My endurance was born from patience

Life is attitude

Success has ruined more lives than failure

Poverty teaches lessons that last a lifetime; success-stories are passing clouds

A stoic is neither an escapist nor a coward--he is a realist as he understands the nature of life through his detachment.

Water will save your life in a desert, not wine.  

Do you not remember you used to despise water?

Excess is the cause of distress

Eat humbly, live simply, hold joys lightly; accept without bitterness in adversity.

Envy or jealousy is a common cause of much unhappiness

Of happiness I am never certain
but am sure of the presence of sorrow.

The wealthy person who worries about losing what he owns is more to be pitied than the poor person who is worried about his next meal.

Living life is a balancing act--
be balanced

Your darkest hour could be your moment of greatest triumph

No teacher nor any amount of reading could save you--
you are your own saviour

Discipline your mind and you would not be distracted.
This will empower your life.

Worry arises from fear. Fear arises from doubt. Doubt arises from lack of self-trust. Lack of self-trust arises from ignorance. Finally, ignorance is the product of a mind that is unwilling to learn.

When the mind is tranquil, things are seen in clarity and doubts are removed.

Knowing is not the same as feeling.  If such knowing is attained at the sacrifice of feeling,
does it have any worth?

Just as you feel pain in silence,
so should you celebrate joy--
they are both not intended to impinge upon any outsider.

The poor man has worries, but so has the rich man. No one knows which of the two worries more.

Endurance is stronger than courage.

Be grateful even if a droplet of joy
comes your way--it's a gift large enough in a life saddled with so much misery.

The winner is fearful
of being a loser
the latter in hope
can aspire to be a winner
a perennial life- situation
between the two let's wonder
which tends to be
the greater worrier?

The stoic is saved
not by knowledge
but by his attitude.

He who came out first
the future he couldn't trust
for the rest of his life he worried
whether his success would last.

Faith is stronger than will.

Hopes are not dependable.
Those with the highest hopes are likely to be the most disappointed.

Knowing little, I'm in no position to make assertions. This I leave to others.

The noise in the market-place deafens my ears. I should not lend my voice to the cacophony.

In busily minding the business of others,  you have lost your precious time leaving your own tasks undone.

Happiness is fleeting but sadness is all-abiding.

The stoic never forgets this.

I don't fight or quarrel with fate.
Expecting nothing from it, I'm unfazed by what it would mete out to me.

I will not be cowed.

The test of my tranquillity is not now but at my dying hour.

Life is a slippery floor. Watch your every step.

Treat life with impartiality.

Learn when to pause

The stoic knows life is not created solely for his sake and in recognising this he acquires his full humanity

Be aware that you don't become
what others expect of you

Tears speak only a tiny part of the heart's sorrow which could never be quantified even by the sufferer.

The mind reasons
but the heart knows more.

Speak only when you have something useful to say-
do not speak to draw attention to yourself

Is it a fact?
If not, what is it?

To me, acceptance is the utmost humility.

You are one second late
and the train has left
don't blame the driver

A stoic does not exaggerate his sorrow as he knows there are many others who suffer more.

Too hopeful could cause you much misery

The love of luxury has ruined the lives of so many

Happiness is more a matter of chance than effort

Not that I should ask for more

rather it shall be this:

for nothing further should I implore

what else is there for me to miss?

Let others be the grain
I'll be the chaff
  let them take the whole
I'm content with the half.

Let them have the easy
I'll take on the tough
may theirs be the weather fair
mine the rough.

Having is the start
to the losing
my mind takes no side
in its calm accepting.

That which is empty
needs nothing to expand
the endless strife and craving
is not the right path to Zen's Calm-land.