Showing posts with label humility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label humility. Show all posts

20.3.15

23 Mar 2015

Last week’s Thought drew a response quoting from Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring”, published in 1962. Rachel, a marine biologist, advanced the environmental movement with this book. Here is an earlier quotation by her:
“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us the less taste we shall have for the destruction of our race. Wonder and humility are wholesome emotions, and they do not exist side by side with a lust for destruction.”
Rachel Carson (1907-1964; John Burroughs Medal acceptance speech, 1952)

23.1.15

26 Jan 2015

Over the next few weeks I’ll share some thoughts about ‘wisdom’. Wisdom is needed in order to deal with all the problems in our lives, both personal and international.

The poet T S Eliot in his ‘Four Quartets’ was either critical or sceptical about the wisdom of old age and wrote:
“The only wisdom we can hope to acquire
Is the wisdom of humility: humility is endless.”
T S Eliot (East Coker, one of the Four Quartets)

19.3.09

22 - 29 Mar 2009

We are coming to the end of our series of quotations on the theme of 'understanding and wisdom'. A well-known Indian writer and speaker said:
"Learning is the very essence of humility".
Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986, Indian writer, speaker and philosopher).

In order to learn we have to admit to ourselves that we do not know or what we do know is inadequate. Arrogance is the opposite of humility, but we hear arrogant statements from many people including politicians, academics and religious people.