Religion

"Aber den Religionen – ob Katholizismus oder Judentum – geht es ja ohnehin nicht um Gott oder um die Geheimnisse des Lebens. Es geht um Geld und politische Macht."

""Aber Gott will auch, daß der Mensch betrachte die vergangenen Zeiten; nicht als Eintagsfliege ohne Zukunft hat Gott den Menschen geschaffen, und wer die ihm geordnete Zukunft genießen will, muß sich dazu stärken an der Vergangenheit." - Jeremias Gotthelf, Kurt von Koppigen. Aus: Schriften. Neue wohlfeile Ausgabe. 8. Band. Berlin: Springer, 1861. S. 3."

"Aber Liebe zu Gott als Neigung (pathologische Liebe) ist unmöglich; denn er ist kein Gegenstand der Sinne. Eben dieselbe gegen Menschen ist zwar möglich, kann aber nicht geboten werden; denn es steht in keines Menschen Vermögen, jemanden bloß auf Befehl zu lieben."

""Alltagsmenschen suchen den Himmel; Sonntagskinder, die tiefen Herzen und auserwählten Geister suchen Gott." - Peter Rosegger, Der Gottsucher. Aus: Gesammelte Werke, Band 8. Leipzig: Staackmann, 1913. S. 413. ALO"

"Am Abend wirst du in der Liebe geprüft. Lerne zu lieben, wie Gott geliebt sein möchte, und lass deine Eigenheit."

""Auch streift der Mensch in den Wäldern seine Jahre ab wie die Schlange ihre Haut und ist, in welchem Jahre seines Lebens er auch stehen mag, doch immer ein Kind. In den Wäldern ist immerwährende Jugend. In diesen Pflanzungen Gottes herrscht Würde und Heiligkeit, eine immerwährende Festlichkeit wird bereitet, und kein Gast vermag zu erkennen, wie er in tausend Jahren ihrer überdrüssig werden sollte." - Ralph Waldo Emerson, Natur (Nature), zitiert nach der deutschen Übersetzung von Harald Kiczka, Zürich 1988, S. 16"

"Behüet' dich Gott, es wär' zu schön gewesen, // Behüet dich Gott! es hat nicht sollen sein!"

"Daher denn auch der Mathematiker seine Formelsprache so hoch steigert, uns, insofern es möglich, in der meßbaren und zählbaren Welt die unmeßbare mitzubegreifen. Nun erscheint ihm alles greifbar, faßlich und mechanisch, und er kommt in den Verdacht eines heimlichen Atheismus, indem er ja das Unmeßbarste, welches wir Gott nennen, zugleich mitzuerfassen glaubt und daher dessen besonderes oder vorzügliches Dasein aufzugeben scheint."

""Danket Gott, meine Lieben, und grämt euch nicht um die Eitelkeit dieser Welt." - Awwakum, Das Leben des Protopopen Avvakum, von ihm selbst niedergeschrieben, aus dem Altrussischen übersetzt von Gerhard Hildebrandt, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1965, S.104"

"Das Gewissen ist ein Reinheitsgebot. Unaufhörlich pocht der Staatsanwalt bzw. Gott in dir."

"Das höchst vollendete Kunstwerk ist immer, es möge sonst sein, was es will, das Bild von der tiefsten Ahnung Gottes in dem Manne, der es hervorgebracht."

"Das ist das Äußerste menschlichen Gotterkennens; zu wissen, dass wir Gott nicht wissen."

"Das Landleben ist vorzuziehen, denn dort sehen wir die Werke Gottes, aber in den Städten wenig mehr als die Werke der Menschen."

"Das Weltall gehorcht Gott so, wie der Leib der Seele gehorcht, die ihn ausfüllt."

"Das Wort Gottes ist eine Lampe, deren Licht der Satz ist: Ihr seid die Früchte eines Baumes und die Blätter eines Zweiges."

""Das Wort Gott ist für mich nichts als Ausdruck und Produkt menschlicher Schwächen, die Bibel eine Sammlung ehrwürdiger, aber doch reichlich primitiver Legenden." - Albert Einstein, Brief vom 3. Januar 1954 an den Philosophen Erich Gutkind, der ihm eine Kopie seines Buches "Entscheide dich für das Leben: Der biblische Aufruf zur Revolte" geschickt hatte. Zitiert im Tagesspiegel vom 15.05.2008, Scan"

""Das, worüber hinaus nichts Größeres gedacht werden kann." - Anselm von Canterbury, Gottesdefinition im ontologischen Gottesbeweis, Proslogion, 1077/1078, Kapitel II:Quod vere sit deus, zweiter Satz, www.hs-augsburg.de."

"Daß es Bruckner gegeben hat, ist für mich das größte Geschenk Gottes." - Sergiu Celibidache über Anton Bruckner, "Stenographische Umarmung. Sergiu Celibidache beim Wort genommen, Herausgeber Stefan Piendl und Thomas Otto, ConBrio Verlagsgesellschaft, Regensburg 2002, Seite 73"

"Dass Gott die Welt in sechs Tagen erschaffen hat, das finde ich knapp. Da habe ich mit Handwerkern ganz andere Erfahrungen gemacht."

"Dein Leben hört nicht auf, wie tief man dich begräbt, wann du in Gott, und Gott hinwieder in dir lebt."

""Dem alles nur im Geist geschah // Du meinst, die Grenze sei so nah, // Dein armes Sein in Gottes Licht zu zücken, // Du unlösbarer Zeitvertreib, // Du mußt, o unverklärter Leib, // Den Stein erst überm Grabe rücken." - Konrad Weiß, Mann aus Erde, in: Lyrik des Abendlandes, Hanser Verlag, München 1978, ISBN 3-446-12487-x, S.641"

"Denn eine bekümmerte Seele ist Gott nahe, und Not führt zu dem, der geben und helfen kann, der aber wohl verachtet würde, wenn er immer und uneingeschränkt hülfe."

"Denn ganz ohne Bild lässt sich nichts Göttliches fassen."

"Denn nicht Gott schuf den Menschen nach seinem Bilde, wie es in der Bibel steht, sondern der Mensch schuf, wie ich im »Wesen des Christentums« zeigte, Gott nach seinem Bilde."

""Denn nur das Menschliche ist es, darin der Mensch das Göttliche fassen kann." - Gerhart Hauptmann, Der Narr in Christo Emanuel Quint, 1910, Kapitel 2, in: Gesammelte Werke, Band 5, S. Fischer, Berlin 1921, S. 129, siehe auch: gutenberg.spiegel.de"

"Denn wenn Gott zum Menschen wirklich spräche, so kann dieser doch niemals wissen, daß es Gott sei, der zu ihm spricht."

"Der bedeutende Mensch unterliegt nicht der Geschichte, er hat seine unmittelbare Verbindung mit Gott in den Formen seiner Zeit."

""Der betet gut, wer Liebe hegt // Für alle, groß und klein! // Gott, der uns schuf, der liebt uns all', // Will allen Vater sein." - Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Der alte Matrose (The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere), [Der Siedler lebt im grünen Wald], www.zeno.org"

""Der Beweisgrund von dem Dasein Gottes, den wir geben, ist lediglich darauf erbauet, weil etwas möglich ist." - Immanuel Kant, Der einzig mögliche Beweisgrund zu einer Demonstration des Daseins Gottes, erste Abteilung, A 47"

"Der charakteristische Gegenstand der Theologie ist der Mensch, der der Sünde schuldig und verworfen ist, und Gott, der den sündigen Menschen rechtfertigt und errettet. Was außerhalb dieses Gegenstandes in der Theologie erfragt und erörtert wird, ist Irrtum und Gift."

"Der einzige Zweck alles Lebens: Gott fassen lernen!"

""Der Glaube an einen lenkenden, strafenden Gott ist die letzte große Illusion der Menschheit, und was, wenn auch diese verloren ist? Dann ist sie klüger geworden"

"Der Glaube an Gott ist wie der ewige Beginn einer Liebe: Schweigen."

"Der Irrthum der Kirchenväter, Gott sei die Weisheit, hat gar manchen Anstoß gegeben; denn Gott ist die Leidenschaft."

""Der ist ein Narr, der dem verfällt: // wolln dienen Gott sowie der Welt; // denn wo zwei Herren hat ein Knecht, // kann dieser keinem dienen recht. - Sebastian Brant, Das Narrenschiff, Leipzig 1958, ins Hochdeutsche übertragen von Margot Richter, S. 49"

"Der Mensch ist aber ein Gott, so bald er Mensch ist. Und ist er ein Gott, so ist er schön."

""Der Mensch kann nicht leben ohne ein dauerndes Vertrauen zu etwas Unzerstörbarem in sich, wobei sowohl das Unzerstörbare als auch das Vertrauen ihm dauernd verborgen bleiben können. Eine der Ausdrucksmöglichkeiten dieses Verborgenbleibens ist der Glaube an einen persönlichen Gott." - Franz Kafka, Betrachtungen über Sünde, Leid, Hoffnung und den wahren Weg, 50*. In: Beim Bau der Chinesischen Mauer, Hrsg. Max Brod, Hans Joachim Schoeps, Verlag Gustav Kiepenheuer, Berlin 1931, S. 234"

"Der Teufel des einen ist anständiger als der Gott des andern."

"Der wahre Ruhm ist Ruhm bei Gott // Und nicht bei Menschenkindern!"

"Deutet ein vermeintlich moderner Theologe die jeweils unliebsamen Stellen der Bibel weg oder verteidigt er ein wahres Christentum oder den echten Gott behend gegen die abgefallene Kirche, will er betrügen."

"Die Bibel ist ein Brief, den mein Gott mir hat schreiben lassen, wonach ich mich ausrichten soll und wonach mein Gott mich richten wird."

"Die Bibel ist eine Gebrauchsanleitung fürs Leben. Wer die Bibel liest, steht auf gutem Grund. Auf dem Boden der Tatsachen und einer Basis, die gerade in Krisen trägt. Die Bibel ist wie ein dicker Brief des Schöpfers an seine Geschöpfe, ein Liebesbrief Gottes an seine Menschen. Hier sagt er uns, was er für uns getan hat und noch tun will."

""Die deutsche Gottvergessenheit zeigt sich heute in der geschwundenen Menschlichkeit in unserem Lande. […] Nur ein gläubiger Mensch wird auf Dauer ein friedfertiger Zeitgenosse bleiben. […] Wem Gott nicht mehr heilig ist, was soll dem noch heilig sein?" - Joachim Meisner, Silvesterpredigt 1992, zitiert in: Süddeutsche Zeitung vom 2. Januar 1993, „2000 Jahre Folter im Namen Gottes“, 1998, S. 106 (31. Januar 1991)"

""Die Erfahrung der Harmonie, des zusammenhängenden Ganzen, trägt die philosophische Bezeichnung »Ganzheit« und hat den religiösen Namen »Gott«." - Max Lüscher in: "Mein Gottesbild": Fünfzig Beiträge namhafter Autoren - Eine Anthologie / hrsg. von Jan Brauers. - München : Nymphenburger, 1990 - ISBN 3-485-00611-4 - Abschnitt: "Was ist Gott?" S. 214"

""Die Geburtsstunde der menschlichen Freiheit ist die Stunde der Begegnung mit Gott." - Alfred Delp, Gesammelte Schriften, hrsg. von Roman Bleistein, Band 4 - Aus dem Gefängnis, Knecht, Frankfurt am Main 1984, ISBN 3-7820-0499-X, S. 217"

"Die Götterbilder wanken."

"Die heutige Auflösung der Menschheit muss man verstehen als ein Abwenden von Gott."

"Die Ordnung der Glieder der Alls zueinander besteht kraft der Ordnung des ganzen Alls auf Gott hin."

"Die Quelle des Ideals ist der heiße Durst nach Ewigkeit, die Sehnsucht nach Gott, also das Edelste unsrer Natur."

"Die Sanftmut macht uns empfänglich für den göttlichen Geist."

"Die wahre Kirche besteht in der Erwählung und Berufung durch Gott."

""Die Welt ist ein Transparent Gottes." - Peter Rosegger, Ein Jünger Darwins. Aus: Gesammelte Werke, Band 27: Fremde Straßen. Leipzig: Staackmann, 1915. S. 132. ALO"

""Doch scheint es geratener: am Ufer derjenigen Erkenntnisse entlangzusegeln, die uns durch die Mittelmäßigkeit unseres Verstandes vergönnt sind, als sich auf die hohe See derart mystischer Nachforschungen hinauszuwagen, wie es Malebranche getan hat, dessen Meinung von der hier erörterten nicht weit entfernt ist: nämlich daß wir alles in Gott schauen." - Immanuel Kant, Von der Form der Sinnen- und Verstandeswelt und ihren Gründen, fünfter Abschnitt, § 24"

"Du willst mit nüchternem Verstand das Göttliche beweisen? Das heißt, nach einem Fabelland auf Eisenbahnen reisen."

"Ein jedes Dasein, das göttliche nicht ausgenommen, hat in sich lauter Gegensätze, als verneinende und bejahende, die sich einander stets also entgegenstehen wie Kälte und Wärme, Finsternis und Licht, hart und sanft, bitter und süß, schwer und leicht, eng und weit, breit und schmal, hoch und nieder, Haß und Liebe, böse und gut, falsch und wahr, und Lüge und Wahrheit."

"Ein jedes Wesen, das seine eigene Vollendung erstrebt, strebt nach Gottähnlichkeit."

""Ein Mensch, der solche Dinge wie Jesus sagt, wäre kein großer Morallehrer. Er wäre entweder ein Irrer - oder der Satan in Person. Wir müssen uns deshalb entscheiden: Entweder war dieser Mensch Gottes Sohn, oder er war ein Narr oder Schlimmeres. Man kann ihn als Geisteskranken einsperren, man kann ihn verachten oder als Dämon töten. Oder man kann ihm zu Füßen fallen und ihn Herr und Gott nennen. Aber man kann ihn nicht mit gönnerhafter Herablassung als einen großen Lehrer der Menschheit bezeichnen. Das war nie seine Absicht; diese Möglichkeit hat er uns nicht offengelassen." - C. S. Lewis, Pardon, ich bin Christ"

"Ein verdrießlicher Gott ist ein Widerspruch oder der Teufel."

"Eine Hexe mit dämonischer Macht, den Himmel niederzulegen, die Erde aufzuhängen, Quellen zu verhärten, Berge zu schmelzen, Geister heraufzuholen, Götter herabzuziehen, Sterne auszulöschen, tatsächlich die Unterwelt zu illuminieren."

"Eine Welt ohne Gott ist nicht nur die unsittlichste, sondern auch die unkomfortabelste, die sich ersinnen läßt."

"Einen Menschen zum Menschen erziehen zu wollen, ist eitel menschlicher Kram, zum Menschen ist er von Gott geschaffen, dass aber die Seinen ihm den ganzen geschichtlichen Reichtum, den sie überkommen und gesammelt haben, als gute Hausväter […] treulich überliefern, das ist Erziehung."

"Ein wahrer Muslim ist der, vor dessen Hände und Zunge die anderen Muslime sicher sind. Der wahre Auswanderer ist der, der das verlässt, was von Gott verboten ist."

"Einstein pflegte so oft von Gott zu reden, daß ich beinahe vermute, er sei ein verkappter Theologe gewesen."

"Erst durch das Leiden erfährt der Mensch, dass er göttlichen Ursprungs ist und nicht ein Tier."

"Er vertraut auf Gott. Das ist nichts Böses."

"Es gibt kein Gesetz der Sittlichkeit, sondern Gott sagt einem jeden, was er darf und was er nicht darf."

"Es ist leicht, rein zu sein, wenn man es fertig bringt, den Teufel zu hassen, den man nicht kennt, und Gott zu lieben, an dem zu zweifeln das Hirn nicht reicht."

"Es sind die Menschen, die Gott erschaffen haben, nicht umgekehrt."

"Für viele ist Gott kaum mehr als eine Berufungsinstanz gegen das Verdammungsurteil der Welt über ihr eigenes Versagen."

"Forscht und sehnt euch nicht nach letzten Worten! Wer mit Gott spricht, redet nicht mehr zu Menschen."

""Geh aus mein Herz, und suche Freud, in dieser lieben Sommerzeit an deines Gottes Gaben. - Paul Gerhardt, Evangelisches Gesangbuch, Evangelischer Presseverband für Bayern, München, 1995, Lied Nr. 503"

""Geiz und Wucher und Misstrauen müssen noch für eine Weile unsere Götter bleiben. Denn nur sie können uns aus dem Tunnel der ökonomischen Notwendigkeit ans Tageslicht leiten." - John Maynard Keynes, Aufsatz: "Ökonomsiche Perspektiven für unsere Enkel", zitiert von Andreas Weber in: Biokapital, Die Versöhnung von Ökonomie, Natur und Menschlichkeit, Berlin Verlag, Berlin 2008, ISBN 3827007925, Seite 78"

"Gott bewahre mich davor, bloß die Sprache des gesunden Menschenverstandes zu sprechen: im Guten wie im Bösen ist es ratsam, ein wenig verrückt zu sein."

"Gott […] deine Stimme ist leise geworden – zu leise für den Donner unserer Zeit. Wir können dich nicht mehr hören."

"Gott flüstert in unseren Freuden, er spricht in unserem Gewissen; in unseren Schmerzen aber ruft er laut. Sie sind sein Megaphon, eine taube Welt aufzuwecken."

"Gott gönnt nur denen die Freiheit, die sie lieben und jederzeit bereit sind, sie zu schützen und zu verteidigen."

"Gott hat den Menschen erschaffen, weil er vom Affen enttäuscht war. Danach hat er auf weitere Experimente verzichtet."

"Gott hat mir immer geholfen. Er wird mir auch künftig helfen."

"Gott hat uns nicht nur das Recht auf das fremde, sondern sogar auf das eigene Leben genommen."

""Gott hat weder Anfang noch Ende, er besitzt sein ganzes Sein auf einmal"

"Gott hilft uns nicht immer am Leiden vorbei, aber er hilft uns hindurch."

""Gott ist die Welt - und Gott und ich sind du!" - Otto Erich Hartleben, Der Dichter. In: Otto Erich Hartlebens ausgewählte Werke, Erster Band: Gedichte, S. Fischer Verlag, Berlin 1911, S. 185,"

"Gott ist ein Urkommunist"

""Gott ist eine der vielen poetischen Ausdrucksweisen für den höchsten Wert im Humanismus und keine Realität an sich." Erich Fromm, Ihr werdet sein wie Gott"

"Gott ist Licht wegen seiner Helligkeit, Friede wegen seiner Ruhe, eine Quelle wegen seiner überfließenden Fülle und der Ewigkeit."

"Gott ist nahe, wo die Menschen einander Liebe zeigen."

"Gott ist Quatsch, Leben ist die Hauptsache."

"Gott ist so groß, dass er auch den kleinsten Dingen, die um seinetwillen getan werden, Größe verleiht."

"Gott ist tot! Gott bleibt tot! Und wir haben ihn getötet."

"Gott und was in Gott ist, hat nicht ein Ziel, sondern ist das Ziel."

""»Gott versteckt sich hinter das, was wir lieben.«" - Friedrich Hebbel, Sämtliche Werke: Tagebücher, 2. Band. 2297 (1841). Hist.-krit. Ausgabe besorgt von Richard Maria Werner. Zweite Abteilung. Neue Subskriptions-Ausgabe, 3. unv. Auflage. Berlin: Behr, 1905. S. 100."

"Gott verzeiht nicht, was die Menschen verzeihen. Die Menschen verzeihen nicht, was Gott verzeiht."

""Gott will, dass allen Menschen geholfen wird und sie zur Erkenntnis der Wahrheit kommen." - Regine Hildebrandt, In: Hildebrandt Jörg (Hrsg.), Regine Hildebrandt - Erinnern tut gut. Berlin, 2008, S. 116. ISBN 3351026668. (=Bibelzitat )"

"Gott wird als Du oder Ich erlebt, je nachdem, wo das Bewusstseinszentrum ruht; doch wer ihn als Ich erlebt, erlebt ihn tiefer."

"„Gott wird momentan gewartet“ / „ Gott wartet in Reparaturwerkstatt.“"

"Gott wohnt in einem Licht, zu dem die Bahn gebricht: // Wer es nicht selber wird, der sieht Ihn ewig nicht."

"Gott würfelt nicht!"

