Quotes about wisdom and truth (page 4) | Quotes of famous people

“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.”

Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890) Dutch post-Impressionist painter (1853-1890)

“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.”

Rumi (1207–1273) Iranian poet

As quoted in Path for Greatness : Spiritualty at Work (2000) by Linda J. Ferguson, p. 51

“A bad feeling is a commotion of the mind repugnant to reason, and against nature.”

Zeno of Citium (-334–-263 BC) ancient Greek philosopher

As quoted in Tusculanae Quaestiones by Cicero, iv. 6.

“How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.”

Wayne W. Dyer (1940–2015) American writer

“Christianity… is an old metaphysical fiction, stuffed with fables, contradictions and absurdities: it was spawned in the fevered imagination of the Orientals, and then spread to our Europe, where some fanatics espoused it, where some intriguers pretended to be convinced by it and where some imbeciles actually believed it. Attributed in "The West and the Rest", by Niall Ferguson, Penguin 2011”

Frederick II of Prussia (1712–1786) king of Prussia

Kindle edition
Attributed

“The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say “no” to almost everything.”

Warren Buffett (1930) American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist

Variant: The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.

“Learning and enjoyment are the secret to a fulfilled life. Learning without enjoyment wears you down, enjoyment without learning dulls you.”

Richard David Precht (1964) German philosopher and author

Quote translated from his German book: Wer bin ich – und wenn ja, wie viele? Eine philosophische Reise, Goldmann, München 2007, ISBN 3-442-31143-8

“If even a single hair of my beard learns my secret, I will cut my beard from the root.”

Mehmed II (1432–1481) Ottoman sultan

Source: Freely, John (The Grand Turk)

“With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public.”

Henry A. Wallace (1888–1965) Vice President of the United States

Quoted by Thom Hartmann in Fascists Compete To Own America, Common Dreams, https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/04/30/fascists-compete-own-america (30 April 2018)

“The dangerous American fascist is the man who wants to do in the United States in an American way what Hitler did in Germany in a Prussian way. The American fascist would prefer not to use violence. His method is to poison the channels of public information. With a fascist the problem is never how best to present the truth to the public but how best to use the news to deceive the public into giving the fascist and his group more money or more power.
…
If we define an American fascist as one who in case of conflict puts money and power ahead of human beings, then there are undoubtedly several million fascists in the United States. There are probably several hundred thousand if we narrow the definition to include only those who in their search for money and power are ruthless and deceitful. Most American fascists are enthusiastically supporting the war effort.”

Henry A. Wallace (1888–1965) Vice President of the United States

" The Danger of American Fascism http://newdeal.feri.org/wallace/haw23.htm," in New York Times, April 9, 1944. Quoted in: Democracy Reborn (New York, 1944) p. 259.

“All I have produced before the age of seventy is not worth taking into account. At seventy-three I have learned a little about the real structure of nature, of animals, plants, trees, birds, fishes and insects. In consequence when I am eighty, I shall have made still more progress. At ninety I shall penetrate the mystery of things; at one hundred I shall certainly have reached a marvelous stage; and when I am a hundred and ten, everything I do, be it a dot or a line, will be alive. I beg those who live as long as I to see if I do not keep my word. Written at the age of seventy five by me, once Hokusai, today Gwakyo Rojin, the old man mad about drawing.”

Hokusai (1760–1849) Japanese artist

On one of his pseudonom, Gyakyo Rojin. He may have said the above in his late life definitely, since he began to use the name Gwakyo Rojin in 1843.
Attributed

“There are some people who imagine that older adults don't know how to use the internet. My immediate reaction is, "I've got news for you, we invented it."”

Vint Cerf (1943) American computer scientist

Source: "Your Life: Vinton Cerf" (2016), p. 30

“The secret of joy is the mastery of pain.”

Anaïs Nin (1903–1977) writer of novels, short stories, and erotica

“There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.”

Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist

“Death is a state of non-being. That which is not, does not exist. Therefore death does not exist. Only truth exists. Truth and beauty. Each is interchangeable, but are aspects of themselves. Er, what specifically did they say they had in mind for me?”

Woody Allen book Side Effects

Side Effects (1980), My Apology

“The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam. The religion of the Unification of God; of freedom from associating partners with Him, and rejection of this; of complete love of Him, the Exalted; of complete submission to His Laws; and of the discarding of all the opinions, orders, theories and religions which contradict with the religion He sent down to His Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Islam is the religion of all the prophets, and makes no distinction between them - peace be upon them all. It is to this religion that we call you; the seal of all the previous religions. It is the religion of Unification of God, sincerity, the best of manners, righteousness, mercy, honour, purity, and piety. It is the religion of showing kindness to others, establishing justice between them, granting them their rights, and defending the oppressed and the persecuted. It is the religion of enjoining the good and forbidding the evil with the hand, tongue and heart. It is the religion of Jihad in the way of Allah so that Allah's Word and religion reign Supreme. And it is the religion of unity and agreement on the obedience to Allah, and total equality between all people, without regarding their colour, sex, or language. It is the religion whose book - the Quran - will remained preserved and unchanged, after the other Divine books and messages have been changed. The Quran is the miracle until the Day of Judgment. Allah has challenged anyone to bring a book like the Quran or even ten verses like it.”

Osama bin Laden (1957–2011) founder of al-Qaeda

2000s, 2002, Letter to the American people (2002)

“I believe that if you focus on what you should do, the road ahead will open up naturally.”

Yuzuru Hanyu (1994) Japanese figure skater (1994-)

Other quotes, 2016
Original: (ja) 自分がすべきことを集中してやっていけば、自ずと道は開かれてくると信じているので。
Source: Interview at the arrival in Marseille ahead of the Grand Prix Final 2016, published 7 December 2016 by テレビ朝日フィギュアスケート https://twitter.com/figureskate5ch/status/806400507698876416 (TV Asahi Figure Skate on Twitter). (Retrieved 11 September 2020)

“It is not so much our friends' help that helps us, as the confidence of their help.”

Epicurus (-341–-269 BC) ancient Greek philosopher

“You cannot love everyone; it is ridiculous to think you can. If you love everyone and everything you lose your natural powers of selection and wind up being a pretty poor judge of character and quality. If anything is used too freely it loses its true meaning. Therefore, the Satanist believes you should love strongly and completely those who deserve your love, but never turn the other cheek to your enemy!”

Anton LaVey book The Satanic Bible

The Satanic Bible (1969)

“Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

Variant: Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.