Lessons from Paulo Coelho

 I found this information about Paulo Coelho on a recent post to Facebook.  Since I have not read this book, I am unsure as to the correctness of this post.  However, it does fit with the messages of positive psychology and practical philosophy that I have studied by other authors.  

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons
Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo

 

 

10 Top Lessons
From he Book The Alchemist

A book by Paulo Coelho

1. Fear is a bigger obstacle than the obstacle itself

"Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself.

And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams."

Any new pursuit requires entering uncharted territory -- that's scary. But with any great risk comes great reward.

The experiences you gain in pursuing your dream will make it all worthwhile.

2. What is "true" will always endure

"If what one finds is made of pure matter, it will never spoil. And one can always come back.

If what you had found was only a moment of light, like the explosion of a star, you would find nothing on your return."

~ Truth cannot be veiled by smoke and mirrors -- it will always stand firm.

~ When you're searching for the "right" decision, it will be the one that withstands the tests of time and the weight of scrutiny.

3. Break the monotony

"When each day is the same as the next, it's because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises."

~ Gratitude is the practice of finding the good in each day.

~ Life can easily become stagnant, mundane, and monotonous, but that changes depending on what we choose to see.

~ There's always a silver lining, if you look for it.

4. Embrace the present

"Because I don't live in either my past or my future. I'm interested only in the present.

If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man."

~ There's no point dwelling in the past and letting it define you, nor getting lost and anxious about the future. But in the present moment, you're in the field of possibility

~ How you engage with the present moment will direct your life.

5. Your success has a ripple-effect

"That's what alchemists do. They show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too."

~ Growth, change, and evolution are weaved into the fabric of reality.

~ Becoming a better version of yourself creates a ripple effect that benefits everything around you: your lifestyle, your family, your friends, your community.

6. Make the decision

"When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he has never dreamed of when he first made the decision."

~ It's easy to get overwhelmed by the unknowns and finer details of your dreams.

~ Actions will flow out of having confidence in your decision; sitting on the fence will get you nowhere.

7. Be unrealistic

"I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not what actually does."

~ Some of the greatest inventions would not have happened if people chose to accept the world as it is.

~ Great achievements and innovations begin with a mindset that ignores the impossible.

8. Keep getting back up

"The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times."

Because the eighth time could be your breakthrough.

Some of the greatest novels in history were published after receiving hundreds of rejections. Thankfully, those authors never gave up.

9. Focus on your own journey

"If someone isn't what others want them to be, the others become angry.

Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own."

~ It's easy to be influenced by others, but you'll be miserable if you end up living someone else's life.

~ There's nothing wrong with taking advice and learning from others, but make sure it aligns with your desires and passions.

10. Always take action

"There is only one way to learn. It's through action. 

 

Meditations for a Better Life

 “Meditations for a Better Life:

1. Get the self-monitoring habit

2. Question your thinking

3. Remind yourself that "it's a cup"

4. Don't get hung up on status and reputation

5. Radiate goodwill

6. Don't be too optimistic

7. Think about death (but not too much)

8. Consider the bigger picture

9. Use common sense

10. Be quiet"

- Antonia Macaro, More Than Happiness: Buddhist and Stoic Wisdom for a Secular Age, 2018.

Little Tricks for Getting By Well

How To Live

"Don't Worry About Death
Pay Attention
Be Born
Read at lot, forget most of what you read, and be slow-witted
Survive love and loss
Use little tricks
Question Everything
Keep a private room behind the shop
Be convivial: live with others
Wake from the sleep of habit
Live temperately
Guard your humanity
Do something no one has done before
See the world
Do a good job, but not too good a job
Philosophize only by accident
Reflect on everything; regret nothing
Give up control
Be ordinary and imperfect
Let life be its own answer"

-  Summary of some of the views of Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) by Sarah Bakewell in How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer, 2010.    

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

Green Way Research

A Philosopher's Notebooks by Mike Garofalo


Currently, I am reading the excellent biography of Michel de Montaigne by Sarah Blackwell.  I first read Montaigne back in 1964.  Now, in 2015, in my own semi-retirement, I find rereading Montaigne's reflections in his "retirement" on his own life, times, experiences, thoughts, and feelings to be intellectually stimulating.  Intellectual history and biographies are some of my main reading interests.  


The Essays by Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)  Translated by Donald M. Frame.  New York, Everyman's Library, 2003.  I own the complete works by Montaigne in a Kindle digital version for easier reading.  1392 pages.  ISBN: 1400040213.  VSCL.