""Gottes glänzende Ironie, mir gleichzeitig achthunderttausend Bücher und Dunkelheit zu schenken." - Jorge Luis Borges, zitiert in: Grunwald, Henry: Dämmerlicht: wie ich lernte, mit meiner Erblindung zu leben / Henry Grunwald. Aus dem Amerikan. von Stefanie Schaeffler. - Augsburg : Weltbild, 2005. - 159 S., ISBN 3-8289-7727-8, S. 105"

""Gottes großer Ziergarten braucht ein paar Unkräuter, damit die Pracht der Rosen um so mehr geschätzt wird. Ich bin ein Unkraut. Gott wird mir das gewiß verzeihen, da ich ja Teil seines großen Plans bin." - David Eddings, Elenium-Saga II. Der Ritter vom Rubin, Lübbe Verlag, 1994, ISBN 3404202406. Übersetzer: Lore Strassl"

"Gottes Schutz scheint uns leicht entbehrlich, solange wir ihn besitzen. Zu unserem eigenen Nutzen und Wohl entzieht ihn Gott zuweilen, damit wir erkennen, dass ohne Gottes Schutz der Mensch ein reines Nichts ist."

"»Göttlich denken, menschlich handeln«."

"Hör zu, Maler, mal mir eine Frau // ohne Hemd, wie Gott sie schuf, // blonde Haare, der Zopf gelöst, // mit einem frechen Blümchen auf dem Kopf."

"Ich gehöre zu keinem Religionsverein […]. Ich bin immer ganz baff […], wenn ich Menschen treffe, die der Ansicht sind, dass Gott bei ihrem Verein ist – eingetragenes Mitglied. Die Vorstellung, dass Gott nur bei den Buddhisten oder nur bei den Juden oder nur bei den Mohammedanern oder nur bei den Katholiken ist – ist ja vollkommen verrückt. Das kann doch keiner ernsthaft behaupten."

"Ich gehe fest davon aus, dass Gott männlich ist. Denn sonst würde er zu uns sprechen."

"Ich glaube, Gott ist einfach Hoffnung. Vielleicht ist Gott auch ein bisschen man selber."

"Ich habe bei Tag und Nacht über den Büchern gesessen, ganze Bibliotheken durchgelesen, auch Philosophie und fremde Sprachen getrieben, und die Bücher sind leider mein Gott gewesen."

"Ich habe Gott überall erblickt und niemals begriffen."

"Ich habe immer unter Jüdinnen die gesündesten Naturen gefunden, und ich kann es Gott Vater gar nicht verdenken, dass er der bethlehemitischen Maria die Cour und ein Kind gemacht."

""Ich habe keine lebendige Empfindung eines Verkehrs mit Gott. Ich beneide die, die eine solche haben, da ich weiß, daß sie mir unendlich helfen würde. Das Gött­liche ist für mein aktives Leben auf abstrakte Begrif­fe beschränkt, die als Ideale mich interessieren und beeinflussen, aber sie tun es nur schwach im Ver­gleich mit dem Gottesgefühl, wenn ich ein solches hätte." - William James, C.Stumpf: William James nach seinen Briefen. Leben, Charakter, Lehre, Berlin 1928, Seite 17, zitiert nach akademieforum.de"

"Ich habe wirklich alles gehabt im Leben. Wenn man mir alles wieder wegnimmt, werden Gott und ich quitt sein. Also ist alles bestens."

""Ich kann nicht verstehen, wie man Gott in einem Priesterseminar finden soll." - Paulo Coelho, Der Alchemist, Diogenes Verlag, ISBN 3-257-06126-9, Seite 17. Übersetzer: Cordula Swoboda-Herzog"

"Im Gebete sollen wir nicht mit Gott, Gott soll mit uns kämpfen."

"In dem Maße, wie unsere Ideen über die Gottheit geistiger werden, geben wir ihnen durch erhabenere Formen Ausdruck."

"In der Bedrängnis wende dich sofort voll Vertrauen an Gott, und du wirst gestärkt, erleuchtet und belehrt."

""In diesen Pflanzungen Gottes herrscht Würde und Heiligkeit, eine immerwährende Festlichkeit wird bereitet, und kein Gast vermag zu erkennen, wie er in tausend Jahren ihrer überdrüssig werden sollte. In den Wäldern kehren wir zur Vernunft und zum Glauben zurück." - Ralph Waldo Emerson, Natur (Nature), zitiert nach der deutschen Übersetzung von Harald Kiczka, Zürich 1988, S. 16"

"In schwierigen Zeiten hat Gott immer eine Chance."

"Ja, die starken Seelen, guter Gott, das ist es, was uns Deutschen fehlt."

"Ja, Gott ist treu, er hält, was er verheißt! // Dank, liebes Weib, du wecktest mein Vertraun, // Auf Gottes Hilfe will ich freudig baun, // Und zag' ich jemals wieder in der Not, // Dann frag' mich nur: "Ist denn der Herrgott tot?"

"Je mehr das Sinnliche verneint wird, desto sinnlicher ist der Gott, dem das Sinnliche geopfert wird."

"Je mehr ein Mensch vom Leben aus Gott erfüllt ist, desto liebevoller wird er um die besorgt sein, die noch ohne Gott in der Welt leben."

"Jede Zeit hat ihre Propheten und ihre Gottbegeisterten."

"Jeder hat zunächst den Gottesglauben, den man ihm aufgeschwatzt hat; aber allmählich hat er den, den er verdient."

"Kein menschliches Forschen kann das Wesen Gottes in seiner ganzen Fülle enthüllen."

""Kein Volk hat Gott verlassen, das sich nicht selbst verließ." - Heinrich von Treitschke, Die Siebenundsiebzig. In: Vaterländische Gedichte. Göttingen: Grote, 1856, S. 7"

"Kommt der Geist eines Menschen vor zeitlichen Sorgen nicht zur Ruhe, so kann er Gott nicht näher kommen."

""Lachen tötet die Furcht und ohne Furcht kann es keinen Glauben geben. Wer keine Furcht mehr vor dem Teufel hat, braucht keinen Gott mehr […] dann können wir auch über Gott lachen." - Umberto Eco, "Der Name der Rose". Der Satz wird im Roman vom religiös fanatischen Jorge von Burgos gesprochen; vom Kontext losgelöst müsste man das Zitat unter den atheistischen Betrachtungsweisen einordnen"

""Lieb ist ein Siechtum, von Gott geschickt, // Das keine Arznei je bessert; // Ein Blümlein, das aufblüht, wenn mans knickt, // Und abstirbt, wenn mans wässert." - Samuel Daniel, übersetzt von Flatter, in: Lyrik des Abendlandes, Hanser Verlag, München 1963, ISBN 3-446-12487-x, S.231"

""Liebende scheiden wohl traurig, noch trauriger Leib sich von der Seele; Doch am traurigsten ist es, von Gott auf ewig zu scheiden" - Johannes Butzbach, Wanderbüchlein des Johannes Butzbach, genannt Piemontanus, 1506, auf Grundlage der Übersetzung von D.J. Becker (1869), Union Verlag Berlin (keine Jahresangabe), S. 32"

"Man muss an Gott glauben, und wenn man den Glauben nicht hat, dann soll man an seiner Stelle keinen Sensationsrummel setzen, sondern suchen, suchen, einsam suchen, allein mit sich und seinem Gewissen."

"Man muss doch sehen, dass Gottes Rolle seit Äonen schrumpft. Anfangs wurde er noch für Adam und Eva gebraucht, dann hieß es, er habe die Evolution ins Rollen gebracht. Die Erkenntnisse der Kosmologie zeigen uns jedoch: Leben entwickelt sich überall dort, wo es kann. Gott kann keine neuen Arten erschaffen, er vollbringt keine Wunder, er passt auf keine Stellenausschreibung."

"Man sagt von Gott: »Namen nennen Dich nicht«. Das gilt von Mir: kein Begriff drückt Mich aus, nichts, was man als mein Wesen angibt, erschöpft Mich; es sind nur Namen. Gleichfalls sagt man von Gott, er sei vollkommen und habe keinen Beruf, nach Vollkommenheit zu streben. Auch das gilt allein von Mir."

"Mein Gott, wie zerbrechlich ist alles auf dieser Welt!"

"Menschen brauchen nun mal für jedes Wehwehchen einen zuständigen Gott. Die in den letzten zwei Jahrtausenden in den Himmel aufgenommenen christlichen Heiligen machen da keine Ausnahme."

""Mir willst du zum Gotte machen, // solch ein Jammerbild am Holze!" - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, „West-östlicher Diwan“, zitiert in: Abermals krähte der Hahn, 1996, S. 680"

"Mutter ist das Wort für Gott auf den Lippen und in den Herzen von kleinen Kindern."

"Nicht alle Deutschen glauben an Gott, aber alle glauben an die Bundesbank."

"Nichts ist, denn Gott, und Gott ist nichts, denn Leben, // Du weißest, ich mit Dir weiß im Verein; // Doch wie vermöchte Wissen dazusein, // Wenn es nicht Wissen wär’ von Gottes Leben! /// « Wie gern’, ach ! wollt’ ich diesem hin mich geben, // Allein wo find ich’s ? Fließt es irgend ein // Ins Wissen, so verwandelt’s sich in Schein, // Mit ihm vermischt, von seiner Hüll’ umgeben. » /// Ganz klar die Hülle sich vor dir erhebet, // Dein Ich ist sie, es sterbe was vernichtbar, // Und fortan lebt nur Gott in deinem Streben. /// Durchschaue, was dies Streben überlebet, // So wird die Hülle dir als Hülle sichtbar, // Und unverschleiert siehst Du göttlich Leben."

"Niemand kann sich also herausreden. Die ganze Menschheit ist vor Gott schuldig!"

"Nur der Geist des Menschen vermag sich in den höchsten Augenblicken der Weihe der unmittelbaren, geistigen Anschauung des Göttlichen zu nähern."

"Nur Milde macht uns den Göttern ebenbürtig."

""Ob wirklich Gott den Menschen nach seinem Ebenbild schuf, möchte ich in Anbetracht des Ergebnisses bezweifeln. Daß der Mensch aber den Hund nach seinem Ebenbild schuf, das steht fest." - Erik Zimen, Der Hund. Abstammung - Verhalten - Mensch und Hund. Goldmann Verlag, 1992, ISBN 3-442-12397-6, S. 200"

"Oh, wir haben dich gesucht, Gott, in jeder Ruine, in jedem Granattrichter, in jeder Nacht. Wir haben dich gerufen. Gott! Wir haben nach dir gebrüllt, geweint, geflucht! Wo warst du da, lieber Gott?"

"Ohne Gedanken an Gott ist mir die ganze Natur, das ganze Geschlecht der Menschen und ich mir selbst ein ewig unauflösbares Rätsel."

"Religionen sind mir keinen Pfennig wert. Ich erziehe auch meine Kinder nicht in der jüdischen Tradition. Ich glaube nicht an Gott und finde ohnehin alle Religionen dumm."

"Selig, wer sich vor Untergebenen so demütig benimmt, wie wenn er vor seinem Obern und Herrn stünde."

"Sobald Gott tot ist, machen alle auf Erfolg."

"So wie Jesus auf dieser Erde gepredigt und geheilt hat, so sind auch wir in diese Welt geschickt, Gottes Liebe zu verkündigen und sie zu leben."

"Sokrates pflegte zu den Göttern nur schlechthin um das Gute zu beten, als wüssten sie am besten, was gut ist."

"So weit Gottes Arm reicht, ist der Mensch nie ganz fremd und verlassen. Und Gottes Arm reicht weiter, als Menschen denken können."

"Sowohl Gottes wie auch des Engels wie auch des Menschen letztes Glück und Glückseligkeit ist: Gott zu schauen."

"Um den Gedanken an Pflicht kräftig zu erhalten, sorge dafür, dass er eines sei oder werde mit dem Gedanken an Gott."

""Und Gott schweigt. Hierin liegt der Grund der universellen Tragödie: Gott schweigt. Und er schweigt, weil er Atheist ist." - Miguel de Unamuno: Wie man einen Roman macht. Aus dem Spanischen übersetzt von Erna Pfeiffer, Literaturverlag Droschl Graz - Wien, 2000, ISBN 3-85420-543-0, S. 71"

""UNMÖGLICH Bedeutet 1. Paßt mir nicht, und sollte es doch dazu kommen, werde ich dagegen sein. 2. Ich will in Ruhe gelassen werden. 3. Gott will in Ruhe gelassen werden. Bedeutung 3 hat vielleicht einen Sinn, aber die anderen Bedeutungen sind 101%iger Walmist" - John Kilian Houston Brunner, Morgenwelt (orig. "Stand On Zanzibar"), Deutsche Übersetzung von Horst Pukallus, München 1980, ISBN 3-453-30653-8, S. 21)"

"Unser Leben vergeht mit der Suche nach Gott, denn es vergeht mit der Suche nach dem, was uns fehlt."

""Verloren ist das, was nicht dort ist, wo es hingehört. Der Autoschlüssel, der nicht in der Handtasche, sondern im Müllbeutel liegt, ist verloren. Und der Mensch, der sich nicht in der Hand Gottes befindet, wo er hingehört, der ist eben verloren." - Theo Lehmann, »Verkaufen Sie auch Waschmittel? Aus meinem Fragekasten«, 3.Aufl. 2000; zitiert in „idea Spektrum“, Nr. 22, 31. Mai 2007, S. 22f, idea.de"

"Von Gott aus gehört die ganze Erde, so wie das im Anfange der Fall war, allen Menschen gleich; die Weisen sollen sie einteilen nach dem Bedarf der Menschen und sollen sie lehren, diese zu bebauen, und die Früchte sollen dann von den Weisen zum Teile verteilt und der Überfluß in den dazu errichteten Kammern und Speichern aufbewahrt werden, auf daß niemand in der Gemeinde Not zu leiden habe!"

"Von Gott sich einen Begriff sich abstrahieren zu wollen ist ebenso, als ein ganzes Konzert sich als einen Ton denken."

"Vor die Tugend haben die unsterblichen Götter den Schweiß gesetzt."

"Warum haben weibliche Gottheiten die Gewalt gegen Männer gesegnet? Weil der eigentliche Zweck dieser Gewalt darin bestand, Gewalt gegen Frauen zu verhindern."

"Was ein Dichter, des Gottes voll, in heiliger Begeisterung niederschreibt, das ist sicherlich schön."

"Was ist Gott anderes denn Leben und Lieblichkeit, leuchtendes Licht, unvergängliche Güte, richtende Gerechtigkeit und heilendes Erbarmen?"

"Was Gott liebt, das ist etwas, was aber Gott nicht liebt, ist ein Nichts an Wert."

"Was kann der Schöpfer lieber sehen als ein fröhliches Geschöpf!"

"Wär nicht das Auge sonnenhaft, // die Sonne könnt es nie erblicken. // Läg nicht in uns des Gottes eigne Kraft, // Wie könnt uns Göttliches entzücken?"

"Weder Christ noch Heide erkennt das Wesen Gottes, wie es in sich selber ist."

"Wenn der Naturforscher in Betrachtung der Dinge versunken steht, ist's nicht die höchste Andacht in seinem Treiben, wenn er ihren Zusammenhang mit Gott in reinem Sinne immer vor Augen hält?"

"Wenn die Religionen wahr sind, dann aus dem Grund, weil es jedes Mal Gott ist, der gesprochen hat. Und wenn sie unterschiedlich sind, dann aus dem Grund, weil Gott in verschiedenen Sprachen entsprechend der Verschiedenheit der Empfänger gesprochen hat. Und endlich, wenn sie absolut und ausschließlich sind, dann aus dem Grund, weil Gott in jeder Religion von »Ich« gesprochen hat."

""Wer die Wahrheit sucht, der sucht Gott, ob es ihm klar ist oder nicht." - Edith Stein, Brief vom 23. März 1938 an Sr. Adelgundis Jaegerschmidt in: Edith Steins Werke, hrsg. von Lucy Gelber, Band IX - Selbstbildnis in Briefen, 2. Teil 1934-1942, Louvain: Nauwelaerts 1977, ISBN 3-451-17896-6, S. 102, siehe auch: Edith Stein – Gesamtausgabe, Selbstbildnis in Briefen II, Brief 542"

"Wenn es einen Gott gibt, dann gibt er nicht nur das Leben, sondern auch die Erkenntnis. Reguliere ich aufgrund der mir von Gott gegebenen Einsicht mein Leben, dann kann ich mich irren, aber ich lüge nicht."

"Wenn es einen Schöpfer gibt, wer ist er dann? Und wenn es keinen Schöpfer gibt, was ist dann diese Welt?"

"Wenn es Gott nicht gäbe, müsste man ihn erfinden.- Voltaire, „Si Dieu n'existait pas, il faudrait l'inventer.“ Brief an den Autor der "Drei Betrüger"

"Wenn es keinen Gott gibt, dann ist alles erlaubt."

"Wenn Gott existiert, ist der Mensch ein Sklave; der Mensch kann und soll aber frei sein: folglich existiert Gott nicht."

"Wenn ihr eure Andacht verrichtet, so denkt euch die Gottheit als gegenwärtig."

"Wenn Sie einmal die Existenz Gottes annehmen, dann ist die Notwendigkeit des Gebets unbezweifelbar."

"Wer Gott aufgibt, der löscht die Sonne aus, um mit einer Laterne weiterzuwandeln."

""Wer an Gott glaubt, der hat es [...] leichter, der weiß wenigstens, bei wem er sich beklagen kann." - Christine Brückner, Jauche und Levkojen. Ex Libris Ausgabe, Frankfurt am Main, 1990, S. 53. ISBN 3-550-08570-2"

"Wer Gott sieht, stirbt"

"Wer nicht Gott, sondern den Menschen gefallen will, dessen Tugend leidet an Knochenfraß und geht unter."

"Wer sähe nicht, wie anmaßend es auch wäre, über Sinn und Einsicht eines anderen zu urteilen? Denn allein vor Gott liegen die Herzen und Gedanken offen."

""Wer von milden Gaben lebt, dieser steht in Gottes Sold: // Darum trägt er als Livrée schlechte Kittel ohne Gold." - Wilhelm Müller, Gottes Livrée. Zitiert nach: Vermischte Schriften von Wilhelm Müller, hrsg. von Gustav Schwab, Zweites Bändchen, Epigramme 333, F.A. Brockhaus, Leipzig 1830, S.430,"

"Wer wollte die Waffen gegen die Götter richten?"

"Wie? ist der Mensch nur ein Fehlgriff Gottes? Oder Gott nur ein Fehlgriff des Menschen?"

"Wir haben als Christen keinen Grund zu sagen, wir würden uns zum gleichen Gott wie die Muslime bekennen."

"Wir leben auf der Welt, dass wir Gott und dem Nächsten dienen."

"Wir müssen erkennen, dass es Aberglaube ist, wenn wir annehmen, Gott würde handeln, wenn wir müßig bleiben."

""Wir werden alle Augenblicke unseres Lebens wiedererlangen und sie kombinieren, wie es uns gefällt. Gott und unsere Freunde und Shakespeare werden unsere Mitarbeiter sein." - Jorge Luis Borges, Die Zeit und J.W. Dunne, 1940, aus: Borges, Eine neue Widerlegung der Zeit, Frankfurt am Main 2003"

""Wird ein liebender Gott einen Menschen in die Hölle schicken! Die Antwort lautet - Ja …, weil der Mensch sich selbst zu ewigen Hölle verdammt [… welcher] willentlich und bewusst Christus als Herrn und Retter ablehnt." -Billy Graham, „Was kommt nach dem Tod?”, Neuhausen-Stuttgart 1992, S. 203"

""Wissen Sie, ich bin als Atheist in das Konzentrationslager gekommen, und nach allem, was ich dort erlebt habe verließ ich es als gläubiger Christ. Mir ist klargeworden, dass ein Volk ohne metaphysische Bindung, ohne Bindung an Gott, weder regiert noch auf Dauer blühen kann." - Carlo Mierendorff, nach seiner Befreiung aus der Lagerhaft, zitiert in die-tagespost.de, 15. September 2007"

"Wo die Stille mit dem Gedanken Gottes ist, da ist nicht Unruhe noch Zerfahrenheit."

""Wohl können wir Gott unser Herz öffnen, aber nicht ohne göttliche Hilfe." - Thomas von Aquin, Quaestiones disputatae de veritate (Untersuchungen über die Wahrheit) q. 24, art. 15, ad 2"

"Woran du dein Herz hängst, das ist dein Gott."

"Ärzte sind des Herrgotts Menschenflicker."

"Dankbarkeit kostet nichts und tut Gott und Menschen wohl."

"Der liebe Gott hat uns die Zeit geschenkt, aber von Eile hat er nichts gesagt."

"Gott gibt uns das Essen, der Teufel die Köche."

"Gott hat Zähne gegeben, Gott wird auch Brot geben."

""Gott ist das Geld"

"Gott ist ewig, immer und überall, so wie unten so auch oben, so wie innen so auch außen."

"Gott lässt genesen, der Arzt kassiert die Spesen."

"Gott schuf die Bösen, damit die Hölle nicht leer steht."

"Kleine Sünden bestraft Gott sofort."

"Was eine Frau will, davor zittert Gott."

