Step outside, reluctant and heavy with the weight of worry. Take a breath and begin to put one foot in front of the other. The gravel crunch’s underfoot and we watch our feet in action. We pass by the hedging, through the gateway and make a turn to our left, all without taking our eyes […]
We rarely engage with gratitude, failing to see how much worse things could get. Henry Ward Beecher, G.K. Chesterton and Charles Dickens. Art by M. Raimondi Jane Austen in 1814 said; “We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be”. Instead of believing that […]
Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) is credited with saying that ‘a proverb is a short sentence based on long experience’. Proverbs are often centuries old, providing us with global wisdom’s that have remained relevant throughout time. “The best of men are but men at best.” In 1680, John Aubrey referred to this proverb in […]
“There is no smooth road into the future: but we go round, or scramble over the obstacles. We’ve got to live, no matter how many skies have fallen.” D.H. Lawrence, 1928, Lady Chatterley’s Lover In this paper he poses a question we rarely hear or consider in today’s environment- does everyone need help? In recent […]
In his 2004 paper, George A. Bonanno looks at resilience and how many professionals dismiss or underestimate it. He asks- does everyone need help? Are the cynics of the world bold realisers of truth? Or do they actually just lack the real courage it takes to have hope? With quotes from Wilde & more. If […]
I am, like many people in the world I think, feeling significantly displaced. Although a characteristic often associated with the downtrodden, humility is in fact a gift granted to those willing to keep their eyes open to blinding light. ‘A proverb is a short sentence based on long experience’, so said Miguel de Cervantes. This […]
“The instruction we find in books is like fire. We fetch it from our neighbours, kindle it at home, communicate it to others, and it becomes the property of all.” Voltaire (1694 – 1778), attributed, Best Thoughts of Best Thinkers Carl Spitzweg, 1851, The Bookworm They would choose to sit and read a book over […]
As humans we have the capacity to hurt and as a result, to be hurt by others. If we’re not careful, this hurt burrows into our soul and takes residence. Like a weed, it spreads throughout our being, crawling over our perspective and inching its roots into our behaviour. Because of its assault on our […]
Finding Meaning in Suffering “If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete.” Frankl, 1946, pg. 76 Viktor Frankl proclaimed that without a meaning in our life, […]
“Be sincere, Be brief, Be seated.” Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 – 1945) That’s because usually what I write about is something associated with the human experience so a collective ‘we’ makes sense. But I was reading Chesterton recently, and he said (and I am paraphrasing) that he had to speak of himself, because although it […]
“…It is very important to be idle with confidence, with devotion, possibly even with joy. The days when even our hands do not stir are so exceptionally quiet that it is hardly possible to raise them without hearing a whole lot.” Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters on Life, 1875-1926 It fulfils us in many different ways. […]
Gaetano Bellei, 1919, Rainy Day He believed that there are two elements that go into the composition of friendship.The first one is Truth. Emerson believed that a marker of real friendship is someone with whom we can be sincere. When he speaks of sincerity, Emerson means it in every sense. With a friend, we should […]
“…From this day forward we shall know That in ourselves our safety must be sought; That by our own right hands it must be wrought; That we must stand unpropped, or be laid low.” William Wordsworth, 1806, November There’s no doubt that life is difficult. We’re constantly presented with challenges and hardships which we’re expected […]
Exploring Philosophy Archives | In Other Words
‘A proverb is a short sentence based on long experience’, so said Miguel de Cervantes. This week’s proverb: ‘Good fences make good neighbours.’ ‘A proverb is a short sentence based on long experience’, so said Miguel de Cervantes. This week’s proverb: ‘Do right and fear no man.’ Fortitude is one of the cardinal virtues that […]