Dear friends, I have read many valuable books over the years, but some have been particularly special, so I have chosen a few paragraphs from them to share.
“I advise a person to limit their desires and the passions of their soul and its ambitions, as every person must recognize the reality that no matter what they do, they will only achieve a little of their desires, while the calamities and evils in this life are countless and affect everyone. Therefore, a person must firmly believe in this reality and practice it on Earth: renounce things to conquer them. This is the golden rule that wealth or power will not benefit you if you neglect it, for one who neglects his asceticism in the face of things will throw himself into the misery of a life that is among the worst.”
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Arthur Schopenhauer / The Art of Wise Living
“The interpretation of freedom as an increase in desires makes a person distort their original nature as mad desires, ridiculous illusions, and crippled traditions entered into it. They live only to exchange envy, luxury, and pride, and to pretend to be great. They race toward food, visits, carriages, ranks, and servants, considering their necessities, but they sacrifice life, dignity, and human feelings, to the point that some of them resort to suicide if they do not fulfill their desires.”
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Dostoevsky/The Brothers Karamazov