How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer  By Sarah Bakewell.  New York, Other Press, 2010.  Index, bibliography, notes, 399 pages.  ISBN: 9781590514832.  VSCL.

 

Stoic Lifestyle Traits

 Positive Behaviors, Actions, Habits or Virtues for Stoics

"The qualities you can offer, then, are those that are entirely up to you: candor, dignity, endurance, indifference to pleasure, acceptance of your lot, frugality, kindness, self-reliance, unaffectedness, discretion, stateliness."
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Notebook 5.5

"Can what happened to you stop you from being fair, high-minded, moderate, conscientious, unhasty, honest, moral, self-reliant, and so on."
Meditations, Notebook 4.49

Simplicity, calmness, peace of mind, composed, practical, social, tranquility, serenity, awareness ...

All Taijiquan and Qigong teachers place strong emphasis upon character and moral development.  There are many statements of codes of conduct for serious taijiquan martial artists.  In my opinion, the key intellectual, philosophical, and moral sources for current Taijiquan and Qigong players are Buddhism, Taoism, TCM, and Stoicism.  

My recent reading in the Summer 2023 of the Stoics includes:  

The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph. By Rayan Holiday. Portfolio, 2013, 224 pages. VSCL, Hardbound.

Stillness Is the Key. By Ryan Holiday. Portfolio, 2019, 288 pages. VSCL, Hardbound.

Ego is the Enemy. By Ryan Holiday. Portfolio, 2016, 256 pages. VSCL, Hardbound.

Lives of the Stoics: The Art of Living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius. By Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman. Portfolio, 2020, 352 pages. FVRLibrary.

The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living. By Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman. Portfolio, 2016, 416 pages. VSCL, Hardbound. 

My reading in the Autumn of 2022 of the Stoics included:  

Meditatons: The Annotated Edition. Translated, introduced and edited by Robin Waterfield. New York, Basic Books, 2021, 326 pages. Introduction, bibliography, notes, annotations. VSCL. 

The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living. By Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman. Portfolio, 2016, 416 pages. VSCL. 

How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life. By Massimo Pigliucci. 288 pages, 2013. VSCL.

The Practicing Stoic: A Philosophical User's Manual. By Ward Farnsworth. Goldine, 2018, 256 pages. VSCL. 

Virtue Ethics

How to Live a Good Life: Advice From Wise Persons

Stoicism: Bibliography, Links, Quotations, Notes

Seven Clear Functions of the Mind

"The proper work of the mind is the exercise of choice, refusal, yearning, repulsion, preparation, purpose, and assent.  What then can pollute and clog the mind's proper functioning.  Nothing but it own corrupt decisions."

- Epictetus, Discourses, 4.11.6-7.

"Let's break down each one of those tasks:

Choice - To do and think right
Refusal - Of temptations
Yearning - To be better
Repulsion - Of negativity, of bad influences, of what isn't true
Preparation - For what lies ahead or whatever may happen
Purpose - Our guiding principle and highest priority
Assent - To be free of deception about what's inside and outside our control (and be ready to accept the latter."

- Ryan Holiday, The Daily Stoic, p.15

My recent reading of the Stoics includes:  

Meditatons: The Annotated Edition. Translated, introduced and edited by Robin Waterfield. New York, Basic Books, 2021, 326 pages. Introduction, bibliography, notes, annotations. VSCL. 

The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living. By Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman. Portfolio, 2016, 416 pages. VSCL. 

How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life. By Massimo Pigliucci. 288 pages, 2013. VSCL.

The Practicing Stoic: A Philosophical User's Manual. By Ward Farnsworth. Goldine, 2018, 256 pages. VSCL. 

Virtue Ethics

How to Live a Good Life: Advice From Wise Persons

Stoicism: Bibliography, Links, Quotations, Notes

Ideals Worth Pursuing

"Stoics want us to practice fortitude in the face of blows of fate; they want us to develop self-control especially over destructive and negative emotions; they want us to improve our moral and spiritual well-being; they want us to align our lives with the divine logos permeating all of creation.  They want us to be passionately an joyfully peaceful, as well as wise, courageous, disciplined and just.  They want us to examine our lives and practice daily disciplines ─ spiritual exercises ─ which will become habits of the heart to help us here and now.  They want us to be indifferent to indifferent things, and to concentrate on what we can control and what we can choose, and left go of the things we can't.  They want us to love in harmony and be in a state of happiness, to help each other, and live in love.  Because we are disturbed not by things but by the interpretations our minds put on things, by the views we take of things.  And aren't these ideals worth pursuing, worth having, worth being?  In short, they want us to live more meaningfully and less mindlessly."
-  Stoicism Today: Selected Writings, edited by Patrick Ussher, 2014, p. 16  


Stoicism

Equanimity

Philosophy

Virtues and a Good Life

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

Is Your Vessel of Life Full?

