This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
A man can make what he wants of himself if he truly believes that he must be ready for hard work and many heartbreaks along the way.
Friedrich Nietzsche, fully Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
He who wants to set a good example must add a grain of foolishness to his virtue; then others can imitate and, at the same time, rise above the one being imitated – something which people love.
Example | Good | Love | People | Time | Virtue | Virtue | Wants |
Maximilien Robespierre, fully Maximilien François Marie Isidore de Robespierre
If virtue be the spring of popular government in times of peace, the spring of that government during a revolution is virtue combined with terror: virtue, without which terror is destructive; terror, without which virtue is impotent. Terror is the only justice prompt, severe and inflexible; it is then an emanation of virtue; it is less a distinct principle than a natural consequence of the general principle of democracy, applied to the most pressing wants of the country.
Democracy | Government | Justice | Peace | Revolution | Terror | Virtue | Virtue | Wants | Government |
All ceremonies of transition, such as birth... marriage and death correspond very closely with each other in that on every occasion they repeat the drama of primeval creation.
Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe
A true leader does not seek followers, he wants to teach others how to be leaders. He does not want control, he wants the truth. He does not impose his leadership on others, nor does he take away anyone's autonomy. He inspires by love, not coercion. When it comes time to take credit, he makes himself invisible; but he is the first to arrive at the time of need, and he will never shrink away in fear. He is so passionate about your welfare that when you consult him for guidance, it is like coming face to face with yourself for the first time.
Coercion | Control | Credit | Fear | Guidance | Love | Need | Teach | Time | Truth | Wants | Will | Leader | Leadership |
Franz Werfel, fully Franz Viktor Werfel
Life wants to secure itself against the void that is raging within. The risk of eternal void is to be met by the premium of temporal insurance… social security, old age pensions, etc. It springs no less from metaphysical despair than from material misery.
Age | Despair | Eternal | Life | Life | Old age | Risk | Security | Wants | Old |
Attachment is a manufacturer of illusions and whoever wants reality ought to be detached.
The man who really wants to do something finds a way; the other man finds an excuse.