Quotes about Saturn’s Issues—Wise Counsel from our Elders

©2009 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

As regular readers know, my Google startup page includes the daily selections on http://www.quotationspage.com/ .  The more memorable quotes seem to capture the essence of one of the planets or signs, so I save them. I’ve done a series of these collections earlier, including Mars, Uranus, and Neptune. Below are some quotes that I feel pertain to the issues and concerns of the planet Saturn, whether natally or by transit. (For more information about the authors and sources of the quote, click on their names.)  First, however, let’s look at some of the positive traits associated with Saturn and its sign, Capricorn.

SELF-DISCIPLINE is an important positive trait associated with Saturn. Without it, how can we accomplish anything major? Patience, perseverance, and Spartan avoid­ance of distracting temptations are all Saturnian virtues, facets of self-discipline.

 RESPONSIBILITY is a primary lesson that Saturn teaches us. Blaming others for what happens to you is a mark of immaturity. Spiritual teachers and psychotherapists agree that once you have passed childhood, you are responsible for yourself and your actions.

 REALISM is one reason for the success Saturnians tend to achieve. They are too practical to invest their energies in something that won’t work out, and they can foresee the consequences of an action because they take a long-range view.

They can sometimes be too realistic… lacking imagination, being first-order wet blankets who are afraid to take a chance, and possibly balancing on that fine dividing line between pragmatism and opportunism… exaggera­ting their basically constructive traits.

 SERIOUSNESS is a Saturnian characteristic that’s not properly valued in our hedonistic society. A serious, “take care of business” approach can help accomplish a great deal. Once on that path, it is easy to over­balance toward the negative end of the Saturn spectrum and become somber, melan­choly, and depressed.

 PERFECTIONISM is a trait attributed to Saturn and Capricorn people, but can simply represent a constructive quality gone overboard. Saturnians are concerned with high standards and performing to the best of their ability.

 

 What Wise Elders have Said about the Traits Associated with Saturnians

 In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.  – Dwight D. Eisenhower

The sad truth is that excellence makes people nervous.   – Shana Alexander

 Greatness is more than potential. It is the execution of that potential. Beyond the raw talent. You need the appropriate training. You need the discipline. You need the inspiration. You need the drive. Eric A. Burns

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.   – Thomas A. Edison

My definition of an expert in any field is a person who knows enough about what’s really going on to be scared.   – P. J. Plauger

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.   – Peter Drucker

 Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you’re not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were. David Rockefeller

 If you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother and hope your guardian genius. Joseph Addison

 Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. Dr. David M. Burns

Self-respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself.    Rabbi Abraham Heschel

Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make you a far happier and more productive person.  Dr. David M. Burns

 Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away. Antoine de Saint-Exupery

 The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other ages you’ve been.  Madeleine L’Engle

 Maturity is a bitter disappointment for which no remedy exists, unless laughter can be said to remedy anything. Kurt Vonnegut

 The awareness of the ambiguity of one’s highest achievements (as well as one’s deepest failures) is a definite symptom of maturity. Paul Tillich

 As you can see from the quotes, Saturn takes some growing into. I often compare Saturn to the grain of sand inside an oyster. The sand frustrates and irritates the oyster, which probably wonders why it is being singled out this way, until it finally mobilizes its defenses. It builds and builds, until it has finally created a lovely pearl. We find the pearl beautiful and valuable, but the oyster may very well consider it a great affliction. So, too, problems we struggle with due to Saturn’s natal and transiting placements may feel uncomfortable on a day-to-day basis, but by working at them in the long run, we may be building something very fine. Look at your Saturn as a pearl in the making, and you’ll work with it better.    

 More Posts about Saturn on this Blog:

• Saturn’s Delays and Why We Should Embrace Them
• Venus-Saturn Aspects—Waiting for Love
• Why Saturn has as much to do with Luck as Jupiter
• Some Life Patterns of People with Uranus-Saturn Aspects in the Birth Chart
• Taming Transiting Saturn–Guest Blogger Elizabeth Spring
• Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself
• Saturn Transits the 7th House—a Rare Interview with Father Time Himself

 Previous Digests of Quotes that Illustrate the Planets’ Qualities:

• Mars—What Great Minds say about Its Functions
• Neptunian Musings—Mysterious, but Strangely Apt Quotations

• Uranian Ideas—Exceptional Thoughts about an Exceptional Planet

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