 

"A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.

The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was

Full.

They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.

Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full..

The students responded with a unanimous 'yes.'

The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed..

'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car..

The sand is everything else---the small stuff.

'If you put

The sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Spend time with your children.

Spend time with your parents.

Visit with grandparents.

Take your spouse out to dinner.

Play another 18.

There will always be time to clean the house and mow the lawn.

Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter.

Set your priorities.

The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented.

The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.'

The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of Beers with a friend."

~ from 'The Idealist'

Why Should I Live?

     "In the very act of asking that question, you are seeking reasons for your convictions, and so you are committed to reason as the means to discover and justify what is important to you.  And there are so many reasons to live!

     As a sentient being, you have the potential to flourish.  You can refine your faculty of reason itself by learning and debating.  You can seek explanations of the natural world through science, and insight into the human condition through the arts and humanities.  You can make the most of your capacity for pleasure and satisfaction, which allowed your ancestors to thrive and thereby allowed you to exist.  You can appreciate the beauty and richness of the natural and cultural world.  As the heir to billions of years of life perpetuating itself, you can perpetuate life in return.  You have been endowed with a sense of sympathy─the ability to like, love, respect, and show kindness─and you can enjoy the gift of mutual benevolence with friends, family, and colleagues.

     And because reason tells you that none of this is particular to you, you have the responsibility to provide to others what you expect for yourself.  You can foster the welfare of other sentient beings by enhancing life, health, knowledge, freedom, abundance, safety, beauty, and peace.  History shows that when we sympathize with others and apply our ingenuity to improving the human condition, we can make progress in doing so, and you can help to continue that progress."

-  Stephen Pinker.  Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress.  Penguin Books, 2018, p. 4.  

[Dr. Pinker was asked this question "Why should I live?" by a young woman at a public lecture he was giving.]

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise and Respected Persons

Michel de Montaigne's Essays - Still Worth Reading

Lately, I have enjoyed rereading the interesting essays by Michel de Montaigne.  I read the essays for the first time in 1963, and now, as an old man, I still appreciate their insights, skepticism, readability, humanism, range, humor, irony, ideas and opinions, and their relevance for me.  Montaigne's writing style is conversational, engaging, and enduring.  

I have never visited France.  However, I have watched the Tour de France bicycle race each summer on television for the past 15 years.  The television coverage is outstanding with beautiful helicopter and ground camera visuals.  It is like taking an actual tour of different areas in France every year.  This year, the tour started later in the summer, and all the spectators are wearing masks because of the cronovirus pandemic.  

Michel de Montaigne   (1533-1592, French Essayist) 

How to Live, or A Life of Montaigne; In One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer.  By Sarah Bakewell.  New York, Other Press, 2010.  Index, bibliography, notes, 399 pages.  An outstanding biographical and intellectual history study.  VSCL. 

The Complete Essays of Michel de Montaigne.  By Charles Cotton.  Translated from the Latin into English in 1685.  I prefer the Kindle Edition.  1981 pages.  2018.  VSCL. 

The Complete Works of Michel de Montaigne.  Translated by Donald M. Frame.  Everyman's Library, 2003.  1392 pages.  Unfortunately, this translation is only available in a heavy hardbound volume with smaller print; with no e-book options.  Originally published in 1957.  VSCL. 

Me, Myself, and I: What made Michel de Montaigne the first modern man?  By Jane Kramer.  

Virtues and Vices: Notes, Quotes, Sayings, Links, Good Reads.  By Mike Garofalo.  

Tips for Living Longer

Ten Easy Tips for a Happier and Healthier Life

"Tip 1.  The importance of exercise
Tip 2.  Time for recovery [relaxation, rest, quiet time, meditation]
Tip 3.  Sleep Fortifies
Tip 4.  Sunshine and fresh air
Tip 5.  Eat yourself healthy
Tip 6.  Choose the right drink
Tip 7.  Keep your weight in check
Tip 8.  Oral health provides general health
Tip 9.  Be an optimist
Tip 10.  We need each other; nourish friendships"

- Bertil Marklund, MD, Phd, The Nordic Guide to Living 10 Years Longer, 2017

Lagom is a Swedish word that means “just the right amount”, “just the right amount is best”. Lagom implies moderation, balance, pared down simplicity, sufficient without excess, reasonable amounts, what is enough. 

