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Quote by Jack Kornfield

“Peace requires us to surrender our illusions of control. We can love and care for others but we cannot possess our children, lovers, family, or friends. We can assist them, pray for them, and wish them well, yet in the end their happiness and suffering depend on their thoughts and actions, not on our wishes.”

Quote by Jack Kornfield

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Jack Kornfield
Jack Kornfield

Jack Kornfield is an American author and meditation teacher, born in 1945. His works mainly focus on Buddhist meditation and spiritual growth, which have won him a wide audience. more

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“Human beings act in a great variety of irrational ways, but all of them seem to be capable, if given a fair chance, of making a reasonable choice in the light of available evidence. Democratic institutions can be made to work only if all concerned do their best to impart knowledge and to encourage rationality. But today, in the world's most powerful democracy, the politicians and the propagandists prefer to make nonsense of democratic procedures by appealing almost exclusively to the ignorance and irrationality of the electors.”

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Book:Complete Essays: 1956-1963, and supplement, 1920-1948
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“That said, deciding to avoid other people does not necessarily equate with having no desire whatsoever for company; it may simply reflect a dissatisfaction with what—or who—is available. Cynics are, in the end, only idealists with awkwardly high standards. In Chamfort's words, 'It is sometimes said of a man who lives alone that he does not like society. This is like saying of a man that he does not like going for walks because he is not fond of walking at night in the forêt de Bondy.”

PeopleMenMayDoeSaidEndsSometimesDesireNightWalksCompanyWalkingStandardsAvailableDissatisfactionIdealistHigh Standards
Author:Alain de Botton
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