"Wenn du Gott amüsieren willst, erzähle ihm von deinen Plänen."

"Wenn Frauen gut wären, hätte Gott eine genommen."

"Wenn Gott eine Tür schließt, öffnet er eine andere."

"Gott ist die Liebe; und wer in der Liebe bleibt, der bleibt in Gott und Gott in ihm."

"Ich bin das Alpha und das Omega, spricht Gott, der Herr, der ist und der war und der kommt, der Herrscher über die ganze Schöpfung."

"Im Anfang war das Wort, und das Wort war bei Gott, und Gott war das Wort. Dasselbe war im Anfang bei Gott."

"Denn Gott hat die Welt so sehr geliebt, dass er seinen einzigen Sohn hingab, damit jeder, der an ihn glaubt, nicht zugrunde geht, sondern das ewige Leben hat."

"Selig sind, die reinen Herzens sind; denn sie werden Gott schauen."

"Zu dir erhebe ich meine Seele, Herr mein Gott! Auf dich vertraue ich, möge ich nicht enttäuscht werden."

"Allah – es gibt keinen Gott außer Ihm, dem Lebendigen, dem aus Sich Selbst Seienden und Allerhaltenden."

"Gäbe es in ihnen (Himmel und Erde) Götter außer Allah, dann wären wahrlich beide zerrüttet."

"Hast du den gesehen, der sich sein eigen Gelüst zum Gott nimmt und den Allah zum Irrenden erklärt."

"Und rufe neben Allah nicht einen anderen Gott an. Es gibt keinen Gott außer Ihm."

"Wir glauben an das, was zu uns herabgesandt ward und was zu euch herabgesandt ward; und unser Gott und euer Gott ist Einer; und Ihm sind wir ergeben."

""Alle Religionen geistiger Natur sind Erfindungen des Menschen." - Anton Szandor LaVey, Die Satanische Bibel, Second Sight Books, 1999 Berlin, ISBN 3-00-004343-8, S. 45"

"Alle Religionen müssen ihre Fähigkeit stärken, mit Schattenseiten in ihrer Geschichte und Aggressivität in der Gegenwart kritisch umzugehen. Ich habe aber den Eindruck, dass diese Fähigkeit bei islamischen Organisationen bisher nicht sehr ausgeprägt war."

""alle Religionen Seindt gleich und guht wan nuhr die leüte so sie profesiren Erliche leüte seindt, und wen Türken und Heiden kähmen und wolten das Land Pöpliren, so wollen wier sie Mosqueen und Kirchen bauen." - Friedrich II. von Preußen, Rand-Verfügung des Königs zum Immediat-Bericht des General-Directoriums. Berlin 1740 Juni 15: Ein Katholik sucht in Frankfurt das Bürgerrecht nach - In: Max Lehmann: Preussen und die katholische Kirche seit 1640. Nach den Acten des Geheimen Staatsarchives. 2. Theil. 1740-1747. Leipzig: Hirzel, 1881. S. 3* - [Alle Religionen sind gleich und gut, wenn nur die Leute, die sie bekennen, ehrliche Leute sind, und wenn Türken und Heiden kämen und wollten das Land bevölkern, so wollen wir ihnen Moscheen und Kirchen bauen.]"

""Alle Religionen sind schön, die uns zu guten Menschen machen." - Berthold Auerbach, Auf der Höhe. 5. Kap. Roman in acht Büchern. 7. Auflage. 1. Bd. Stuttgart: Cotta, 1868. S. 141."

"Atheismus finde ich abstoßend. Das Universum hat sich einfach nicht so ergeben. Wir brauchen die Religion."

"Auf ihrer höchsten Warte und in ihren erhabensten Schöpfungen ist echte Dichtung der Ausdruck und die Begleiterscheinung echter Religion."

"Das Christentum ist eine Religion der Gewalt. Es steht deshalb im scharfen Gegensatz zur Gewaltlosigkeit des Jesus von Nazareth. Auch der vielfältige Einsatz auf sozialem und caritativem Gebiet ändert nichts an dieser Tatsache. Die niemals versiegende Quelle dieser Gewalt ist der Glaube an den gottgewollten Opfertod Jesu am Kreuz."

"Das ethische Verhalten des Menschen ist wirksam auf Mitgefühl, Erziehung und soziale Bindung zu gründen und bedarf keiner religiösen Grundlage. Es stünde traurig um die Menschen, wenn sie durch Furcht vor Strafe und Hoffnung auf Belohnung nach dem Tode gebändigt werden müssten."

""Das Geheimnis, um das es hier geht, aber ist: Daß man mit der Aufopferung Gottes auch die Welt opfert, daß der Verrat an der Religion den Verrat an der Kultur nach sich zieht, nach sich ziehen muß. Die abendländische Kultur wird genau so lange leben wie die abendländische Religion." - Gertrud von Le Fort: Der Kranz der Engel [1946]. Teil II in: Das Schweißtuch der Veronika. Ehrenwirth München 1949. S. 620"

"Das Glück ist ein Mysterium wie die Religion und duldet kein Rationalisieren."

"Das Kopftuch zum Anlass zu nehmen, die Schule zum religionsfreien Raum zu machen, ist unverhältnismäßig."

"Der Atheismus ist eine Form der Religion, vielleicht sogar der echten."

""Der Mensch macht die Religion, die Religion macht nicht den Menschen."

"Der Sinn fällt nicht vom Himmel, er wird auch nicht von einer Religion gestiftet, sondern ich selbst stifte Sinn, indem ich mir mein Tun wichtig mache."

""Der soziale Lernort Schule ist weder ein religionsfreier noch ein rechtsfreier Bereich." - Joachim Kahl: "Religionsfreiheit für alle - Gegen ein Kopftuchverbot", Homepage der Humanistischen Union Marburg (Stand 8/2007)'"

"Der Theologe kann der angenehmen Aufgabe frönen, die Religion zu beschreiben, wie sie in ihre ursprüngliche Reinheit bekleidet, vom Himmel herunterkam. Dem Historiker wird aber eine leidigere Aufgabe aufgezwungen. Er muss die unvermeidliche Mischung von Mängeln und Korruption entdecken, die sich während eines langen Aufenthalts auf der Erde, bei einer schwachen und entarteten Rasse von Wesen, eingesammelt hat."

"Der unangefochtene Gläubige einer Religion ist überzeugt, dass er die »Wahrheit« hat. Das gilt nicht nur für den Christenmenschen."

"Der Volksmund sagt: Religion ist Opium für das Volk. Das ist irreführend. Opium ist eine bewußtseinserweiternde Droge."

"Die Ahnung ist die Quelle der Religion."

"Die Aufhebung der Religion als des illusorischen Glücks des Volkes ist die Forderung seines wirklichen Glücks. Die Forderung, die Illusion über seinen Zustand aufzugeben, ist die Forderung, einen Zustand aufzugeben, der der Illusion bedarf."

""Die Ehrfurcht vor dem universalen und alles durchdringenden Geist der Wahrheit hat mich in die Politik geführt; und ich kann ohne Zögern und doch in aller Demut sagen, dass ein Mensch, der behauptet, Religion habe nichts mit Politik zu tun, nicht weiß, was Religion bedeutet." - Mahatma Gandhi, zitiert nach Hubertus Mynarek, „Gedanken zur Logik der Macht“, aus: „Aufklärung und Kritik“ 1/1998, S. 27 ff."

"Die Erfüllung der Religion liegt darin, dass der Mensch einen unmittelbaren Weg zur Gottverwirklichung findet; nur dies ist notwendig, um ihn zu einem vollständigen Menschen zu machen, einem Menschen, dessen Leben vollkommen integriert ist, einem Menschen von großer Intelligenz, Schöpfungskraft, Weisheit, voll Frieden und Glück."

"Die erste Religion war jene, die das erstgeborne Volk der Sterne übte."

"Die Juden sind heute mehr eine Volks-Gemeinschaft als eine Religionsgemeinschaft"

"Die Kritik der Religion endet mit der Lehre, dass der Mensch das höchste Wesen für den Menschen sei, also mit dem kategorischen Imperativ, alle Verhältnisse umzuwerfen, in denen der Mensch ein erniedrigtes, ein geknechtetes, ein verlassenes, ein verächtliches Wesen ist."

"Die Kritik der Religion ist die Voraussetzung aller Kritik."

"Die maßgebliche Formel heißt nicht „Religion ist Staat“, sondern „Religion und Staat“ (Din wa Daula). Damit wird unwillkürlich anerkannt, dass beides nicht identisch ist, sondern dass es um unterschiedliche Bereiche geht, die allerdings auf islamische Weise in harmonische Beziehung gebracht werden müssen."

""Die Naturwissenschaft braucht der Mensch zum Erkennen, die Religion aber braucht er zum Handeln." - Max Planck, Religion und Naturwissenschaft, Vortrag, gehalten im Baltikum im Mai 1937. In: Vorträge Reden Erinnerungen, Hrsg. Hans Roos und Armin Hermann, Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg 2001, ISBN 9783642625206, S. 170,"

"Die Religion ist das Krankenhaus der Seele, welche die Welt verwundet hat."

""[...] die Religion ist der Idealismus des Volkes." - Johannes Scherr, Der letzte Sonnensohn. In: Die Gartenlaube, Herft 48, Verlag von Ernst Keil, Leipzig 1874, S. 775"

"Die Religion ist der Seufzer der bedrängten Kreatur, das Gemüt einer herzlosen Welt, wie sie der Geist geistloser Zustände ist. Sie ist das Opium des Volkes."

"Die Religion ist die einzige Metaphysik, die das Volk imstande ist, zu verstehen und anzunehmen."

"Die Religion ist eine von verschiedenen Arten geistigen Joches, das überall und allenthalben auf den durch ewige Arbeit für andere, durch Not und Vereinsamung niedergedrückten Volksmassen lastet. (...) Die Religion ist das Opium des Volks. Die Religion ist eine Art geistigen Fusels, in dem die Sklaven des Kapitals ihr Menschenantlitz und ihre Ansprüche auf ein halbwegs menschenwürdiges Leben ersäufen."

""Die Religion kann nie schlimmer sinken, als wenn sie solchermaßen zur Staatsreligion erhoben wird." - zitiert bei: W. Beutin, „Heinrich Heine“, S. 210, in: „2000 Jahre Folter im Namen Gottes“, 1998, S. 136"

""Die Religionen Müsen alle Tolleriret werden und Mus der fiscal nuhr das auge darauf haben, das keine der andern abruch Tuhe, den hier mus ein jeder nach Seiner Fasson Selich werden!" - Friedrich II. von Preußen, Rand-Verfügung des Königs zum Immediat-Bericht des Geistlichen Departements. Berlin 1740 Mai 22: Katholische Schulen und Proselytenmacherei - In: Max Lehmann: Preussen und die katholische Kirche seit 1640. Nach den Acten des Geheimen Staatsarchives. 2. Theil. 1740-1747. Leipzig: Hirzel, 1881. S. 4*"

"Die Religion stützt sich vor allem und hauptsächlich auf die Angst."

""Die Religionen sehen ihre heiligen Bücher zwar auch als absolute Wahrheit an, trotzdem gibt es dort einen gewissen Wandel. In der Mathematik dagegen verändert sich, was wir einmal wissen, nie mehr." - Albrecht Beutelspacher, Interview in DER SPIEGEL 50/2004 vom 6. Dezember 2004, Seite 191, spiegel.de"

"Die Religionen sind der Ausdruck des ewigen und unzerstörbaren metaphysischen Bedürfnisses der Menschennatur."

"Die Religion ist die größte Rebellion des Menschen, der nicht leben will wie ein Tier, der sich nicht zufrieden gibt und nicht zur Ruhe kommt, bevor er seinen Schöpfer kennt und Umgang mit ihm hat."

"Die Weltreligionen sind es, welche die größten historischen Krisen herbeiführen. Sie wissen von Anfang an, dass sie Weltreligionen sind, und wollen es sein."

"Die Zukunftsforschung hat überraschend schnell das Schicksal der Religionen erfahren. Sie dient zur Erbauung, sie verpufft als Predigt, sie erweckt Hoffnung, wo Entschlossenheit zur Änderung vordringlicher wäre."

"Ein König ohne Religion scheint immer ein Tyrann."

"Ein sehr unwissendes Volk wird sich gerade wegen seiner Unwissenheit zu einer Religion voller Wunder neigen."

"Eine der größten Errungenschaften der Wissenschaft ist nicht, es intelligenten Leuten unmöglich zu machen, religiös zu sein, sondern es ihnen zumindest zu ermöglichen, nicht religiös zu sein. Dahinter sollten wir nicht zurückfallen."

"Es ist keine Religion (oder Gesetz) höher als die Wahrheit!"

""Es wird geschummelt - in dem Sinn nämlich, dass zentralen Fragen ausgewichen wird. Das nenne ich die ‚interreligiöse Schummelei’, von der ich glaube, dass sie nach dem 11. September nicht mehr möglich ist." - Wolfgang Huber, zum interreligiösen Dialog zwischen Christen und Muslimen; Interview mit der "ZEIT" und dem DeutschlandRadio vom 23. Mai 2003, auch veröffentlicht bei EKD.de"

"Gefängnisse werden aus den Steinen der Gesetze errichtet, Bordelle aus den Ziegeln der Religion."

"Heute wird zu Recht beklagt, dass die tibetische Kultur von den Chinesen unterdrückt wird. Darüber sollte man aber nicht vergessen, dass die tibetische Kultur aus einer Religion hervorgeht, die noch sehr viel brutaler war, und die Menschen in Tibet wie in der schlimmsten Diktatur unterdrückte. Deshalb verbietet sich jede unkritische Gefühlsduselei für den Dalai Lama und die tibetischen Mönche."

""Ich bin ein Gegner der Religion. Sie lehrt uns, damit zufrieden zu sein, dass wir die Welt nicht verstehen." - Richard Dawkins, Der Gotteswahn, Ullstein Verlag, September 2007, ISBN 3550086881. Übersetzer: Sebastian Vogel"

"Ich habe keine Religion."

""Ich traf, sprach und aß sogar mit Leuten, die man in Amerika für weiß gehalten hätte. Aber die weiße Einstellung war in ihrem Kopf ausgelöscht worden, durch die Religion des Islam." - Malcolm X im Brief aus Mekka, zitiert in: „Der Islam als Alternative“, ISBN 3-424-01114-2, 1995, S. 190"

""Ihre sogenannte Religion wirkt bloß wie ein Opiat: reizend, betäubend, Schmerzen aus Schwäche stillend." (1798) - Novalis. Fragmente "Blütenstaub" 1798( Werke. Briefe, hrsg. v. E. Wasmuth, 4 Bde, Heidelberg 1953-57, Bd. I, S. 331 - Aphorismus 83)"

"In religiösen Dingen ist das Wort »Glaube« gleichbedeutend mit »Ueberzeugung«."

"In der Religion überhaupt scheint Niederwerfen, Anbetung mit niederhängendem Haupte, mit zerknrirschten angstvollen Gebärden und Stimmen, das einzigschickliche Benehmen in Gegenwart der Gottheit zu sein, welches daher auch die meisten Völker angenommen haben und noch beobachten."

""Jesus wollte diese Kirche nicht!" - Eugen Drewermann, in: DER SPIEGEL vom 23. Dezember 1991, dokumentiert in: Worum es eigentlich geht, Protokoll einer Verurteilung. München: Kösel Verlag GmbH & Co., 1992, ISBN 3-466-20356-2, S. 438-449"

"Kein menschliches Zusammenleben ohne ein Weltethos der Nationen; kein Frieden unter den Nationen ohne Frieden unter den Religionen; kein Friede unter den Religionen ohne Dialog unter den Religionen."

"Man muss offen sagen, die Religion des Islam erlaubt die Integration nicht. Ein Muslim darf sich einem Nichtmuslimen nicht fügen. Wenn er in der Diaspora lebt, dann ist das eine Notsituation, und er kann sich absondern. Das besagt die normale Religion und nicht die fundamentalistische Variante."

""Man nennt das Christenthum die Religion des Mitleidens. - Das Mitleiden steht im Gegensatz zu den tonischen Affekten, welche die Energie des Lebensgefühls erhöhn: es wirkt depressiv. Man verliert Kraft, wenn man mitleidet." - Friedrich Nietzsche, Der Antichrist , Kapitel 7"

"Mohammed war Puritaner, er wollte den Genuss aus der Welt schaffen, auch wenn dieser niemanden schädigte. Er hat in den Ländern, die den Islam angenommen haben, die Liebe vernichtet. Deshalb hat seine Religion auch weniger in Arabien, ihrer Wiege, als in allen anderen morgenländischen Ländern Wurzel gefasst."

"Mystik ist die Urmutter der Religion, die Urmutter der Kultur."

""Nicht der hat Religion, der an eine heilige Schrift glaubt, sondern der welcher keiner bedarf und wohl selbst eine machen könnte." - Friedrich Schleiermacher, Über die Religion. Reden an die Gebildeten unter ihren Verächtern, 2. (1799)"

"Nun sag, wie hast du's mit der Religion?"

""Nur die Religion kann Europa wieder auferwecken, und die Völker versöhnen, und die Christenheit mit neuer Herrlichkeit sichtbar auf Erden in ihr altes friedenstiftendes Amt installieren." - Novalis, Fragmente, in: Novalis Schriften, 2. Teil, hg.v. Ludwig Tieck/ Friedrich Schlegel, Verlag G. Reimer, 5. Aufl., Berlin 1837, S. 284f."

"Nur Religion macht ein Volk; wo die Menschen keine Religion haben, da ist nur Masse."

""Politik ohne Religion ist eine Menschenfalle." - Mahatma Gandhi zitiert von Prof. Dr. Hubertus Mynarek, Odernheim, in „Gedanken zur Logik der Macht“, gkpn.de"

"Religion? Der moderne Ersatz für Glauben."

""Religion, eine mittelalterliche Form der Unvernunft, wird, wenn sie mit modernen Waffen kombiniert wird, zu einer echten Gefahr unserer Freiheiten." (im englischen Original: "Religion, a mediaeval form of unreason, when combined with modern weaponry becomes a real threat to our freedoms.")"

"Religion ist eine der großen zivilisatorischen Einflüsse der Geschichte und in der Beziehung befriedigend."

""Religion ist eine menschliche Erfindung, die sich schleichend ausbreitet. Man weiß sehr wohl, wie sie beginnt, wie sich schüchtern die ersten Kulte etablieren und dann entwickeln, wie die ersten Götter Gestalt annehmen und diverse Funktionen bekommen, und wie sich ihre Zahl verringert, bis es schließlich nur noch einen gibt." - Umberto Eco, Jean-Claude Carrière, Stephen Jay Gould, Jean Delumeau: Das Ende aller Zeiten, DuMont Verlag Köln 1999, ISBN 3-7701-4882-7, S. 214]"

""Religion ist in den seltensten Fällen Trost und in den meisten Fällen eher eine Aufstachelung zu Hass und Gewalt. Gläubige Menschen gehen oft unzivilisiert miteinander um, weil sie ja der Meinung sind, im Besitz der einzigen Wahrheit zu sein - ohne sie begründen zu müssen. Das ist was ganz Schlimmes." - Dieter Nuhr, TV-Beileger zum Stern Nr. 25/2007 vom 14. Juni 2007, S. 3"

"Religion ist kein populärer Irrtum; sie ist große Wahrheit des Instinktes, von Menschen geahnt, von Menschen zum Ausdruck gebracht."

""Religion ist keine Privatsache, sondern sie drängt auch immer ins öffentliche Leben und in die Gestaltung des Lebens, sonst ist sie nicht. Es gibt keinen bloß geglaubten Glauben, sondern er will gelebt sein und hat damit immer auch eine politische Dimension." - Thierse über das Verhältnis des Islam zu anderen Religionen, im Gespräch mit Detlev Lücke und Thorsten Wöhlert, „Das Parlament“, 18./25. Januar 2002"

"Religion ist wie eine schöne Blume mit scharfen Zähnen."

""Religion kann die Evolution als Schöpfung interpretieren. Naturwissenschaftliche Erkenntnis kann Schöpfung als evolutiven Prozeß konkretisieren. Religion kann so dem Ganzen der Evolution einen Sinn zuschreiben, den die Naturwissenschaft von der Evolution nicht ablesen, bestenfalls vermuten kann." - Hans Küng, Der Anfang aller Dinge: Naturwissenschaft und Religion, Piper 2005, S. 169 ISBN 978-3492047876"

""Religionen sind dem Volke notwendig, und sind ihm eine unschätzbare Wohltat. Wenn sie jedoch den Fortschritten der Menschheit in der Erkenntnis der Wahrheit sich entgegenstellen wollen; so müssen sie mit möglichster Schonung bei Seite geschoben werden." - Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung, Zweiter Band, Ergänzungen zum ersten Buch, Zweite Hälfte, 17. Über das metaphysische Bedürfnis des Menschen, s. 64500;1425."

