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I Quotes

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All I Quotes

“If we start thinking simply nationally, and we start having policies that try and restrict the benefits only within our borders, and try and implement protectionist measures as a consequence, this will not have the effect we need to have on the global economy. And that's ultimately the global economy that's pulling most of us down, particularly countries like Canada, that aren't the source of these current economic troubles.”

“If we start to think about trust as a public good (like clean air and water), we see that we can all benefit from higher levels of trust in terms of communicating with others, making financial transitions smoother, simplifying contracts, and many other business and social activities. Without constant suspicion, we can get more out of our exchanges with others while spending less time making sure that others will fulfill their promises to us. Yet as the tragedy of commons exemplifies, in the short term it is beneficial for each individual to violate and take advantage of the established trust. I suspect that most people and companies miss or ignore the fact that trust is an important public resource and that losing it can have long-term negative consequences for everyone involved. It doesn't take much to violate trust. Just a few bad players in the market can spoil it for everyone else.”

“If we start worrying whether our nose is too big or too small, we should think, “What if I had no head? - now that would be a problem!” As long as we have life, we should rejoice. If everything doesn't go exactly as we'd like, we can accept it. If we contemplate impermanence deeply, patience and compassion will arise. We will hold less to the apparent truth of our experience, and the mind will become more flexible. Realizing that one day this body will be buried or burned, we will rejoice in every moment we have rather than make ourselves or others unhappy.”

“If we started listening to birds, perhaps we'd get a little quieter (it's hard to listen while making noise) in ways that would benefit both birds and humans. We'd probably be both happier and healthier. But even more interesting, in my view, is that we'd begin to perceive an unseen world of gossip and warfare and love all around us. And if we understood this language, I think we'd make different choices: not to stop building and living, but just to be a little more thoughtful in the way that we live.”

“If we state that there is something, this statement confirms and proves the existence of something (even if it is not a confirmation or proof of any particular something). Otherwise, there would be no way to state anything if there was not something in the first place. Even if there is nothing but an illusion in our head, it is still the existence of an illusion in our head, which is something.”

“If we state the function of man to be a certain kind of life, and this to be an activity or actions of the soul implying a rational principle, and the function of a good man to be the good and noble performance of these, and if any action is well performed when it is performed in accordance with the appropriate excellence human good turns out to be activity of the soul in accordance with virtue, and if there are more than one virtue, in accordance with the best and most complete.”

“If we stay where we are, where we're stuck, where we're comfortable and safe, we die there. We become like mushrooms, living in the dark, with poop up to our chins. If you want to know only what you already know, you're dying. You're saying: Leave me alone; I don't mind this little rathole. It's warm and dry. Really, it's fine. When nothing new can get in, that's death. When oxygen can't find a way in, you die. But new is scary, and new can be disappointing, and confusing - we had this all figured out, and now we don't. New is life.”

“If we still had gold as our currency, we would now all be filthy rich. Instead, we only have a few really rich people, It is no coincidence that this small group consists of the same families behind the American central banking system. The truth is that the founding of the American Federal Reserve Bank is the greatest systematic looting of wealth the world has ever seen. (...) The likelihood that this crime against humanity happened by chance is close to zero.”

“If we stop for a moment, it is possible to perceive a pattern in our lives; the motivators that have influenced us become more obvious. We are able to see life unfolding from BOTH ENDS AT ONCE, coming into the present moment. But until we have got to a certain point of realization, this is not possible, because everything is still seen as a series of apparent causes and effects.”