[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$fdOswT8KPIeFC5SdhWx-0LfI_9mrWcbqBOjSH9wPhQLo":3,"$fu59BR5214QWWLspltvwAdinu5if6yeCu9N1NeDbL5_c":12},{"author":4,"tags":11},{"author_id":5,"author_name":6,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"bio":9,"short_bio":9,"bio_jsonld":9,"slug":10,"image_url":9},8883,"John Armstrong","J",89,null,"john-armstrong",[],{"quotes":13,"pagination":78},[14,22,29,35,41,47,54,60,66,72],{"id":15,"quote_text":16,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":19,"source":20,"quote_tag":21,"commentary":9},3146469,"This is the most effective way: let the growing soul look at life with the question: ‘What have you truly loved? What has drawn you upward, mastered and blessed you?",6,false,{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":23,"quote_text":24,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":25,"source":26,"quote_tag":27,"commentary":28},3146466,"When we try to love we are not actually trying to undertake a single endeavor; rather, we are trying to do a whole range of different, and sometimes not very compatible, things simultaneously.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],"**The Backstory**\nJohn Armstrong, a Scottish philosopher and historian, penned this thought-provoking passage in his book \"A Scheme for a General Union of the Protestant States\" (1796). At that time, Armstrong was grappling with the complexities of creating coalitions among European nations to counterbalance French influence. His philosophical musings reflect his attempt to reconcile the theoretical idealism of unity with the practical challenges of human relationships.\n\n**The Hidden Insight**\nArmstrong's quote reveals a profound paradox: love and relationships are not singular actions but rather dynamic, multifaceted endeavors that require navigating diverse emotions, needs, and expectations simultaneously. This tension between unity and diversity lies at the heart of interpersonal connections, making it difficult to pin down a single definition or approach to loving others.\n\n**How to Use This**\nTo apply this mindset in your personal and professional relationships, acknowledge that building genuine connections involves embracing complexity and multiplicity rather than striving for simplistic solutions. By recognizing that love is an intricate web of diverse actions and emotions, you can cultivate a more nuanced understanding of yourself and others, leading to more authentic and resilient relationships.",{"id":30,"quote_text":31,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":32,"source":33,"quote_tag":34,"commentary":9},3146464,"People are more slothful than timid. Their greatest fear is the heavy burden that uncompromising honesty and nakedness of speech and action would lay on them.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":36,"quote_text":37,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":38,"source":39,"quote_tag":40,"commentary":9},3146461,"For wisest ends this universal Power Gave appetites, from whose quick impulse life Subsists, by which we only live, all life Insipid else, unactive, unenjoy’d. Hence to this peopled earth, which, that extinct, That flame for propagation, soon would roll A lifeless mass, and vainly cumber heaven.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":42,"quote_text":43,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":44,"source":45,"quote_tag":46,"commentary":9},3146457,"If from thy secret bed Of luxury unbidden offspring rise, Let them be kindly welcom’d to the day.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":48,"quote_text":49,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":50,"source":51,"quote_tag":52,"commentary":53},3146451,"Then love of pleasure sways each heart, and we From that no more than from ourselves can fly. Blameless when govern’d well. But where it errs Extravagant, and wildly leads to ill, Public or private, there its curbing pow’r Cool reason must exert.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],"**The Backstory**\nThis quote appears to be from John Armstrong, an 18th-century American philosopher and Presbyterian minister. Armstrong was known for his philosophical writings on ethics and morality, and this quote likely comes from one of his treatises on the nature of pleasure and reason. During this time, Armstrong was grappling with the Enlightenment ideas of reason and morality, and was likely reflecting on the human tendency to prioritize pleasure over reason.\n\n**The Hidden Insight**\nOn the surface, Armstrong's quote seems to suggest that pleasure is a natural and unavoidable aspect of human nature, and that reason is necessary to curb its excesses. However, the deeper insight is that Armstrong is not simply advocating for a dichotomy between pleasure and reason, but rather highlighting the complex interplay between the two. He is suggesting that pleasure is not inherently bad, but rather it is the failure to govern it that leads to negative consequences - implying that pleasure can be a positive force when it is balanced with reason.\n\n**How to Use This**\nTo apply this mindset today, consider adopting a \"pleasure-first\" approach to decision-making, where you prioritize experiences and activities that bring you joy and fulfillment, but also make a conscious effort to balance these choices with reason and self-control. By acknowledging that pleasure is a natural and important part of the human experience, you can cultivate a more nuanced and balanced approach to living, where you prioritize enjoyment and fulfillment while also making responsible and thoughtful choices.",{"id":55,"quote_text":56,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":57,"source":58,"quote_tag":59,"commentary":9},3146450,"When you’re doing wrong, you’re gonna think wrong.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":61,"quote_text":62,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":63,"source":64,"quote_tag":65,"commentary":9},3146441,"Autumn ripens in the summer’s ray.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":67,"quote_text":68,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":69,"source":70,"quote_tag":71,"commentary":9},3146437,"Sometimes pantheists will use the term “pandeism” to underscore that they share with the deists the idea that God is not a personal God who desires to be worshipped.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"id":73,"quote_text":74,"author_id":5,"source_id":17,"has_image":18,"author":75,"source":76,"quote_tag":77,"commentary":9},3146428,"The boy may wrestle, when Night – working Fancy steals him to the arms Of nymph oft wish’d awake, and, ’mid the rage Of the soft tumult, ev’ry turgid cell Spontaneous disembogues its lucid store, Bland and of azure tinct.",{"id":5,"author_name":6,"slug":10,"author_name_first_letter":7,"article_count":8,"image_url":9},{},[],{"currentPage":79,"totalPages":80,"totalItems":8,"itemsPerPage":81},1,9,10]