Source: A Literate Passion: Letters of Anaïs Nin Henry Miller, 1932-1953
“We can only begin to live when we conceive life as
Tragedy.”
“Progress cannot be generated when we are satisfied with existing situations.”
Source: "Toward a universal law of generalization for psychological science," 1987, p. 1322
This quotation, often attributed on the Internet to Plato, cannot be found in any of Plato's writings, nor can it be found in any published work anywhere until recent years. If it really were a quotation by Plato, then some author in the recorded literature of the last several centuries would have mentioned that quote, but they did not. The sentiment isn't new, however. The ancient Roman Seneca, in his work on "Morals," quoted an earlier Roman writer, Lucretius (who wrote about the year 50 B.C.), as saying "we are as much afraid in the light as children in the dark." (Seneca was paraphrasing a longer passage by Lucretius from De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things), Book II, lines 56 et seq.)
Misattributed
Herzl about the way the Jews are perceived by antisemites when they do not have a country of their own
Der Judenstaat [The Jewish State] (1896)
“It's a shame that we have to live, but it's a tragedy that we get to live only one life.”
Source: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
1960s, Keep Moving From This Mountain (1965)
Context: Each of us lives in two realms, the "within" and the "without." The within of our lives is somehow found in the realm of ends, the without in the realm of means. The within of our [lives], the bottom — that realm of spiritual ends expressed in art, literature, morals, and religion for which at best we live. The without of our lives is that realm of instrumentalities, techniques, mechanisms by which we live. Now the great temptation of life and the great tragedy of life is that so often we allow the without of our lives to absorb the within of our lives. The great tragedy of life is that too often we allow the means by which we live to outdistance the ends for which we live.
“We cannot solve life's problems except by solving them.”
Source: The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spiritual Growth
Bk. 4, Ch. 17 (p. 45)
Translations, The Confucian Analects
James Legge, translation (1893)
When you meet someone better than yourself, turn your thoughts to becoming his equal. When you meet someone not as good as you are, look within and examine your own self.
Dim Cheuk Lau translation (1979)
When you see a good person, think of becoming like her/him. When you see someone not so good, reflect on your own weak points.
As quoted in Liberating Faith : Religious Voices for Justice, Peace, and Ecological Wisdom (2003) by Roger S. Gottlieb, p. 24
The Analects, Chapter I, Chapter IV
