Quotes

One of the fondest memories of my Granddad Nelson was trading quotes regularly over email. Sadly I lost the email archive when I went on my mission, but it has continued to be an interest of mine. I hope you enjoy my collection of quotes. A bit of everything from religion to politics to leadership.

I want to call back
the blackberry flowers
that have fallen
though pear blossoms remain

The poet Li Qing-jao knew the pain of regretting words that have already fallen from our lips and can never be called back. But she was wise enough to remember that even though those words are gone, there are still new words waiting to be said, like the pear blossoms.

Wives should live longer than husbands. Women [are] more complete inside themselves. They [are] also better at living in their children. They [are] never as solitary as a man alone.

If I had any part of you in me… I would not have needed to marry you to become a complete person.

The wise are not wise because they make no mistakes. They are wise because they correct their mistakes as soon as they recognize them.

Any animal is willing to kill the Other… But the higher beings include more and more living things within their self-story, until at last there is no Other. Until the needs of others are more important than any private desires. The highest beings of all are the ones who are willing to pay any personal cost for the good of those who need them.

You don’t grow up until you stop worrying about other people’s purposes or lack of them and find the purposes you believe in for yourself.

A real god doesn’t care about control. A real god already has control of everything that needs controlling. Real gods would want to teach you how to be just like them.

If you tell what you know, everybody is wiser. If you keep a secret, then everyone is a fool.

[The] only teacher who’s worth anything to you is your enemy.