“To shine is better than to reflect.”
Gregory Benford book Timescape
Source: Timescape (1980), Chapter 16 (p. 220)
II–II, 188 <br class="br"> Original Latin http://www.corpusthomisticum.org/sth3183.html: Sicut enim maius est illuminare quam lucere solum, ita maius est contemplata aliis tradere quam solum contemplari. <br class="br">Summa Theologica (1265–1274) <br class="br">Variant: Better to illuminate than merely to shine; to deliver to others contemplated truths than merely to contemplate.
“To shine is better than to reflect.”
Gregory Benford book Timescape
Source: Timescape (1980), Chapter 16 (p. 220)
“Better to err with Pope, than shine with Pye.”
George Gordon Byron English Bards and Scotch Reviewers
Source: English Bards and Scotch Reviewers (1809), Line 102.
Nikola Tesla book My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla
My Inventions (1919)
Source: My Inventions: The Autobiography of Nikola Tesla
Context: From childhood I was compelled to concentrate attention upon myself. This caused me much suffering, but to my present view, it was a blessing in disguise for it has taught me to appreciate the inestimable value of introspection in the preservation of life, as well as a means of achievement. The pressure of occupation and the incessant stream of impressions pouring into our consciousness through all the gateways of knowledge make modern existence hazardous in many ways. Most persons are so absorbed in the contemplation of the outside world that they are wholly oblivious to what is passing on within themselves. The premature death of millions is primarily traceable to this cause. Even among those who exercise care, it is a common mistake to avoid imaginary, and ignore the real dangers. And what is true of an individual also applies, more or less, to a people as a whole.
Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903) German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician, archaeologist and writer
Vol. 4, pt. 2, translated by W.P.Dickson.
The History of Rome - Volume 4: Part 2
James Joyce book The Dead
Dubliners (1914)
Variant: One by one they were all becoming shades. Better pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age.
Source: "The Dead"
“I do nothing, granted. But I see the hours pass — which is better than trying to fill them.”
Emil M. Cioran book The Trouble With Being Born
The Trouble With Being Born (1973)
“The real frienship is like fluorescence, it shines better when everything has darken.”
Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) Bengali polymath
John Muir (1838–1914) Scottish-born American naturalist and author
Travels in Alaska http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/writings/travels_in_alaska/ (1915), chapter 1: Puget Sound and British Columbia <br class="br">1910s