Abba Poemen said: There is one sort of person who seems to be silent, but inwardly criticizes other people. Such a person is really talking all the time. Another may talk from morning till night, but says only what is meaningful, and so keeps silence.”

Abba Xanthias said, “A dog is better than I am because it also has love, but it does not pass judgment.”

Knowledge is the lowest form of learning. Empathy is the highest form of learning.

[You can follow me on Twitter @creatorvilla.] Today I want to share an image circulating on social media that I thought was thought provoking. It contains observations about the all-important intangibles of faith, trust, hope, confidence, and love, using simple and relatable examples. I don’t know where the image originated—if you do, let me know and I’ll give proper credit. Until then, let’s chalk this one up to “Wisdom of the Internet.” Complete transcript below in case you have issues with the image.

Six Little Stories With Lots of Meaning

1. Once all villagers decided to pray for rain. On the day of prayer, all the people gathered, but only one boy came with an umbrella. That is faith.

2. When you throw babies in the air, they laugh because they know you will catch them. That is trust.

3. Every night we go to bed without any assurance of being alive the next morning, but still we set the alarms to wake up. That is hope.

4. We plan big things for tomorrow in spite of zero knowledge of the future. That is confidence.

5. We see the world suffering, but still, we get married and have children. That is love.

6. On an old man’s shirt was written a sentence, “I am not 80 years old; I am sweet 16 with 64 years of experience.” That is attitude.

Have a happy day and live your life like these six stories. Remember–Good friends are the rare jewels of life, difficult to find and impossible to replace!!

If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will avoid 100 days of sorrow.

Material progress doesn’t make us happier. If it did, the ancients must have been a miserable bunch. Instead we compete for status, an older, zero-sum game. We don’t want things, we want to be things. A rational person recounts their blessings and rejects society’s games.

The lion does not say to the rabbit with a broken leg, “I will come back later so you can have a fair chance.” It just devours. Healing is a necessity because being broken will lead to more brokenness.

Never do anything that will cause you to respect yourself less.

The greatest thing anyone can build is a strong social network.

Don’t say something permanently hurtful because you are temporarily upset.