Wisdom is the ability to look forward and backward, to see both sides of life with no illusions. — Dr. Alexander Lowen
One doesn't have to be old to acquire some wisdom.
It would develop naturally if the knowledge we learned was integrated with the understanding we had, if our heads were truly one with our bodies.
But this is not the way of our culture, which splits these aspects of man. To gain wisdom today one has to have lived long enough to be able to look back into the past with some objectivity…
Gaining wisdom is a process of seeing and accepting the contradictions in human nature, including that of our parents.
Wisdom means seeing into the heart of things, beneath the surface of our contradictions, where there is neither good nor bad, neither right nor wrong.
It means seeing the human being as the animal he is, struggling to gain security yet be free, to be productive but also joyful, to seek pleasure but also to know pain, to hope for transcendence and yet be content that one is contained within a finite body.
It is to know that love does not exist without the possibility of hatred.
It is to know that there is a time for living and a time for dying. It is to know the glory of the blooming of life that seems to fade all too quickly but that leaves behind a seed that will bloom in its season.
It is to know that the individual exists to celebrate life.
You can find this passage in Lowen’s fantastic book — Fear of Life: The Wisdom of Failure.
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This man, I believe, has that wisdom: to look forward and back with no illusions:
It's all about perspective as a cleaning man at NASA best said when asked what he was doing: I'm helping to put a man on the moon —Janitor, NASA
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Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.
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Even after all this time the Sun never says to the Earth "you owe me." Look what happens with a love like that, it lights the whole sky. —Hafiz
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Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.
Many more like this here: https://tritorch.substack.com/p/good-quotes-woke-croaks-cringe-jokes
It’s snowing buckets in north Florida! My son is ecstatic for a day off to play in one of the most rare and special events of a lifetime. Best to all of you!
I like the positivity of this. If you are aware enough to celebrate the miracle of life despite all the horror shows that can sometimes come with it, you are indeed a wise person.