It is the acquisition of skills in particular, irrespective of their utility, that is potent in making life meaningful. Since man has no inborn skills, the survival of the species has depended on the ability to acquire and perfect skills. Hence the mastery of skills is a uniquely human activity and yields deep satisfaction.
You May Also Like / View all maxioms
We do not know the true value of our moments until they have undergone the test of memory. - The read more
We do not know the true value of our moments until they have undergone the test of memory. - The Heart's Domain.
If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world.
If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world.
The natural inclination of a child is to take pleasure in the use of the mind no less than of read more
The natural inclination of a child is to take pleasure in the use of the mind no less than of the body. The child's primary business is learning. It is also the primary entertainment. To retain that orientation into adulthood, so that consciousness is not a burden but a joy, is the mark of the successfully developed human being.
Thus we find that people who fail in everyday affairs show a tendency to reach out for the impossible. They read more
Thus we find that people who fail in everyday affairs show a tendency to reach out for the impossible. They become responsive to grandiose schemes, and will display unequaled steadfastness, formidable energies and a special fitness in the performance of tasks which would stump superior people. It seems paradoxical that defeat in dealing with the possible should embolden people to attempt the impossible, but a familiarity with the mentality of the weak reveals that what seems a path of daring is actually an easy way out: It is to escape the responsibility for failure that the weak so eagerly throw themselves into grandiose undertakings. For when we fail in attaining the impossible we are justified in attributing it to the magnitude of the task.
The more adaptability exists for a given kind of decision, the less risky it is to make plans for the read more
The more adaptability exists for a given kind of decision, the less risky it is to make plans for the future, and therefore the more likely it is that more people will make more plans in such areas.
The primary sign of a well-ordered mind is a man's ability to remain in one place and linger in his read more
The primary sign of a well-ordered mind is a man's ability to remain in one place and linger in his own company.
To the excessively fearful the chief characteristic of power is its arbitrariness. Man had to gain enormously in confidence before read more
To the excessively fearful the chief characteristic of power is its arbitrariness. Man had to gain enormously in confidence before he could conceive an all-powerful God who obeys his own laws.
To be truly selfish one needs a degree of self-esteem. The self-despisers are less intent on their own increase than read more
To be truly selfish one needs a degree of self-esteem. The self-despisers are less intent on their own increase than on the diminution of others. Where self-esteem is unattainable, envy takes the place of greed.
The greatest people will be those who possess the best capacities, cultivated with the best habits.
The greatest people will be those who possess the best capacities, cultivated with the best habits.