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Many Wise Persons

How to Improve Your Mood

Boost Your Mood, Pick Yourself Up
Revitalize Yourself, Banish the Blues  

Be grateful for the good in your life.   
Give yourself permission to be human.
Brighten someone’s day. 
Learn something new. 
Listen to upbeat music.
Do some exercise on a regular basis.
Simplify your life, remove clutter, and clean. 
Go for a walk. 
Enjoy sex and discover romance. 
Get organized.
Do a good deed or volunteer.  
Smile and put on a happy face. 
Indulge your senses. 
Seek and cultivate beauty. 
Take time to breathe deeply. 
Look at some old photos. 
Focus on the positive. 
Forgive yourself. 
Get some fresh air. 
Eat often and eat light. 
Begin a program of meditation or contemplation.
Talk with your physician or counselor.   
Cook and prepare a lovely and tasty meal. 
Eat something nutritious like nuts or fruit. 
Pamper yourself.
Alter your routines in some way. 
Have confidence. 
Talk with your spouse. 
Fake it till you make it. 
Sign a song out loud. 
Tap into your creative side. 
Take up a mind-body practice like Taijiquan, Qigong or Yoga. 
Inhale a calming scent. 
Sit quietly, rest, or sleep. 
Brainstorm a problem for solutions. 
Avoid bad or negative companions, and find good friends. 
Watch a good non-violent movie. 
Work in the garden. 
Cool down strong emotions. 
Take some vacation time for relaxation and retreat. 
Look on the Bright Side.
Small steps of progress are better than no steps. 
Avoid watching the news for a week. 
Don’t take yourself too seriously. 
Focus on past successes, not failures. 
Create a wish list and make one wish come true.
Explore ways to boost your self-esteem. 
Focus on what you can control and what you can change.
Get some more sunlight on your body. 
Choose your attitude and how you will react to life's events. 
Spend less, avoid shopping. 
Stop all cussing, swearing, or rude language. 
Keep a journal or express yourself in writing. 
Go easy on yourself and yield.  
Count your blessings. 
Spend some time with children. 
Take a long shower or refreshing soaking bath. 
Get relevant and accurate information. 
Chat with a friendly person or neighbor.
Things change and time heals. 
Adapt, adapt, adapt. 
Agree to disagree; you don’t need to win every argument.   
Think fast.
Consider vitamin or herbal supplements that lift mood. 
Seek professional help for serious mental health problems. 
Read something inspiring. 
Avoid comparing yourself to others, and envy is a waste of time.
Try praying or chanting. 
Evaluate and revise your goals. 
Don't sweat the small stuff. 
Pet your dog or cat and care for them. 
Get a massage.
Enjoy a non-competitive sport. 
Try fasting or staying up all night. 
Donate your stuff, your skills, or your time.   
Forgive and forget. 
Dance till you are tired. 
Punch a bag or bang on a drum. 
Stop using any recreational drugs. 
Spend some time with children. 
Abandon false ideas and unrealistic aims. 
Enjoy a refreshing drink. 
Make someone laugh. 
Allow yourself to be eccentric, and enjoy some silly thoughts.
Have a bowl of soup or a cup of tea. 
Less talking and more doing. 
Get up, dress up, and show up. 
Observe nature carefully and respectfully.
Visit your public library and borrow some beautiful books. 
Be less self-centered and selfish. 
A spiritual advisor, rituals, or religious beliefs can sometimes help.
Love expands your horizons of caring and happiness. 
Accept the fact that some things are broken and can't be fixed.
Memorize and inspirational saying, prayer, poem or quote. 
Call or visit a sick person. 
Play a game. 

