You might wonder as to why the title of this blog is “Watchwords of Wisdom” and not “Words of Wisdom.” The reason is quite simple. Because, these are things that you have to watch out for:
Watch your thoughts,
For, they become words.
Watch your words
For, they become actions.
Watch your actions
For, they become habits.
Watch your habits
For, they become your character.
Watch your character
For, it becomes your destiny.
I am not sure as to whom these watchwords of wisdom must be attributed. This is such a popular quote that it is attributed not to one but to several towering personalities.
I was not sure of the origin of these words of wisdom. So, I decided to carry out some research to get at the roots. My research led med to a website called: quoteinvestigator.com. The site had put in a lot of effort to trace the origin of this quote and to follow-up on its evolution which makes for an interesting story in itself.
From the above site, I found that this passage is attributed to several different people including Mahatma Gandhi, Lao Tsu, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Frank Outlaw, Gautama Buddha, Bishop Beckwaith, Father of Margaret Thatcher, and others at different places.
If it is part of the Dhammapada, which is Buddhist scripture, it dates back to two-and-a-half millennia. After that, the first reference of a variant of this quote appears in a speech delivered by Frank Outlaw in 1856.
Instead of getting carried away by the multiple versions of the quotation, I think we should focus on these words rather than who actually spoke those words. The crux of this teaching is that your thoughts have a cascading effect. Your thoughts don’t remain just thoughts. Your thoughts set off a chain reaction.
Your thought process gets transformed into words. And, those words trigger action. Actions become habits when they are repeated over and over again. Your habits define your character. And, your character charts your destiny.
So, this was a journey beginning with your thoughts and ending with your destiny. In the process, you learn the transition and transformation of your thought with each phase of action that keeps increasing in intensity at every stage.
The moral of the tale is: Always be watchful. A moment of distraction is enough to cause an accident!
Always remember these words of wisdom because they are not just words of wisdom—they are “Watchwords of Wisdom.” You never know when they will come in handy. The most important thing to remember is that your destiny begins with your thoughts.
