A library of wisdom
Quotes, every concept, every voice
622 hand-picked quotes from the world's wisdom traditions, each linked to its source concept. Filter by concept below, or scroll through the whole library.
“Silence is also an answer.”
“A tree falls on the side it leans toward.”
“In your own house, in your own way.”
“Hard work breaks even the heaviest stone.”
“Vainamoinen sang the rocks to move. He did not sing them gently.”
“Out of nothing, the smith Ilmarinen forged the sky.”
“Suffering teaches you what comfort cannot.”
“Music begins where words fail. It is not that music is too vague for words — it is that words are too clumsy for music.”
“Pay no attention to what the critics say. No statue has ever been put up to a critic.”
“The work that has not been done is the only one without flaws.”
“You will never have a quiet world till you knock the patriotism out of the human race.”
“The Moomins sing of darkness so that we may sit beside them in it.”
“A theatre is not a place where one tells lies. It is a place where one tells the truth, in costume.”
“Talk is cheap. Show me the code.”
“Software is like sex. It is better when it is free.”
“Most good programmers do programming not because they expect to get paid or get adulation by the public, but because it is fun to program.”
“Sauna is the poor mans pharmacy.”
“In the sauna, all are equal.”
“Every Finn has the right to walk in any forest, regardless of who owns it.”
“Hiljaisuus on kullaa. Silence is gold.”
“Even a small lake reflects the sky.”
“The Finn carries the forest inside.”
“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realise this, and you will find strength.”
“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”
“Confine yourself to the present.”
“You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.”
“Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.”
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive — to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”
“Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look there.”