Quotes About Discernment

Appearances: People tend to focus on the outer appearances but it's the inner self that really matters. What you see on the outside doesn't always match what's on the inside. You might be something very special on the inside but people are so fixated and judgmental about what they see on the outside that they don't give you a fair chance and that's an injustice, a tragedy.

Não olheis de onde vem a verdade.

Eschew that friend, if thou art wise, who consorts with thy enemies.

Why, when we are reluctant even to describe a wedge of cheese we are seeing for the first time, do we draw our final conclusions from our first encounters with people, and happily dismiss them?

just because you can have something doesn't mean you should.

I wish you'd tell the truth, but since I know that isn't preferable--" "The truth is always preferable, my dear. It's just not always wise.

Discern the real from the illusory, what is existentially true from what is psychologically true.

The fundamental difference between a human being and a machine is perception.

What truly differentiates the heavies from the lightweights is not how tough they are, but how aware they are.

You need to avoid certain things in your train of thought: everything random, everything irrelevant. And certainly everything self-important or malicious. You need to get used to winnowing your thoughts, so that if someone says, What are your thinking about? you can respond at once (and truthfully) that you are thinking this or thinking that.

Look beneath the surface; let not the several quality of a thing nor its worth escape thee.

Not to waste time on nonsense. Not to be taken in by conjurors and hoodoo artists with their talk about incantations and exorcism and all the rest of it. Not to be obsessed with quail-fighting or other crazes like that.

Most of what we say and do is not necessary, and its omission would save both time and trouble. At every step, therefore, a man should ask himself, 'Is this one of the things that are superfluous?' Moreover, not idle actions only but even idle impressions ought to be suppressed; for the unnecessary action will not ensue.

No lo hagas, si no conviene; no lo digas si no es verdad.

Rationality is the quality of seeing past appearances to discern the true nature of things. We call a person rational who is evenhanded and unprejudiced. Equanimity means the calm acceptance of all that exists and all that happens. Magnanimity means greatness of spirit, unmoved by the lure of pleasure, the lust for fame, and the fear of death.

To read attentively—not to be satisfied with "just getting the gist of it." And not to fall for every smooth talker.

Don't look at things the way wrong-doers do. Don't look at things as wrong-doers want you too, either. Instead, strive to see things in truth, as they really are.

nunca se sabe ao certo quando os homens incorrem em erro, pois muitas das suas ações, que nos parecem perversas a primeira vista, são feitas com boas intenções, ou ao menos sem más intenções. É necessário conhecer inúmeros pormenores e circunstâncias antes de poder julgar com alguma segurança a conduta alheia.

Where does our common reason come from? What gives us this capacity for discernment, right action, and law? All things must come from somewhere. Our bodies are made of elements that come from the earth and are hydrated by the earth's waters. Reason, too, must have a Source. This is a profound mystery.

Chief among these are inappropriate value judgments: the designation as "good" or "evil" of things that in fact are neither good nor evil.

Be neither a great talker, nor a great undertaker.

Wisdom is knowledge of good and bad; courage is knowledge of what to fear and what not to fear; moderation is knowledge of what to pursue and what to avoid; justice is knowledge of what to give or what not to give others.

A good eye must be good to see whatsoever is to be seen, and not green things only. For that is proper to sore eyes. So must a good ear, and a good smell be ready for whatsoever is either to be heard, or smelt: and a good stomach as indifferent to all kinds of food, as a millstone is, to whatsoever she was made for to grind.

He blind, who cannot see with the eyes of his understanding.