By Mike Garofalo
Valley Spirit Center
Red Bluff, California, 2011 

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

Ways to Lift Your Spirits (3 pages, PDF Format)

Virtues and Good Character

Fitness and Well-Being

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 23

Daodejing, Laozi
Chapter 23


"To be always talking is against nature.
For the same reason a hurricane never lasts a whole morning,
Nor a rainstorm all day.
Who is it that makes the wind and rain?
It is Heaven-and Earth.
And if even Heaven-and Earth cannot blow or pour for long,
How much less in his utterance should man?
Truly, if one uses the Way as one's instrument,
The results will be like the Way;
If one uses the “power” as instrument,
The results will be like the “power”.
If one uses what is the reverse of the “power”,
The results will be the reverse of the “power”.
For to those who have conformed themselves to the Way,
The Way readily lends its power.
To those who have conformed themselves to the power,
The power readily, lends more power.
While to those who conform themselves to inefficacy,
Inefficacy readily lends its ineffectiveness.
“It is by not believing in people that you turn them into liars.”"
-  Translated by Arthur Waley, 1934, Chapter 23 


"Nature does not have to insist,
Can blow for only half a morning,
Rain for only half a day,
And what are these winds and these rains but natural?
If nature does not have to insist,
Why should man?
It is natural too
That whoever follows the way of life feels alive,
That whoever uses it properly feels well used,
Whereas he who loses the way of life feels lost,
That whoever keeps to the way of life
Feels at home,
Whoever uses it properly
Feels welcome,
Whereas he who uses it improperly
Feels improperly used:
'Fail to honor people,
They fail to honor you."
-  Translated by Witter Bynner, 1944, Chapter 23

"With few words affirm the Self.
A great wind does not blow all the morning,
A heavy wind does not continue all day.
Why is this so?
It is because of the inter-relations of Heaven and Earth.
If Heaven and Earth cannot make things last long.
How much less can man?
Therefore he who follows the service of Tao is one with Tao,
He who is virtuous is one with Teh,
He who fails is one with failure.
He who is one with Tao,
Tao shall also claim him.
He who is one with Teh
Teh shall also claim him.
He who is one with failure,
Failure shall also claim him.
Faith that is not complete is not faith."
-  Translated by Isabella Mears, 1916, Chapter 23

"To be sparing of words is natural.
A violent wind cannot last a whole morning; pelting rain cannot last a whole day.
Who have made these things but heaven and earth?
Inasmuch as heaven and earth cannot last forever, how can man?
He who engages himself in Tao is identified with Tao.
He who engages himself in virtue is identified with virtue.
He who engages himself in abandonment is identified with abandonment.
Identified by Tao, he will be well received by Tao.
Identified with virtue, he will be well received by virtue.
Identified with abandonment, he will be well received by abandonment."
-  Translated by Ch'u Ta-Kao, 1904, Chapter 23 

希言自然.
故飄風不終朝.
驟雨不終日.
孰為此者, 天地.
天地尚不能久.
而況於人乎.
故從事於道者.
道者同於道.
德者同於德.
失者同於失.
同於道者, 道亦樂得之.
同於德者, 德亦樂得之.
同於失者, 失亦樂得之.
信不足焉, 有不信焉. -  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 23

xi yan zi ran.
gu piao feng bu zhong zhao.
zhou yu bu zhong ri.
shu wei ci zhe, tian di.
tian di shang bu neng jiu.
er kuang yu ren hu.
gu cong shi yu dao zhe.
dao zhe tong yu dao.
de zhe tong yu de.
shi zhe tong yu shi.
tong yu dao zhe, dao yi le de zhi.
tong yu de zhe, de yi le de zhi.
tong yu shi zhe, shi yi le de zhi.
xin bu zu yan, you bu xin yan!
-  Pinyin Romanization, Daodejing, Chapter 23 

"Sparing indeed is the Nature of its Talk ...
Sparing indeed is nature of its talk:
The whirlwind will not last the morning out;
The cloudburst ends before the day is done.
What is it that behaves itself like this?
The earth and sky! And if it be that these
Cut short their speech, how much more yet should man!
If you work by the Way,
You will be of the Way;
If you work through its virtue
you will be given the virtue;
Abandon either one
And both abandon you.
Gladly then the Way receives
Those who choose to walk in it;
Gladly too its power upholds
Those who choose to use it well;
Gladly will abandon greet
Those who to abandon drift.
Little faith is put in them
Whose faith is small."
-  Translated by Raymond Blackney, 1955, Chapter 23

"Hablar poco es lo natural.
Un huracán no dura toda la mañana.
Un aguacero no dura todo el día.
¿Quién hace estas cosas?
El cielo y la tierra.
Sí las cosas del cielo y la tierra
no pueden durar eternamente,
¿cómo pretende el hombre que sus cosas sí lo hagan?
Así, quien acepta al Tao
se une al Tao.
Quien acepta la virtud,
se une a la virtud.
Quien acepta la pérdida,
se une a esa pérdida.
Quien se identifica con una de estas cosas,
por ella es acogido y podrá avanzar plenamente.
Ábrete al Tao,
después confía en tus respuestas naturales
y todo encajará en su sitio."
-  Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Capitulo 23  