"Religion ist Liebe der Schönheit."

"Religiöser Fundamentalismus ist das stärkste, massivste, allerdings meist auch attraktivste und faszinierendste, die Massen am meisten einnehmende und einfangende Motiv, weswegen jede Machtpolitik stets bedacht sein wird, eine Religion oder Konfession für ihre Ziele einzuspannen. Kein Zufall, daß der römische Kaiser Konstantin das immer stärker werdende Christentum zur Staatsreligion machte, obwohl er zu dem Zeitpunkt selbst noch kein Christ war."

"So bleibt die eigentliche Religion ein Inneres, ja Individuelles, denn sie hat ganz allein mit dem Gewissen zu tun, dieses soll erregt, soll beschwichtigt werden."

"Unser Zeitalter ist das eigentliche Zeitalter der Kritik, der sich alles unterwerfen muss. Religion, durch ihre Heiligkeit, und Gesetzgebung, durch ihre Majestät, wollen sich gemeiniglich derselben entziehen. Aber alsdenn erregen sie gerechten Verdacht wider sich, und können auf unverstellte Achtung nicht Anspruch machen, die die Vernunft nur demjenigen bewilligt, was ihre freie und öffentliche Prüfung hat aushalten können."

"Verschiedenheit der Religionen: ein wunderlicher Ausdruck! gerade, als ob man von verschiedenen Moralen spräche."

"Vielleicht ginge es besser, wenn die Menschen Maulkörbe und die Hunde Gesetze bekämen, wenn die Menschen an der Leine und die Hunde an der Religion geführt würden. Die Hundswut könnte in gleichem Maße abnehmen wie die Politik."

"Was ist Religion? Sich in alle Ewigkeit weiter und höher entwickeln wollen."

"Wenn die Bekenner der gegenwärtigen Religionen sich ernstlich bemühen würden, im Geiste der Begründer dieser Religionen zu denken, zu urteilen und zu handeln, dann würde keine auf den Glauben gegründete Feindschaft zwischen den Bekennern verschiedener Religionen existieren. Noch mehr, sogar die Gegensätze im Glauben würden sich als unwesentlich herausstellen."

""Wenn die Religion von dem vielen Dampf, den sie machen muß, nur nicht bald selbst verdampft!" - Christian Dietrich Grabbe, Napoleon oder die hundert Tage, IV, 1 / Jouve. Zitiert nach: Napoleon oder die hundert Tage. Ein Drama in fünf Aufzügen. Joh. Christ. Hermann'sche Buchhandlung, Frankfurt am Main 1831, S. 179,"

"Wer erkannt hat, dass die Idee der Liebe der geistige Lichtstrahl ist, der aus der Unendlichkeit zu uns gelangt, der hört auf, von der Religion zu verlangen, dass sie ihm ein vollständiges Wissen von dem Übersinnlichen bietet."

"Wer sonst gar nichts hat, der hat doch ein Vaterland. Patriotismus ist die Religion der ganz armen Schweine."

"Wissenschaft ohne Religion ist lahm. Religion ohne Wissenschaft ist blind."

"Wahrlich, die Religion vor Allah ist Islam."

"Und wer eine andre Religion als den Islam begehrt, nimmer soll sie von ihm angenommen werden, und im Jenseits wird er verloren sein."

"O ihr Volk der Alten Schrift, übertreibt nicht in eurer Religion und sprecht nicht über Gott anderes als die Wahrheit; der Messias, Jesus, Sohn der Maria, ist weiter nichts als ein Gesandter Gottes und (die Erfüllung) Seiner Prophezeiung, die Er zu Maria herabsandte, und eine (reine) Seele seinerseits; drum glaubt an Gott und Seine Gesandten und sagt nicht: „Dreiheit!“ Gebt es auf, es ist besser für euch; Gott ist durchaus nur ein alleiniger Gott, viel zu preiswürdig, als dass Ihm ein Sohn sei, Sein ist alles, was in den Himmeln und was auf der Erde, und Gott allein genügt als Allerhalter."

"Am heutigen Tage habe Ich für euch eure Religion vervollkommnet und Meine Gnade über euch vollendet, und für euch den Islam (d.i. die Gottesergebenheit) als Religion auserkoren."

"Und eifert in Allahs Sache, wie dafür geeifert werden soll. Er hat euch erwählt und hat euch keine Härte auferlegt in der Religion. […]"

"Er bestimmte für euch wegen der Religion dasselbe, womit Er Noah beauftragte, und was Wir dir (o Mohammed) offenbarten, und womit Wir Abraham und Moses und Jesus beauftragten: „Haltet die Religion aufrecht, und spaltet euch nicht darin!“ […]"

"Böses Weib soll man dem Teufel zum Geburtstag schenken."

"Den Teufel spürt das Völkchen nie, // und wenn er sie beim Kragen hätte."

"Der Kaffee muss schwarz sein wie der Teufel, heiß wie die Hölle, rein wie ein Engel und süß wie die Liebe."

"Der Teufel hat die Welt verlassen, weil er weiß, die Menschen machen selbst die Höll' einander heiß."

"Der Teufel ist ein Optimist, wenn er glaubt, dass er die Menschen schlechter machen kann."

"Der Teufel ist jetzt weiser als vordem, er macht uns reich, nicht arm, uns zu versuchen."

"Des Menschen Tätigkeit kann allzuleicht erschlaffen, // Er liebt sich bald die unbedingte Ruh; // Drum geb ich gern ihm den Gesellen zu, // Der reizt und wirkt und muß als Teufel schaffen."

"Die Buchhändler sind alle des Teufels, für sie muß es eine eigene Hölle geben."

"Die Massen scheinen mir nur in dreierlei Hinsicht einen Blick zu verdienen: einmal als verschwimmende Copien der grossen Männer, auf schlechtem Papier und mit abgenutzten Platten hergestellt, sodann als Widerstand gegen die Grossen und endlich als Werkzeuge der Grossen; im Uebrigen hole sie der Teufel und die Statistik!"

"Die schönste List des Teufels ist, uns zu überzeugen, dass es ihn nicht gibt."

"Ein Atheist ist eine Brut der Hölle, die sich, wie der Teufel, tausendmal verstellen kann. Bald ist's ein listiger Fuchs, bald ein wilder Bär; bald ist's ein Esel, bald ein Philosoph; bald ist's ein Hund, bald ein unverschämter Poete. Kurz, es ist ein Untier, das schon lebendig bei dem Satan in der Hölle brennt, eine Pest der Erde, eine abscheuliche Kreatur, ein Vieh, das dummer ist, als ein Vieh; ein Seelenkannibal, ein Antichrist, ein schreckliches Ungeheuer."

"Einbläsereien sind des Teufels Redekunst."

"Ein verdrießlicher Gott ist ein Widerspruch oder der Teufel."

"Fahre wie der Teufel, und du wirst ihn bald treffen."

"Faule Engel taugen weniger als fleißige Teufel."

""Hieher zum Kuß, der Teufel hat in die N. geschmissen, und den Bauch abermal geleeret; das ist ein recht Heilightumb, das die Jüden und was Jüde sein will, küssen, fressen, saufen und anbeten sollen; und wiederumb der Teufel auch fressen und sauffen, was solche seine Jünger speien, oben und unten auswerfen können. Hie sind die rechten Gäste und Wirthe zusammengekommen, habens recht gekocht und angericht … Der Teufel … frißt mit Lust … , was der Jüden unter und öber Maul speiet und sprutzet, ..." - Martin Luther, Sämmtliche Werke. 32. Band. Erlangen 1842, 6. Band der polemischen deutschen Schriften. Nach den ältesten Ausgaben kritisch und historisch bearbeitet von Johann Konrad Irmischer. LXII. Vom Schem Hamphoras und vom Geschlecht Christi. Matth. I. (1543). S. 275, 282"

"Ihr bleibt bei meinem Worte kalt, // Euch guten Kindern lass ich's gehen; // Bedenkt: der Teufel, der ist alt, // So werdet alt, ihn zu verstehen!"

""Ist doch der Mensch gleichwie nichts; seine Tage gehen dahin wie ein Schatten, er hüpft umher wie ein Bock, bläht sich auf wie eine Blase, faucht wie ein Luchs, frißt sich den Bauch voll wie eine Schlange, wiehert beim Anblick eines fremden Weibes wie ein Hengst, ist tückisch wie der Teufel; hat er seine Begierden gestillt, so schläft er, wann und wo ihn der Schlaf überfällt(...)" - Awwakum, Das Leben des Protopopen Avvakum, von ihm selbst niedergeschrieben, aus dem Altrussischen übersetzt von Gerhard Hildebrandt, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1965, S.52"

""Ja, mich dünkt zuweilen, der Teufel, der Adel und die Jesuiten existieren nur so lange, als man an sie glaubt." - Heinrich Heine: "Reisebilder. Dritter Teil: Italien, Reise von München nach Genua", zit. nach Heine: Werke, Bd. II, S. 181"

""Jede Taufe ist ein kleiner Exorzismus. Der Teufel wird ausgetrieben." - Janosch zu seiner Zeichnung "Taufe", in: "Menschen bei Maischberger" zum Thema "Angriff der Gottlosen: Vergiftet die Religion die Welt?" vom 13. November 2007"

"Lass dich den Teufel bei einem Haare fassen, und du bist sein auf ewig."

""Man soll den Teufel nicht an die Wand malen, sonst kömmt er." - Wilhelm Hauff, Mitteilungen aus den Memoiren des Satan. 9. Kapitel: Satans Rache an Dr. Schnatterer. Aus: W. Hauffs Werke. hg. von Max Mendheim. 2. Band. Leipzig und Wien: Bibliographisches Institut. [um 1900]. S. 239"

""Satan bedeutet, daß der Mensch lediglich ein Tier unter anderen Tieren ist" - Anton Szandor LaVey, Die Satanische Bibel, Second Sight Books, 1999 Berlin, ISBN 3-00-004343-8, S. 29"

""Satan bedeutet Güte gegenüber denjenigen, die sie verdienen, anstatt Verschwendung von Liebe an Undankbare!" - Anton Szandor LaVey, Die Satanische Bibel, Second Sight Books, 1999 Berlin, ISBN 3-00-004343-8, S. 29"

""Satanas miserere eorum!!" (Satan, erbarme dich ihrer!!) - Else Lasker-Schüler, Chronica. Aus: Sämtliche Gedichte. Hrsg. von Karl Jürgen Skrodzki. Frankfurt am Main: Jüdischer Verlag, 2004. S. 10. ISBN 3633541969"

""Was der teufel nicht mag ertichten, // Das muß ein altes weib verrichten." - Georg Rollenhagen, Der schwalben und eulen rat. Aus: Froschmeuseler, 2. Buch, 2. Theil, 8. Kapitel. Hg. von Karl Goedeke. Erster Theil. Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus, 1876 [Dt. Dichter des 16. Jahrhunderts, Bd. 8]. S. 269, Zeile 21f."

"Zum Hassen oder Lieben // Ist alle Welt getrieben, // Es bleibet keine Wahl, // der Teufel ist neutral."

"Am Anfang war auch der Teufel ein Engel."

"Aushorcher und Angeber sind Teufels Netzeweber."

"Bruderzorn ist Zorn von Teufeln aus der Hölle."

"Der Argwohn isst mit dem Teufel aus der gleichen Schüssel."

"Der Teufel ist ein Eichhörnchen."

"Der Teufel scheißt immer auf den größten Haufen."

"Der Teufel verschluckte eine Frau, aber er konnte sie nicht verdauen."

"Die Not muß [laufen], wenn der Teufel sie antreibt."

"Don’t paint the devil on the wall"

"Ein Teufel jagt den anderen weg."

"In der Not, frisst der Teufel Fliegen."

"In einer stillen Untiefe hausen die Teufel."

"Kind des Pfarrers aber Enkel des Teufels."

"Wenn Gott mit dem Tode kommt, dann kommt der Teufel mit den Erben."

"Wenn man den Teufel nennt, kommt er gerennt."

"Wenn man vom Teufel spricht, dann kommt er gelaufen."

"[...] denn auch der Satan tarnt sich als Engel des Lichts."

"Wenn also der Satan mit sich selbst im Streit liegt, wie kann sein Reich dann Bestand haben? Ihr sagt doch, dass ich die Dämonen mit Hilfe von Beelzebul austreibe. Wenn ich die Dämonen durch Beelzebul austreibe, durch wen treiben dann eure Anhänger sie aus?"

""Aber hier, wie überhaupt, // Kommt es anders, als man glaubt." - Wilhelm Busch, Plisch und Plum, erstes Kapitel. In: Was beliebt ist auch erlaubt. Wilhelm Busch. Sämtliche Werke II. Herausgegeben von Rolf Hochhuth. 12. Auflage, München, 2008. S. 446. ISBN 3570030040"

""Alles, woran man glaubt, beginnt zu existieren." - Ilse Aichinger, Kleist, Moos, Fasane: Gedichte, S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1996, ISBN 978-3-596-11045-2, S. 69, books.google"

"Beim Realisten kommt nicht der Glaube aus dem Wunder, sondern das Wunder aus dem Glaube."

"Bist mit dem Glauben du gesegnet // An Menschen, gib ihn nicht verloren, // Wenn unter einer Herde Thoren // Dir auch einmal ein Schuft begegnet."

"Blinder Glaube hat einen bösen Blick."

"Darin sind sich die Menschen aller Zeiten ähnlich gewesen, dass sie hartnäckig an sich selbst geglaubt haben."

""Das Licht des Glaubens wirft seinen erhellenden Strahl in das wirre Dunkel und zeigt, wie all die verschlungenen Pfade weisen Zwecken dienen und sämmtliche auf ein vom allweisen Schöpfer von Anfang an geplantes und gestecktes Ziel hinführen. Wunderbar sind die Wege der Vorsehung." -Sebastian Kneipp, "Meine Wasserkur", 49. Auflage 1849, Einleitung, med-serv.de"

"Das Wunder ist des Glaubens liebstes Kind"

"Dem Menschen einen Glauben schenken, heißt, seine Kraft verzehnfachen."

"Der christliche Glaube ist eine großartige Kathedrale mit göttlich bebilderten Fenstern. Steht man draußen, sieht man keine himmlische Herrlichkeit, noch kann man sich überhaupt eine vorstellen; steht man in ihr, enthüllt jeder Lichtstrahl eine Harmonie unaussprechlichen Glanzes."

"Der christliche Glaube verlangt nicht weniger, sondern mehr irrationalen Glauben, als manche „Sekte“ einzufordern wagt."

"Der Glaube ist etwas, was ich kann über stundenlang reden, aber ich gebe es dir nicht.- Radoslav Rochallyi, Mythra Invictus. VSSS:2019, S. 74"

""Der Glaube ist kein Werk der Vernunft und kann daher auch keinem Angrif derselben unterliegen; weil Glauben so wenig durch Gründe geschieht, als Schmecken und Sehen." - Johann Georg Hamann, Sokratische Denkwürdigkeiten für die lange Weile des Publicums, Verlag Hartung, Amsterdam 1759, S. 50,"

"Der Glaube macht, dass Menschen Horoskope lesen, sich in die Luft sprengen oder bei Vollmond Ochsen melken."

"Die Alten glauben alles. Die Gereiften misstrauen allem. Die Jungen wissen alles."

"Die Botschaft hör ich wohl, allein mir fehlt der Glaube."

""Die Geschichte des menschlichen Glaubens sollte uns als Mahnung dienen. Wir haben Tausende unserer Mitmenschen umgebracht, weil wir glaubten, dass sie einen Pakt mit dem Teufel unterzeichnet hatten und Hexen geworden waren. Noch immer werden über tausend Menschen pro Jahr wegen Hexerei umgebracht." - Michael Crichton: Welt in Angst. München 2005. ISBN 3-89667-210-X. Nachwort. S. 526. Übersetzer: Ulnke Wasel und Klaus Timmermann"

"Die Irreligiösen sind religiöser als sie selbst wissen, und die Religiösen sind's weniger, als sie meinen."

"Ein gläubiger Mensch ist außerstande, seinen Glauben an der Garderobe abzugeben."

""Einsicht in Wahrheit aber gibt es nur in Freiheit. Verhalten kann und muss gelegentlich erzwungen werden. Wahrheitseinsicht und Glauben können nicht erzwungen werden. Die Wahrheit spricht mit leiser Stimme." - Robert Spaemann, "Wahrheit spricht mit leiser Stimme", Artikel im Kölner Stadtanzeiger, ksta.de, 12. Juni 2008"

"Für mich gehört der Glaube zu den Grundlagen und Grundfesten des Lebens eines Menschen."

""Gelacht wird vor allem, weil der Mensch etwas nicht glauben kann. Im Zweifel gedeiht der Lacher." Bruno Jonas: Bis hierher und weiter, Heyne 2007, S.163"

"Gemeinschaft des Glaubens heißt nicht, sich gegenseitig Steine in den Weg zu legen, sondern dem anderen den Weg zu ebnen, gemeinsam an einem Strang zu ziehen für das Reich Gottes. Es geht nur gemeinsam! Tragen wir nach unseren Kräften, Möglichkeiten und Fähigkeiten dazu bei, dass nicht nur unsere Pfarrgemeinden und Seelsorgeeinheiten, sondern unsere Dörfer, Städte und Gemeinden wieder mehr zu Gemeinschaften werden, in denen sich die Menschen umeinander kümmern und füreinander sorgen!"

"Genieße, wer nicht glauben kann. Die Lehre // Ist ewig wie die Welt. Wer glauben kann, entbehre."

"Gern glauben die Menschen das, was sie wollen."

"»Glaube« heißt Nicht-wissen-wollen, was wahr ist."

"Glaube steht dem am schönsten, der zugleich hochgebildet im Wissen ist."

""Glaube, so wie ihn unsere Philosophen zum Theil nehmen, ist doch wohl nichts, als Resignation seiner Persönlichkeit zu Gunsten eines Andern?" - Karl Ludwig von Knebel: Psychologische Bemerkung. In: Knebel’s literarischer Nachlaß und Briefwechsel. Hrsg. von Karl August Varnhagen von Ense. Band 3. Leipzig: Gebrüder Reichenbach, 1836. S. 488."

""Glauben bleibt eine Grundvoraussetzung von Gesellschaft, und der Wille zu glauben verliert sich nicht, auch wenn die Menschen ihren Glauben an Gott verlieren." - Richard Sennett, Verfall und Ende des öffentlichen Lebens. Die Tyrannei der Intimität, Frankfurt am Main 1986, S. 197"

"Glauben: Dinge für wahr halten, für die es keine Parallele und keinen Beweis gibt und die jemand verkündet, der über kein Wissen verfügt."

"„Ich betrete keine Kirche, ich bin so rigoros, dass ich nicht mitmache, wenn mich jemand auf eine Hochzeit einlädt, Beerdigungen, Taufen …. Ich betrete nicht die Kirche, weil ich das Unsinn finde da rein zu gehen, wenn man so was von nicht daran glaubt.“"

"Ich bin nicht religiös. Aber ich glaube gern an etwas, auch daran, dass es Jesus und dass es Buddha gab."

"Ich glaube an den rheinischen Gottesbeweis: Der lautet: Von nix kütt nix."

"Ich glaube, dass viele religiöse und mystische Erlebnisse auf Sauerstoffmangel im Hirn zurückzuführen sind. Oder auf Drogen."

""Ich glaube, um zu erkennen." - Anselm von Canterbury, Proslogion, 1077/1078, Kapitel I:Excitatio mentis ad contemplandum deum, vorletzter Satz, www.hs-augsburg.de."

"Ich glaubt! und glaub's und glaub', ich glaube richtig."

"Ich staune über den Schaden, den der Verkehr mit Verwandten verursacht. Meines Erachtens kann nur der es glauben, der es selbst erfahren hat."

""In der langen Nacht des Mittelalters war Glaube der Nordschein." - Ludwig Börne, Der Narr im weißen Schwan. 2. Kapitel. Aus: Gesammelte Schriften. Dritte, vermehrte und rechtmäßige Ausgabe. 2. Theil. Stuttgart: Brodhag, 1840. S. 448."

"Ist doch der Glaube nur das Gefühl der Eintracht mit dir selbst."

"Jemand, der an nichts glaubt, kann durchaus ein Ehrenmann sein."

"Lachen tötet die Furcht und ohne Furcht kann es keinen Glauben geben. Wer keine Furcht mehr vor dem Teufel hat, braucht keinen Gott mehr […] dann können wir auch über Gott lachen."

"Man sollte den Glauben achten, wie man die Liebe achtet."

"Naturwissenschaft ist der Glaube an die Unwissenheit der Experten."

