When Spirit Becomes Life / Part Six

251. If women could channel their diplomatic gifts toward affairs of state, we would advance much further than we have.
253. The humble leave a strange light wherever they walk. Often these souls need not even speak.
254. An excess of bloodied memories can sometimes dull a person's feelings. Then one cannot laugh, even when one wishes to or has a thousand reasons, and even forgets to weep in the deepest sorrow.
255. From those who stride through life on the strength of wealth, there is nothing to learn but arrogance.
256. Time ensures that both good and evil deeds receive their due reward!
257. From the moment we begin to believe that life is beautiful precisely because we lack what we have never possessed, we begin to live a truly wonderful existence.
258. Those who know have nothing to lose, for everything must one day be left behind—they alone can live fearlessly, leading the most ordinary of lives. What greater wealth is there than a fearless heart!
259. Once mutual trust is lost in a relationship, nothing can hold it together.
260. In certain situations, a great deal of trouble can be resolved simply through careful choice of words.
261. Problems these days are such that they never truly disappear, but gradually become lighter and more familiar.
262. People react differently in different circumstances, but generally they reveal their true selves at two moments: when they are angry, and when they are drunk.
263. Only when a person has complete mastery over themselves do they act according to their own decisions. Until then, most of what they do follows others' choices.
264. We know far too much about many things, yet remain ignorant of much that we ought to know, or fail to apply even what little we do know. What use is knowledge that serves no purpose!
265. Fear is a kind of illness. The greater one's fear, the greater one's sickness.
266. Maturity does not increase with age; it grows based on the number and intensity of difficult circumstances one has weathered in life.
267. The ability to lie skillfully is the very soul of art. To make a lie as believable as truth, one must craft many more acceptable lies. The more perfect lies one can create, the greater the artist, for lying demands the greatest expenditure of wit and intelligence; but truth never requires such cleverness. One who cannot make lies appear truthful cannot become a good artist.
268. People age twice as much from mental numbness as they do from the weight of years.
269. "I don't like it!"—for some this is a mental illness, but for many others it simply means that no one has yet entered their lives who can transform every moment into "I love it!" We spend our days surrounded by people who are, almost without exception, deeply melancholy and tedious.
270. If two people remain in a relationship yet either feels alone, one must conclude they are not right for each other.
271. People suffer most from loneliness and lovelessness in old age. It is precisely in old age that love, affection, and companionship are needed most. Yet how strange are society's customs—at this very stage, people are isolated, and love is considered scandalous. If I had the power, I would liberate love in old age and make obstructing such love a punishable offense.
272. If there were customs of love in old age, no one in the world would fear growing old; rather, they would welcome it gladly. A life without love, without affection, is no happy life at all.
273. That you have lived with someone for many years does not necessarily mean your love has strong foundations. It may be that various social, financial, and physical obligations and connections have become so entangled between you that breaking them is not easy—hence your staying together.
274. Most romantic relationships develop from showing love in response to the other's devotion and faith. "They love me so much"—countless one-sided loves are built on this belief.
275. If you have someone close every day, even Aishwarya would seem as ordinary as a housemaid, but if you struggle to gain someone's company, even a housemaid would seem as enchanting as Aishwarya.
276. One who feels guilt is religious. One who feels remorse is human. The world is full of religious people, but humans are few indeed. Many of the world's sins do not qualify as crimes, and many crimes do not qualify as sins. Therefore, it is more important to be a religious human than merely religious.
277. One who fights is a hero to one side, a war criminal to the other. Should he die in battle, he becomes a martyr to one side while remaining merely a corpse to the other. The same person's dignity and importance vary by place and circumstance.
278. Meaningful silence is more important and intelligent than meaningless chatter.
279. One who cannot accept me as I am—their love holds no value for me.
280. Any relationship is harder to break than to build. The moment you try to break it, all the world's attachments create obstacles. Sometimes the power of attachment becomes greater than the will to be well—that's when all troubles arise! People die moment by moment, trapped in attachment.
281. No law, religion, rule, or force in the world can bind the mind. If it could, there would be no unsuccessful people on earth—every person would become a routine-following robot!
282. One who feels no responsibility to guard others' secrets feels no importance in protecting valuable diamonds and gems either. Such a person lacks character.
283. Among all the tools people use to commit evil, religion is the greatest weapon. The world's greatest evils are perpetrated in religion's name. Otherwise there wouldn't be so much killing in the world.
284. Most people who are alive on earth are not really living! Many who have died have truly lived! Some die while living, others live on after dying.
285. The future's uncertainty makes people so curious about it; if it were certain, life would become as tediously predictable as a school routine.
286. Everyone is right in their own place. So it's better to avoid quarrels and arguments. No one is indispensable. Your life continued before they came; it will continue fine without them too. Whether life will be worse or better after they leave—only time will tell.
287. Don't pontificate like a general about wars you've never fought as a soldier. Only one who has lost knows the agony of loss! Most people, never having faced a particular danger themselves, push others toward it without understanding.
288. If you simultaneously love someone and disturb their peace, they will eventually, though they may respect your love, begin to hate you. Most people lose their beloved for this reason. A prostitute's peace is better than such a lover's affection.
289. Many try to hide their lack of other qualities behind pride in their chastity. Many try to hide their lack of sense behind pride in their certificates. When speaking with those who have no interest, concern, or benefit from your chastity or certificates, keep both in your pocket or vanity bag. You won't get special value from those who place no special worth on such things.
290. If someone doesn't love you, what's the use of showing anger to them, even if you love them? One who doesn't love another is only annoyed by displays of anger.
291. To a hungry stomach, all rice and lentils taste the same; a hungry stomach never asks where this food came from. Only a stomach that isn't hungry bothers to investigate the source of rice and lentils.
292. The more money in a stomach, the less rice it can hold.
293. A path that repeatedly presents obstacles is not necessarily the only route to your destination. An easy path doesn't necessarily mean a wrong path. People often consider a path easy simply because they enjoy walking it. Which path suits whom can only be known by taking it.
294. What the heart tells you to release—no matter how much the brain insists you hold onto it—releasing it ultimately brings good.
295. If someone's mood sours when another person accomplishes what they themselves couldn't or wouldn't do, then one must conclude they lack the ability to do that work.
296. Fools speak about subjects they know nothing about with such certainty, as if they had witnessed everything with their own eyes!
297. One who repeatedly punishes you for the same mistake, or keeps reminding you of the same error to gain some advantage—their company is deeply painful.
298. One whom rose thorns have bloodied says, "Thorns have roses"; one who hasn't been bloodied says, "Roses have thorns." One who hasn't been bitten by a snake says, "A snake looks like rope"; one who has been bitten says, "Rope looks like a snake." Different people, different experiences, different opinions.
299. A mother who speaks ill of the father to her child surely grew up hearing her own mother's criticisms of her father!
300. Many mouths would fall silent if they could enjoy what they condemn!