"To speak little is natural.
Therefore a gale does not blow a whole morning
Nor does a downpour last a whole day.
Who does these things? Heaven and Earth.
If even Heaven and Earth cannot force perfect continuity
How can people expect to?
Therefore there is such a thing as aligning one's actions with the Tao.
If you accord with the Tao you become one with it.
If you accord with virtue you become one with it.
If you accord with loss you become one with it.
The Tao accepts this accordance gladly.
Virtue accepts this accordance gladly.
Loss also accepts accordance gladly.
If you are untrustworthy, people will not trust you."
-  Translated by Charles Muller, 1891, Chapter 23

A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo for each one of the 81 Chapters (Verses, Sections) of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes up to 25 different English language translations or interpolations for that Chapter, 5 Spanish language translations for that Chapter, the Chinese characters for that Chapter, the Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin transliterations (Romanization) of the Mandarin Chinese words for that Chapter, and 2 German and 1 French translation of that Chapter.  Each webpage for each one of the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching includes extensive indexing by key words, phrases, and terms for that Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization.  Each webpage on a Chapter of the Daodejing includes recommended reading in books and websites, a detailed bibliography, some commentary, research leads, translation sources, a Google Translate drop down menu, and other resources for that Chapter.   

Chapter 23, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

English Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Spanish Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List

One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey  

A Positive Path in Old Age

Seven Strategies for Positive Aging

1. You can find meaning in old age.
2. You're never to old to learn.
3. You can use the past to cultivate wisdom.
4. You can strengthen life-span relationships.
5. You can promote growth through giving and receiving help.
6. You can forgive yourself and others.
7. You can possess a grateful attitude.

- Robert T. Hill, Ph.D., Seven Strategies for Positive Aging, 2008

Aging Well: Quotes, Bibliography, Notes, Links, Suggestions   

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

"Do, Don't Stew." -  Dr. Albert Ellis

Smile while you are still around.

Ten Golden Rules

Ten Golden Rules for Living the Good Life

  
“1. Examine life, engage life with vengeance; always search for new pleasures and new destines to reach with your mind.

 2.  Worry only about the things that are in your control, the things that can be influenced and changed by your actions, not about the things that are beyond your capacity to direct or alter.  

 3.  Treasure Friendship, the reciprocal attachment that fills the need for affiliation. Friendship cannot be acquired in the market place, but must be nurtured and treasured in relations imbued with trust and amity.  

 4.  Experience True Pleasure. Avoid shallow and transient pleasures. Keep your life simple. Seek calming pleasures that contribute to peace of mind. True pleasure is disciplined and restrained.  

 5.  Master Yourself. Resist any external force that might delimit thought and action; stop deceiving yourself, believing only what is personally useful and convenient; complete liberty necessitates a struggle within, a battle to subdue negative psychological and spiritual forces that preclude a healthy existence; self mastery requires ruthless cador.  

 6.  Avoid Excess. Live life in harmony and balance. Avoid excesses. Even good things, pursued or attained without moderation, can become a source of misery and suffering.  

 7.  Be a Responsible Human Being. Approach yourself with honesty and thoroughness; maintain a kind of spiritual hygiene; stop the blame-shifting for your errors and shortcomings.  

 8.  Don’t Be a Prosperous Fool. Prosperity by itself, is not a cure-all against an ill-led life, and may be a source of dangerous foolishness. Money is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for the good life, for happiness and wisdom.  

 9.  Don’t Do Evil to Others. Evildoing is a dangerous habit, a kind of reflex too quickly resorted to and too easily justified that has a lasting and damaging effect upon the quest for the good life. Harming others claims two victims—the receiver of the harm, and the victimizer, the one who does harm.  

 10.  Kindness towards others tends to be rewarded. Kindness to others is a good habit that supports and reinforces the quest for the good life. Helping others bestows a sense of satisfaction that has two beneficiaries—the beneficiary, the receiver of the help, and the benefactor, the one who provides the help.” 

-   By M. A. Soupious and Panos Mourdoukoutas, The Ten Golden Rules: Ancient Wisdom from the Greek Philosophers on Living the Good Life, 2009. 

Epicureanism

How to Live a Good Life: Advice From Wise Persons

Hedonism, Utilitarianism