The unexamined life is not worth living.
Apology, 38a (399 BCE)
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There is no fire like passion, no shark like hatred, no snare like folly, no torrent like greed.
Dhammapada, verse 251 (300 BCE)
However many holy words you read, however many you speak, what good will they do you if you do not act on upon them?
Dhammapada, verse 19 (300 BCE)
It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.
On the Shortness of Life, §1 (49 CE)
We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.
Letters from a Stoic, Letter XIII, 'On Groundless Fears' (65 CE)
Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life.
Letters from a Stoic, Letter CI (65 CE)
First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.
Discourses, Book III, §23 (108 CE)
Practice yourself, for heaven's sake, in little things; and thence proceed to greater.
Discourses, Book I, §18 (108 CE)
Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.
Meditations, Book X, §16 (180 CE)
The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.
Meditations, Book V, §20 (180 CE)
Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together.
Meditations, Book VI, §39 (180 CE)
The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.
Meditations, Book V, §16 (180 CE)
Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.
Meditations, Book VII, §47 (180 CE)
If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.
Meditations, Book XII, §17 (180 CE)
How much trouble he avoids who does not look to see what his neighbour says.
Meditations, Book IV, §18 (180 CE)
I think, therefore I am.
Discourse on the Method, Part IV (1637)
The reading of all good books is like a conversation with the finest people of past centuries.
Discourse on the Method, Part I (1637)
Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.
The Social Contract, Book I, ch. 1 (1762)
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
Journals and Papers, 1843 (1843)
The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.
Essays: Second Series, 'New England Reformers' (1844)
Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.
The Concept of Anxiety, ch. 3 (1844)
You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Prologue, §5 (1883)
Man is something that shall be overcome.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Prologue, §3 (1883)
He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra, 'Of the Spirit of Gravity' (1883)
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.
Beyond Good and Evil, §146 (1886)
When you look into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.
Beyond Good and Evil, §146 (1886)
He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.
Twilight of the Idols, Maxims and Arrows, §12 (1889)
Without music, life would be a mistake.
Twilight of the Idols, Maxims and Arrows, §33 (1889)
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.
The Soul of Man Under Socialism (1891)
We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
Lady Windermere's Fan, Act III (1892)
I can resist everything except temptation.
Lady Windermere's Fan, Act I (1892)
Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it yet.
Anne of Green Gables, ch. 21 (1908)
The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places.
A Farewell to Arms, ch. 34 (1929)
Courage is grace under pressure.
The Artist's Reward (The New Yorker) (1929)
One must imagine Sisyphus happy.
The Myth of Sisyphus, final line (1942)
Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.
Letter to Joë Bousquet, letter to Joë Bousquet, 13 April 1942 (1942)
What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.
The Little Prince, ch. 24 (1943)
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
The Little Prince, ch. 21 (1943)
Hell is other people.
No Exit, closing scene (1944)
Man is condemned to be free.
Existentialism is a Humanism, lecture (1946)
Existence precedes essence.
Existentialism is a Humanism, lecture (1946)
In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.
Return to Tipasa (1952)
Not all those who wander are lost.
The Fellowship of the Ring, Book I, ch. 10 (1954)
All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost.
The Fellowship of the Ring, Book I, ch. 10 (1954)
The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.
On Becoming a Person (1961)
Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.
As Much Truth As One Can Bear (The New York Times) (1962)
The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose.
The Fire Next Time (1963)
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969)
In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few.
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Prologue (1970)
It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, ch. 12 (1997)
Nothing ever goes away until it has taught us what we need to know.
When Things Fall Apart (1997)
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, ch. 18 (1998)
People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.
The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching (1998)
Of course it is happening inside your head, but why should that mean it is not real?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, ch. 35 (2007)
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