Category: KNOWLEDGE & SELF-KNOWLEDGE

  • Just as the dolphin stirs and swims about when the visible sea is still and calm, so also, when the sea of the heart is tranquil and still from wrath and anger, mysteries and divine revelations are stirred in her at all times to delight her.

    —St. Isaac the Syrian

  • The demons generally produce in us the opposite of what has just been said. For when they take possession of the soul and extinguish the light of the mind, then there is no longer in us poor wretches either sobriety, or discernment, or self-knowledge or shame; but there is indifference, lack of perception, want of discernment and blindness. 

    What has just been said is known very vividly by those who have subdued their lust in order to become chaste, who have curbed their freedom of speech and have changed from shamelessness to modesty. They know how after the sobering of the mind, after the ending of its blindness, or rather its maiming, they are inwardly ashamed of themselves for what they said and did before when they were living in blindness.

    —St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent

  • Kate was Danish, and she was probably the most intelligent person I have ever met; well, not that it has any real importance, intelligence barely has any importance in a friendship let alone in a romantic relationship, it has less weight than a good heart; I mention it particularly because her incredible intellectual agility and her unusual capacity for assimilation were truly a curiosity, a phenomenon.

    Serotonin: A Novel
    Michel Houellebecq

  • Look at the holy ones; most of them decreased their speech as they got older and grew and became wiser.

    —Fr. Antony Paul

  • 107. By virtue of his body man is mortal; and by virtue of his intellect and intelligence he is immortal. Through silence you come to understanding; having understood, you give expression. It is in silence that the intellect gives birth to the intelligence; and the thankful intelligence offered to God is man’s salvation. 

    —Anthony the Great: On the Character of Men and on the Virtuous Life: One Hundred and Seventy Texts
    Philokalia

  • 33. Those who are inconstant and uninstructed should not argue with intelligent men. An intelligent man is one who conforms to God and mostly keeps silent; when he speaks he says very little, and only what is necessary and acceptable to God. 

    —Anthony the Great: On the Character of Men and on the Virtuous Life: One Hundred and Seventy Texts
    Philokalia

  • 2. To cease talk on any subject:

    There are some subjects which are not your concern, therefore do not speak about them, especially matters relating to the secrets of others. Also abstain from talking on subjects which are not your speciality, such as pure scientific or artistic or political matters that surpass your knowledge.

    —H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Words of Spiritual Benefit Vol. 1

  • After being an eloquent rhetorician, he becomes the most renowned model of silence. And he, whom they could not find a better tutor than him in Rome, becomes passionate about learning from others, and with the least nod.

    Abba Arsenius – The Tutor of the Emperor’s Sons
    Bishop Macarius

  • CHAPTER IV: How vainglory attacks a monk on the right had and on the left. For where the devil cannot create vainglory in a man by means of his well-fitting and neat dress, he tries to introduce it by means of a dirty, cheap, and uncared-for style. If he cannot drag a man down by honour, he overthrows him by humility. If he cannot make him puffed up by the grace of knowledge and eloquence, he pulls him down by the weight of silence. If a man fasts openly, he is attacked by the pride of vanity.

    John Cassian, Institutes

  • Conversations are the basis of relationships, and relationships are built on trust. You will find that the more open you are about the limitations of your knowledge, the more weight people will give to your opinion when you offer it. If you don’t know something, just say “I don’t know.” Those three words can strengthen the bond between you and another person. And just as important, they are a gateway to further exploration and growth. You can’t learn unless you admit that you have something to learn.

    We Need to Talk: How to Have Conversations That Matter
    Celeste Headlee