Tolstoy, after Rousseau, on Knowledge and Wisdom

“Real wisdom is not the knowledge of everything, but the knowledge of which things in life are necessary, which are less necessary, and which are completely unnecessary to know. Among the most necessary knowledge is the knowledge of how to live well, that is, how to produce the least possible evil and the greatest goodness in one’s life. At present, people study useless sciences, but forget to study this, the most important knowledge.”

Change The Way You Think

"'About what am I now employing my own soul?' On every occasion I must ask myself this question, and inquire, what have I now in this part of me which they call the ruling principle? And whose soul have I now? That of a child, or of a young man, or of a feeble woman, or of a tyrant, or of a domestic animal, or of a wild beast? . . . ."

"Such as are your constant thoughts, such will also be the character of your mind; for the soul is colored [dyed] by the thoughts."

--Marcus Aurelius, Meditations Book 5

"For as he thinks within himself, so he is." (Proverbs 23:7)


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