Some pearls of wisdom from some of history’s greatest thinkers

If you’re anything like me, and if you follow my page and are a regular reader of mine, I’m sure you love stumbling across insightful, thought-provoking tidbits of wisdom. The beauty of an inspiring quote is that it is a bite-sized piece of wisdom; a prompt that causes you to stop and think and reflect on for a while. In this article, I will present a few of my favorite quotes that have inspired me to pause and consider. Hopefully, some of these resonate with you in like manner.

“You are free to ignore reality. You are not free to escape the consequences of ignoring reality.” – Ayn Rand

            This has to be one of my favorite quotes by one of my favorite writers and philosophers who has probably had a more profound impact on my thinking than any other. This quote is really addressing the importance of being honest and having integrity. After all, that’s what honesty really is; the commitment to acknowledge the facts of reality, to not try to fake, alter or manipulate the facts of reality in any way, shape manner or form. To try to fake reality is to engage in willful deceit and deception and to become dependent on those you seek to deceive. But reality will always win out in the end. That is the tragic “consequence” of ignoring reality.

“That which you most desire will be found where you most fear to look.” – Carl Jung

A brilliant quote from renowned 20th century Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung, which seems to suggest that when you are frustrated in life by your unrealized dreams and potential, take a good long, honest look at where you’re at and why. It could be there is something you haven’t done or are not prepared to do in the achievement of your highest goal. If you ask yourself honestly and openly, it will come to you, when you are truly open to hearing it.

“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

No list of quotes would be complete, in my view without a good quote from Friederich Nietzsche, a source of many beautiful inspirational quotes. I’m sure I could write an entire article on Nietzsche quotes alone. But this quote seems to point out the idea that there are many in this life who just seem to see things differently, the artists, the dreamers, the innovators and inventors who will always go their own way, questioning the conventional wisdom, challenging societal norms. They are the ones who go against the conventional wisdom and dare to dream big, the ones who ask, “why not” of the world and let nothing and no one dissuade them from their chosen path. For it is they that shape the course of human history.

“For what doth it profit a man to inherit the world at the cost of his own soul?” – Jesus

Probably my most favorite passage of scripture, Jesus was facing the temptations in the desert. As the story goes, Satan offers Jesus dominion, or power and influence over the world if Jesus would only go along and give in. But Jesus, in knowing that there can be no value in surrendering your own personal integrity, refuses. To betray your own conscience, to do what you know to be wrong and go against your own core values is to betray your own soul. To go against your own values is to work against yourself, to place yourself in a state of perpetual conflict where the price of achieving your goals is the surrender of your own highest moral faculty. The inner tension created will be unbearable. Consider the case of Judah who betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, an act of betrayal he knew to be corrupt. The resulting inner conflict led him to end his own life. No value you could possibly acquire is worth the price of your own integrity. 

                        “There are no conflicts among rational people.” – Ayn Rand

Lastly, this is a favorite but lesser-known quote from Ayn Rand taken from her epic novel Atlas Shrugged. Rand quantified “rational” as not seeking an unearned benefit, not trying to fake, alter or manipulate the facts of reality in any way. If you have a conflict with someone, you can almost always arrive at the source of the conflict with some honest, back-and -forth discussion. Lets say there are two people wanting a promotion for a position at work. One man or woman is most likely the more experienced, qualified or productive candidate. Using objective criteria can determine who is the better choice, who will bring more benefit to the company. The conflict only comes into play when the lesser qualified candidate wants to be promoted over the more qualified candidate. No one is saying that this is always easy. Sometimes there are numerous factors to consider. But if a lesser qualified or experienced candidate wants the promotion or a position of power and authority that they haven’t earned, you have just found the source of your conflict.

Thanks for reading, hopefully some of these insightful quotes inspire you. Maybe you have some great quotes of your own. Feel free to let me know in the comments. And, as always, remember, your work is your signature. What do want to say with yours?

Glenn Howard Weidman