Stoicism
Only silence enables us to say something unheard of. The compulsion of communication, by contrast, leads to the reproduction of the same, to conformism:
So it’s not a problem of getting people to express themselves but of providing little gaps of solitude and silence in which they might eventually find something to say. Repressive forces don’t stop
“What is talkativeness? It is the result of doing away with the vital distinction between talking and keeping silent. Only some one who knows how to remain essentially silent can really talk--and act essentially. Silence is the essence of inwardness, of the inner life. Mere gossip anticipates real talk, and to express what is still in thought
... See moreWhat goes too long unchanged destroys itself. The forest is forever because it dies and dies and so lives.
The purpose of life is to discover your gift. The work of life is to develop it. The meaning of life is to give your gift away.
“He who knows much about others may be learned, but he who understands himself is more intelligent. He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still.”
– Lao-Tse
concluding that he was indeed wiser than all others, for he alone recognized his own ignorance.
Richard Tarnas • Passion of the Western Mind
“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you’re heading.” - Lao Tzu
“What progress, you ask, have I made? I have begun to be a friend to myself.” — Seneca