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These writings are posted here with permission from Jackie Wu. I don't think they're worth the pixels they're printed on, but I want to give an online home to my dad's garbage writings.

Stoicism criticized by Jackie Wu





What Are The Best Stoic Quotes?




1. "We are often more frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality." --- Seneca

Fears, hurts, and sufferings are real. Do not ignore them or deny their existence. Acknowledge them, thank them for what they are, and deal with them intelligently. --- Wu

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2. "It’s silly to try to escape other people’s faults. They are inescapable. Just try to escape your own." --- Marcus Aurelius

It is pointless trying to escape either other people's fault or your own. Deal with them. Acknowledge them, thank them for what they are, and change them. But make sure they are real fault and not just an opinion of yours. --- Wu

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3. "Our life is what our thoughts make it." --- Marcus Aurelius

That's just what you believed. I believed our lives are more than our thoughts. They consist also our beliefs, our acts, and the consequences of our thoughts, beliefs, and actions. The effects of our lives are continuous and everlasting. --- Wu

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4. "Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it." --- Epictetus

I share mine. I do not hoard my philosophy. --- Wu

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5. "If anyone tells you that a certain person speaks ill— of you, do not make excuses about what is said of you but answer, ‘He was ignorant of my other faults, else he would not have mentioned these alone.'" --- Epictetus

You may have many faults. Someone like me have very few, and they are mostly when I am misunderstood by others. I don't make excuses, and I don't pretend to be what I am not, because that would have been a big fault to do otherwise. --- Wu

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6. "If it is not right, do not do it, if it is not true, do not say it." --- Marcus Aurelius

If there is no absolute right and no absolute truth, a person like Marcus won't be able to do or say anything. The facts are : right and truth are always subjective, transitional, and situational or circumstantial. There is no objective right or truth, no permanent right or truth, and no absolute right or truth. So why not explore with our actions and our words ? --- Wu

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7. "You become what you give your attention to…If you yourself don’t choose what thoughts and images you expose yourself to, someone else will." --- Epictetus

They may try, but its up to me, not up to someone else. --- Wu

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8. "Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself." --- Marcus Aurelius
If you can't tolerate yourself, you cannot tolerate others. Love begins with accepting yourself. --- Wu

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9. "You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can’t control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone." --- Marcus Aurelius

Like it or not, everyone has his or her own opinion. Working up and being troubled are not necessarily a bad thing. Working up can be like working out or training ourselves. Being troubled only happened when you are focused. Change your focus and your troubles will change, instantly. It's that simple. It's all in your control. Don't make excuses and don't pretend you are not judging because we are always judging; and never leave things alone or abandon anyone. Love them. Take care of them. Serve them with the best of your ability. --- Wu

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10. "All you need are these: certainty of judgment in the present moment; action for the common good in the present moment; and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way." --- Marcus Aurelius

Certainty ? Present moment ? Good (common or otherwise) ? These are all illusions. An attitude of gratitude depends on what one believes. I believe anything that comes your way is inevitable and is not in your control. To be thankful or not is however entirely up to you. It means nothing to the inevitable. --- Wu

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11. "No person has the power to have everything they want, but it is in their power not to want what they don’t have, and to cheerfully put to good use what they do have." --- Seneca

It is pointless to not want what you don't have. Our wants motivate us and propel us forward. Be grateful we have wants and needs for otherwise our lives would be meaningless. --- Wu

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12. "If anyone can refute me - show me I’m making a mistake or looking at things from the wrong perspective - I’ll gladly change. It’s the truth I’m after, and the truth never harmed anyone." --- Marcus Aurelius

Truth is often unbearable, not only harmful but fatal to some or permanently destroys others. Truth is often best left alone. Mistakes and wrongs are illusions. Be detached to the truth, the mistakes, the wrongs, and the other illusions like wealth, health, beauty, .... and live a joyful life. --- Wu

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13. "Today I escaped anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions not outside." --- Marcus Aurelius

Anxiety is a condition. Conditions cannot be discarded. We can choose to detach, but not destroy, discard, or deny. Detachment is healthy. Destroy, discard, and deny may cause more harm than good. --- Wu

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14. "You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realise this, and you will find strength." --- Marcus Aurelius

We have free will. Our mind have power over outside events. Exercise you free will and make the inevitable inevitable. --- Wu

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15. "It isn’t events themselves that disturb people, but only their judgements about them." --- Epictetus

It's all up to you. You have free will. I choose not to be disturbed but arouse my curiosity and get excited instead. --- Wu

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16. "To be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it." --- Marcus Aurelius

Hallucination. Wishful thinking. I would rather be like sand on the beach creating various shapes and styles with the waves of the sea as it is inevitable and beautiful. --- Wu

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17. "First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do." --- Epictetus

You will always be what you would be. You need not to have to do anything. What is inevitable is inevitable. Nothing you can do to change it. I don't have to, but I choose to make my inevitable inevitable by myself --- Wu

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18. "Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be One." --- Marcus Aurelius

No, thanks. A good man is an evil man: Yin Yang. --- Wu

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19. "The primary indication of a well-ordered mind is a man’s ability to remain in one place and linger in his own company." --- Seneca

Sounds like it fits the primary indication of a crippled man or a dead man. --- Wu

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20. "Receive without pride, let go without attachment." --- Marcus Aurelius

Give with pride but no prejudice, detached, let be, but never let go. Engage positively and never be removed, unattached, or indifferent. Love and never abandon. Act and not just talk. --- Wu

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Final words : Stoicism seems to Wu a bunch of slogans and empty big talks. Can't say it's a philosophy. It is pointless to endure hardship when hardship can easily be removed and replaced with excitement, joy, and creativity. Love and peace is in each and everyone of us to give. The more we give, the more we all shall have. --- Jesus


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Comment on famous Stoic quotes by Jackie Wu Volume 1. Marcus Aurelius




1. You have power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength. --- Marcus Aurelius

Our minds determine the meaning of outside events, whether we like it or not. We can choose the meaning we like, and change those meanings we don't like. That can be strength sometimes, when we need strength. --- Jackie Wu

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2. Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. --- Marcus Aurelius

Happiness is brief, and so is sadness. A happy life is not void of sadness but is filled with more frequent happiness. Thinking like that can avoid crippling sadness.

