THE GREAT THOUGHTS
George Seldes, compiler
From Abelard to Zola, from ancient Greece to contemporary America, the ideas that have shaped the history of the world.
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| 1 |
"All finite things reveal infinitude." Theodore Roethke (1908-1963), American poet, 'The Far Field'
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| 2 |
"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops." Henry Brooks Adams (1838-1918), American historian
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"Love produces a certain flowering of the whole personality which nothing else can achieve." Ivan Turgenev (1818-1883), Russian writer
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"Creativity cannot exist without the feminine principle, and I am sure God is not merely male or female but He-She – our Father-Mother God." Margaret Walker (b. 1915), American teacher
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"It is a world cooperative commonwealth at which we ought to aim, built on freedom. A single country – or a group of countries – with this peaceful cooperative aim can make its impact on the whole world." David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973), Polish-born Israeli prime minister, New York Times Magazine, September 24, 1961
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"Love indeed (I may not deny) first united provinces, built cities, and by a perpetual generation makes and preserves mankind." Robert Burton (1577-1640), English clergyman, 'The Anatomy of Melancholy'
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"I would say that if there is no love, NOTHING is possible. Man absolutely cannot live by himself." Erich Fromm (1900-1980), American psychologist, 'Look', May 5, 1964
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| 8 |
"It is forbidden to decry other sects; the true believer gives honor to whatever in them is worthy of honor." Asoka (d. 238 bce), Buddhist emperor of India, Decree (inscription on a pillar),
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| 9 |
"Nothing under the sun is accidental." Gotthold E. Lessing (1729-1781), German dramatist, 'Emilia Galotti'
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| 10 |
"The shore is an ancient world, for as long as there has been an earth and sea there has been this place of the meeting of land and water. Yet it is a world that keeps alive the sense of continuing creation and of the relentless drive of life. Each time I enter it, I gain some new awareness of its beauty and its deeper meanings, sensing that intricate fabric of life by which one creature is linked with another, and each with its suroundings." Rachel Carson (1907-1964), American naturalist, author, 'The Edge of the Sea'
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"The ideals which have lighted me on my way and time and time again given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Truth, Goodness and Beauty." Albert Einstein (1879-1955), 'The World As I See It'
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| 12 |
"The precepts of the law are these: to live honestly, to injure no one, and to give every man his due." Justinian I (483-565 ad), Byzantine emperor, 'The Institutes of Justinian', Title I, bk. 1
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"Tsze-kung asked, saying, 'Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life? The Master said, 'Is not Reciprocity such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others." Confucius (551-479 bce), Chinese sage, 'Analects'
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"All fear is a sign of want of faith." Mohandes Gandhi (1869-1948), Hindu national leader, 'Letters From Bapu'
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"As faintness is a disease of the body, so is vice a sickness of the mind. Wherefore, since we judge those who have corporal infirmities to be rather worthy of compassion than hatred, much more are they to be pitied, and not abhorred, whose minds are oppressed." Boethius (ca. 480-524), Roman philosopher, 'The Consolation of Philosophy'
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"Confucius replied….'wisdom, compassion and courage – these are the three universally recognized moral qualities of man." Tze-sze (ca. 335-288 bce), Chinese philosopher, grandson of Confucius, 'The Golden Mean of Tze-sze'
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"In endowing us with memory, nature has revealed to us a truth utterly unimaginable to the unreflective creation, the truth of immortality." George Santayana (1863-1952), Spanish-born American philosopher, 'Reason in Common Sense'
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"Religion is the root of human existence." Wilhelm Schlegel (1767-1845), German poet, 'Lectures, 1807-1808'
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| 19 |
"Consciousness of God is self-consciousness. Knowledge of God is self-knowledge." Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872), German philosopher, 'The Essence of Christianity'
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"Then she (Philosophy personified) said…I assert that there is no such thing as chance and I declare that chance is just an empty word with no real meaning. For what place can be left for purposelessness when God puts all things in order?" Boethius (ca. 480-524), Roman philosopher, 'The Consolation of Philosophy'
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"There is only one science, love; only one riches, love; only one policy, love….love is all the law, and the prophets." Anatole France (1844-1924), French author, 'Epigrams'
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| 22 |
"Nature is the Art of God." Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), Italian poet, 'Monarchy'
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"From the intrinsic evidence of his creation the Great Architect of the Universe now begins to appear as a pure mathematician." Sir James Jeans (1877-1946), British scientist, 'The Mysterious Universe'
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"A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love." Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher, 'On Friendship'
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"Man is what he believes." Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), Russian writer, 'Notebooks'
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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,
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