169 things from this book went into her brain. Here are the first 6.
John Lubbock argues that happiness is a duty, but our own pleasures must not be allowed to rule us, or they soon hand us over to sorrow.
John Lubbock says a cheerful person brightens everyone around them, and that keeping ourselves happy takes effort, an art we must manage as if we were somebody else.
John Lubbock says life is meant to be lived well, not merely lived. Not magnifying small troubles and using the blessings around us makes life a glorious inheritance.
John Lubbock notes that few of us realise the privilege of living, and that we hold more power to secure peace and triumph over pain than we think.
John Lubbock, quoting Ruskin, urges us to turn the voices of nature into a song of rejoicing, and to practise the duty of delight as well as self denial.
Marcus Aurelius reasoned that what does not make a person worse cannot make their life worse, a useful test for everyday setbacks.
John Lubbock warns that walling ourselves off to avoid pain also shuts us out of sympathy and happiness, so we lose more than we gain.
John Lubbock, quoting Helps, suggests that suffering can bring knowledge, so what we go through may be good for us even when it looks like evil.
John Lubbock, quoting Seneca, says misfortune boldly faced can often turn to our advantage, and that great ruins can make way for greater things.
John Lubbock, drawing on Epictetus, argues that whether our life is happy depends greatly on us, since few are ever made utterly miserable except by themselves.
John Lubbock observes that most of our suffering comes from small daily worries and from dreading misfortunes that never happen, so we should do our best and wait calmly.
John Lubbock, citing Epicurus, says a person who is not content with little is content with nothing, and that possessions beyond our needs are only a burden to carry.
Marcus Aurelius advised that bearing a trouble nobly is itself good fortune, since our own anger often does more harm than the event that provoked it.
John Lubbock says that if we cannot be happy, the fault generally lies in ourselves, and that we should notice the everyday blessings we tend to take for granted.
John Lubbock, quoting Ruskin, lists watching things grow, reading, thinking, loving and praying as what makes people happy, and notes that contentment comes from having few wants.
John Lubbock, quoting Greg, marvels that the world offers more beauty and delight than we could ask for, and that our senses and minds are made to take it in.
Marcus Aurelius held that philosophy keeps the inner self unharmed and above both pain and pleasure, so we act with purpose and accept what happens.
John Lubbock warns that giving way to self-indulgence is no true freedom, because repetition turns pleasure into a craving that becomes a tyranny.
John Lubbock says self-control grows easier with practice, and that ruling oneself is a greater triumph than any rank or power over others.
John Lubbock says each of us must conquer ourselves, which is a truer monarchy than any inherited power, and that conscience is our best guide.
John Lubbock held that a life is noble or ignoble by the spirit it is lived in, not by the work chosen, so trade can be as dignified as any calling.
Lubbock wrote that cheerfulness comes from employment, and that modest merit and patient industry are more sure of reward than people think.
Lubbock observed that battles are won before they are fought, so self-control is built through daily habits and the small details of everyday life.
Lubbock describes breaking a bad temper by counting the days without anger and cutting the habit back a little at a time, rather than all at once.
Marcus Aurelius, quoted by Lubbock, said we can always retire into our own soul for quiet, so peace of mind is something we can secure for ourselves.
Lubbock argues that the mind is shaped by what it dwells on, so we should fill it with pure and peaceful thoughts and keep it free of constant dwelling on wrongdoing.
Lubbock, recounting Socrates, holds that the real penalty of injustice is becoming more and more unjust, so wrongdoing harms the person who does it first.
Lubbock quotes Marcus Aurelius on Antoninus, who examined things carefully before judging them, bore unjust blame without blaming in return, and never did anything in a hurry.
Richard de Bury, quoted by Lubbock, said books teach without anger or ridicule, are never asleep when we need them, and so are the best of teachers.
Petrarch, quoted by Lubbock, described books as friends who are always at hand, who can be dismissed at will, and who teach us how to live, how to die and how to restrain our desires.