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3. The best revenge is not to be like your enemy. --- Marcus Aurelius

Everyone loves his friends. Blessed are the ones who love their enemies. --- Jesus, Jackie Wu

Revenge is overrated. --- Jackie Wu

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4. Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart. --- Marcus Aurelius

The Great Commandment is : Love God with all your mind, with all your heart, and with all your soul. The second Great Commandment follows the first, and that is: to love one another as I (Jesus) loved you. --- Jesus, Jackie Wu

Love begins with unconditional acceptance, starting with oneself --- Jackie Wu

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5. Confine yourself to the present. --- Marcus Aurelius

There is no present. The moment you recognize the present, it is already history. I would welcome the future with curiosity. --- Jackie Wu

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6. When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive --- to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. --- Marcus Aurelius

Do that all day and fill your life with happiness. --- Jackie Wu

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7. Whatever happens to you has been waiting to happen since the beginning of time. --- Marcus Aurelius

You have the power to make it wait longer or allow it to happen. It's all up to you. --- Jackie Wu

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8. To live happily is an inward power of the soul. --- Marcus Aurelius

It is all up to you. --- Jackie Wu

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9. You can commit injustice by doing nothing. --- Marcus Aurelius

Or simply by doing. Injustice is as vain as justice. --- Jackie Wu

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10. Do every act of your life as if it were your last. --- Marcus Aurelius

As it were your first makes more sense. --- Jackie Wu

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11. It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live. --- Marcus Aurelius

Every living man fears death. The wise one deal with it intelligently. --- Jackie Wu

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12. The first step: Don't be anxious. Nature controls it all. --- Marcus Aurelius

Nature can only do what you allowed it to do to you. --- Jackie Wu

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13. The second step : Concentrate on what you have to do. Fix you eyes on it. Remind yourself that your task is to be a good human being; Remind yourself what nature demands of people. Then do it, without hesitation, and speak the truth as you see it. But with kindness. With humility. Without hypocrisy. --- Marcus Aurelius

What you have to do is relax and focus. Good and bad are not absolute, not permanent, and not objective. Nature makes no demand, we do, often to no avail. Hesitation is inferior compared to act first, then see what happens. Truth is what one believed is true. Truth is often brutal. Being humble is a kind of hypocrisy which is preferable when you are in a position of weakness. --- Jackie Wu

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14. Don't be overheard complaining ... Not even to yourself. --- Marcus Aurelius

Complaining are lies you tell others, and sometimes to yourself. --- Jackie Wu

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15. Do not be perturbed, for all things are according to the nature of the universal; and in a little time you will be nobody and nowhere. --- Marcus Aurelius

Until you become nobody and nowhere, make yourself somebody somewhere. Say no to nature if you have too, but utilizing nature to your advantage is a much easier way to get to where you want to be or what kind of person you want to become.

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16. True good fortune is what you make for yourself. Good fortune : good character, good intentions, good actions. --- Marcus Aurelius

Lurking behind every good fortune is some disaster. Lurking behind every disaster is some opportunities. Yin Yang.. --- Jackie Wu

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17. Let not your mind run on what you lack as much as what you have already. --- Marcus Aurelius

You have nothing, and you lack nothing. Let your mind run on that. --- Jackie Wu

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18. Objective judgement, now, at this very moment. Unselfish action, now, at this very moment. Willing acceptance, now, at this very moment --- of all external events. That's all you need. --- Marcus Aurelius

Of all external events --- You have no need for objective judgement because all judgements is subject. You have no need for unselfish action because all actions are out of selfishness, including the unselfish ones. You have no need for willing acceptance when you accept unconditionally without consulting your will. --- Jackie Wu

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19. Almost nothing material is needed for a happy life, for he who understood existence. --- Marcus Aurelius

Human lives are sustained by material amount of material. Happy life is meaningless if life is not sustained, regardless of if you understood existence or not. --- Jackie Wu

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20. Receive wealth or prosperity without arrogance; and be ready to let it go. --- Marcus Aurelius

Let be but never let go. Make your own inevitability, and never follow others. --- Jackie Wu

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21. For God's sake, stop honoring externals, quit turning yourself into tool of mere matter, or of people who can supply you or deny you those material things. --- Marcus Aurelius

We are tools of mere matter, or of people who can supply us or deny us those material things. There is no need to turn into one, or pretend to be not one. Honoring externals is a way to love God. God is defined as the Creator of externals, internals, and everything in between. --- Jackie Wu

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22. A man when he has done a good act, does not call out for others to come and see, but he goes on to another act, as vine goes on to produce again the grapes in season. --- Marcus Aurelius

Don't be such a man because good and evil both have no value to such a person. As vine goes on to produce again the grapes in season, such a person is a kind of plant, not a human. --- Jackie Wu

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23. Is any man afraid of change ? What can take place without change ? what then is more pleasing or more suitable to the universal nature ? And can you take a hot bath unless the wood for the fire undergoes a change ? And can you be nourished unless the food undergoes a change ? And can anything else that is useful be accomplished without change ? Do you not see then that for yourself also to change is just the same, and equally necessary for the universal nature. --- Marcus Aurelius

Change is continuous and never ending. It is also inevitable, regardless of if you are afraid of change or not. Make your own change, make your own inevitable, change the universal nature. Be creative. Have fun. --- Jackie Wu

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24. When you have assumed these names --- good, modest, truthful, rational, a man of equanimity, and magnanimous --- take care you do not change these names; and if you should lose them, quickly return to them. --- Marcus Aurelius

It is better to lose or change these names and never to assume them. For what is good is also evil, what is modest is also pride, what is truthful is also a lie, what is rational is also a logical fallacy, a man of equanimity is also removed, magnanimous is also condescending. --- Jackie Wu

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25. I have often wondered how it is that everyman loves himself more than all the rest of men, and yet sets less value on his own opinions of himself than on the opinions of others. --- Marcus Aurelius

It is natural to love oneself, and it is impossible to love all the rest of men. Opinions of others help to keep us sane, objective, and considerate. These are of high value contrasted with our subjective opinion. --- Jackie Wu

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26. Be content with what you are, and wish not change; nor dread your last day, nor long for it. --- Marcus Aurelius

Content leads to complacency. Change is inevitable regardless if you wish for it or not. Dreading and longing are natural feelings and emotions, but they can be controlled appropriately. --- Jackie Wu

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27. Consider that before long you will be nobody and nowhere, nor will any of the things exit that you now see, nor any of those who are now living. For all things are formed by nature to change and be turned and to perish in order that other things in continuous succession may exist. --- Marcus Aurelius

Before you become a nobody and nowhere, enjoy knowing very well you are never nobody and nowhere. Transformed, but exist in eternity. What exist cannot vanish. --- Jackie Wu

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28. In a word, if there is a God, all is well; and if chance rules, do not also be governed by it. --- Marcus
Aurelius

There is no if. God the Creator, the First Cause, exists. By the law of cause and effect, there is no such thing as randomness, luck, chance, or accident. Everything that exist is caused to exist. Every effect is caused, and every cause has effects. --- Jackie Wu

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29. So I look for the best and am prepared for the opposite. --- Marcus Aurelius

No one prepares for the best and looks for the worst. As a result, many opportunities are missed and men kill one another for nothing. --- Jackie Wu

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30. Treat whatever happens as wholly natural; not novel or hard to deal with, but familiar and easily handled. --- Marcus Aurelius

Whatever happens has no meaning other than the meaning we give. They are therefore artificial and not natural, novel and not unchanged, unfamiliar, and uncertain as to how hard or easy to deal with. Nevertheless, we dealt with them eventually. That is the beauty of life. --- Jackie Wu


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Comment on famous Stoic quotes by Jackie Wu Vol. 2. Epictetus and Seneca




1. There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will. --- Epictetus

One way to cease worrying is to will the worries away. It happens when we change our focus. --- Jackie Wu

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2. The flourishing life cannot be achieved until we moderate our desires and see how superficial and fleeting they are. --- Epictetus

A flourishing life is also superficial and fleeting, just like our desires. Achievement is overrated. --- Jackie Wu

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3. No man is free who is not master of himself. --- Epictetus

No man is free, period. The man who believed he is master of himself is delusional. --- Jackie Wu

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4. Wealth consist not in having great possessions, but in having few wants. --- Epictetus

Our needs and wants motivate and propel us forward. Wealth and possessions are illusions. --- Jackie Wu

