“Nations are not truly great solely because the individuals composing them are numerous, free, and active; but they are great when these numbers, this freedom, and this activity are employed in the service of an ideal higher than that of an ordinary man taken by himself.” MenIndividualNationsNumbersTakenHigherActivityOrdinaryIdealsActiveEmployedComposingOrdinary Man Author:Matthew Arnold
“Want is a bitter and a hateful good, Because its virtues are not understood; Yet many things, impossible to thought, Have been by need to full perfection brought. The daring of the soul proceeds from thence, Sharpness of wit, and active diligence; Prudence at once, and fortitude it gives; And, if in patience taken, mends our lives.” IfsWantNeedsGivingHas BeensSoulPovertyVirtueTakenOur LivesImpossibleUnderstoodPerfectionActiveWitBitterDaringPrudenceFortitudeHatefulDiligenceSharpness Book:Delphi Complete Works of John Dryden (Illustrated) Source: Delphi Complete Works of John Dryden (Illustrated)
“For the perception of the beautiful we have the term "taste"--a metaphor taken from that which is passive in the body and transferred to that which is active in the mind.” MindBodyBeautifulTermTakenTastePerceptionMetaphorActivePassive Author:Thomas Reid
“Knowledge about yourself binds, weighs, ties you down; there is no freedom to move, and you act and move within the limits of thatknowledge. Learning about yourself is never the same as accumulating knowledge about yourself. Learning is active present and knowledge is the past; if you are learning to accumulate, it ceases to be learning; knowledge is static, more can be added to it or taken away from it, but learning is active, nothing can be added or taken away from it for there is no accumulation at any time.” IfsPastMovingKnowledgeLearningTakenLimitsActiveCeaseTiesAbout YourselfAccumulationStaticLearning KnowledgeLearning About Yourself Author:Jiddu Krishnamurti
“I try to keep my mind active. I'm a solitaire and puzzle addict. I exercise religiously. I don't do many things religiously and I've taken up golf to have something to do when I have nothing to do.” TryingMindTakenExerciseGolfActivePuzzlesAddict Author:Morgan Freeman
“Organized religion is sane and not silly when read as myth and poetry rather than science and law. Religion speaks nonsense when taken literally, but reveals some of the deepest truths of humankind when understood mythically, poetically, and even allegorically-that is when it is read with an active and creative imagination.” LawReligionSpeakImaginationCreativeTakenUnderstoodActiveMythToleranceSillyOrganizedNonsenseOpennessSaneHumankindOrganized ReligionCreative Imagination Author:Rami M. Shapiro