Lubbock, quoting Aikin, notes that a well-stocked library lets us question the wisest and most able minds of every age, drawing on their choicest thoughts at our own pace.
Carlyle, quoted by Lubbock, said a collection of books is a real university, one that is open to us for as long as we like.
Lubbock says reading is not necessarily study, and that the poetic and emotional side of literature is what we most need for everyday life.
Lubbock, recalling Macaulay, says books were a main source of his happiness, and warns that we must not let our love of reading crowd out other duties.
Lubbock notes that switching between several books on different subjects keeps reading fresh, so we come back to each with renewed interest rather than tiring of one.
Lubbock advises reading widely but starting with the best books in each field, reading most books quickly, and learning something of everything and everything of something.
Lubbock says a library is open to rich and poor alike, because wealth gives no advantage there, and that it brings us the company of the greatest thinkers.
Lubbock warns that in an age of plenty the problem is choosing what to read, and that we should not waste precious reading time on trash.
Lubbock recalls Darwin advising him to study whatever interested him most, and holds that choosing work we are drawn to applies to life generally.
Lubbock, quoting Herschel, says owning a library is quite different from using it wisely, and that people often read almost by hazard, so choosing books with care matters.
Lubbock suggests that a book which has lasted is a fair sign of its worth, while the most recent history and science give the most accurate information, so we should read both old and new.
Lubbock places the Enchiridion of Epictetus at the head of the moral writers outside Christianity, with Marcus Aurelius beside it, as among the noblest books in all literature.
Lubbock says we should be grateful to Aristotle, whose method taught us how to advance, and that the dialogues of Socrates stay as instructive now as ever.
Lubbock observes that history is increasingly about the development of human thought, art, science and law rather than the doings of kings, and that this makes it more interesting.
Lubbock, quoting Cicero, notes that we take great care choosing a horse or a dog, yet leave the choice of friends, which shapes our whole life, almost to chance.
Sir Thomas Browne observed that people who cannot bear their own company are a prison to themselves, while those with rich thoughts sometimes need company to escape their own crowd.
Lubbock says that with well-chosen friends, conversation can be made instructive and delightful, and that we can learn something from almost anyone who will take the trouble to talk with us.
Lubbock warns that friendships built only on living nearby, sharing a trade or travelling the same route are mere images of friendship, so real friends need to be chosen with care.
Marcus Aurelius advised that when we want cheering up we should think of the virtues of the people around us, since good examples in those we live with keep virtue in front of us.
Cicero held that true friends stay with us even when absent or dead, and Lubbock adds that we should choose friends for what they are, not for what they have.
Lubbock argues that most people can find time for what they really choose to do, so the real lack is will, and that what matters is how we use our hours, not how many we have.
Lubbock, quoting Pater, holds that life is measured by depth of thought and action rather than by length, and that habit dulls the finest moments we could be living.
Lubbock suggests that idleness lets the mind grind on against itself, and that it is care and worry, more than honest work, that wears people down.
Lubbock notes that time is not so much what flies as we who waste it, and, quoting Jeremy Taylor, that people careful with their time are also careful with their company and their actions.
Sir Arthur Helps, quoted by Lubbock, argues that there is no excuse for dullness, since nature invites us to learn, understand and do something with every part of the world around us.
Lubbock says the world belongs to whoever has seen it, and that anyone who wants a delightful journey must first make himself delightful company on the way.
Lubbock, following Bacon, says the wise traveller observes whatever is memorable in each place, while the fool merely wanders, and that the time we have decides how deeply we can look.
Lubbock tells of a holy man who realised late in life that he had preached about heaven while seeing almost nothing of the world he lived in, and so went to see it.
Tyndall, quoted by Lubbock, describes nature as a patient sculptor shaping mountains and valleys over ages, a reminder of how much slow work lies behind the scenes we see.
Lubbock argues that loving travel does not mean loving home less, since we enjoy home more when we sometimes wander away, and one of the great pleasures of travel is the return.
