On the art of doing, leaving things alone, the love of effort and learning
Carl Jung: The hidden tragedy of life most people miss(or don’t even know)
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Philosopher Nietzsche on the art of doing
“The doer alone learneth.” Thinking isn’t enough. Reading isn’t enough. Planning isn’t enough. You don’t learn by watching. You don’t learn by thinking. You learn by doing. No amount of theory replaces wobbling on a two-wheel bike. Falling teaches balance. Practice builds confidence. “Experience is the best teacher,” but only if you’re in the arena.” Nietzsche had no patience for armchair philosophers. Get out there. Try, fail, adjust, repeat. Action is the only real teacher. Do more of what makes you come alive. Don’t just think about it. Live it. Get to work. —Source: 15 Nietzsche Philosophies For Life That Are All One Sentence Long
The painter Vincent van Gogh on fear and risk
“Fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm fearsome, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore. They leave that wisdom to those to whom it appeals. When the storm comes — when night falls — what’s worse: the danger or the fear of danger? Give me reality, the danger itself.”—Source: Dear Theo by Irving Stone
Poet and novelist Hermann Hesse on being receptive
“When someone is seeking, it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything, because he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal…For in striving towards your goal, you do not see many things that are under your nose.” — Source: Siddhartha
Writer Baltasar Gracian on leaving things alone
“Know how to leave things alone, for if knowing how to refuse is one of life’s great lessons, an even greater one is knowing how to say no to yourself, to important people, and in business. There are non-essential activities, months of precious time, and it’s worse to take an interest in irrelevant things than to do nothing at all.” — Source: The Pocket Oracle and Art of Prudence
Writer Simon Sarris on the love of effort
“If you make lists of lofty goals, it can be easy to leave them to accumulate, as happens sometimes, into a mountain of to-do’s and notes and half-forgotten plans. Dreaming alone is seductive, even a little sweet, since it lacks the pain of trying. So it feels proper to prize attempts more than dreams. You should have ideals, but you cannot only love an idealized future, you must cultivate a love of effort, too. If you really want something, then the soul must make demands of the body.” — Source: Efforts and Goals and Joy
Psychiatrist Thomas Szasz on the requirement for learning
“Every act of conscious learning requires the willingness to suffer an injury to one’s self-esteem. That is why young children, before they are aware of their own self-importance, learn so easily; and why older persons, especially if vain or important, cannot learn at all.” — Source: Words to the Wise
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Carl Jung Exposes The Hidden Tragedy of Life Most People Miss(or Don’t Even Know)
Jung’s insatiable desire to understand life was mind-blowing. He spent his whole career looking into the human psyche. He observed a frightening truth: we create our own tragedies without even realising it. He thought we could mess up our own lives — and others — while being completely blind to the fact that we’re the source of the chaos.
3 questions worth pondering
Seth Godin: “Better waves make better surfers. Are you on the right beach?”
When you’re having a good day, what is the one habit that tends to be part of that day? Can you make it part of your daily habits?
Which distractions in your life have become disguised as priorities?
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Until Next Week,
Be Well.
Thomas
A wonderful assortment of things to ponder Thomas, as always. This one especially resonated for me: “When someone is seeking, it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything, because he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking."