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"A human being is a living constellation of contradictions, mostly opaque to itself. “Inward secret creatures,” Iris Murdoch called us in reckoning with the blind spots of our self-knowledge"... More at The Marginalian ➜

Baltasar Gracián, S. J. (1601 - 1658), in full, Baltasar Gracián Morales, was a Spanish Jesuit, prose writer and philosopher. He is known as  one of the leading exponents of conceptism, a literary movement of the Spanish Golden Age of literature characterized by a rapid rhythm, directness, simple vocabulary, witty metaphors, and wordplay. In this style, multiple meanings are conveyed in a very concise manner, and conceptual intricacies are emphasized over elaborate vocabulary. His writings were lauded by Schopenhauer and Nietzsche and the appeal of his timeless advice focusing on honesty and kindness endures to this date.

This  quote has been attributed to Kathleen Casey, Haruki Murakami and the Dalai Lama. Although we cannot identify the original source, we nevetheless admire its inspirational insight and hope you do as well.

André Paul Guillaume Gide (1869 - 1951)  French author known for his fiction as well as his autobiographical works. He authored more than fifty books and he was the winner of the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature. Gide was brought up in isolated conditions in Normandy and became a prolific writer at an early age. He published his first novel, "The Notebooks of André Walter" (French: Les Cahiers d'André Walter) at the age of twenty-one.

"There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes “What the hell is water?”

The quote is from David Foster Wallace 2005 commencement speech to the graduating class at Kenyon College. You can see the  Speech Video or you can read the full transcription

If nothing else, Wallace speech is timeless, telling us about "the real value of a real education, which has almost nothing to do with knowledge, and everything to do with simple awareness; awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us, all the time, that we have to keep reminding ourselves over and over:  This is Water"

In 2015, Time Magazine called Wallace speech the Greatest Commencement Speech of All Time and highlighted 5 Takeaways. 

David Wallace (1962 - 2008) was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and university professor of English and creative writing. Wallace's 1996 novel "Infinite Jest " was cited by Time magazine as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005. His posthumous novel, "The Pale King" (2011), was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2012. The Los Angeles Times's David Ulin called Wallace "one of the most influential and innovative writers of the last twenty years". Wallace grew up in Illinois and attended Amherst College. He taught English at Emerson College, Illinois State University, and Pomona College. After struggling with depression for many years, he died by suicide in 2008, at age 46.

Carl Gustav Jung (1875- 1961) - Born Karl Gustav Jung, was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philosophy, psychology and religious studies. He conducted  lengthy correspondence and collaborated with Sigmund Freud for a while, on a joint vision of human psychology. Eventually Jung established Jung's analytical psychology as a comprehensive system separate from Freud's psychoanalysis.

Ralph Waldo Emerson ~ (1803 –1882) American poet, philosopher, essayist and abolitionist.  His first two collections of "Essays" First Series (1841) and  Second Series (1844), represent the core of his thinking. They include  "Self-Reliance", "The Over-Soul", "Circles", "The Poet",  "Experience" and "Nature". His work has greatly influenced the thinkers, writers and poets that followed him. , He wrote: "In all my lectures, I have taught one doctrine, namely, the infinitude of the private man" More

 Louis Dearborn L'Amour (1908 - 1988) was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels, however, he also wrote historical fiction (The Walking Drum), science fiction (The Haunted Mesa), non-fiction (Frontier), as well as poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into films. His books remain popular and most have gone through multiple printings. At the time of his death, he was "one of the world's most popular writers".

Epicurus (341–270 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher and sage who turned against the Platonism of his day and founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy. Epicurus asserted that philosophy's purpose is to attain as well as to help others attain happy tranquil lives. The vast majority of the over 300 works said to have been written by Epicurus have ben destroyed. Only three letters written by him—the letters to Menoeceus, Pythocles, and Herodotus—and two collections of quotes, have survived intact. Most knowledge about his philosophy is due to later authors. More

George Bernard Shaw (1856 – 1950), was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond. He wrote more than sixty plays, including major works such as Man and Superman (1902), Pygmalion (1913) and Saint Joan (1923). With a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory, Shaw became the leading dramatist of his generation, and in 1925 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Read more

Source: The Dhammapada, a collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form and one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures.

Multiple attributions: A Native American Shawnee Proverb and an Ancient Sanskrit saying. among others.