“Do not forget that the value and interest of life is not so much to do conspicuous things… as to do ordinary things with the perception of their enormous value.”
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Pierre Teilhard De Chardin 64
French philosopher and Jesuit priest 1881–1955Related quotes
“There is value in NOT doing a thing.”
Popular Quotes, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, Twitter
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 387.
“No outcome was preordained, but nothing would come easily. Few things of value do.”
Source: My Share Of The Task (2013), p. 278
Context: As the story unfolds many things appear: extraordinary sacrifice and teamwork, often alongside an atmosphere of mistrust, uncertainty, media scrutiny, and politics. There is a temptation to seek a single hero or culprit- a person, group, or policy- that emerges as the decisive factor. This makes for better intrigue, but it's a false drama. To do so is to oversimplify the war, the players, and Afghanistan itself. Because despite their relevance as contributing factors, I found no single personality, decision, relationship, or event that determined the outcome or even dominated the direction of events. Afghanistan did that. Only Afghanistan, with her deep scars and opaque complexity, emerged as the essential reality and dominant character. On her brutal terrain, and in the minds of her people, the struggle was to be waged and decided. No outcome was preordained, but nothing would come easily. Few things of value do.
Source: Gather, Darkness! (1950), Chapter 10 (p. 106)
Michel Henry, Barbarism, Continuum, 2012, p. 97
Books on Culture and Barbarism, Barbarism (1987)
“So much easier is it to do many things than to do one thing for a long time continuously.”
Adeo facilius est multa facere quam diu.
Book I, Chapter XII, 7; translation by H. E. Butler
De Institutione Oratoria (c. 95 AD)