"Niemand von Euch hat wahren Glauben, bevor er nicht seinem Bruder oder seiner Schwester das gönnt, was er glaubt was ihm selbst zusteht."

"Reich hat nur einen Glauben, den an die Überlebenskraft der Literatur und Kultur. Dieser Glaube ist frei von falschen Illusionen, aber er ist schön und stark."

"Skeptizismus ist der Anfang des Glaubens."

""Tertium datur. Die weltberühmten Alternativen sind meist gar keine - zum Beispiel: Glaube und Unglaube." - Ludwig Marcuse, Argumente und Rezepte. Ein Wörter-Buch für Zeitgenossen"

"Was ist denn Glauben? Die Erzählung einer Begebenheit für wahr halten, was kann mir das helfen? Ich muß mir ihre Wirkungen, ihre Folgen zueignen können. Dieser zueignende Glaube muß ein eigener, dem natürlichen Menschen ungewöhnlicher Zustand des Gemüts sein. […] So nahte meine Seele dem Menschgewordenen und am Kreuz Gestorbenen, und in dem Augenblick wusste ich, was Glauben war."

""Was ist selbst der glücklichste Mensch ohne Glauben? Eine schöne Blume in einem Glase Wasser, ohne Wurzel und ohne Dauer." - Ludwig Börne, Briefe aus Paris. 42. Brief, Paris, Dienstag, den 15. März 1831. Aus: Sämtliche Schriften. Neu bearbeitet und hg. von Inge und Peter Rippmann, Bd. 1-3, Düsseldorf: Melzer-Verlag, 1964. Band 3, S. 232f."

"Was wir Aberglauben nennen, das ist oft nur das Zittern und Wallen der erwärmten Luft um die aufrechte Flamme des Glaubens."

"Was wird uns retten? Der Glaube? Ich will keinen Glauben haben und lege auch keinen Wert darauf, gerettet zu werden."

"Wenn wir den Glauben an Personen verlieren, so verlieren wir noch mehr den Glauben an die Allgemeinheiten."

""Wer in der Lage ist, Humor in seinem Glauben zuzulassen, findet einigen Anlass zum Lachen." Bruno Jonas: Bis hierher und weiter, Heyne 2007, S.165"

"Wie erstaunlich ist der Wahnwitz jener Missionare, die, um »Wilden« Zivilisation und Bildung zu bringen, sie ihren Kirchenglauben lehren."

"Wo das Leid ist, da kommt leicht auch die Liebe und der Glaube."

""Zeig mir doch, was Mohammed Neues gebracht hat, und da wirst du nur Schlechtes und Inhumanes finden wie dies, dass er vorgeschrieben hat, den Glauben, den er predigte, durch das Schwert zu verbreiten." - Manuel II., zitiert in einer Ansprache von Benedikt XVI. in der Aula Magna der Universität Regensburg am 12. September 2006, Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung, 16. April 2007; vatican.va, Controverse VII 2c; bei Khoury S. 142/143; Förstel Bd. I, VII. Dialog 1.5 S. 240/241"

"Ein Glaube ohne Tat ist ein Feld ohne Saat."

"Wer sich gen Westen und Osten beugt, hat gar keinen Glauben."

"Amen, das sage ich euch: Wenn jemand zu diesem Berg sagt: Heb dich empor und stürz dich ins Meer!, und wenn er in seinem Herzen nicht zweifelt, sondern glaubt, dass geschieht, was er sagt, dann wird es geschehen."

"Glaube aber ist: Feststehen in dem, was man erhofft, Überzeugtsein von Dingen, die man nicht sieht."

"Sei ohne Furcht; glaube nur!"

"Selig sind, die nicht sehen und doch glauben."

"Allah ist der Freund der Gläubigen: Er führt sie aus den Finsternissen ans Licht."

"„Siehe, Allah hat von den Gläubigen ihr Leben und ihr Gut für das Paradies erkauft. Sie sollen kämpfen in Allahs Weg und töten und getötet werden."

"Und die meisten Menschen werden nicht glauben, magst du es auch noch so eifrig wünschen."

"Warner nützen nichts bei einem Volk, das nicht glauben will."

"Was aber jene anlangt, die glauben und gute Werke tun, so wird Er ihnen ihren vollen Lohn auszahlen."

"Auferstanden aus Ruinen // Und der Zukunft zugewandt, // Lass uns dir zum Guten dienen, // Deutschland einig Vaterland."

"Ich bin die Auferstehung und das Leben. Wer an mich glaubt, der wird leben, auch wenn er stirbt."

"Ist aber Christus nicht auferstanden, so ist unsre Predigt vergeblich, so ist auch euer Glaube vergeblich."

"Wenn du ein Essen gibst, dann lade Arme, Krüppel, Lahme und Blinde ein. Du wirst selig sein; es wird dir vergolten werden bei der Auferstehung der Gerechten."

"Der beste Prediger ist die Zeit."

"Die ärgsten Studenten werden die frömmsten Prediger."

"Fleißige Zuhörer machen fleißigen Prediger."

"Prediger haben Gehalt fürs Predigen, nicht fürs Tun."

"Viel Prediger sind, die selbst nicht hören."

""Als Christus seine große Gesellschaft gründete, wählte er zu ihrem Grundstein weder den brillanten Paulus noch den mystischen Johannes, sondern einen Ausflüchtemacher, ein Großmaul und einen Feigling - mit einem Wort, einen Menschen. Und auf diesem Felsen hat er seine Kirche gebaut, und die Pforten der Hölle haben sie nicht überwältigt. Alle Kaiserreiche und Königreiche sind zugrunde gegangen, wegen ihrer innewohnenden Schwäche, durch starke Männer auf starke Männer gegründet zu sein. Aber dieses eine, die historische christliche Kirche, war auf einen schwachen Menschen gegründet, und deshalb ist sie unzerstörbar." - Gilbert Keith Chesterton, Häretiker"

"Bei keiner Sache hat man so sehr den Kern von der Schale zu unterscheiden, wie beim Christentum."

""Das Bedenkliche am Christenthum ist, daß es beständig Dinge fordert, die keiner leisten kann; und wenn es mal einer leistet, dann wird einem erst recht angst und bange, und man kriegt ein Grauen vor einem Sieg, der besser nie erfochten wäre. " - Theodor Fontane#Briefe. Brief an Georg Friedlaender, 12. Sept. 1891; in: Werke, Schriften und Briefe, 4. Abteilung, Band IV – herausgegeben von Helmuth Nürnberger und Otto Drude, Hanser 1982, S. 155 books.google"

""Das Christentum gab dem Eros Gift zu trinken - er starb zwar nicht daran, aber entartete, zum Laster." - Friedrich Nietzsche, "Jenseits von Gut und Böse", Aph. 168"

"Das Christentum gab eine bestimmte Richtung unter Ausschließung aller anderen möglichen Richtungen."

""Das Christentum hat auch in der Ermordung von Millionen von Menschen geendet. Das weiß man nicht, wenn man es nicht selbst erfahren hat." - Carl Schmitt als Einwand darauf, dass seine Ideen zur Ermordung von Millionen von Menschen geführt habe; in: Antworten in Nürnberg. Hrsg. und kommentiert von Helmut Quaritsch. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 2000, S. 60"

"Das Christentum hat die erotische Mahlzeit um die Vorspeise der Neugier bereichert und durch die Nachspeise der Reue verdorben."

"Das Christentum ist eine gewaltige Macht. Dass zum Beispiel protestantische Missionare aus Asien unbekehrt wieder nach Hause kommen -: das ist eine große Leistung."

"Das Christentum ist weit davon entfernt, für die im neuzeitlichen Europa erreichte Kultur des Humanen verantwortlich zu sein. Es blieb in Sachen Humanität ohne Schrittmacherfunktion, war der Hauptfeind des moralischen Fortschritts in der Welt."

"Das Christentum predigt nur Knechtschaft und Unterwerfung. Sein Geist ist der Tyrannei nur zu günstig, als dass sie nicht immer Gewinn daraus geschlagen hätte. Die wahren Christen sind zu Sklaven geschaffen."

""Das Christentum - und das ist sein schönstes Verdienst - hat jene brutale germanische Kampflust einigermaßen besänftigt, konnte sie jedoch nicht zerstören, und wenn einst der zähmende Talisman, das Kreuz, zerbricht, dann rasselt wieder empor die Wildheit der alten Kämpfer, die unsinnige Berserkerwut." - Heinrich Heine, Zur Geschichte der Religion und Philosophie in Deutschland"

""Das Christliche ist letztlich keine Wahrheitslehre oder Deutung des Lebens. Es ist auch das; aber darin besteht nicht sein Wesenskern. Den bildet Jesus von Nazareth, dessen konkretes Dasein, Werk und Schicksal - das heisst also eine geschichtliche Person." - Romano Guardini, Das Wesen des Christentums. Würzburg 4. Aufl. 1953, S. 10"

"Das Heidentum hielt den am höchsten, der die meisten Vorzüge, das Christentum den, der die wenigsten Fehler hat."

""Das schlimmste an der christlichen Religion ist ihre krankhafte und unnatürliche Einstellung zur Sexualität." - Bertrand Russell „Hat die Religion nützliche Beiträge zur Zivilisation geleistet?“, 1930 erstmals veröffentlicht, in: „Warum ich kein Christ bin“, Szcesny Verlag 1963, S. 39"

"Das Wort schon »Christentum« ist ein Missverständnis –, im Grunde gab es nur einen Christen, und der starb am Kreuz."

"Der Christ hält das Christentum für etwas, das es nie war: für die Lehre Jesu."

""Der Nationalsozialismus ist weder antikirchlich noch antireligiös, sondern im Gegenteil, er steht auf dem Boden eines wirklichen Christentums." - Saarkundgebung Hitlers am Ehrenbreitstein bei Koblenz, 26. August 1934, zitiert in: Westdeutscher Beobachter, Nr. 383, 27. August 1934"

"Die Christen entwendeten den Juden das Alte Testament und gebrauchten es als Waffe gegen sie. […] Dabei münzte man den Glauben von der Auserwähltheit Israels zum Absolutheitsanspruch des Christentums und den jüdischen Messianismus zur Lehre von der Wiederkunft Christi um."

"Die Christenheit hat, ohne es recht selber zu merken, das Christentum abgeschafft; daraus ergibt sich, daß, wenn etwas geschehen soll, versucht werden muß, das Christentum wieder in die Christenheit einzuführen."

"Die eindringlichste und nachhaltigste Botschaft, die etwa das Christentum zu verkünden hat, ist wahrscheinlich nicht das, was Christus sagte, sondern das, was er vor seinen Richtern und Henkern verschwieg. Die Botschaft ist das Schweigen."

"Die guten Christen sind am gefährlichsten – man verwechselt sie mit dem Christentum."

""Es ist wahr: Europa ist kein Christenklub. Aber wahr ist auch: Europa ist ein Grundwerteklub. Hier bei uns gelten Menschen- und Bürgerrechte. Diese Menschen- und Bürgerrechte beruhen bei uns ganz wesentlich auf dem Menschenbild des Christentums." - Angela Merkel, Rede auf dem 20. Bundesparteitag der CDU am 27. November 2006 in der Dresdner Frauenkirche"

""Es steht niemandem frei, Christ zu werden: man wird nicht zum Christentum »bekehrt«,"

""Ich bin Katholik und glaube, dass unser christliches Menschenbild das richtige ist und nicht vergleichbar mit den anderen Menschenbildern, die es anderswo auf der Welt gibt. […] Ich glaube, dass es das richtige ist - wenn sie wollen, auch überlegen." - Jürgen Rüttgers, in der Talkshow "Studio Friedman" auf N24, April 2005, zitiert auch bei netzzeitung.de, 19. Mai 2005"

""Ich fürchte nicht die Stärke des Islam, sondern die Schwäche des Abendlandes. Das Christentum hat teilweise schon abgedankt. Es hat keine verpflichtende Sittenlehre, keine Dogmen mehr." - Peter Scholl-Latour, zitiert von Peter Hahne in »Schluss mit lustig! Das Ende der Spaßgesellschaft«, Kapitel "Feige Kompromissgesellschaft", (S. 65 der Lizenzausgabe der RM Buch und Medien)"

""Ich habe keine Angst vor einem missionarischen Islam, aber vor einer laschen Christenheit." - Walter Mixa, anlässlich der Eröffnung der Augsburger Ulrichs-Woche am 04. Juli 2007, zitiert in Focus.de"

""Ich liebe solche, die das Wort hinausdonnern! Die Christenheit liegt in tiefem Schlaf. Nichts als eine laute Stimme kann sie aufwecken." - George Whitefield, zitiert in »George Whitefield - Der Erwecker Englands und Amerikas« von Benedikt Peters, CLV Bielefeld, 1. Auflage 1997, ISBN 3-89397-374-5, S. 9"

""Ich wollte, ich hätte ein authentisches Verzeichniß aller Verbrechen, die wirklich das Christentum verhindernt, und aller guten Handlungen, die es wirklich erzeugt hat, um sie auf die andere Waagschale legen zu können." - Arthur Schopenhauer, Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung, Zweiter Band, Zum ersten Buch, zweite Hälfte, Kapitel 17"

""Nicht ihre Menschenliebe, sondern die Ohnmacht ihrer Menschenliebe hindert die Christen von heute, uns"

"Und ist denn nicht das ganze Christentum aufs Judentum gebaut? Es hat mich oft geärgert, hat mich Tränen genug gekostet, wenn Christen gar so sehr vergessen konnten, dass unser Herr ja selbst ein Jude war."

"Ungläubiger: in New York: jemand, der nicht an die christliche Religion glaubt; in Istanbul: jemand, der an sie glaubt."

"Unsere westliche Zivilisation, geprägt durch Christentum, Aufklärung und den Humanismus, die muss jeder anerkennen, sonst hat er bei uns nichts zu suchen."

"Wenn alle Menschen streng nach Christentum, Judaismus, Buddhismus und Islam leben würden, hätten wir sehr viel weniger Probleme auf dieser Welt."

"Wer sich über das Christentum nicht empört, kennt es nicht."

"Die moderne, jeden Tag experimentell bestätigte Vorstellung des Raumvakuums ist ein relativistischer Äther. Wir nennen ihn nur nicht so, weil das Tabu ist."

""Ich bin für mehr Sex - mehr Schweinereien, keine Tabus. Ich glaube, dass es vom echten Sex, dem Sex, der riecht und schmeckt und schmutzige Geräusche macht, nie genug geben kann. Das Pin-up, das ich auf einem […] Plakat sehe, wenn ich mein Kind zum Kindergarten fahre, das stört mich auch. Schon deshalb, weil es den Sex langweiliger, flacher, spießiger und unaufregender darstellt, als er in Wirklichkeit ist. " - Charlotte Roche, DER SPIEGEL 9/2008, spiegel.de, 25. Februar 2008"

"Auch der Indianer ist Mensch und steht im Besitze seiner Menschenrechte; es ist eine schwere Sünde, ihm das Recht, zu existieren, abzusprechen und die Mittel der Existenz nach und nach zu entziehen."

"Darum nämlich, weil sie geliebt werden, sind die Sünder »schön«, nicht aber werden sie geliebt, weil sie »schön« sind."

"Der Einsiedler versündigt sich gegen die Gesellschaft, denn er entzieht ihr die Dienste, die er im Stande wäre ihr zu leisten."

""Der Freie sündigt weil er sünd'gen muß!" - Louise Aston, Den Frauen. In: Freischärler-Reminiscenzen, Verlag von E. O. Weller, Leipzig 1850, S. 21,"

"Der Mensch soll immer annehmen, er stände kurz vor seinem Tode, er könne in seiner Sündhaftigkeit plötzlich sterben."

"Derjenige, der Jesus Christus als seinen Retter annimmt, empfängt im selben Augenblick als Geschenk Gottes die Vergebung seiner Sünden […] Das bedeutet: man steht vor Gott, als habe man niemals eine Sünde begangen."

"Der Sündenfall – Weißt du den Grund, warum in den Apfel gebissen hat Adam? / Um der Theologie einen Gefallen zu tun."

"Die Sünde wird gefesselt durch die Taufe, und das Reich Gottes wird aufgerichtet."

"Die Toten waren niemals Sünder."

"Dieser zweitausend Jahre alte jüdisch-christliche Irrsin von Sünde und Krankheit als Weg und Einschüchterung, gegen den wehrt sich mein Hausverstand seit er denken kann."

""Durch ein Leck sinkt ein Schiff unter, und durch eine Sünde kann ein Mensch verderben." - John Bunyan. Pilgerreise zur seligen Ewigkeit. Aus dem Englischen nach dem Original der Londoner Traktat-Gesellschaft. Herausgegeben von der Wuppertaler Traktat-Gesellschaft. 2. Auflage Barmen 1859. Seite 40"

""Ein Tag innerer Versündigung kann den Menschen um ein halbes Jahrhundert an Geist, Erkenntniß und Durchdringung alles Lebendigen schwächen und veralten [...]." - Achim von Arnim, Armuth, Reichthum, Schuld und Buße der Gräfin Dolores, Vierte Abtheilung, Sechszehntes Kapitel. In: Ludwig Achim's von Arnim sämmtliche Werke, Achter Band, Hrsg. Wilhelm Grimm, bei Veit & Comp., Berlin 1840, S. 417, books.google.de,"

"Einen Unschuldigen zu töten, ist eine Sünde. Das ist, als würde man die ganze Welt töten."

""Es gibt Leute, denen sieht man an, dass es eine Sünde wäre, sie nicht zu kontrollieren." - Günther Beckstein, auf einer Parteiveranstaltung in Traunreuth, zitiert in der taz, 10. Juli 2007, S. 14"

""Geschichte reißt nicht ab, ist nicht zum Stillstand zu bringen, aus ihrem Kontinuum kann niemand beliebig ausbrechen, […] wir haften für die Sünden unserer Väter wie unsere Kinder für die unsrigen haften werden." - Ansprache bei der Verleihung der Literaturehrengabe 1964 des Bezirksverbandes der Pfalz an Dr. Julius Overhoff am 26. April 1965. Sonderdruck der BASF. Hauptzeitschrift der Badischen Anilin- & Soda-Fabrik AG, S. 17, zitiert nach Isabelle Dalaudiere: Julius Overhoff (1898–1977). Un écrivain témoin de son temps: le Monde avec Gengis Khan comme roman historique de la guerre froide, Dissertation, 2008, S. 95 Auch bei Isabelle Dalaudiere"

"Ich bin der Geist, der stets verneint! // Und das mit Recht; denn alles, was entsteht, // Ist wert, daß es zugrunde geht; // Drum besser wär's, daß nichts entstünde. // So ist denn alles, was ihr Sünde, // Zerstörung, kurz das Böse nennt, // Mein eigentliches Element."

"Im allgemeinen sei der Mensch mehr geneigt, die Sünden Anderer zu beichten, als seine eigenen."

"In einer blockierten Gesellschaft, wo jeder schuldig ist, ist es das einzige Verbrechen, sich erwischen zu lassen. In einer Welt der Diebe ist Dummheit die einzige unverzeihliche Sünde."

"Laster ist also das, wodurch wir zum Sündigen bereit gemacht werden, das heißt, wir werden geneigt, in ein Tun oder Lassen einzuwilligen, das nicht recht ist."

"Nicht die Sünde wurde geboren, als Eva den Apfel pflückte. Geboren wurde an diesem Tag vielmehr eine großartige Tugend, Ungehorsam genannt."

"Nichts schmeichelt so sehr, als wenn man gesagt bekommt, daß man ein Sünder ist."

"Schlechte Beispiele schaden mehr als Sünden."

"Selbstmord ist nicht nur eine Sünde, es ist die Sünde selbst. Er ist das letzte und absolute Übel: die Weigerung, sich für die Existenz zu interessieren, die Weigerung, dem Leben den Treueschwur zu leisten. Der Mensch, der einen anderen tötet, tötet nur einen; aber der Mensch, der sich selber tötet, tötet alle Menschen; was ihn betrifft, so löscht er das ganze Weltall aus."

"Sünd und Schande // Bleibt nicht verborgen."

"Sünde ist eine mythologische Bezeichnung für schlechte Geschäfte."

""Sünden und böse Geister scheuen das Licht." - Friedrich Schiller, Kabale und Liebe V, 1 / Miller. In: Kabale und Liebe - ein bürgerliches Trauerspiel in fünf Aufzügen, Schwanische Hofbuchhandlung, Mannheim 1784, S. 129"

"Töricht ist die Scham, die dir ein Reinfall verursacht, da man unmöglich ein guter Spekulant mit Schamgefühl sein kann. Adam schämte sich nach dem Sündenfall, aber an der Börse gibt es viele, die ihre Sünden nicht begreifen, da sie sich nicht schämen und das Erröten verlernt haben."

