THE QUOTABLE SPIRIT
Peter Lorie and Manuela D Mascetti, editors
A treasury of religious and spiritual quotations from ancient times to the twentieth century
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"God is one….He sees as a Whole, perceives as a Whole, hears as a Whole." Xenophanes (570-475 bce), Greek philosopher, fragment
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"Virtues are virtues because they give joy once they are practised. If a virtue does not give joy, it is not a virtue." Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882-1927), Sufi master musician, 'The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan'
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"To the question 'What must I do to free myself?' Zen replies: 'There is nothing you need do since you have never been enslaved and since there is nothing in reality from which you can free yourself." Hubert Benoit, contemporary French philosopher, 'The Supreme Doctrine'
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"I find good people good and I find bad people good, if I am good enough." Lao-Tzu (6th century bce), Chinese founder of Taoism, 'The Way of Life'
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"All eyes that look on me are my sole eyes; the one heart that beats within all breasts is mine." Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950), Yogic master, 'Sonnets of Cosmic Consciousness'
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"All things are manifestations of His Will." Guru Nanak (1469-1539), Indian disciple of Kabir, 'Psalms and Devotions'
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"The soul is the mirror of an indestructible universe." G. W. Leibniz (1646-1716), German philosopher, 'The Monadology'
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"Is there one maxim which ought to be acted upon throughout one's whole life? Surely it is the maxim of loving-kindness. Do not unto others what you would not have them do unto you." Confucian Analects, 15, 23
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"Consideration is the greatest of all virtues, for in consideration all virtues are born. Veneration for God, courtesy towards others, respect of those who deserve it, kindness to those who are weak and feeble, sympathy with those who need it, all these come from consideration." Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882-1927), Sufi master musician, 'The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan'
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"Throughout this varied and eternal world Soul is the only element." Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), British poet, 'Queen Mab'
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"Doubt is nothing but a trivial agitation on the surface of the soul, while deep down there is a calm certainty." Francois Mauriac (1885-1970), winner of Nobel Prize for Literature, 1952, 'God and Mammon'
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"I say to you, there is not God AND man. But there is God-Man or Man-God. There is the One. However multiplied, however divided, it is forever One." Mikhail Naimy (1889-1988), mystic and author, 'The Book of Mirdad – A Lighthouse and a Haven'
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"You are a part of the Infinite. This is your nature. Hence you are your brother's keeper." Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902),
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"He is boundless the Vedas proclaim. He is in eighteen hundred worlds the Muslim texts say. The Reality behind forms is one and the same." Guru Nanak (1469-1539), Indian disciple of Kabir, 'Hymns of Guru Nanak'
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"In the Buddhist approach, life and death are seen as one whole, where death is the beginning of another chapter of life. Death is a mirror in which the entire meaning of life is reflected." Sogyal Rinpoche, contemporary Buddhist monk and author, 'The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying'
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"There is no dichotomy between spirit and flesh, no split between Godhead and the World….Spiritual union is found in life within nature, passion, sensuality – through being fully human, fully one's self." Starhawk
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"The Self of all creatures, the One Controller, who makes his one form into many objects is seen by the wise to exist inside them." Katha Upanishad (900-600 bce),
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"He who watches over the birds, beasts and insects, He who cared for you whilst you were yet in your mother's womb, shall he not care for you now that you have come forth?" Kabir (1440?-1518), Indian Sufi master, 'One Hundred Poems of Kabir'
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"It is an obvious fact that time affects neither God nor the soul." Meister Eckhart (1260-1327), 'Meditations'
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"True happiness flows from the possession of wisdom and virtue and not from the possession of external goods." Aristotle (384-322 bce), 'Politics'
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"Mankind is interdependent and the happiness of each depends upon the happiness of all, and it is this lesson that humanity has to learn today as the first and last lesson." Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882-1927), 'The Sufi Message of Hazrat Inayat Khan: The Art of Personality'
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"To train in compassion is to know all beings are the same and suffer in similar ways, to honor all those who suffer, and to know you are neither separate from nor superior to anyone." Sogyal Rinpoche, contemporary Buddhist monk and author, 'The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying'
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"Justice is immortal." The Wisdom of Solomon, Old Testament Apocrypha
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"The soul-journey resembles very much the sort of adventure one encounters in folklore and myth." Paul Zeig (1935-1984), American author, 'The Adventurer'
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"Nothing in the universe exists independently of your own consciousness." Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, poet, 'Old Path White Clouds: The Life Story of the Buddha'
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We are gathering together the primary insights of spirituality and bringing them together into one place.
This archive contains 11,754 quotes, taken from 635 references,
organized in terms of 39 primary categories. Quotes are randomized and appear in a different way at every click.
Explore the navigation options to review these insights.
We include
- All major spiritual and religious traditions, from all cultures, and all historical epochs
- Major psychologists, philosophers, writers, scholars and leading religious personalities
- Sources in classical religion as well as voices from new consciousness, esotericism and mysticism
- Choices are guided by the spirit of oneness, love, kindness, inclusion and community
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