. . . that great lover of peace, a man of giant stature who moulded, as few other men have done, the destinies of his age.
However often you may have done them a favour, if you once refuse they forget everything except your refusal.
Perhaps you will ask whether I can raise these three millions without difficulty. Well, nearly all my capital is invested in land, but I have some money out at interest and I can borrow without any trouble.
He [Pliny the Elder] used to say that 'no book [etc] was so bad but some good might be got out of it'.
The living voice is that which sways the soul.
The highest of characters is his who is as ready to pardon the moral errors of mankind as if he were every day guilty of them himself; and as cautious of committing a fault as if he never forgave one.
They enhance the value of their favors by the words with which they are accompanied.
Art gives to you a new conception of reality, opens your mind, opens your heart, opens your desire of action.
From our limited vantage point, our lives are marked by an endless series of contingencies. We frequently find ourselves, instead of acting as we planned, reacting to an unexpected turn of events. We make plans but are often forced to change those plans. But there are no contingencies with God. Our unexpected, forced change of plans is a part of His plan. God is never surprised; never caught off guard; never frustrated by unexpected developments. God does as He pleases and that which pleases Him is always for His glory and our good.
I get emails from strangers every day asking for love advice, which is kind of counter-intuitive since I'm making a movie about what an idiot I am with relationships.
One of the traditional Tantric methods of mediation is to imagine that you are taking on the suffering of all beings.