"Wenn man die Wahrheit sagt, so sündigt man nicht, weder in der Beichte noch anderswo."

"Wer nicht sündigen will, will auch nicht erlöst werden. Der vollkommen Heilige würde des Teufels sein."

""Wir dürfen Bücher [...] nicht als hochehrwürdige Heiligtümer verehren - und alles andere zum Sündenfall erklären." - Cornelia Funke, über den Umgang mit modernen Medien, Spiegel Nr. 50/2008 vom 8. Dezember 2008, S. 186"

"Wir leben voller Trauer und Schmerz auf dieser Welt, mit mannigfachen Wunden wegen unserer Sünden."

"Wollt ihr das Volk bessern, so gebt ihm statt Deklamationen gegen die Sünde bessere Speisen."

""Zu vieles missriet ihm, diesem Töpfer, der nicht ausgelernt hatte! Dass er aber Rache an seinen Töpfen und Geschöpfen nahm, dafür dass sie ihm schlecht gerieten, - das war eine Sünde wider den guten Geschmack." - Friedrich Nietzsche, Also sprach Zarathustra, 4. Teil; Außer Dienst"

"Denn der Sünde Sold ist der Tod; die Gabe Gottes aber ist das ewige Leben in Christus Jesus, unserm Herrn."

"Aber nicht verhält sich's mit der Gabe wie mit der Sünde. Denn wenn durch die Sünde des Einen die Vielen gestorben sind, um wie viel mehr ist Gottes Gnade und Gabe den Vielen überreich zuteil geworden durch die Gnade des einen Menschen Jesus Christus. Und nicht verhält es sich mit der Gabe wie mit dem, was durch den einen Sünder geschehen ist. Denn das Urteil hat von dem Einen her zur Verdammnis geführt, die Gnade aber hilft aus vielen Sünden zur Gerechtigkeit."

"Darum, wie durch einen Menschen die Sünde in die Welt gekommen ist und durch die Sünde der Tod und so der Tod zu allen Menschen durchgedrungen ist, weil sie alle gesündigt haben."

"… das ist mein Blut, das Blut des Bundes, das für viele vergossen wird zur Vergebung der Sünden."

"Denn der Tod ist der Sünde Sold; aber die Gabe Gottes ist das ewige Leben in Christo Jesu, unserm Herrn."

"Denn Ungehorsam ist Sünde wie Zauberei, und Widerstreben ist wie Abgötterei und Götzendienst."

"Dem Gerechten gereicht sein Erwerb zum Leben, aber dem Gottlosen sein Einkommen zur Sünde."

"Die Gerechtigkeit behütet den Unschuldigen; aber die Gottlosigkeit bringt den Sünder zu Fall."

"Dieser nimmt die Sünder an und isst mit ihnen."

"Gerechtigkeit erhöht ein Volk; aber die Sünde ist der Leute Verderben."

"Gott aber erweist seine Liebe zu uns darin, dass Christus für uns gestorben ist, als wir noch Sünder waren."

"Ich bin gekommen, die Sünder zur Buße zu rufen und nicht die Gerechten."

"So tut nun Buße und bekehrt euch, dass eure Sünden getilgt werden."

"Stolz der Augen und Hochmut des Herzens – die Leuchte der Gottlosen ist Sünde."

"Wer seine Sünde leugnet, dem wird's nicht gelingen; wer sie aber bekennt und lässt, der wird Barmherzigkeit erlangen."

"Wer unter euch ohne Sünde ist, der werfe den ersten Stein […]"

"Wohl dem, dem die Übertretungen vergeben sind, dem die Sünde bedeckt ist!"

"Wohl dem, der nicht wandelt im Rat der Gottlosen noch tritt auf den Weg Sünder noch sitzt, da die Spötter sitzen, sondern hat Lust zum Gesetz des Herrn und redet von seinem Gesetz Tag und Nacht! Der ist wie ein Baum, gepflanzt an den Wasserbächen, der seine Frucht bringt zu seiner Zeit, und seine Blätter verwelken nicht; und was er macht, das gerät wohl."

"Allah belastet niemanden über sein Vermögen. Ihm wird, was er verdient, und über ihn kommt, was er gesündigt."

"Wer kann Sünden vergeben außer Allah?"

"Wahrlich, Allah wird es nicht vergeben, dass Ihm Götter zur Seite gestellt werden; doch vergibt Er das, was geringer ist als dies, wem Er will. Und wer Allah Götter zur Seite stellt, der hat wahrhaftig eine gewaltige Sünde ersonnen."

"Wer Böses tut oder sich wider seine Seele versündigt und dann bei Allah Vergebung sucht, der wird Allah allvergebend, barmherzig finden."

"Wer aber nach seiner Sünde bereut und sich bessert, gewiss, ihm wird Sich Allah gnädig zukehren, denn Allah ist allvergebend, barmherzig."

"Und sprechet: „Vergebung!“ und gehet ein durch das Tor in Demut; Wir werden euch eure Sünden vergeben."

"Tötet eure Kinder nicht aus Furcht vor Armut; Wir sorgen für sie und für euch. Fürwahr, sie zu töten ist eine große Sünde."

"Fürwahr, wer im Zustande der Sündhaftigkeit zu seinem Herrn kommt, für den ist die Hölle; darin soll er weder sterben noch leben."

"Setze Allah keine Götter zur Seite, denn Götzendienst ist fürwahr eine schwere Sünde."

"Bis dass, wenn sie es erreichen, ihre Ohren und ihre Augen und ihre Haut Zeugnis gegen sie ablegen werden von dem, was sie zu tun pflegten. // Und sie werden zu ihrer Haut sprechen: „Warum zeugst du wider uns?“ Sie wird sprechen: „Allah hat mir Rede verliehen – Er, Der einem jeden Ding Rede verleiht. Und Er ist es, Der euch erstmals erschuf, und zu Ihm seid ihr zurückgebracht. // Und ihr pflegtet (eure Sünden) nicht so zu verbergen, dass eure Ohren und eure Augen und eure Haut nicht Zeugnis ablegten wider euch; vielmehr wähntet ihr, Allah wüsste nicht vieles von dem, was ihr zu tun pflegtet.“"

"Die unter euch, die ihre Frauen Mütter nennen – sie werden nicht ihre Mütter; ihre Mütter sind einzig jene, die sie geboren haben; und sie äußern da nur Worte, die unziemlich und unwahr sind; doch wahrlich, Allah ist Tilger der Sünden, allverzeihend. // Jene nun, die ihre Frauen Mütter nennen und dann zurücknehmen möchten, was sie gesagt – (die Buße dafür) ist die Befreiung eines Sklaven, bevor sie einander berühren."

"Besser ist es, die Zunge zu beherrschen, als zu fasten bei Wasser und Brot."

"Ein voller Bauch diskutiert leicht über das Fasten."

"Er war äußerst abstinent und enthaltsam in seiner Diät und ein rigoroser Verfechter des Fastens. Er frönte keiner Pracht in seiner Kleidung, was die Zurschaustellung eines kleinlichen Gemüts bedeutet hätte. Noch war die Einfachheit seiner Kleidung affektiert, sondern Ergebnis von Geringschätzung einer Vornehmheit solch trivialen Ursprungs."

"Ich verzichte auf Alkohol. [..] ich merke auf einmal, wie sehr ein Glas Wein am Abend zur Gewohnheit werden kann. Aber ich will das Fasten auch nicht zum Gesetz machen. Die alten Mönche hatten da wunderbare Ausnahmen, etwa den Sonntag und Zeiten "auf Reisen"

"Kehrt um zu mir von ganzem Herzen mit Fasten, Weinen und Klagen. Zerreißt eure Herzen, nicht eure Kleider."

"Wenn ihr fastet, dann setzt keine wehleidige Miene auf wie die Heuchler. Sie vernachlässigen ihr Äußeres, damit die Leute ihnen ansehen, dass sie fasten. Ich versichere euch: Diese Ehrung ist dann schon ihr ganzer Lohn. Wenn du fastest, dann pflege dein Haar und wasche dein Gesicht, damit die Leute nicht merken, dass du fastest, sondern nur dein Vater, der im Verborgenen ist. Und dein Vater, der auch das Verborgene sieht, wird dich belohnen."

"Aber diese Art fährt nicht aus, außer durch Gebet und Fasten"

"Atheismus finde ich abstoßend. Das Universum hat sich einfach nicht so ergeben. Wir brauchen die Religion."

"Atheismus ist der Versuch, die Erde ohne die Sonne zu erklären."

"Atheismus ist fast immer ein Zeichen für eine gesunde geistige Unabhängigkeit und sogar für einen gesunden Geist."

"Atheismus, [letzte] Stufe des Theismus, der negativen Anerkennung Gottes"

"Atheismus ist Selbstmord der Seele."

"Daher denn auch der Mathematiker seine Formelsprache so hoch steigert, uns, insofern es möglich, in der meßbaren und zählbaren Welt die unmeßbare mitzubegreifen. Nun erscheint ihm alles greifbar, faßlich und mechanisch, und er kommt in den Verdacht eines heimlichen Atheismus, indem er ja das Unmeßbarste, welches wir Gott nennen, zugleich mitzuerfassen glaubt und daher dessen besonderes oder vorzügliches Dasein aufzugeben scheint."

""Dem wahren Gesicht des Islam begegnet man nicht auf der deutschen Islamkonferenz. Man begegnet ihm in Ländern wie Pakistan. Dieser Islam richtet sich gegen alle, die nicht nach den Regeln des Koran leben"

"Der Atheismus ist eine Form der Religion, vielleicht sogar der echten."

"Die heutige Abwendung der Menschheit muss man verstehen als ein Abwenden von Gott."

"Die verführerische westliche Lebensart mit ihrem gepflegten Hedonismus und materialistisch praktizierten Atheismus bei den Kindern muslimischer Einwanderer innerhalb weniger Jahre schafft, was christlichen Missionaren über Jahrzehnte nicht gelungen war: junge Muslime ihrer Religion zu entfremden und ihnen diese als Fortschrittshemmnis erscheinen zu lassen."

"Eine Welt ohne Gott ist nicht nur die unsittlichste, sondern auch die unkomfortabelste, die sich ersinnen läßt."

"Nein, ich hatte nie Zweifel an meinem Atheismus."

"Nur ein Atheist kann ein guter Christ sein, nur ein guter Christ kann ein Atheist sein."

"Obwohl Atheismus möglicherweise schon vor Charles Darwin logisch verteidigungsfähig war, hat erst Darwin es ermöglicht ein intellektuell erfüllter Atheist zu sein."

"Wer Gott definiert, ist schon Atheist. Wer ihn beweist, ebenso."

"Ein Atheist ist eine Brut der Hölle, die sich, wie der Teufel, tausendmal verstellen kann. Bald ist's ein listiger Fuchs, bald ein wilder Bär; bald ist's ein Esel, bald ein Philosoph; bald ist's ein Hund, bald ein unverschämter Poete. Kurz, es ist ein Untier, das schon lebendig bei dem Satan in der Hölle brennt, eine Pest der Erde, eine abscheuliche Kreatur, ein Vieh, das dummer ist, als ein Vieh; ein Seelenkannibal, ein Antichrist, ein schreckliches Ungeheuer."

""Das Christentum gehört zweifelsfrei zu Deutschland. Das Judentum gehört zweifelsfrei zu Deutschland. Das ist unsere christlich-jüdische Geschichte. Aber der Islam gehört inzwischen auch zu Deutschland." - Christian Wulff am 3. September 2010 bei seiner Rede zum Jahrestag der Deutschen Einheit, Süddeutsche"

"Denn es gibt viele Ungehorsame, Schwätzer und Schwindler, besonders unter denen, die aus dem Judentum kommen. […] Darum weise sie streng zurecht, damit ihr Glaube wieder gesund wird und sie sich nicht mehr an jüdische Fabeleien halten und an Gebote von Menschen, die sich von der Wahrheit abwenden."

"Wer den Karren in den Dreck gezogen hat, muss ihn wieder herausziehen."

"Das Blut ist es, welches Sühnung tut."

"Sie sind allesamt Sünder und ermangeln des Ruhmes, den sie bei Gott haben sollten, und werden ohne Verdienst gerecht aus seiner Gnade durch die Erlösung, die durch Christus Jesus geschehen ist. Den hat Gott für den Glauben hingestellt als Sühne in seinem Blut zum Erweis seiner Gerechtigkeit, indem er die Sünden vergibt, die früher begangen wurden in der Zeit seiner Geduld, um nun in dieser Zeit seine Gerechtigkeit zu erweisen, dass er selbst gerecht ist und gerecht macht den, der da ist aus dem Glauben an Jesus."

"Am liebsten aber sah er die Schöne in einem grünen Gewand, Denn Grün tragen die Paradiesesmädchen und die Engel im Himmel. Grün ist die Farbe des Zypressenbaums und die der Saat auf den Feldern, und von allen Dingen verlangt die Seele am meisten nach Grün, welches das Auge aufleuchten lässt und die Melodie jeden Wachstums und das Zeichen jeden Gedeihen ist."

"Der Mensch ist weder Engel noch Tier, und das Unglück will es, dass, wer einen Engel aus ihm machen will, ein Tier aus ihm macht."

"Der Kaffee muss schwarz sein wie der Teufel, heiß wie die Hölle, rein wie ein Engel und süß wie die Liebe."

"Der Unnerschied von einen Mensch und einen Engel ist leicht. Das meiste von ein Engel ist innen, und das meiste von ein Mensch ist außen."

"Die Liebe ist ein schöner Engel, aber oft ein schöner Todesengel für das gläubige betrogene Herz!"

"Es ist, als wenn ein Engel schiebt."

"Faule Engel taugen weniger als fleißige Teufel."

"Ich suche allerlanden eine Stadt, // Die einen Engel vor der Pforte hat."

"Nicht jeder, der von einem Engel erleuchtet wird, erkennt, dass er von einem Engel erleuchtet wird."

"»Niemand von uns ist ohne Schuld und ohne Bosheit. Sonst wären wir ja Engel.«"

"O rede noch einmal, glänzender Engel, denn über meinem Haupte erscheinst du mir als ein geflügelter Bote des Himmels."

"Selbst Engelszungen haben nur Erfolg, wenn der Resonanzboden für das, was sie predigen, vorhanden ist."

"Wer unter Menschen nur einen Engel sucht, der findet kaum Menschen. Wer aber unter Menschen nur Menschen sucht, der findet gewiß seinen Engel."

"Am Anfang war auch der Teufel ein Engel."

"Kinder sind Engel, deren Flügel schwinden, je mehr ihre Füße wachsen."

"Kinder und Betrunkene haben ihre Schutzengel immer dabei."

"Man weiß erst, ob man einem Engel ins Gesicht gesehen hat, wenn er wieder gegangen ist."

"Wer Pferde und Frauen sucht ohne Mängel, hat nie ein Pferd im Stall, im Bett nie einen Engel."

"Dort erschien ihm der Engel des Herrn in einer Flamme, die aus einem Dornbusch emporschlug. Er schaute hin: Da brannte der Dornbusch und verbrannte doch nicht."

"Denn er befiehlt seinen Engeln, dich zu behüten auf all deinen Wegen."

""Dann legte er sich unter den Ginsterstrauch und schlief ein. Doch ein Engel rührte ihn an und sprach: Steh auf und iß!" -"

"Der Engel des Herrn umschirmt alle, die ihn fürchten und ehren, und er befreit sie."

"Plötzlich entstand ein gewaltiges Erdbeben; denn ein Engel des Herrn kam vom Himmel herab, trat an das Grab, wälzte den Stein weg und setzte sich darauf. Seine Gestalt leuchtete wie ein Blitz und sein Gewand war weiß wie Schnee."

"Ich bin Rafael, einer von den sieben heiligen Engeln, die das Gebet der Heiligen emportragen und mit ihm vor die Majestät des heiligen Gottes treten."

"Während er noch darüber nachdachte, erschien ihm ein Engel des Herrn im Traum und sagte: Josef, Sohn Davids, fürchte dich nicht, Maria als deine Frau zu dir zu nehmen; denn das Kind, das sie erwartet, ist vom Heiligen Geist."

"Als Josef erwachte, tat er, was der Engel des Herrn ihm befohlen hatte, und nahm seine Frau zu sich."

"Seinen Engeln befiehlt er, dich auf ihren Händen zu tragen, damit dein Fuß nicht an einen Stein stößt."

"Darauf ließ der Teufel von ihm ab, und es kamen Engel und dienten ihm."

"der Feind, der es gesät hat, ist der Teufel; die Ernte ist das Ende der Welt; die Arbeiter bei dieser Ernte sind die Engel."

"Der Menschensohn wird seine Engel aussenden, und sie werden aus seinem Reich alle zusammenholen, die andere verführt und Gottes Gesetz übertreten haben, und werden sie in den Ofen werfen, in dem das Feuer brennt. Dort werden sie heulen und mit den Zähnen knirschen."

"Der Menschensohn wird mit seinen Engeln in der Hoheit seines Vaters kommen und jedem Menschen vergelten, wie es seine Taten verdienen."

"Denn nach der Auferstehung werden die Menschen nicht mehr heiraten, sondern sein wie die Engel im Himmel."

"Er wird seine Engel unter lautem Posaunenschall aussenden, und sie werden die von ihm Auserwählten aus allen vier Windrichtungen zusammenführen, von einem Ende des Himmels bis zum anderen."

"Doch jenen Tag und jene Stunde kennt niemand, auch nicht die Engel im Himmel, nicht einmal der Sohn, sondern nur der Vater."

"Wenn der Menschensohn in seiner Herrlichkeit kommt und alle Engel mit ihm, dann wird er sich auf den Thron seiner Herrlichkeit setzen."

"Oder glaubst du nicht, mein Vater würde mir sogleich mehr als zwölf Legionen Engel schicken, wenn ich ihn darum bitte?"

"Der Engel aber sagte zu den Frauen: Fürchtet euch nicht! Ich weiß, ihr sucht Jesus, den Gekreuzigten. Er ist nicht hier; denn er ist auferstanden, wie er gesagt hat. Kommt her und seht euch die Stelle an, wo er lag."

"Dort blieb Jesus vierzig Tage lang und wurde vom Satan in Versuchung geführt. Er lebte bei den wilden Tieren, und die Engel dienten ihm."

"Und Er lehrte Adam alle Namen; dann stellte Er (die Benannten) vor die Engel hin und sprach: „Nennt Mir ihre Namen, wenn ihr im Recht seid.“"

"[…] wahrhaft gerecht ist der, welcher an Allah glaubt und an den Jüngsten Tag und an die Engel und das Buch und die Propheten […]"

"Dieser Gesandte glaubt an das, was zu ihm herabgesandt wurde von seinem Herrn, und (also) die Gläubigen: sie alle glauben an Allah, und an Seine Engel, und an Seine Bücher, und an Seine Gesandten […]"

"Und wer nicht an Allah und Seine Engel und Seine Bücher und Seine Gesandten und an den Jüngsten Tag glaubt, der ist wahrlich weit irregegangen."

"Wenn die zwei aufnehmenden (Engel) niederschreiben, zur Rechten sitzend und zur Linken."

"Drei Dinge sind nicht zu ermüden: ein Knabe auf der Gasse, ein Mägdlein am Tanz, ein Priester im Opfer."

"Es ist gar viel Dummes in den Satzungen der Kirche. Aber sie will herrschen, und da muß sie eine bornierte Masse haben, die sich duckt und die geneigt ist, sich beherrschen zu lassen. Die hohe, reich dotierte Geistlichkeit fürchtet nichts mehr als die Aufklärung der unteren Massen. Sie hat ihnen auch die Bibel lange genug vorenthalten, solange als irgend möglich."

"Ich glaube, dass der Künstler nicht bloß charmanter Gesellschafter oder Lebensphilosoph, sondern Priester des Ewigen sei."

"Ich halte Kunst nicht für ein Spielwerk, sondern für das ernste hohepriesterliche Geschäft, zugleich aber auch für die lebenslängliche holde Gefährtin des Glücklichen, dem sie sich offenbarte."

"Ich kann nicht verstehen, wie man Gott in einem Priesterseminar finden soll."

"Verfolgung der Andersdenkenden ist überall das Monopol der Geistlichkeit."

"Wir haben also als Missverständnis: […] eine kirchliche Ordnung, mit Priesterschaft, Theologie, Cultus, Sakramenten; kurz, alles das, was Jesus von Nazareth bekämpft hatte."

"Wäre die Ehe ein gutes Sakrament, hätten die Priester es für sich behalten."

"Ich wünschte mir, ich könnte im Jenseits von diesem Leben denken: Es waren schöne Visionen."

"Jenseits dieser Welt und dieses Lebens tastet und sucht man nicht mehr. Es gibt dort nur ein Schauen, und alles Geschaute ist Wahrheit."

