How often does a person say something really smart and valuable? Certainly much less than any stupid phrases. But, as the Bible tells us, in the beginning was the Word. It is this that allows us to reveal our thoughts as much as possible and convey it to others.
Beautiful phrases that carry a deep meaning, as a rule, appear in the head of smart and great people. They are usually quoted and called aphorisms. Let's get acquainted with a selection of the best quotes on a variety of topics.
Folk wisdom of Europe
We do not always know exactly the author of any aphorism. They may be "of the people." So, a simple peasant somehow expressed an idea in a conversation - and here is a ready-made quote that is already going to the people. Abstruse phrases were not included in such a set of words. People preferred something simple and concise that they could quickly pick up as a solid argument or support for their opinion.
So proverbs and sayings appeared in the world. They are an important part of folklore. In them, in fact, the whole mentality of the people-author is visible. There are Russian phrases that have sunk into the soul and are very often repeated in the dailylexicon.
The European tradition of proverbs and sayings is very similar to ours in meaning and content. How can this be explained? Of course, our extremely connected historical past and a common monotheistic religion. If you wish, you can easily find analogues of Russian morality inside the folklore of other European peoples.
| Russian version | European equivalent |
| Without effort, you can't even catch a fish from a pond. | Patience brings roses (German saying). |
| Hunger is not an aunt. | Need the law writes (French proverb). |
| Friends in need are known. | Finding a friend is like finding treasure (Italian proverb). |
| Whoever hurts - he talks about it. | Who has sin in his soul - he screams more about it (Spanish proverb). |
| Truth does not seek mercy. | A clean hand does not need to be washed (English proverb). |
As you can see from the comparison table, the meaning of these smart phrases is the same, despite the fact that they are present in the lexical everyday life of the peoples of different countries.
Folk wisdom from other countries
When confronted with the cultural heritage of people from other continents, an equally huge source of wisdom is revealed. These abstruse phrases carry a lot of information, convey the meaning of these people's lives, their history and allow us to better understand their mentality.
For example, the inhabitants of Europe and Russia are well aware that a real man does not cry. true husbandyou can not express your emotions in public, especially such as grief and disappointment. Yes, and by itself you should not “dissolve the nurses”, you just need to take it and do the job. However, the Indians from North America look at us with a grin because of this:
- "A strong man cries, a weak one does not."
- "The weak are afraid of their feelings."
- "There is no rainbow in the soul if there are no tears in the eyes."
This is how this people, who always lived in the wild and did not know enlightenment, treated the manifestations of emotions - as a natural need of any creature. Maybe you should listen to these wise phrases expressed by representatives of the indigenous population of America?
On the example of the deep thought of the Chinese, one can understand how differently we see, know and feel the world. Often the philosophical phrases of the people of the Celestial Empire are so different from what we are accustomed to consider as wisdom that one wonders how it is possible to feel the same earth in such different ways?
This is how the Chinese speak of the significance of a person, his "I", which, according to the philosophy of Tao, does not exist at all:
If you are, nothing has been added, if you are not, nothing has been lost
For Europeans and Russians, this sounds not just incomprehensible, but sad and depressing.
In addition, the search for peace is of great importance for the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire. For them, it is a hidden goal to which a person must strive in order to become one with nature. That is why the interesting phrases of this country are closely related to the description of trees and flowers. They often usereference to spring.
The Chinese attach great importance to harmony and unity. The whole world in their view is just an echo of the Tao River, which flows in some other dimension.
They are sure that at the end of the road everyone is the same, no matter who they were in this life. Many of their sayings speak of this.
Power Quotes
Since the time of primitive existence, man wants to be above the rest, longs to stand at the head of the tribe. He dreams of commanding, managing, because he is sure that he knows everything better than anyone. Power is a terrible force, and not everyone is worthy of it. However, the desire to achieve high status is one of those qualities, thanks to which people changed our whole world.
Especially revered power in Antiquity, mainly in ancient Rome, where civic activity was placed above all else. Interesting phrases we could hear from the lips of people of that time:
- "I'd rather be first in this village than second in Rome" (Gaius Julius Caesar, during an overnight stay in a small village).
- "To rule is to fulfill duties" (Seneca).
- "Before you command, learn to obey" (Solon of Athens).
In the future, the lust for power never let humanity out of its tenacious embrace. It becomes the object of expression of many famous philosophers, politicians, writers and public figures. Each of them (as well as any other person, isn't it?)worries about power. Perhaps, due to their wisdom, they found answers to some of them, from which we can learn by looking at their clever phrases:
- "Violence, if it allows itself to delay, becomes power" (Elias Canetti).
- "A minister should not complain about newspapers or even read them - he should write them" (Charles de Gaulle).
- "Power is given only to those who dare to bend down and take it" (Fyodor Dostoevsky).
Many already later, after the Middle Ages, saw the root of all troubles in power - both in the need to obey, and in the desire to command. Philosophers and writers agreed that all people are equal, and the very concept of the world order, where one person can order another, is contrary to our high nature.
Alas! Humanity is still stuck at the level where power is the most important engine of human emotion. People can't imagine disobeying.
War quotes
However, one must also fight for power. After all, other people very, very much want to take it away. When two endless desires for power collide, war begins.
Mankind has succeeded in waging wars, and abstruse phrases about them flow like water. That's what people do most of the time. They learn to fight from an early age, and therefore war takes up a lot of space in their minds. Some praise her, others give advice on how to avoid military conflicts, others sneer.