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5. Whoever does not regard what he has as ample wealth, is unhappy, though he be master of the world. --- Epictetus

We have nothing when we come to this world and we will leave this world with nothing except our selves. Love and peace are in each and everyone of us to give. That is our wealth and our happiness. Jesus says : The more we give, the more we shall have; and that is a verifiable fact, logical, and rational. --- Jackie Wu

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6. When your thoughts, words, and deeds form a seamless fabric, you streamline your efforts and thus eliminate worry and dread. --- Epictetus

True, until you discover your mistake, and the situation may be irreversible. The good news is, whether or not you worry or dread now or then is all up to you. We have free will. --- Jackie Wu

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7. It is time to stop being vague. If you wish to be an extraordinary person, if you wish to be wise, then you should explicitly identify the kind of person you aspire to become. --- Epictetus

To be extraordinary and/or wise is vain, regardless of how explicit or vague you make it. --- Jackie Wu

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8. If you seek Truth, you will not seek to gain a victory by every possible means; and when you have found Truth, you need not fear being defeated. --- Epictetus

Truth, with a capital letter T, is an illusion. Truth is what you believe is true. It is always subjective, transitional, situational or circumstantial. There is no objective truth, permanent truth, or absolute truth. Seeking victory or fearing defeat does not change these fact. --- Jackie Wu

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9. Let silence be your general rule; or say only what is necessary and in few words. --- Epictetus

Action speaks louder than words, sometimes. --- Jackie Wu

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10. Know, first , who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly. --- Epictetus

Adorn not, for you don't know who you are. To adorn is to make believe, and to disguise yourself to yourself and/or to others. --- Jackie Wu

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11. Circumstances don't make the man, they only reveal him to himself. --- Epictetus

Man creates his own circumstances without necessarily being conscious of his act. --- Jackie Wu

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12. Freedom is the only worthy goal in life. It is won by disregarding things that lie beyond our control. --- Epictetus

Freedom is our birthright and it is in our control. It is not a goal; and it cannot be won or lost. We have free will; and we are always free to exercise our freedom, our birthright. --- Jackie Wu

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13. We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them. --- Epictetus

We can create our own meaning of our external circumstances. --- Jackie Wu

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14. Although we can't control which roles are assigned to us, it must be our business to act our given role as best we possibly can and to refrain from complaining about it. Wherever you find yourself and in whatever circumstances, give an impeccable performance. --- Epictetus

You can appreciate your impeccable performances though others may not. --- Jackie Wu

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15. Nothing great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig. I answer you that there must be time. Let it first blossom, then bear fruit, then ripen. --- Epictetus

If you don't have the time to wait, desire something else. --- Jackie Wu

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16. People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them. --- Epictetus

Change our focus changes our view. May be less disturbing, or may be more. --- Jackie Wu

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17. Sometimes even to live is an act of courage. --- Seneca

And sometimes an act of expectation. --- Jackie Wu

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18. True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so, wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not. --- Seneca

Hopes and fears are nature's way to motivate us, propel us, and guide us to the appropriate directions. To be satisfied and content is the start of developing complacency. Needs and wants are important parts of a happy life. Needs and wants are the greatest blessings of mankind, and they are within us though not always within our reach. A wise man cannot be content with his lot, unless he is a dead wise man. --- Jackie Wu

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19. Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. --- Seneca

Coincidence is not luck. Luck does not exist in reality. All effects are caused, and all causes have effects. --- Jackie Wu

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20. All cruelty springs from weakness. --- Seneca

And applied to those who are even weaker. --- Jackie Wu

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21. There is no easy way from the earth to the stars. --- Seneca

Except through our mind. --- Jackie Wu

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22. Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body. --- Seneca

Sometimes. Other times they weaken. --- Jackie Wu

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23. We suffer more often in imagination than in realty. --- Seneca

Our imagination is our realty. --- Jackie Wu

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24. As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters. --- Seneca

Too short a life cannot be good. Sometimes life cut short makes a better tale. --- Jackie Wu

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25. You act like mortals in all that you fear, and like immortals in all that you desire. --- Seneca

That's the way it should be. Only mortals have fear. Immortals have desires. --- Jackie Wu

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26. Hang on to your youthful enthusiasm - you'll be able to use them better when you are older. --- Seneca

Who wants to be a weird old man ? --- Jackie Wu

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27. If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favorable. --- Seneca

Why wait for the wind when you can use your motor to sail towards the general direction and decide later. Time and tide wait for no man, you know ? --- Jackie Wu

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28. It is the power of the mind to be unconquerable. --- Seneca

No one is unconquerable. It is the turn of events that upsets every plan. --- Jackie Wu

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29. It is not that we have so little time but that we lose so much. The life we received is not short but we make it so; we are not ill provided but we use what we have wastefully. --- Seneca

We don't own time and we don't actually own things. We cannot lose or shorten time, and we cannot waste things. Everything we do we do it for a purpose. --- Jackie Wu

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30. It is not the man who has too little, but the man who crave more, that is poor. --- Seneca

Exactly. The poor will always be with us, but not the good time; so, enjoy while we can. --- Jackie Wu

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31. Begin at once to live, and count each separate day as a separate life. --- Seneca

A day is not a lifetime. A lifetime is short enough, don't shorten it further into days. Live well everyday and enjoy. --- Jackie Wu

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32. He who is brave is free. --- Seneca

He who is brave is brave. He who is free is free. Try both of them out and enjoy. --- Jackie Wu

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33. What need is there to weep over parts of life ? The whole of it calls for tears. --- Seneca

The whole of life calls for celebration as well as lots of its parts and some parts that calls for tears are to provide us some varieties. --- Jackie Wu

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34. If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you are needing is not to be a different place but to be a different person. --- Seneca

In other words it is impossible to escape the things that harass you; so, learn to love them and become a better person. --- Jackie Wu

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35. No man was ever wise by chance. --- Seneca

Chance does not exist whether you are a wise man or not. --- Jackie Wu

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36. Until we have begun to go without them, we fail to realize how unnecessary many things are. We've been using them not because we need them but because we had them. --- Seneca

True love is not based on necessity, needs, or ownership. --- Jackie Wu

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37. They lose the day in expectation of the night, and the night in fear of the dawn. --- Seneca

Expectation and fear are necessary parts of our lives. No day and no night can be lost because of them. --- Jackie Wu

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38. Associate with people who are likely to improve you. --- Seneca

Love the rest of the people. --- Jackie Wu

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39. He suffers more than necessary, who suffers before it is necessary. --- Seneca

Suffering is never necessary. He who suffers before others suffers less. --- Jackie Wu

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40. I shall never be ashamed of citing a bad author if the line is good. --- Seneca

Good authors write good lines. Bad authors write bad line. --- Jackie Wu

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41. Only time can heal what reason cannot. --- Seneca

Time without reason heals nothing and no one. Dying is not healing, neither is forgetting. Reason heals everyone and everything. --- Jackie Wu

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42. Ignorance is the cause of fear. --- Seneca

True ignorance knows no fear. --- Jackie Wu

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43. Putting things off is the biggest waste of life: it snatches away each day as it comes, and denies us the present by promising the future. The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow, and loses today. You are arranging what lies in Fortune's control, and abandoning what lies in yours. What are you looking at ? To what goals are you straining ? The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately. --- Seneca

