can seem more than I am.
“By
all means marry; if you get a good wife, you’ll become happy; if
you get a bad one, you’ll become a philosopher.”
― A
wife will always give you something, but I’m not sure about the
husband.
“He
who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with
what he would like to have.”
― Happy
people don’t need more.
“Be
slow to fall into friendship, but when you are in, continue firm and
constant.”
― Be
careful. Friends can be a pain in the neck.
“If
you don't get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don't
want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still
suffer because you can't hold on to it forever. Your mind is your
predicament. It wants to be free of change. Free of pain, free of the
obligations of life and death. But change is law and no amount of
pretending will alter that reality.”
― You
are screwed for as long as you are alive. Just accept it and carry on
with your life.
“The
children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for
authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place
of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their
households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They
contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties
at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”
― Youngsters
are always rude and don’t follow orders.
“Sometimes
you put walls up not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough
to break them down.”
― Sometimes
everyone craves for special attention – silent treatment is the
best way to convey that.
“No
man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical
training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the
beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”
― Laziness
makes you as good as a cripple.
“When
the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.”
― If
you dont have good arguments, just make baseless accusations and call
names.
“Know
thyself.”
― Mind
your own business.
“The
secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in
developing the capacity to enjoy less.”
― Secret
of happiness is being comfortable in poverty.
“Let
him who would move the world first move himself.”
― To
teach dancing, one needs to have the right moves.
“Death
may be the greatest of all human blessings.”
― Life
is a pain in the ass.
“Contentment
is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.”
― Rich
people have robbed us all, and we have no choice but to come to terms
with it.
“Employ
your time in improving yourself by other men's writings so that you
shall come easily by what others have labored hard for.”
― If
you spend more time reading, you have less time to make real mistakes
in life.
“The
hour of departure has arrived, and we go our separate ways, I to die,
and you to live. Which of these two is better only God knows.”
― Does
suffering really end with death, or does it only get worse?
“Do
not do to others what angers you if done to you by others.”
― Don’t
harm others, they will take revenge.
“I
examined the poets, and I look on them as people whose talent
overawes both themselves and others, people who present themselves as
wise men and are taken as such, when they are nothing of the sort.”
― If
I could understand poetry, poets would not seem so awesome.
“I
am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world."
― Life
is screwed no matter where you live.
“Every
action has its pleasures and its price.”
― Think
before you ink, look before you leap.
“Prefer
knowledge to wealth, for the one is transitory, the other perpetual.”
― At
least the rich and corrupt can’t steal your knowledge from you.
-----------------
(enough for today)
