THE CHOICE IS ALWAYS OURS
Dorothy B. Phillips, Chief Editor
An anthology about the spiritual Way, chosen from psychological, religious, philosophical, poetical and biographical sources
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"Live in simple faith….just as this trusting cherry flowers, fades, and falls." Issa (1763-1827), Japanese poet, 'Japanese Haiku'
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"Deep in the psychic structure of every individual there is an urge for the kind of fulfillment which will yield meaning, joy and creativity. Men and women, consciously or unconsciously, desire to obtain the insight whereby they can resolve their own pesonal turbulences, achieve an organic interdependence with other human beings and gain a sense of the end for which they were created."
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"I know that God exists. There is utter Reality, complete creative power holding the entire creation in its grasp. The whole of time and space is no more than an incident, a minute episode in the immeasurable order, power, and glory of complete Being." Gerald Heard, (1889-1971), English author and philosopher, 'The Creed of Christ'
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"The integrated personality does not merely express the individual totality, for in the actualization of his own a priori wholeness the individual also discovers his relatedness to a super-individual centre. This centre is the self which is paradoxically the quintessence of the individuum and at the same time of the collectivum. In other words: the experience of wholeness coincides with the experience of a centre of the personality and a meaning of life which transcends the individual. This is expressed for instance in the words of Nicolaus of Cusa who makes God say to man: 'Be thou thyself, and I shall be thine.'" Gerhard Adler (b. 1904), English Jungian analyst, 'Studies in Analytical Psychology'
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"This Form of the good must be seen by whosoever would act wisely in public or in private." Plato, 'The Republic'
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"True self-revelation has always as its counterpart a growth in knowledge of God. For it is only in the light of God that we see ourselves for what we are." Edward Leen (1885-1944), Irish Catholic cleric and educator, 'Progress Through Mental Prayer'
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"There exists an ultimate Reality that is by nature both transcendent and immanent. The immanent aspect, this something of God in man, traces its ancestry to early Hindu sources, thence to the Socratic movement in philosophy, and on to the teaching of Jesus. Since then it has been variously expressed as: 'the deep center', 'the ground of the soul', 'the inward Voice', the Real Self', 'the inner Vocation', 'that something which binds us to the deeper processes of consciousness', 'that potentiality of an extension of consciousness', et cetera."
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"They who are long gone are in us, as predisposition, as a charge upon our destiny, as blood that stirs, and as gesture that rises up out of the depths of time." Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), German poet, 'Letters to a Young Poet'
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"We have no reason to mistrust our world, for it is not against us." Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), German poet, 'Letters to a Young Poet'
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"Prayer is a pure act of the will, seeking an integral understanding of and union with the Whole, the One." Gerald Heard (1889-197), English author and philosopher, 'A Preface to Prayer'
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"It is human to go through negative experiences, disappointments and frustrations. It is one of the ways leading us to maturity. Indeed, it is the opportunity to become We-feeling, objective, creative." Fritz Kunkel, M.D. (1889-1956), American psychiatrist, 'How Character Develops'
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"God is. That is so real, that to talk of His love, or of serving Him is saying less, not more. He is, and He is with us." Alfred Romer, (b. 1907), American professor of physics
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"The freedom of the individual might be defined as the preparedness to be formed by his own eidos, his inner image of wholeness which exists a priori in him. The more the individual becomes sensitive and receptive to his inner image, the more he becomes whole and 'healed'." Gerhard Adler (B. 1904), English Jungian analyst, 'Studies in Analytical Psychology'
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"In broadest outline we see the universe evolving life and life evolving to continually extended awareness. We see our individuality as a phase – perhaps a hairpin bend in the zig-zag spiral of ascent – and we see that our task in cooperating with the purpose of life and the universe is so to act and to think that we become increasingly aware of our extra-individuality – that is, the common life which unites us with our fellow creatures with all life and the universe." Gerald Heard (1889-1972), English philosopher and author, 'The Third Morality'
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"Great Tao is all pervading! It is available everywhere, on the right hand and on the left. Everything is dependent upon it for existence and it never fails them." Laotzu, 6th century bce, Chinese philosopher, 'Laotzu's Tao and Wu-Wei'
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"There is nothing real where the One Sole Good is not." Francois Fenelon (1651-1715), French Archbishop of Cambray, 'Spiritual Letters of Archbishop Fenelon'
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"As a matter of fact, the factor of conscious choice, of deliberate decision is the constituent element of human wholeness." Gerhard Adler (b. 1904), English Jungian analyst, 'Studies in Analytical Psychology'
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"In us is the longing for unity. We are impelled by a hidden instinct to reunion with the parts of the larger heart of the universe." John Elof Boodin (1869-1950)
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"The idea of wholeness is an archetype of deep significance." Gerhard Adler (b. 1904), English Jungian analyst, 'Studies in Analytical Psychology'
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"The philosophers Tilly and Seneca maintain that no rational soul is without God. The seed of God is in us." Meister Eckhart (1260-1327), German scholar and mystic
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"I do want to think in terms of the whole world. My patriotism includes the good of mankind in general….Isolated independence is not the goal of the world States; it is voluntary interdependence. The better mind of the world desires today not absolutely independent States, warring one against another, but a federation of friendly, interdependent States." Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948), Indian statesman, mystic
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"This is the real message of the Bhagavad Gita: in short, temporal life and spiritual values stand in a relation of harmony – one divine life, as the Gita tells us." Swami Prabhavananda (b. 1893), monk of Ramakrishna Mission, 'Vedic Religion and Philosophy'
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"The command to love is written in the material structure of our everyday life. Mutuality is not just a shiny ideal that catches the eye of a few idealists. It is the demand of the historic process. It is not merely a moral obligation, which can be set aside because of more urgent practical necessities. It is the most urgently practical need of our life. It is a moral obligation precisely because it is also a material necessity." Gregory Vlastos (b. 1909), Canadian professor of philosophy, 'Christian Faith and Democracy'
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"Do whatever stirs the chords of genuine We-feeling. Seek to set them vibrating more and more until they become the dominating or sole satisfactions in your experience." Fritz Kunkel (1889-1956), American psychiatrist, 'How Character Develops'
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"The Kingdom of God is not imminent but immanent; it is not 'among you', about suddenly to break like a thunderstorm, but 'within you', ready to be expressed the moment you understand your latent, common nature and how you must and can transcend your individuality, your egotism, which makes the world the obstacle it proves today to be to you." Gerald Heard (1889-1971), English author and philosopher, 'The Third Morality'
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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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