If you are not dead, you are living. It is better to live the tomorrows then to live the past, because the past is history just like the present has just become and neither of them can be changed any more. The future is coming, at least that is what we believed. Time and days cannot be wasted even if you try. The biggest lie is living the present for there is no such time. We humans live by our beliefs and our expectancies, not by our past which we called our knowledge, our experience, or simply ours. None of these is ours or mean anything, only our beliefs and our expectancies are real, meaningful, and truly our value. We control Fortune. Fortune cannot control us. We look at the coming of tomorrow and our goal is to survive to experience the tomorrows of our dreams. The uncertainty of tomorrow is our joy. The certainty of the past is death and taxes. --- Jackie Wu

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44. Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power. --- Seneca

We all have ourselves in our own power. --- Jackie Wu

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45. Life is like a play: it's not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters. --- Seneca

Exactly. No one likes a long play with poor acting. But we are not free to leave without considering the feeling of others. The play must go on. --- Jackie Wu

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46. Wealth is the slave of a wise man. the master of a fool. --- Seneca

Choosing to be a wealthy fool or a poor wise man is a no brainer. --- Jackie Wu

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47. Enjoy present pleasures in such a way as not to injure future ones. --- Seneca

A bird at hand is worth a dozen in the bush. --- Jackie Wu

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48. If you live in harmony with nature you will never be poor; if you live according what others think, you will never be rich. --- Seneca

The poor will always be with us, that, is nature and its harmony. No one knows what others really think. Just live, love, and don't worry. --- Jackie Wu

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49. As long as you live, keep learning how to live. --- Seneca

How ? --- Jackie Wu

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50. People are frugal in guarding their personal property; but as soon as it comes to squandering time they are most wasteful of the one thing in which it is right to be stingy. --- Seneca

Time cannot be squandered or hoarded, personal properties can. That's the reason why. --- Jackie Wu

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51. The sun also shines on the wicked. --- Seneca

No human can tell the sun what to do. --- Jackie Wu

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52. Fate leads the willing and drags along the reluctant. --- Seneca

So does tragedy. --- Jackie Wu

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53. A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand. --- Seneca

There are other tools. --- Jackie Wu

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54. Leisure without books is death, and burial of a man alive. --- Seneca

Books without leisure is worse. --- Jackie Wu

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55. Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. --- Seneca

Or before. Some of them comes before some other beginnings even begin. --- Jackie Wu

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56. Often a very old man has no other proof of his long life other than his age. --- Seneca

You can tell by my hair. --- Jackie Wu

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57. We learn not in school, but in life. --- Seneca

Those who learn not in school learn not in life. --- Jackie Wu

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58. A gift consists not in what is done or given, but in the intention of the giver or doer. --- Seneca

Free lunch, anyone ? --- Jackie Wu


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Commnents on famous stoic quotes by Jackie Wu Vol. 3 Plato




1. Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle. --- Plato

I don't expect anyone to know my battle, or I to know other people's battle. --- Jackie Wu

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2. Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whisper back Those who wish to sing always find a song. At the touch of a lover, everyone becomes a poet. --- Plato

Exactly. Not understanding what is sung or uttered. --- Jackie Wu

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3. Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something. --- Plato

I don't speak; I write. What does that make me ? --- Jackie Wu

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4. We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. --- Plato

That is because no child is afraid of the light, as long as it is not too bright. Some men are also afraid of the dark, particularly in a life of tragedy. --- Jackie Wu

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5. Only the dead have seen the end of war. --- Plato

The dead have seen nothing of that sort: and neither have the living. -- Jackie Wu

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6. The price good men pay for indifference to public affair is to be ruled by evil men. --- Plato

Makes no difference either way. --- Jackie Wu

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7. Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that they may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each. --- Plato

Force and harshness cultivate discipline. Genius without discipline can only be an artist or philosopher. --- Jackie Wu

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8. The heaviest penalty for declining to rule is to be ruled by someone inferior to yourself. --- Plato

And the biggest reward is to be ruled by someone superior to yourself. --- Jackie Wu

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9. According to Greek mythology, humans were originally created with four arms, four legs and a head with two faces. Fearing their power, Zeus split them into two separate parts, condemning them to spend their lives in search of their other half. --- Plato

No wonder there are so many mismatches. --- Jackie Wu

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10. I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing. --- Plato

What do men live by without knowledge ? I get it, by beliefs. --- Jackie Wu

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11. Never discourage anyone...who continually makes progress, no matter how slow. --- Plato

Particular the slow ones. --- Jackie Wu

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12. Love is a serious mental disease. --- Plato

I crave for some. --- Jackie Wu

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13. Good people do not need laws to tell them how to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws. --- Plato

Who makes these laws if not bad people. They make them to get around. --- Jackie Wu

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14. The measure of a man is what he does with power. --- Plato

That is why success of a person depends on the amount of power he exercise; for who has the gold who makes the rule. Absolute power guarantees absolute success.

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15. Ignorance, the root and stem of every evil. --- Plato

That is the reason why people like to pretend they know something and good; that others are ignorant and evil. --- Jackie Wu

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16. If women are expected to do the same work as men, we must teach them the same things. --- Plato

But can they learn ? --- Jackie Wu

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17. I'm trying to think, don't confuse me with facts. --- Plato

Thinking without facts is called philosophy. Either that, or called arts. --- Jackie Wu

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18. There is truth in wine and children. --- Plato

Lao Tzu says Dao is everywhere. I believe that. Even in wine and Children. --- Jackie Wu

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19. Those who tell the stories rule society. --- Plato

And make (his)story. That is how reliable history is. --- Jackie Wu

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20. Human behaviors flow from three sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge. --- Plato

I disagree, because Plato/Socrates said he knew nothing. What we believe is knowledge is nothing but repeated practices aka skills. The source of our desires and emotions is our beliefs. Our beliefs are what we humans live by. --- Jackie Wu

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21. The madness of love is the greatest of heaven's blessings. --- Plato

Love is a learned skill, not an instinct. True love is unconditional acceptance, which is counterintuitive the same way "the more we give, the more we shall have" is counterintuitive truth. --- Jackie Wu

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22. Education is teaching our children to desire the right thing. --- Plato

That is exactly why most if not all evil doers are educated --- Jackie Wu

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23. There are three classes of men; lovers of wisdom, lovers of honor, and lovers of gain. --- Plato

I love all three. Am I a class by myself ? --- Jackie Wu

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24. Courage is knowing what not to fear. --- Plato

Or know nothing. --- Jackie Wu

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25. In politics we presume that everyone who knows how to get votes knows how to administer a city or a state. When we are ill... we do not ask for the handsomest physician, or the most eloquent one. --- Plato

The truth is anyone can administer a city or a state, just a matter of how well or how poorly; but not everyone qualifies as a physician. So we elect the handsomest and the most eloquent ones, and hand them the key to the nuclear arsenal. What else can we base our votes on ? Democracy is a beauty pageant, see ? --- Jackie Wu

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26. You should not honor men more than truth. --- Plato

It all depends on your objective. --- Jackie Wu

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27. There are two things a person should never be angry at, what they can help, and what they cannot. --- Plato

Angry persons usually don't know what they can help and what they cannot help. They probably believed their anger helps, but find out later that sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. So they do it again next time, habitually. --- Jackie Wu

