Lifestyle Wisdom, Ancient and Modern, Especially for older people....

These passages from my recent reading deserve to be shared and contemplated as sources of practical wisdom:

“Act without doing;

work without effort”.....

“I have just three things to teach:

simplicity, patience, compassion.

These three are your greatest treasures.

Simple in actions and in thoughts,

you return to the source of being.

Patient with both friends and enemies,

you accord with the way things are.

Compassionate toward yourself,

you reconcile all beings in the world.”

Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tzu transated by Stephen Mitchell, Harper Collins, First HarperPerennial Edition, 1991 Chapters 63 verse 1 and 67 verse 2.

“Apart from the rules for a health lifestyle , which I have dealt with elsewhere – sleep, a frugal and balanced diet, exercise, and avoidance of alcohol and tobacco – we must be able to adapt to changing situations, retain confidence in our own resources, accept our limits with good humour, learn how to refuse what we don't want to do, and ensure that our daily routine incorporates time devoted to doing what we enjoy in peace. If, in addition, we can share our worries with those close to us, then we are on the right path.”

“.....optimism prolongs life.....”

The Warmth of the Heart Prevents your Body from Rusting: ageing without growing old by Marie de Hennezel, translated by Sue Dyson, Pan Books, 2012 pp135 & 142-143