Despite the fact that war cripples billions of lives, destroys thousands of countries, erasesface of the earth millions of cities and cultures, it will always find a place in someone's head. And the longer humanity exists, the more it realizes how much destructive energy war generates. We are trying harder and harder to get rid of it. Declare war on war.
People used to talk about how great it is to fight. How much true courage, valor, courage and patriotism are manifested in this. Now we are getting closer to the fact that people realize that killing another person will never bring anything good.
- "War… War never changes" (Fallout, video game).
- “Generals are a striking case of developmental delay. Which of us has not dreamed of being a general at the age of five? (Peter Ustinov).
- "I don't know of any nation that would have been enriched by winning the war" (Voltaire).
- "If we want to enjoy the world, we have to fight" (Cicero).
Friendship Quotes
Since ancient times, friendship is getting rid of loneliness, salvation and support. And betrayal is the most terrible sin, according to most peoples of the world. Take Dante for example - weren't traitors tormented in his worst, the ninth circle of Hell?
The veneration of friendship has found an important reflection in every culture of the world. Many felt it necessary to note its importance. Phrases with meaning, telling about the power of friendship, are very common in the sayings of great philosophers and writers of different times. Among them are such great names as Socrates, Aristotle, Johann Schiller, Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain. All of them skillfullyfocus on the quality of friendships.
"Friendship is not such a miserable spark to go out in separation" (Johann Schiller)
The authors skillfully convey in a few words the strength of friendship that nothing can break. They speak the truth, wonderfully conveying in a few words the importance of true companionship.
Love Quotes
Love has always had power over people. And sometimes it captured friendship more strongly, forcing them to step over principles. A person is having a hard time without it. This feeling has been visited by millions of people. The wiser they were, the more it consumed them. Poets and musicians, writers and playwrights - many wrote only about her, about love. Abstruse phrases do not suit her, only sincerity and honesty suit her.
At the same time, she became a subject for speculation, material for excellent manipulation. Thousands of monotonous works impose the image of false, not sensual, "mandatory" love in everyone's life. But what does the real one look like? Clever phrases about this were left to us by great people:
"To resist love is to supply it with new weapons" (Georges Sand)
Freedom Quotes
Man's desire to be free manifests itself with different strength in different eras. No matter how often people forget about it now, the desire to escape from someone's control and power lives in every person. And this despite so many prevailing factors: the war makes him a slave, friendship with someone bad takes away all his strength,and false love forever deprives sleep and requires submission.
And only by getting rid of all these misfortunes, you can become free. And it is precisely this freedom that people always aspire to, it is for it that they are ready to die. Philosophical phrases of great people make you think: how free are we?
This supreme struggle - for one's own will - is directed precisely at the first, bestial and herd trait - the desire for power. And when every person, even the smallest, kills the king inside himself, and when everyone starts “squeezing out the slave drop by drop,” then we can talk about the free world. A world where everyone has the right to make mistakes. Where one person cannot kill another, not because he will be punished for it, but because he does not give himself the inner right to do so.
- "A people accustomed to living under the rule of a sovereign and, thanks to chance, becoming free, hardly retains freedom" (Nicolo Machiavelli).
- "He who sacrifices liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security" (Benjamin Franklin).
- "Only by losing everything to the end, we find freedom" (Chuck Palahniuk).
Quotes about the meaning of life
Every person from time to time is interested in: "In the name of what do we exist and come into this world?" Phrases about the meaning of life probably have more mysteries than answers. You can argue with them and not share the opinions of their authors. And rightly so, because for each person the answer to this question is individual. And his future, goals and desires depend on what he will be.
However, this is notwill prevent you from listening to smarter people. The expressions and phrases of those who searched for the meaning of being can help us and guide us in the right direction.
"The meaning of life is to achieve perfection and tell others about it" (Richard Bach)
Funny Quotes
And what can a person do when he renounced the thirst for power and war, got true friends, knew true love, gained freedom and found the meaning of life? Of course, one thing is to laugh with happiness.
Despite all sorts of clever phrases, human life, above all, is incredibly funny. In all its tragedy, sorrow, need, it continues to be funny. And only the wisest, most subtle people understood this with all their hearts. For example, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov knew how to laugh at his own grief: “How so! There are so many terrible and bad things in our life, and it is declared that it is ridiculous!” It’s like he, who feeds the whole family with the daily work of a writer in his youth, dying of consumption, having buried his brothers, never tasted the taste of grief … But the fact of the matter is that the stronger a person is, the more he is able to sneer about his troubles.
And great and wise people understood this. None of those whose beautiful phrases are presented above have ever missed the opportunity to joke. Laughter is the main evidence of a living soul of a person. Here are some of their famous witticisms:
- "I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways to get it wrong" (Benjamin Franklin).
- "Murderers and architects always return to the scene of the crime"(Peter Ustinov).
Conclusion
Phrases with a meaning that is deeply hidden in them will never lose their relevance. Such are they in themselves - aphorisms, an important part of human culture. After all, how much intelligence is needed to fit your strong message in one or two sentences! For this possession of rhetoric and eloquence alone, a person can be called wise.
After all, this is such a lot of work - a well-tailored phrase. Examples clearly show that people have always, at all times, worried about the same thing. Human nature is unchanging and, apparently, will be so for a long time to come. Therefore, quotes, aphorisms and proverbs will remain an inexhaustible source of the main treasure - intelligence and wisdom.