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28. When men speak ill of thee, live so as nobody may believe them. --- Plato

Unless you are what they say you are. --- Jackie Wu

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29. The beginning is the most important part of the work. --- Plato

Lots of times these people stopped after they begun, believing that the most important part of the work is done. Most if not all failures are due to people giving up just a little bit too soon. A little more persistent and they may see success which they will never see. So, I say the finish is just as important if not more. Every journey begins with a first step. Even bad ones --- Jackie Wu

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30. How can you prove at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state ? --- Plato

It's easy. By the logic and the detail. That is how we can tell if someone is dreaming while awake, as in day dreaming. We do that lots while driving. Most part of our driving are done by our subconscious minds and our reflexes, while the conscious minds are thinking of somewhere else or someone else. --- Jackie Wu

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31. The object of education is to teach us to love what is beautiful. --- Plato

No wonder most educated people don't understand what is true love. They love superficial appearances, like make ups and plastic surgeries. --- Jackie Wu

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32. A house that has a library in it has a soul. --- Plato

That's just someone else's soul. I don't keep my soul in my house or in a library. I carry it with me with my words and my actions. --- Jackie Wu

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33. Necessity is the mother of invention. --- Plato

Curiosity is the father. --- Jackie Wu

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34. Those who are able to see beyond the shadows and lies of their culture will never be understood, let alone believed, by the masses. --- Plato

That is the reason a cultural revolution is required. The suffering is called collateral damage. There are bloodsheds and deaths in any successful revolution. Lots of bloodsheds and many deaths. Revolutions are not a game of chess or a game played by children. --- Jackie Wu per the Little Red Book.

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35. Death is not the worst that can happen to men. --- Plato

The worst or the best, death is inevitable. No use evaluating what is inevitable. --- Jackie Wu

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36. The greatest wealth is to live content with little. --- Plato

Living content with little is the same as never really lived. What is more important, to live or to have the greatest wealth ? --- Jackie Wu

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37. Bodily exercise, when compulsory, does no harm to the body; but knowledge which is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind. --- Plato

Make bodily exercise compulsory, and forget about knowledge. --- Jackie Wu

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38. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. --- Plato

Same as any other qualities. Change the beholder changes the quality of everything, including good and evil. --- Jackie Wu

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39. No man should bring children into the world who is unwilling to persevere to the end in their nature and education. --- Plato

You can try but it is not up to you to decide. --- Jackie Wu

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40. Character is simply habit long continued. --- Plato

So smokers, alcoholics, and drug addicts have characters, they don't need to stand out from other smokers, alcoholics, and drug addicts ? --- Jackie Wu

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41. An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers. --- Plato

I prefer empty vessels to vessels full of shit, particularly when they are quiet. Babblers are preferred over liars and hypocrites. --- Jackie Wu

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42. Excellence is not a gift, but a skill that takes practice. We do not act "rightly" because we are "excellent", in fact we achieve "excellence" by acting "rightly". --- Plato

So, talent is irrelevant ? Not everyone can achieve "excellence" no matter how hard they practice, you know ? If practice makes perfect, then perfection has little value. --- Jackie Wu

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43. Musical innovation is full of danger to the States, for when modes of music change, the fundamental laws of the State always change with them. --- Plato

Danger, or opportunity ? Laws are made to be challenged. --- Jackie Wu

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44. You are my Star, a stargazer too, and I wish that I were heaven, with a billion eyes to look at you ! --- Plato

What you see is not real, what is real you cannot see. --- Jackie Wu

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45. Love is simply the name for the desire and pursuit of the whole. --- Plato

Love the undesirable and the unwanted, for they too are parts of Creation. --- Jackie Wu

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46. People are like dirt. They can either nourish you and help you grow as a person or they can stunt your growth and make you wilt and die. --- Plato

People are dirt. They don't get to choose how you grow and how you die. It is your choice. --- Jackie Wu

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47. Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others. --- Plato

Bad actions do the same. Both good actions and bad actions can bring weakness to ourselves and inspire bad action in others too. It all depends, for there is no good without bad, and no bad without good. Yin Yang. --- Jackie Wu

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48. The soul takes nothing with her to the next world but her education and her culture. At the beginning of the journey to the next world, one's education and culture can either provide the greatest assistance, or else act as the greatest burden, to the person who has just died. --- Plato

A dead person needs no assistance nor can be burdened. Education and culture means nothing to a dead person or his soul. Before we were born, we, our soul, were already in a journey of the other world. What will continue on earth after we die are the effects caused by our words and our actions, which will continue to eternity. So is our soul. --- Jackie Wu

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49. A hero is born among a hundred, a wise man is found among a thousand, but an accomplished one might not be found even among a hundred thousand man. --- Plato

Jesus said when two or more people gathered, I am present. Confucius said when three people walk, my teacher is present. Heroes, wise men, and accomplished ones are merely opinions of some people. They have no value to others, regardless of how rare or how plentiful they may seem. --- Jackie Wu

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50. I would teach children music, physics, and philosophy, but most importantly music, for the patterns in music and all the arts are the keys to learning. --- Plato

That, is at least one man's opinion. --- Jackie Wu

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51. Poets utter great and wise things which they do not themselves understand. --- Plato

If they do understand, it is not great and wise but just poetry. The same goes with musicians and their music. --- Jackie Wu


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Comments on famous stoic quotes by Jackie Wu Vol. 4 Aristotle




1. Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom. --- Aristotle

Does anyone know himself ? --- Jackie Wu

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2. It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain without accepting it. --- Aristotle

Sounds like the mark of an idiot to me. --- Jackie Wu

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3. What is a friend ? A single soul dwelling in two bodies. --- Aristotle

Is that how souls multiple ? When friends part to meet other friends ? --- Jackie Wu

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4. Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all. --- Aristotle

Minds get their education from logic and mathematics. Hearts get their education from desires and emotions. Ruthlessness is a result of educating the heart without educating the mind. The heart is pure horsepower, the mind is the harness that reins. --- Jackie Wu

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5. Hope is a waking dream. --- Aristotle

Hopes are not dreams except the irrational, unrealistic, and delusional ones. --- Jackie Wu

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6. No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness. --- Aristotle

Visions of great minds are often misunderstood by little minds as madness. --- Jackie Wu

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7. Happiness depends upon ourselves. --- Aristotle

So is other feelings like anger, sadness, or excitement. Therefore we are in a position to choose whatever feelings we like to have. --- Jackie Wu

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8. Anybody can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way - that is not within everybody's power and it is not easy. --- Aristotle

"Right" is only visible on hind sight, and is still not absolutely clear. Try and error can get you the desired results most of the time. Pretend to be angry, but never become serious about it. --- Jackie Wu

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9. Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives - choice, not chance, determines your destiny. --- Aristotle

Not all destinies are marked by excellence. 20/20 hind sight does not guarantee future performance. Be focused and persistent, let your excellence be merely a coincidence. --- Jackie Wu

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10. Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit. --- Aristotle

Love at first sight is not uncommon. Fruits can ripen only when the chemistry is right. There is no foresight for friendship, only the loyal ones can enjoy it, even if the other partner betrays the friendship. --- Jackie Wu

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11. Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence. --- Aristotle

So it seems to some people. But happiness is often short lived before sadness takes over. The good news is we can make sadness even more short lived and return to our happiness. This back and forth oscillation is the nature, the essence, and the beauty of life. --- Jackie Wu