"Mein Leben! Immer wieder komme ich in eine unbekannte Stadt und bin fremd. Auch im Jenseits werde ich nur ein Zugereister oder Refugie sein!"

"Und wer eine andre Religion als den Islam begehrt, nimmer soll sie von ihm angenommen werden, und im Jenseits wird er verloren sein."

"Der Lohn derer, die gegen Allah und Seinen Gesandten Krieg führen und Verderben im Lande zu erregen trachten, soll sein, daß sie getötet oder gekreuzigt werden oder daß ihnen Hände und Füße wechselweise abgeschlagen werden oder daß sie aus dem Lande vertrieben werden. Das wird für sie eine Schmach in dieser Welt sein, und im Jenseits wird ihnen eine schwere Strafe zuteil."

"Jedes Volk hat seinen Gesandten. Wenn ihr Gesandter zu ihnen kommt, werden ihre Taten im Jenseits gerecht beurteilt, und ihnen wird nicht unrecht getan."

"Aber ihr zieht das irdische Leben vor, // obgleich das Jenseits besser und beständiger ist. // Das steht bereits in den früher offenbarten Schriften, // in den Schriften von Abraham und Moses."

"Das Menschengeschlecht wird nicht vergehen, bis dass alles geschehe! Bis der Genius der Erleuchtung die Erde durchzogen!"

"Erleuchtung heißt: nichts Dunkles, Abwesenheit von Dunkelheit. Und Abwesenheit von Dunkelheit bedeutet: keine Fehler, keine Schwächen, kein Zu-kurz-Kommen – überall Erfolg, überall Erfüllung von Wünschen. Das ist Erleuchtung. Man lebt in vollständigem Einklang mit dem Naturgesetz. Ganz spontan unterstützt uns die Natur: In keiner Hinsicht mehr befinden wir uns dann noch im Dunklen."

"In der Bedrängnis wende dich sofort voll Vertrauen an Gott, und du wirst gestärkt, erleuchtet und belehrt."

"Nicht jeder, der von einem Engel erleuchtet wird, erkennt, dass er von einem Engel erleuchtet wird."

"Nur wer den Liebesfunken in sich zur hellen Flamme anfacht, der erwärmt, der erleuchtet."

"Wach auf, der du schläfst, und steh auf von den Toten, so wird dich Christus erleuchten."

""Der Schrecken eines Atomkriegs geht"

"Es gibt etwas, wovon du nicht weißt, sondern was du dir sagen lassen musst, und was du glauben sollst: Du bist in Sünde empfangen, in Übertretung geboren; du bist von Geburt an ein Sünder, in der Gewalt des Teufels; falls du in diesem Zustande bleibst, ist dir die Hölle sicher. Da hat Gott in unendlicher Liebe eine Veranstaltung zu deiner Erlösung getroffen, hat seinen Sohn geboren werden, leiden und sterben lassen. Glaubst du das, dann wirst du ewig selig. Dies wird dir verkündigt, diese frohe Botschaft!"

"Sing, unsterbliche Seele, der sündigen Menschen Erlösung."

"Wer immer strebend sich bemüht, // Den können wir erlösen."

"Wer nicht sündigen will, will auch nicht erlöst werden. Der vollkommen Heilige würde des Teufels sein."

"Sie sind allesamt Sünder und ermangeln des Ruhmes, den sie bei Gott haben sollten, und werden ohne Verdienst gerecht aus seiner Gnade durch die Erlösung, die durch Christus Jesus geschehen ist. Den hat Gott für den Glauben hingestellt als Sühne in seinem Blut zum Erweis seiner Gerechtigkeit, indem er die Sünden vergibt, die früher begangen wurden in der Zeit seiner Geduld, um nun in dieser Zeit seine Gerechtigkeit zu erweisen, dass er selbst gerecht ist und gerecht macht den, der da ist aus dem Glauben an Jesus."

""Denn Gott hat die Menschen so sehr geliebt, dass er seinen einzigen Sohn für sie hergab. Jeder, der an ihn glaubt, wird nicht zugrunde gehen, sondern das ewige Leben haben." (Johannesevangelium, Kapitel 3,16)"

""Wisset, dass ihr nicht mit vergänglichem Silber oder Gold erlöst seid aus eurem sinnlosen Leben, wie es schon eure Vorfahren geführt haben, sondern mit dem teuren Blut Christi als eines unschuldigen und fehlerlosen Lammes." (1. Petrus 1,18)"

"Eine Welt ohne Gott ist nicht nur die unsittlichste, sondern auch die unkomfortabelste, die sich ersinnen lässt."

"Einem wirklich Gottlosen bin ich in meinem ganzen Leben noch nicht begegnet. Statt seiner bin ich nur dem Ruhelosen begegnet."

"Ueberhaupt sind Mannspersonen, die im Cölibat leben, im Durchschnitte gottlos; ehelos gebliebene Frauenzimmer aber fromm."

"Wenn ich einen Gottlosen bekehren wollte, würde ich ihn in eine Wüste verbannen."

"Das Opfer der Gottlosen ist ein Gräuel für den Herrn, aber das Gebet der Aufrichtigen sein Wohlgefallen."

"Das Wenige des Gerechten ist besser als der Überfluss vieler Gottloser. Denn die Arme der Gottlosen werden zerbrochen, aber der Herr stützt die Gerechten."

"Dem Gerechten gereicht sein Erwerb zum Leben, aber dem Gottlosen sein Einkommen zur Sünde."

"Denn für den Bösen gibt es keine Zukunft, die Leuchte der Gottlosen erlischt."

"Der Gerechte ißt, daß sein Seele satt wird; der Gottlosen Bauch aber hat nimmer genug."

"Der Gerechte wird aus seiner Not erlöst, und der Gottlose kommt an seine Statt."

"Der Gottlose flieht, auch wenn niemand ihn jagt; der Gerechte aber ist furchtlos wie ein junger Löwe."

"Der Gottlose ist wie ein Wetter, das vorübergeht und nicht mehr ist; der Gerechte aber besteht ewiglich."

"Der Gottlosen Arbeit bringt trügerischen Gewinn; aber wer Gerechtigkeit sät, hat sicheren Lohn."

"Die Gerechtigkeit behütet den Unschuldigen; aber die Gottlosigkeit bringt den Sünder zu Fall."

"Die Gerechtigkeit des Frommen macht seinen Weg eben; aber der Gottlose wird fallen durch seine Gottlosigkeit."

"Ein gottlos Wesen fördert den Menschen nicht; aber die Wurzel der Gerechten wird bleiben."

"Im Hause des Gottlosen ist der Fluch des Herrn; aber das Haus der Gerechten wird gesegnet."

"Kommt ein Gottloser, kommt auch Verachtung und mit der Schandtat die Schmach."

"Stolz der Augen und Hochmut des Herzens – die Leuchte der Gottlosen ist Sünde."

"Was der Gottlose fürchtet, das wird ihm begegnen; und was die Gerechten begehren, wird ihnen gegeben."

"Wenn die Gerechten triumphieren, ist die Herrlichkeit groß; wenn aber die Gottlosen aufkommen, versteckt sich der Mensch."

"Wohl dem, der nicht wandelt im Rat der Gottlosen noch tritt auf den Weg der Sünder noch sitzt, da die Spötter sitzen, sondern hat Lust zum Gesetz des Herrn und redet von seinem Gesetz Tag und Nacht! Der ist wie ein Baum, gepflanzt an den Wasserbächen, der seine Frucht bringt zu seiner Zeit, und seine Blätter verwelken nicht; und was er macht, das gerät wohl."

"Das Kopftuch ist die Flagge des islamischen Kreuzzuges. Diese islamistischen Kreuzzügler sind die Faschisten des 21. Jahrhunderts."

"Der Islam hat drei Grundglaubensrichtungen: Sunniten, Schiiten und Peter Scholl-Latour."

"Der Islam ist der Feind der Vernunft."

"Der Islam ist ein Teich. Und der Teich ist ein stehendes Gewässer. Voll mit Wasser, das nie abfließt, sich nie bewegt, sich nie reinigt, nie zu fließendem Wasser wird, das bis ins Meer strömt."

""Der Kern des Problems ist der faschistische Islam, die kranke Ideologie von Allah und Mohammed, wie sie in dem islamistischen Mein Kampf niedergelegt ist." - Geert Wilders in einem Brief an die niederländische Zeitung „de Volkskrant“, zitiert in: „Rechtspopulist fordert Koran-Verbot“ Spiegel, 8. August 2007"

"„Der Unterschied liegt darin, dass im Islam keine Säkularisierung stattgefunden hat. Es hat keine Neuinterpretation gegeben, keine Verweltlichung, keine Aufklärung. Es gab dort keinen Mendelssohn, keinen Luther und auch keine bibelkritische Auslegung, die die Schrift nicht wörtlich nimmt. Da, wo die Schrift wörtlich genommen wird, kommt es ja auch bei Juden und Christen zu Katastrophen.“ Henryk M. Broder"

"Die meisten Opfer islamistischen Terrors sind Moslems"

"Entweder es gelingt uns, den Islam zu europäisieren, oder Europa wird islamisiert. Mitte des Jahrhunderts, also in 44 Jahren, haben die Moslems in Europa über 50% der Bevölkerung. Ende des Jahrhunderts singt der Papst vorm Minarett."

"Es gibt keinen Humor, es gibt kein Gelächter, es gibt keinen Spaß im Islam."

"Ich bin der Überzeugung, dass der Islam sehr stark kämpferische, sieghafte Elemente fast absolut setzt. Mohammed war ein Krieger. Eroberung ist im Islam ein zentrales Paradigma. In der Bibel hat es von Anfang an eine große Möglichkeit der Annahme Anderer gegeben, in ihr finden sich so aufregende Aussagen wie 'Du sollst den Fremden annehmen wie Dich selbst'."

"Ich bin fest davon überzeugt, dass das Schicksal der Menschheit an die Jamaat Ahmadiyya geknüpft worden ist. Ich bin sicher, dass wenn der endgültige Sieg des Islam kommt – und er wird bestimmt kommen –, dies durch die Ahmadiyya der Fall sein wird."

"Ich würde und werde mich öffentlich mit dem Islam nicht beschäftigen. Aus Angst."

""Islam, diese absurde Theologie eines unmoralischen Beduinen, ist eine verwesende Leiche, die unser Leben vergiftet..." - Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, nur zugeschriebenes, kein Originalzitat; Quelle: Mustapha Kémal ou la mort d'un empire, Jacques Benoist-Méchin, éd. Albin Michel, 1954, p. 323"

"Islam erlaubt weder Zwang zum Zwecke der Verbreitung seiner eigenen Botschaft, noch gibt sie anderen Religionen freie Hand, das zu tun. In Terrorismus zu schwelgen, und sei es auch im Namen der edelsten Ziele, ist vollkommen unvereinbar mit den Lehren des Islam."

"Merkwürdig ist die Renaissance des Islam in unserer Zeit. Zu beobachten ist dabei, dass er auf die Technik als die Uniform des Arbeiters angewiesen bleibt."

"Nach dem linken Faschismus der Sowjets, nach dem rechten Faschismus der Nazis, ist der Islamismus der Faschismus des 21. Jahrhunderts."

"Närrisch, dass jeder in seinem Falle // Seine besondere Meinung preist! // Wenn Islam »Gott ergeben« heißt, // In Islam leben und sterben wir alle."

"Nicht die Moschee, der Islam ist das Problem!"

""Was mich dorthin treibt, ist dieser Hass des Westens auf die muslimische Welt, dieser unberechtigte Hass." - Jürgen Todenhöfer, auf die Frage, was ihn veranlasse, immer wieder in den Irak zu reisen, Stern Nr. 31/2008 vom 24. Juli 2008, S. 61"

"Was nützte der Islam dem Westen (und den Muslimen), wenn er sich nicht mehr von ihm unterschiede?"

""Wenn wir Mohammedaner geworden wären, würden wir heute die Welt besitzen." - Adolf Hitler, zitiert in "Von Allah zum Terror?" von Hans-Peter Raddatz, Herbig, München 2002, 2. Auflage, ISBN 377662289X"

"Wir brauchen den Islam und sollten ihn nicht bekämpfen."

"Allahs Religion (wollen wir annehmen); und wer ist ein besserer (Lehrer) im Glauben als Allah? Ihn allein verehren wir."

"Und wer eine andre Religion als den Islam begehrt, nimmer soll sie von ihm angenommen werden, und im Jenseits wird er verloren sein."

"Wen Allah leiten will, dem weitet Er die Brust für den Islam; und wen Er in die Irre gehen lassen will, dem macht Er die Brust eng und bang, als sollte er zum Himmel emporklimmen. So verhängt Allah Strafe über jene, die nicht glauben."

"Sie halten es dir als eine Gnade vor, dass sie den Islam angenommen haben. Sprich: „Haltet mir eure Annahme des Islam nicht als eine Gnade gegen mich vor. Vielmehr hat Allah euch eine Gnade erwiesen, indem Er euch zu dem Glauben geleitet hat, wenn ihr wahrhaftig seid.“"

"[…] und du die Menschen scharenweise in die Religion Allahs eintreten siehst […]"

"Das Volk glaubt nämlich nicht an sich selbst. Und Gott schweigt. Hierin liegt der Grund der universellen Tragödie: Gott schweigt. Und er schweigt, weil er Atheist ist."

"Ein Atheist ist eine Brut der Hölle, die sich, wie der Teufel, tausendmal verstellen kann. Bald ist's ein listiger Fuchs, bald ein wilder Bär; bald ist's ein Esel, bald ein Philosoph; bald ist's ein Hund, bald ein unverschämter Poete. Kurz, es ist ein Untier, das schon lebendig bei dem Satan in der Hölle brennt, eine Pest der Erde, eine abscheuliche Kreatur, ein Vieh, das dummer ist, als ein Vieh; ein Seelenkannibal, ein Antichrist, ein schreckliches Ungeheuer."

"Für Segen bin ich als Atheist nicht zuständig."

"Wissen Sie, ich bin als Atheist in das Konzentrationslager gekommen, und nach allem, was ich dort erlebt habe verließ ich es als gläubiger Christ. Mir ist klargeworden, dass ein Volk ohne metaphysische Bindung, ohne Bindung an Gott, weder regiert noch auf Dauer blühen kann."

"Kein christliches und zivilisiertes Gemeinwesen kann es sich erlauben, einen gleichmütigen Mangel an Rücksicht für die Jugend von heute an den Tag zu legen; denn wenn es dies tut, so wird es morgen eine schreckliche Buße an finanziellen Lasten und sozialer Erniedrigung zu zahlen haben."

"Abbitte ist die beste Buße."

"Nicht wieder tun ist die beste Buße."

"Die Zeit ist erfüllt, und das Reich Gottes ist herbei gekommen. Tut Buße und glaubt an das Evangelium."

"Ich bin gekommen, die Sünder zur Buße zu rufen und nicht die Gerechten."

"So tut nun Buße und bekehrt euch, dass eure Sünden getilgt werden."

"Tut Buße und jeder von euch lasse sich taufen auf den Namen Jesu Christi zur Vergebung eurer Sünden, so werdet ihr empfangen die Gabe des Heiligen Geistes."

"Zwar hat Gott über die Zeit der Unwissenheit hinweggesehen; nun aber gebietet er den Menschen, dass alle an allen Enden Buße tun."

"Und Gott der Herr gebot dem Menschen und sprach: Du darfst essen von allen Bäumen im Garten, aber von dem Baum der Erkenntnis des Guten und Bösen sollst du nicht essen; denn an dem Tage, da du von ihm isst, musst du des Todes sterben."

""Aberglaube bringt Unglück." – Raymond Smullyan, 5000 B.C. and Other Philosophical Fantasies, St. Martin's Press, New York 1983. Kap. 1.3.8; zitiert nach Umberto Eco: Das Foucaultsche Pendel, übers. v. Burkhart Kroeber. Hanser, München 1989. S. 5"

"Abergläubische Handlungen oder die Benutzung von magischen Gegenständen, z.B. Amuletten, sind an sich wirkungslos, stellen aber eine Art Kommunikationsmittel mit Dämonen dar und bewirken den stillschweigenden Abschluss eines Dämonenpakts durch den Willen des Ausübenden und die dem Dämon gegebenen Zeichen."

"Das einzige Mittel gegen den Aberglauben ist die Wissenschaft."

"Der Aberglaube macht die Gottheit zum Götzen, und der Götzendiener ist um so gefährlicher, weil er ein Schwärmer ist."

"Der Aberglauben schlimmster ist, den seinen für den erträglicheren zu halten."

"Der Tod ist das Ende aller Dinge des menschlichen Lebens, nur des Aberglaubens nicht."

"Ein jeder Aberglaube versetzt uns in das Heidenthum."

"Es gibt Fragen, auf die die Menschen Antworten haben wollen, aber keine finden. Es ist ein Aberglauben zu meinen, dass diese Fragen mit dem Fortschritt der Wissenschaften verschwinden können."

"Was wir Aberglauben nennen, das ist oft nur das Zittern und Wallen der erwärmten Luft um die aufrechte Flamme des Glaubens."

"Beten und Düngen ist kein Aberglaube."

"Da nimm die Schlüssel zu den dreizehn Thüren des Himmelreichs in Verwahrung: zwölf davon darfst du aufschließen, und die Herrlichkeiten darin betrachten, aber die dreizehnte, wozu dieser kleine Schlüssel gehört, die ist dir verboten: hüte dich daß du sie nicht aufschließest, sonst wirst du unglücklich."

"[…] wenn die menschliche Sexualität nicht als ein hoher, vom Schöpfer geschenkter Wert betrachtet wird, verliert auch der um des Himmelreiches willen geleistete Verzicht auf sie seine Bedeutung."

"Der Arzt ist ein Wegweiser ins Himmelreich."

"In jener Stunde kamen die Jünger zu Jesus und fragten: Wer ist im Himmelreich der Größte? Da rief er ein Kind herbei, stellte es in ihre Mitte und sagte: Amen, das sage ich euch: Wenn ihr nicht umkehrt und wie die Kinder werdet, könnt ihr nicht in das Himmelreich kommen. Wer so klein sein kann wie dieses Kind, der ist im Himmelreich der Größte."

"Kehrt um! Denn das Himmelreich ist nahe."

"Selig sind, die da geistlich arm sind; denn ihrer ist das Himmelreich."

"Selig, die um der Gerechtigkeit willen verfolgt werden; denn ihnen gehört das Himmelreich."

"Wer auch nur eines von den kleinsten Geboten aufhebt und die Menschen entsprechend lehrt, der wird im Himmelreich der Kleinste sein. Wer sie aber hält und halten lehrt, der wird groß sein im Himmelreich."

"Der fortwährende Einfluß des Buddhismus […] ergab eine Gesellschaft des Friedens und der Harmonie. Wir genossen Freiheit und Zufriedenheit."

"Es ist besser, wenn jeder Mensch seiner eigenen Tradition folgt. Sie im Westen haben einen jüdisch-christlichen Hintergrund, es ist besser, wenn Sie bei Ihren Wurzeln bleiben."

"Heute wird zu Recht beklagt, dass die tibetische Kultur von den Chinesen unterdrückt wird. Darüber sollte man aber nicht vergessen, dass die tibetische Kultur aus einer Religion hervorgeht, die noch sehr viel brutaler war, und die Menschen in Tibet wie in der schlimmsten Diktatur unterdrückte. Deshalb verbietet sich jede unkritische Gefühlsduselei für den Dalai Lama und die tibetischen Mönche."

"Ist der Buddhismus ein Weg des Loslassens, sind vielleicht gerade jene die konsequentesten Buddhisten, die ihn wieder verlassen."

"Mehr als jede andere Tugend betont der Buddhismus Uneigennützigkeit, die in Liebe und heilender Hinwendung Ausdruck findet."

"Was für das Christentum gilt, gilt gleichermaßen auch für den Buddhismus. […] die buddhistische Priesterschaft – wie es sie beispielsweise in Tibet gibt – ist in höchstem Grade bildungsfeindlich, tyrannisch und grausam."

"Wenn alle Menschen streng nach Christentum, Judaismus, Buddhismus und Islam leben würden, hätten wir sehr viel weniger Probleme auf dieser Welt."

"… reiß den Altar des Baal nieder, der deinem Vater gehört, und den Kultpfahl daneben hau um!"

"Das Christentum ist eine gewaltige Macht. Dass zum Beispiel protestantische Missionare aus Asien unbekehrt wieder nach Hause kommen – das ist eine große Leistung."

"Die Botschaft der Missionare machte fast nirgendwo nennenswerte Fortschritte, solange nicht die Macht von Besatzern hinter ihr stand."

