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“First keep thyself in peace, and then shalt thou be able to be a peacemaker towards others.”
The devotional instruction makes inward steadiness prior to outward peacemaking: a person who is internally ruled by agitation will struggle to reduce conflict in relationships around them.
Source note: The Imitation of Christ, Chapter III, “Of the good, peaceable man,” William Benham translation, Project Gutenberg #1653. The surrounding passage is explicitly Christian devotional teaching about peace, suspicion, anger and living peaceably with difficult people.
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“Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom.”
Calmness is treated as a cultivated capacity arising from self-control and understanding rather than as a temperament a person either possesses or lacks.
Source note: As a Man Thinketh, chapter “Serenity”; Allen presents calmness as the result of long and patient effort in self-control.
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“Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.”
Good judgment starts by hearing more quickly than speaking or reacting, especially when anger is close to the surface.
Source note: James 1:19 in the King James Version, pairing readiness to listen with restraint in speech and anger.
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“Gravity is the root of lightness; stillness, the ruler of movement.”
Movement is most stable when it has a quiet center; the aphorism makes composure a governing condition rather than the opposite of effective action.
Source note: Tao Teh King, chapter 26, James Legge translation; the chapter applies this relation between gravity and stillness to the conduct of a ruler.
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“Fortify thyself with contentment: that is an impregnable stronghold.”
Contentment creates a form of inward security because satisfaction becomes less dependent on circumstances that can be taken away.
Source note: The Golden Sayings of Epictetus, saying XVII, Hastings Crossley translation.
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“What is the happy life? It is peace of mind, and lasting tranquillity.”
Happiness is defined as durable mental order rather than constant excitement, pleasure, or favorable luck.
Source note: Letter 92 asks what makes a happy life and connects it with peace of mind and stable judgment.