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12. A friend to all is a friend to none. --- Aristotle

A friend to all is an enemy to none. --- Jackie Wu

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13. Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet. --- Aristotle

Sometimes, but not all the time. Sometimes impatience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet. It all depends on the situation. --- Jackie Wu

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14. Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well. --- Aristotle

Education is not only teaching how to live well. Besides, without life, how can anyone live well ? First, honor those who gave us life and provide for us, then question the teachers. Keep them at their toe and don't let them get carried away. --- Jackie Wu

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15. To perceive is to suffer. --- Aristotle

Perceptions can be the source of joy or suffering depending on the individual and his choice. --- Jackie Wu

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16. He who overcome his fears will truly be free. --- Aristotle

He who is truly free understood how to deal with his fear, sometime by overcoming it, sometimes by letting it be, and sometimes endure it to the end; but he would always acknowledge his fear and not pretend he has no fear or that he can overcome all his fears. Fear is a fact of life. They need to be acknowledged, appreciated, and dealt with appropriately. --- Jackie Wu

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17. Those who know, do. Those who understood, teach. --- Aristotle

Exactly. Those who teach don't know and don't do. Those who believed they know don't understand but believed they can also teach. --- Jackie Wu

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18. The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living differ from the dead. --- Aristotle

Exactly. Some educated are brain dead, and some uneducated have living brains. --- Jackie Wu

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19. Whosoever is delighted in solitude, is either a wild beast or a god. --- Aristotle

what are those who are sometimes delighted in solitude ? Human ? Periodic solitude is delightful experience: as a wild beast sometimes and as a god sometimes. --- Jackie Wu

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20. I count him braver who overcomes his desires than he who conquers his enemies, for the hardest victory is over self. --- Aristotle

Why would anyone want to overcome his desires, victorious over his self, or conquer his enemies ? Is it not better to accept and love ones desires, ones self, and ones enemies ? Love thy enemies as thyself. ---Jackie Wu, Jesus

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21. Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime. --- Aristotle

Greed, vanity, and insecurity too bear a lot of children like wars, terror, torture and murder. --- Jackie Wu

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22. The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance. --- Aristotle

Exactly. Philosophers and artist needs no fact. --- Jackie Wu

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23. It is not enough to win a war; it is more important to organize the peace. --- Aristotle

All wars end up in peace no matter which side won. --- Jackie Wu

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24. The antidote for fifty enemies is one friend. --- Aristotle

Vice versa is also true. Jackie Wu

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25. The high-minded man must care more for the truth than for what people think. --- Aristotle

One man's truth may be other man's lie. --- Jackie Wu

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26. Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. --- Aristotle

Perfection is fleeting, and so is pleasure. --- Jackie Wu

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27. One swallow does not make a summer; neither does one fine day; similarly one day or a brief time of happiness does not make a person entirely happy. --- Aristotle

Each person's life is just a brief time, of happiness and of sadness alike. The entirety of happiness can only be found in story books, fairytales, and history. --- Jackie Wu

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28. To write well, express yourself like the common people, but think like a wise man. --- Aristotle

A wise man writes what the common people don't understand, or else he is not really that much wiser than the common people. --- Jackie Wu

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29. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. --- Aristotle

Must have left off some of its parts by mistake. --- Jackie Wu

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30. Learning is not child's play; we cannot learn without pain. --- Aristotle

No wonder children can learn better and faster. They learn through pleasure. --- Jackie Wu

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31. Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as to not to need it, and therefore does not partake in society, is either a beast or a god. --- Aristotle

It is fun to be a man sometimes, a beast sometimes, and a god sometimes. --- Jackie Wu

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32. For the things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them. --- Aristotle

Dong is learning. Thinkers never learn. Don't think ? --- Jackie Wu

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33. All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reason, passion, and desire. --- Aristotle

There is no such thing as chance. Replace chance with belief and this sentence starts to make sense. --- Jackie Wu

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34. It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen. --- Aristotle

But a bad man must be a bad citizen, always. --- Jackie Wu

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35. The more you know, the more you know you don't know. --- Aristotle

Humans live by their beliefs, not their knowledge; for knowledge humans have none. --- Jackie Wu

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36. The energy of the mind is the essence of life. --- Aristotle

Some people are not mindful but continue to live - a vegetable ? --- Jackie Wu

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37. It is during our darkest moment that we must focus to see the light. --- Aristotle

We must also focus in the brightest moment of our life to see the darkest. --- Jackie Wu

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38. He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader. --- Aristotle

That would depend on who you are trying to lead. --- Jackie Wu

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39. Without friends, no one would want to live, even if he had all other goods. --- Aristotle

Some may want to live to find friends and forget what goods they have. --- Jackie Wu

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40. Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in the consciousness that we deserve them. --- Aristotle

Even though we may not. Self-dignified people are very common among us. --- Jackie Wu

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41. Nature does nothing uselessly. --- Aristotle

We are straw dogs to nature and sages. --- Jackie/ Lao Tzu

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42. All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind. --- Aristotle

Unpaid jobs keep us thinking when we will get paid. --- Jackie Wu

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43. Wise men speak when they have something to say, fools speak because they have to say something. --- Aristotle

Anyone can pretend to be a wise man except fools. --- Jackie Wu

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44. Misfortune shows those who are not really friends. --- Aristotle

Those who don't see it are the fortunate ones. --- Jackie Wu

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45. Where your talents and the needs of the world cross, there lies your vocation. --- Aristotle

A vocation is sometimes more than a pay cheque. --- Jackie Wu

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46. Learning is an ornament in prosperity, a refuge in adversity, and a provision in old age. --- Aristotle

Those who believed in learning don't believe in knowing. --- Jackie Wu

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47. Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. --- Aristotle

Some excellent acts cannot be repeated. --- Jackie Wu


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Comments on famous stoic quotes by Jackie Wu Vol. 5 Socrates




1. The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing . --- Socrates

Tomorrow, gravity, and God are believable but they are not knowable by humans. --- Jackie Wu

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2. The unexamined life is not worth living. --- Socrates

Living is examining and discovering. --- Jackie Wu

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3. I cannot teach anyone anything. I can only make them think. --- Socrates

I think : those who know, do; those who understand, teach; those who teach don't know; those who know don't understand. --- Jackie Wu

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4. There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance. --- Socrates

Good and evil are interrelated, interdependent, and intertwined. One cannot exist without the other. They are inseparable parts of the whole. Knowledge and ignorance are no different. Yin Yang. --- Jackie Wu

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5. Wonder is the beginning of wisdom. --- Socrates

Wisdom begin when wonder ends. Knowledge and wisdom are delusions. Life is never ending wonder. Humans can never know, and humans are never wise. We humans live solely by our beliefs--- Jackie Wu

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6. Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people. --- Socrates

Great minds don't discuss. Mediocre minds discuss what they don't understand. Poor minds discuss what great minds don't know. --- Jackie Wu

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7. To find yourself, think for yourself. --- Socrates

Find yourself doing, not thinking. Lose yourself thinking, not doing. Be yourself doing what you think for yourself. --- Jackie Wu

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8. Education is the kindling of a flame. not the filling of a vessel. --- Socrates

Fire is dangerous, a full vessel is content. Beware of education. --- Jackie Wu

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9. He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have. --- Socrates

