The trouble is, you think you have time.

— Buddha

(Source: nargessi, via resistreality)

In 1933, renowned author F. Scott Fitzgerald ended a letter to his 11-year-old daughter, Scottie, with a list of things to worry about, not worry about, and simply think about. It read as follows.(Source: F. Scott Fitzgerald: A Life in Letters; Image: F. Scott Fitzgerald with his daughter, Scottie, in 1924.) Things to worry about:Worry about courageWorry about cleanlinessWorry about efficiencyWorry about horsemanshipThings not to worry about: Don’t worry about popular opinionDon’t worry about dollsDon’t worry about the pastDon’t worry about the futureDon’t worry about growing upDon’t worry about anybody getting ahead of youDon’t worry about triumphDon’t worry about failure unless it comes through your own faultDon’t worry about mosquitoesDon’t worry about fliesDon’t worry about insects in generalDon’t worry about parentsDon’t worry about boysDon’t worry about disappointmentsDon’t worry about pleasuresDon’t worry about satisfactionsThings to think about: What am I really aiming at? How good am I really in comparison to my contemporaries in regard to:(a) Scholarship(b) Do I really understand about people and am I able to get along with them? (c) Am I trying to make my body a useful instrument or am I neglecting it? With dearest love,Daddy (via Lists of Note: Things to worry about)
And I despise your books, I despise wisdom and the blessings of this world. It is all worthless, fleeting, illusory, and deceptive, like a mirage. You may be proud, wise, and fine, but death will wipe you off the face of the earth as though you were no more than mice burrowing under the floor, and your posterity, your history, your immortal geniuses will burn or freeze together with the earthly globe.

— Anton Chekhov

(Source: whyexistence, via yunzi)