We are all trying to find out if that statement is true. That keeps us alive and well. --- Jackie Wu

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10. Be slow to fall into friendship, but when you are in, continue firm and constant. --- Socrates

People are constantly changing. Quality and duration of a friendship are not up to the will of one party or even the wills of both parties. Fall into friendship swiftly and be prepared to lose it any time. --- Jackie Wu

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11. If you don't get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don't want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can't hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change. Free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is law and no amount of pretending will alter that reality. --- Socrates

Since change is law, change your suffering into joy. Do it by letting be. But don't let go. Enjoy the changes, anticipate them, and appreciate them. Get used to wanting them and you would never be disappointed. There is no need to pretend. Persist with the reality and get excited. Enjoy ! --- Jackie Wu

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12. Sometimes you put walls up not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to break them down. --- Socrates

You sounded like a woman. --- Jackie Wu

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13. No one has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable. --- Socrates

All bodies grow old, but never our thoughts and ideas. It is okay to be an amateur in the matter of physical training, but not okay to not master our thoughts and ideas. They will accompany us all our life as well as the next. --- Jackie Wu

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14. When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tools of the loser. --- Socrates

And the batch of honor of the winner. --- Jackie Wu

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15. The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less. --- Socrates

Don't kid yourself. Those who enjoy less is not truly happy. --- Jackie Wu

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16. Know thyself. --- Socrates

No one ever does. --- Jackie Wu

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17. Let him who would move the world first move himself. --- Socrates

Don't move, and the world will move by itself. Wu Wai. --- Jackie Wu/ Lao Tzu

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18. Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty. --- Socrates

Men want wealth and luxury, and not contentment, lack of energy, and lack of motivation. --- Jackie Wu

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19. Enjoy your time in improving yourself by other men's writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for. --- Socrates

Some writings of others are better not read regardless of how hard they have labored for. Critical thinking is called for when we read the writings of others. --- Jackie Wu

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20. Do not do to others what angers you if done to you by others. --- Socrates

Do to others with love and you can never go wrong; even if you got nailed to the cross as a result. --- Jackie Wu

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21. Every action has its pleasure and its price. --- Socrates

Some actions are priceless and the most pleasurable. Would choose those anytime. --- Jackie Wu

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22. Prefer knowledge to wealth, for the one is transitory, the other perpetual. --- Socrates

Knowledge and wealth are both delusions. Hang on to your faith. --- Jackie Wu

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23. We cannot live better than in seeking to become better. --- Socrates

Seeking is believing. Seeking to become better is believing better is attainable. --- Jackie Wu

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24. Beware of the barrenness of a busy life. --- Socrates

A leisure life is equally empty. At least there is no time to think in a busy life. --- Jackie Wu

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25. Understand a question is half an answer. --- Socrates

There is no question you don't already have an answer. Questions are the answers. The more empowering questions have more empowering answers. --- Jackie Wu, Anthony Robbins

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26. The hottest love has the coldest end. --- Socrates

It is the love that matters, not the end. --- Jackie Wu

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27. Life contains but two tragedies. One is not to get your heart's desire; the other is to get it. --- Socrates

That's life's comedy, not tragedy. --- Jackie Wu

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28. Envy is the ulcer of the soul. --- Socrates

Action is the cure. --- Jackie Wu.

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29. The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be. --- Socrates

The purpose of pretending is when we can't be what we pretend to be. So, honor is out of the question. Just pretend. --- Jackie Wu

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30. I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing. --- Socrates

I believe that I am intelligent, because I believe I know nothing. We humans live by our beliefs, not our knowledge, for knowledge we have none. What we see is not real; what is real we cannot see. --- Jackie Wu

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31. True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us. --- Socrates

Some believe they are wise because they realize they don't understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us; others believe they are wise because they realize they understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us. The truth is wisdom is empty, and true wisdom is truly empty. --- Jackie Wu

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32. From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate. --- Socrates

It is safer and more enjoyable to scratch the surface of our desires, and avoid going deep. --- Jackie Wu

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33. Be nicer than necessary to everyone you meet. Everyone is fighting some kind of battle. --- Socrates

No one wants to get involved in other people's battle. --- Jackie Wu

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34. If you want to be a good saddler, saddle the worst horse; for if you can tame one, you can tame all. --- Socrates

Standing there talking won't get you a sore back or a broken limb. --- Jackie Wu

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35. My friend...care for your psyche...know thyself, for once we know ourselves, we may learn how to care for ourselves. --- Socrates

If we can know ourselves, there won't be any poor people in this world. --- Jackie Wu

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36. The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms. --- Socrates

Defining terms only create more definitions and more terms but no wisdom. --- Jackie Wu

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37. One should never do wrong in return, nor mistreat any man, no matter how one has been mistreated by him. --- Socrates

An eye for an eye, we will all be blind. --- Jackie Wu/ Gandhi

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38. The really important thing is not to live but to live well. And to live well meant, along with more enjoyable things in life, to live according to your principles. --- Socrates

Setting low principles helps. --- Jackie Wu

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39. The easiest and noblest way is not to be crushing others, but to be improving yourselves. --- Socrates

There is always room for improvement, but crushing others may not always be possible. --- Jackie Wu

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40. He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature. --- Socrates

Contentment breeds complacency. Don't try to be content. Continue to improve yourself in every way. --- Jackie Wu


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comments on comments - stoic




1. The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing . --- Socrates

Tomorrow, gravity, and God are believable but they are not knowable by humans. --- Jackie Wu

Beliefs are not knowing. We know nothing. We only believe we know we know nothing. --- JW

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2. The unexamined life is not worth living. --- Socrates

Living is examining and discovering. --- Jackie Wu

Worth is a subjective value. All lives are worth living. --- JW

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3. I cannot teach anyone anything. I can only make them think. --- Socrates

I think : those who know, do; those who understand, teach; those who teach don't know; those who know don't understand. --- Jackie Wu

Do first, think later. --- JW

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4. There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance. --- Socrates

Good and evil are interrelated, interdependent, and intertwined. One cannot exist without the other. They are inseparable parts of the whole. Knowledge and ignorance are no different. Yin Yang. --- Jackie Wu

Believing we know is the root of all evil. We started it when Eve ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge, --- JW

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5. Wonder is the beginning of wisdom. --- Socrates

Wisdom begin when wonder ends. Knowledge and wisdom are delusions. Life is never ending wonder. Humans can never know, and humans are never wise. We humans live solely by our beliefs--- Jackie Wu

Life begins with wonder and ends with hope wondering what's next. --- JW

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6. Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people. --- Socrates

Great minds don't discuss. Mediocre minds discuss what they don't understand. Poor minds discuss what great minds don't know. --- Jackie Wu

Our minds prevent us from living. Live, don't think. --- JW

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7. To find yourself, think for yourself. --- Socrates

Find yourself doing, not thinking. Lose yourself thinking, not doing. Be yourself doing what you think for yourself. --- Jackie Wu

No one can think for others, only for oneself. --- JW

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8. Education is the kindling of a flame. not the filling of a vessel. --- Socrates

Fire is dangerous, a full vessel is content. Beware of education. --- Jackie Wu

The vessels of educated men are empty but hot. --- JW

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9. He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have. --- Socrates

We are all trying to find out if that statement is true. That keeps us alive and well. --- Jackie Wu

He who is content with what he has will never know what he could have. --- JW

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10. Be slow to fall into friendship, but when you are in, continue firm and constant. --- Socrates

People are constantly changing. Quality and duration of a friendship are not up to the will of one party or even the wills of both parties. Fall into friendship swiftly and be prepared to lose it any time. --- Jackie Wu

Reach for friendship. Don't fall into one. Love is different. Fall into love. Don't reach for love --- JW

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11. If you don't get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don't want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can't hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change. Free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is law and no amount of pretending will alter that reality. --- Socrates

Since change is law, change your suffering into joy. Do it by letting be. But don't let go. Enjoy the changes, anticipate them, and appreciate them. Get used to wanting them and you would never be disappointed. There is no need to pretend. Persist with the reality and get excited. Enjoy ! --- Jackie Wu

Life is not suffering because of change. Change heals, it's the law. Non-permanence is a blessing. Enjoy !!! --- JW

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12. Sometimes you put walls up not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to break them down. --- Socrates

You sounded like a woman. --- Jackie Wu

Those who don't care enough to break down my walls, get lost. --- JW

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13. No one has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable. --- Socrates

All bodies grow old, but never our thoughts and ideas. It is okay to be an amateur in the matter of physical training, but not okay to not master our thoughts and ideas. They will accompany us all our life as well as the next. --- Jackie Wu

Our minds can keep us young and beautiful. --- JW

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14. When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tools of the loser. --- Socrates

And the batch of honor of the winner. --- Jackie Wu

Humor is the shield of the winner. --- JW

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15. The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less. --- Socrates

Don't kid yourself. Those who enjoy less is not truly happy. --- Jackie Wu

The truly happy ones, you see, lost the sense of more or less. --- JW

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16. Know thyself. --- Socrates

No one ever does. --- Jackie Wu

Believe in thyself. --- JW

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17. Let him who would move the world first move himself. --- Socrates

Don't move, and the world will move by itself. Wu Wai. --- Jackie Wu/ Lao Tzu

Emotions causes motion, that's how the world is moved. --- JW

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18. Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty. --- Socrates

Men want wealth and luxury, and not contentment, lack of energy, and lack of motivation. --- Jackie Wu

Nature is never content but constantly changing. Luxury is the part of change that's desirable, and it is also brief. --- JW

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19. Enjoy your time in improving yourself by other men's writings so that you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for. --- Socrates

Some writings of others are better not read regardless of how hard they have labored for. Critical thinking is called for when we read the writings of others. --- Jackie Wu

Enjoy your time in improving yourself by physical exercise and not be bother by writings and opinions of others. --- JW

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20. Do not do to others what angers you if done to you by others. --- Socrates

Do to others with love and you can never go wrong; even if you got nailed to the cross as a result. --- Jackie Wu

What does not anger you may anger a lot of people, particular when it is the truth. --- JW

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21. Every action has its pleasure and its price. --- Socrates

Some actions are priceless and the most pleasurable. Would choose those anytime. --- Jackie Wu

Some action has no pleasure, only effort. --- JW

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22. Prefer knowledge to wealth, for the one is transitory, the other perpetual. --- Socrates

Knowledge and wealth are both delusions. Hang on to your faith. --- Jackie Wu

The feeing of being wealthy is more pleasurable than the feeling of being knowledgeable. --- JW

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23. We cannot live better than in seeking to become better. --- Socrates

Seeking is believing. Seeking to become better is believing better is attainable. --- Jackie Wu

There is always something better in our life. --- JW

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24. Beware of the barrenness of a busy life. --- Socrates

A leisure life is equally empty. At least there is no time to think in a busy life. --- Jackie Wu

Treat barrenness of a busy life as your reward and be a happy man. --- JW

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25. Understand a question is half an answer. --- Socrates

There is no question you don't already have an answer. Questions are the answers. The more empowering questions have more empowering answers. --- Jackie Wu, Anthony Robbins

There is no point answering any question of others. Answer your own. --- JW

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26. The hottest love has the coldest end. --- Socrates

It is the love that matters, not the end. --- Jackie Wu

Experiencing the hottest and the coldest in life is a true blessing. --- JW

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27. Life contains but two tragedies. One is not to get your heart's desire; the other is to get it. --- Socrates

That's life's comedy, not tragedy. --- Jackie Wu

Treat life as a journey instead of a play for life has no script. --- JW

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28. Envy is the ulcer of the soul. --- Socrates

Action is the cure. --- Jackie Wu

Knowledge is the cancer of the soul. --- JW

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29. The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be what we pretend to be. --- Socrates

The purpose of pretending is when we can't be what we pretend to be. So, honor is out of the question. Just pretend. --- Jackie Wu

The honor in pretending is to continue pretending. --- JW

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30. I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing. --- Socrates

I believe that I am intelligent, because I believe I know nothing. We humans live by our beliefs, not our knowledge, for knowledge we have none. What we see is not real; what is real we cannot see. --- Jackie Wu

True intelligence is not in knowing but in believing. ---JW

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31. True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us. --- Socrates

Some believe they are wise because they realize they don't understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us; others believe they are wise because they realize they understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us. The truth is wisdom is empty, and true wisdom is truly empty. --- Jackie Wu

Wisdom is empty but we like to pretend it contains something. --- JW

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32. From the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate. --- Socrates

It is safer and more enjoyable to scratch the surface of our desires, and avoid going deep. --- Jackie Wu

Deep desires are not for faint hearts, and neither are deadly hate. --- JW

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33. Be nicer than necessary to everyone you meet. Everyone is fighting some kind of battle. --- Socrates

No one wants to get involved in other people's battle. --- Jackie Wu

Be nice and enjoy everyday because everyday has its own battle. --- JW

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34. If you want to be a good saddler, saddle the worst horse; for if you can tame one, you can tame all. --- Socrates

Standing there talking won't get you a sore back or a broken limb. --- Jackie Wu

Makes no sense to always choose the toughest challenge. --- JW

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35. My friend...care for your psyche...know thyself, for once we know ourselves, we may learn how to care for ourselves. --- Socrates

If we can know ourselves, there won't be any poor people in this world. --- Jackie Wu

We can do a better job taking care of ourselves than letting nature do it for us. --- JW

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36. The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms. --- Socrates

Defining terms only create more definitions and more terms but no wisdom. --- Jackie Wu

Wisdom is understanding nature, which no man can do. --- JW

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37. One should never do wrong in return, nor mistreat any man, no matter how one has been mistreated by him. --- Socrates

An eye for an eye, we will all be blind. --- Jackie Wu/ Gandhi

Two wrongs make one right. --- JW

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38. The really important thing is not to live but to live well. And to live well meant, along with more enjoyable things in life, to live according to your principles. --- Socrates

Setting low principles helps. --- Jackie Wu

Have no principle ensures living well. --- JW

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39. The easiest and noblest way is not to be crushing others, but to be improving yourselves. --- Socrates

There is always room for improvement, but crushing others may not always be possible. --- Jackie Wu

Improve yourself by learning how to crush others. -JW

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40. He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature. --- Socrates

Contentment breeds complacency. Don't try to be content. Continue to improve yourself in every way. --- Jackie Wu

Nature is abundant and never content. It is not natural for humans to be content with little or less, let alone least. --- JW