"Die verführerische westliche Lebensart mit ihrem gepflegten Hedonismus und materialistisch praktizierten Atheismus bei den Kindern muslimischer Einwanderer innerhalb weniger Jahre schafft, was christlichen Missionaren über Jahrzehnte nicht gelungen war: junge Muslime ihrer Religion zu entfremden und ihnen diese als Fortschrittshemmnis erscheinen zu lassen."

"Ein guter Missionar hatte seinen Mantel zu tief in das Blut der Reben getaucht und schwankte sichtbarlich unter der Last."

"Fromm, gütig, segenspendend, fürsorglich – so ist das traditionelle Bild christlicher Missionare in der farbigen Welt. Doch der Schein trügt, Missionen waren Verbündete des Kolonialismus, oft sogar grausame. Sie halfen, alte Kulturen zu zerstören, Menschen zu entwurzeln, Familien und ganze Völker zu spalten."

""Missionare müssen indianisch lernen"

"Wie erstaunlich ist der Wahnwitz jener Missionare, die, um »Wilden« Zivilisation und Bildung zu bringen, sie ihren Kirchenglauben lehren."

"Ach Gott, wolltest du doch den Frevler töten! Dass doch die Blutgierigen von mir wichen!"

"Denn es entspricht der Gerechtigkeit Gottes […] Dann übt er Vergeltung an denen, die Gott nicht kennen und dem Evangelium Jesu, unseres Herrn, nicht gehorchen."

"Der Menschensohn wird seine Engel aussenden, und sie werden aus seinem Reich alle zusammenholen, die andere verführt und Gottes Gesetz übertreten haben, und werden sie in den Ofen werfen, in dem das Feuer brennt. Dort werden sie heulen und mit den Zähnen knirschen. Dann werden die Gerechten im Reich ihres Vaters wie die Sonne leuchten. Wer Ohren hat, der höre."

"Der Prophet oder Traumseher aber soll mit dem Tod bestraft werden. Er hat euch aufgewiegelt gegen den Herrn, euren Gott, der euch aus Ägypten geführt und dich aus dem Sklavenhaus freigekauft hat."

"Diese frechen und anmaßenden Menschen […] sind wie unvernünftige Tiere, die von Natur dazu geboren sind, gefangen zu werden und umzukommen […] ein schmutziger Schandfleck sind sie […] unersättlich in der Sünde […] Kinder des Fluches …"

"Für die Reinen ist alles rein; für die Unreinen und Ungläubigen aber ist nichts rein, sogar ihr Denken und ihr Gewissen sind unrein. Sie beteuern Gott zu kennen, durch ihr Tun aber verleugnen sie ihn; es sind abscheuliche und unbelehrbare Menschen, die zu nichts Gutem taugen."

"Gieß deinen Zorn aus über die Heiden, die dich nicht kennen, über jedes Reich, das deinen Namen nicht anruft."

"Ihre Altäre sollt ihr vielmehr niederreißen, ihre Steinmahle zerschlagen, ihre Kultpfähle umhauen."

"… reiß den Altar des Baal nieder, der deinem Vater gehört, und den Kultpfahl daneben hau um!"

"Sie hindern uns daran, den Heiden das Evangelium zu verkünden und ihnen so das Heil zu bringen. Dadurch machen sie unablässig das Maß ihrer Sünden voll. Aber der ganze Zorn ist schon über sie gekommen."

"So sollt ihr gegen sie vorgehen: Ihr sollt ihre Altäre niederreißen, ihre Steinmale zerschlagen, ihre Kultpfähle umhauen und ihre Götterbilder im Feuer verbrennen."

"Wenn du einen Sektierer einmal und ein zweites Mal ermahnt hast, so meide ihn. Du weißt, ein solcher Mensch ist auf dem verkehrten Weg; er sündigt und spricht sich selbst das Urteil."

"Wenn in deiner Mitte ein Prophet oder Traumseher auftritt und dir ein Zeichen oder Wunder ankündigt, // wobei er sagt: Folgen wir anderen Göttern nach […] // Der Prophet oder Traumseher aber soll mit dem Tod bestraft werden. […] // Wenn er hingerichtet wird, sollst du als erster deine Hand gegen ihn erheben [erwürgen: Luther], dann erst das ganze Volk. // Du sollst ihn steinigen, und er soll sterben […] // dann sollst du die Bürger dieser Stadt mit scharfem Schwert erschlagen, du sollst an der Stadt […] die Vernichtungsweihe vollstrecken […] // als Ganzopfer für den Herrn, deinen Gott, im Feuer verbrennen. …"

"Wer das Tier und sein Standbild anbetet und wer das Kennzeichen auf seiner Stirn oder seiner Hand annimmt, // der muss den Wein des Zornes trinken, der unverdünnt im Becher seines Zorns gemischt ist. Und er wird mit Feuer und Schwefel gequält vor den Augen der heiligen Engel und des Lammes."

"Wer aber nicht glaubt, wird verdammt werden."

"Wer nicht im Buch des Lebens verzeichnet war, wurde in den Feuersee geworfen."

"Wer nicht in mir bleibt, wird wie die Rebe weggeworfen, und er verdorrt. Man sammelt die Reben, wirft sie ins Feuer, und sie verbrennen."

"Und bekämpfet sie, bis die Verfolgung aufgehört hat und der Glauben an Allah (frei) ist. Wenn sie jedoch ablassen, dann (wisset), dass keine Feindschaft erlaubt ist, außer wider die Ungerechten."

"Wenn sie Muslime werden, folgen sie der Rechtleitung. Wenn sie sich aber abkehren, so obliegt dir nur die Ausrichtung (der Botschaft)."

"Und schmähet nicht die, welche sie statt Allah anrufen, sonst würden sie aus Groll Allah schmähen ohne Wissen. Also ließen Wir jedem Volke sein Tun als wohlgefällig erscheinen."

"„Und wenn die verbotenen Monate verflossen sind, dann tötet die Götzendiener, wo ihr sie trefft, und ergreift sie, und belagert sie, und lauert ihnen auf in jedem Hinterhalt.“"

"Und wenn einer der Götzendiener bei dir Schutz sucht, dann gewähre ihm Schutz, bis er Allahs Wort vernehmen kann; hierauf lasse ihn die Stätte seiner Sicherheit erreichen."

"Noch sage ich von denen, die eure Augen verachten: „Allah wird ihnen niemals Gutes gewähren.“ Allah kennt, was in ihren Herzen ist, am besten; wahrlich, ich gehörte sonst zu den Ungerechten."

"Die Sache ruht völlig bei Allah. Haben denn die Gläubigen nicht (längst) erfahren, dass, hätte Allah Seinen Willen erzwungen, Er sicherlich der ganzen Menschheit hätte den Weg weisen können?"

"Und hätte Allah gewollt, Er hätte euch sicherlich zu einer einzigen Gemeinde gemacht; jedoch Er lässt den irregehen, der es will, und führt den richtig, der es will, und ihr werdet gewiss zur Rechenschaft gezogen werden für das, was ihr getan."

"Und würde Allah nicht die einen Menschen durch die anderen im Zaum halten, so wären gewiss Klöster und Kirchen und Synagogen und Moscheen niedergerissen worden, worin der Name Allahs oft genannt wird. Allah wird sicherlich dem beistehen, der Ihm beisteht."

"Einem jeden Volke haben Wir Andachtsübungen gegeben, die sie befolgen; sie sollen daher nicht mit dir streiten in dieser Sache; sondern rufe sie zu deinem Herrn."

"Wer rechtgeleitet ist, der ist es zu seinem eigenen Besten; und wer irregeht, der geht irre zu seinem Schaden. Und du bist nicht Wächter über sie."

"O ihr Menschen, Wir haben […] euch zu Völkern und Stämmen gemacht, dass ihr einander kennen möchtet. Wahrlich, der Angesehenste von euch ist vor Allah der, der unter euch der Gerechteste ist."

"Wir wissen am besten, was sie sprechen; und du bist nicht berufen, sie irgend zu zwingen."

"Sprich: „O ihr Ungläubigen! Ich verehre nicht das, was ihr verehret, Noch verehrt ihr das, was ich verehre. Und ich will das nicht verehren, was ihr verehret; Noch wollt ihr das verehren, was ich verehre. Euch euer Glaube, und mir mein Glaube.“"

""Durch verschiedene Wandlungen schreitet // Und suchet mühsam den Weg, // Tappend im Dunklen."

"Ich bin Horus von Jahrmillionen! // Zu euch entsend ich die Glut meiner Strahlen, // Auf daß eure Herzen sich kehren zu mir."

"Ich bin das Heute. // Ich bin das Gestern. // Ich bin das Morgen. // Meine wiederholten Geburten durchschreitend // Bleibe ich kraftvoll jung."

""Seele bin ich, dem Himmelsmeere entstiegen, // Auch der Götter Nektar, Hu-Gott, der das Böse verabscheut. // Wahrheit-Gerechtigkeit folgend streb ich nach Gutem. // Mein heiliger Name, der Name der göttlichen Seele"

"Das einzige, was mich zur Zeit noch daran hindert, wieder in die katholische Kirche einzutreten, sind die eingedeutschten Messen und das renovierte Vaterunser. Der Text, den ich noch gelernt hatte, war in einer unantastbaren Sprache abgefasst, auf einer literarischen Höhe, die jedem sofort vermittelte, hier radebrecht kein reformfreudiger Studienrat, hier spricht Gott."

"Das Vaterunser ist der grösste Märtyrer auf Erden. Denn jedermann plagt's und missbraucht's."

"Hinter Kronstadt hat das deutsche Vaterunser ein Ende."

"HEATHEN, n. A benighted creature who has the folly to worship something that he can see and feel."

"If I had been a Heathen, I'd have crowned Neaera's curls, And filled my life with love affairs, My house with dancing girls."

"O father, father Gone from us, lost to us, The church lies bereft, Alone, Desecrated, desolated. And the heathen shall build On the ruins Their world without God. I see it. I see it."

"Though every prospect pleases And only man is vile. In vain with lavish kindness The gifts of God are strewn, The heathen in his blindness Bows down to wood and stone."

"The editor perhaps may consider himself justified by numerous precedents among the several partisans of different Christian sects in applying the name of heathen to one who takes the Precepts of Jesus as his principal guide in matters of religious and civic duties; as Roman Catholics bestow the appellation of heretics or infidels on all classes of Protestants; and the Protestants do not spare the title idolater to Roman Catholics; Trinitarians deny the name Christian to Unitarians, while the latter retort by stigmatising the worshippers of the son of man as Pagans who adore a created and dependent being."

"When the Christian Sunday schools teach the children that ‘the heathens cannot enjoy the blessings of salvation’ they foster an attitude in the impressionable child mind that all heathens or non-Christians must be had, ignoble, or inferior and there must be something fundamentally wrong in them. This attitude grows; and only a few, in their maturity after great efforts, succeed to free themselves from this prejudice based upon ignorance and false teachings."

"Very many Americans have an offensive habit of referring to natives as `heathen.' Mahommedans and Hindus are heathen alike in their eyes."

"All great truths begin as blasphemies."

"Talk not to me of blasphemy, man; I'd strike the sun if it insulted me."

"One can only blaspheme if one believes."

"When I say I am the Avatar, there are a few who feel happy, some who feel shocked, and many who hearing me claim this, would take me for a hypocrite, a fraud, a supreme egoist, or just mad. 'If I were to say every one of you is an Avatar, a few would be tickled, and many would consider it a blasphemy or a joke. The fact that God being One, Indivisible and equally in us all, we can be nought else but one, is too much for the duality-conscious mind to accept. Yet each of us is what the other is. I know I am the Avatar in every sense of the word, and that each one of you is an Avatar in one sense or the other. It is an unalterable and universally recognized fact since time immemorial that God knows everything. God does everything, and that nothing happens but by the Will of God. Therefore it is God who makes me say I am the Avatar, and that each one of you is an Avatar. Again, it is He Who is tickled through some, and through others is shocked. It is God Who acts, and God Who reacts. It is He Who scoffs, and He Who responds. He is the Creator, the Producer, the Actor and the Audience in His own Divine Play."

"You keep accusing me of blasphemy all of the time, but I cannot be convicted of a victimless crime."

"Atheists are often charged with blasphemy, but it is a crime they cannot commit... When the Atheist examines, denounces, or satirises the gods, he is not dealing with persons but with ideas. He is incapable of insulting God, for he does not admit the existence of any such being... We attack not a person but a belief, not a being but an idea, not a fact but a fancy."

"I am a lover of truth, a worshipper of freedom, a celebrant at the altar of language and purity and tolerance. That is my religion, and every day I am sorely, grossly, heinously and deeply offended, wounded, mortified and injured by a thousand different blasphemies against it. When the fundamental canons of truth, honesty, compassion and decency are hourly assaulted by fatuous bishops, pompous, illiberal and ignorant priests, politicians and prelates, sanctimonious censors, self-appointed moralists and busy-bodies, what recourse of ancient laws have I? None whatever. Nor would I ask for any. For unlike these blistering imbeciles my belief in my religion is strong and I know that lies will always fail and indecency and intolerance will always perish."

"In all 6,236 verses of the Quran, there is not a single verse calling on Muslims to silence blasphemers by force. Not in 1989, when Khomeini called on believers to kill Salman Rushdie, not in 1992, when the Egyptian intellectual Farag Foda was shot in Egypt, and still not in 2011. The Quran is immutable, and all it does is tell believers to respond to blasphemy with dignity. But the doctrine of death for apostasy had taken on a life of its own in the previous two decades and had made its way back to Pakistan. The cultural war that Khomeini had started with his fatwa had seriously restrained the boundaries of expression. Worse: in the time that had elapsed since the assassination of Foda in Cairo in 1992, the reference points had moved. No one called it terrorism anymore; no one mourned the victims as martyrs of the nation, as Foda had been mourned. Few dared to protest against those who killed in the name of Islam, afraid they would meet the same fate. Everything had shifted to the right; the old extremes were the new center—or so it felt."

"Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought."

"God knows how often all of us have taken the great name of God in vain: or have said more than becomes us, and talked of things we should not do."

"Never talk of that which is within you; God is in us, as well as in you: never make a flourish of what is in you; for the fear of God is before our eyes as well as yours, and what we do, we shall have comfort in, in that it is according to the laws of England, the the rules of which we are sworn to observe, and every man will do righteous things as well as you."

""..Religious tolerance should be at the heart of secularism, but going on killing innocent people is not something that should be endured in the garb of blasphemy...The supremacist, exclusionary, and barbarian nature of ... has become a hazard to the safety of the common man and the secular fabric of this nation, and we have failed to address the very root of this bizarre problem as a state. A state that has failed to answer these real questions:..How is the ... state planning to provide justice to the innocent people who succumbed to Islamic fanaticism in the name of blasphemy? Are there going to be enough laws to prevent such acts of terror? ...Do we deserve to be worried about our children posting something on social media because, literally, it can get them killed?...Whether in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, Islamic republics like Pakistan, or secular democracies like India and France, Islam’s flirtations with blasphemy are soaked in blood..."

"To make sure that my blasphemy is thoroughly expressed, I hereby state my opinion that the notion of a god is a basic superstition, that there is no evidence for the existence of any god(s), that devils, demons, angels and saints are myths, that there is no life after death, heaven nor hell, that the Pope is a dangerous, bigoted, medieval dinosaur, and that the Holy Ghost is a comic-book character worthy of laughter and derision. I accuse the Christian god of murder by allowing the Holocaust to take place -- not to mention the "ethnic cleansing" presently being performed by Christians in our world -- and I condemn and vilify this mythical deity for encouraging racial prejudice and commanding the degradation of women. (This comprehensive statement was arrived at by examining the statutes of those seven states that have remained in the Dark Ages, so that I might satisfy their definitions of blasphemy.)"

"It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us."

"Churches are becoming political organizations... It probably will not be long until the churches will divide as sharply upon political, as upon theological questions; and when that day comes, if there are not liberals enough to hold the balance of power, this Government will be destroyed. The liberty of man is not safe in the hands of any church. Wherever the Bible and sword are in partnership, man is a slave. All laws for the purpose of making man worship God, are born of the same spirit that kindled the fires of the auto da fe, and lovingly built the dungeons of the Inquisition. All laws defining and punishing blasphemy — making it a crime to give your honest ideas about the Bible, or to laugh at the ignorance of the ancient Jews, or to enjoy yourself on the Sabbath, or to give your opinion of Jehovah, were passed by impudent bigots, and should be at once repealed by honest men. An infinite God ought to be able to protect himself, without going in partnership with State Legislatures. Certainly he ought not so to act that laws become necessary to keep him from being laughed at. No one thinks of protecting Shakespeare from ridicule, by the threat of fine and imprisonment. It strikes me that God might write a book that would not necessarily excite the laughter of his children. In fact, I think it would be safe to say that a real God could produce a work that would excite the admiration of mankind. Surely politicians could be better employed than in passing laws to protect the literary reputation of the Jewish God."

"Blasphemy is a padlock which hypocrisy tries to put on the lips of all honest men."

"For thousands of years people have been trying to force other people to think their way. Did they succeed? No. Will they succeed? No. Why? Because brute force is not an argument."

"It seems to me that if there is some infinite being who wants us to think alike he would have made us alike."

"How has the church in every age, when in authority, defended itself? Always by a statute against blasphemy, against argument, against free speech. And there never was such a statute that did not stain the book that it was in and that did not certify to the savagery of the men who passed it."

"By making a statute and by defining blasphemy, the church sought to prevent discussion — sought to prevent argument — sought to prevent a man giving his honest opinion. Certainly a tenet, a dogma, a doctrine, is safe when hedged about by a statute that prevents your speaking against it. In the silence of slavery it exists. It lives because lips are locked. It lives because men are slaves."

"Now, gentlemen, what is blasphemy? Of course nobody knows what it is, unless he takes into consideration where he is. What is blasphemy in one country would be a religious exhortation in another."

"By force you can make hypocrites — men who will agree with you from the teeth out, and in their hearts hate you. We want no more hypocrites. We have enough in every community. And how are you going to keep from having more? By having the air free, — by wiping from your statute books such miserable and infamous laws as this."

"Blasphemy is the word that the majority hisses into the ear of the few."

"Blasphemy is what an old mistake says of a newly discovered truth. Blasphemy is what a withered last year's leaf says to a this year's bud. Blasphemy is the bulwark of religious prejudice. Blasphemy is the breastplate of the heartless. And let me say now, that the crime of blasphemy, as set out in this statute, is impossible. No man can blaspheme a book. No man can commit blasphemy by telling his honest thought. No man can blaspheme a God, or a Holy Ghost, or a Son of God. The Infinite cannot be blasphemed."

"What is blasphemy? I will give you a definition; I will give you my thought upon this subject. What is real blasphemy? To live on the unpaid labor of other men — that is blasphemy. To enslave your fellow-man, to put chains upon his body — that is blasphemy. To enslave the minds of men, to put manacles upon the brain, padlocks upon the lips — that is blasphemy. To deny what you believe to be true, to admit to be true what you believe to be a lie — that is blasphemy. To strike the weak and unprotected, in order that you may gain the applause of the ignorant and superstitious mob — that is blasphemy. To persecute the intelligent few, at the command of the ignorant many — that is blasphemy. To forge chains, to build dungeons, for your honest fellow-men — that is blasphemy. To pollute the souls of children with the dogma of eternal pain — that is blasphemy. To violate your conscience — that is blasphemy. The jury that gives an unjust verdict, and the judge who pronounces an unjust sentence, are blasphemers. The man who bows to public opinion against his better judgment and against his honest conviction, is a blasphemer. Why should we fear our fellow-men? Why should not each human being have the right, so far as thought and its expression are concerned, of all the world? What harm can come from an honest interchange of thought?"

"Whoever increases the sum of human joy, is a worshiper. He who adds to the sum of human misery, is a blasphemer."

"Any church that imprisons a man because he has used an argument against its creed, will simply convince the world that it cannot answer the argument."

"Twenty times in the course of my late reading have I been on the point of breaking out, "This would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it!!!" But in this exclamation I would have been as fanatical as Bryant or Cleverly. Without religion this world would be something not fit to be mentioned in polite company, I mean hell. So far from believing in the total and universal depravity of human nature, I believe there is no individual totally depraved. The most abandoned scoundrel that ever existed, never yet wholly extinguished his conscience, and while conscience remains there is some religion."

"I saw my Lord with the Eye of my heart, And I said: Truly there is no doubt that it is You. It is You that I see in everything; And I do not see You through anything (but You)."

"Civilized people—Muslims, Christians, and Jews—all understand that the source of freedom and human dignity is the Creator."

"All that we refrain from and all that we do, let us not do or refrain from merely because it seems to the multitude somehow honorable or base, but because it is forbidden by reason and the god within us."

"All things are implicated with one another, and the bond is holy; and there is hardly anything unconnected with any other things. For things have been co-ordinated, and they combine to make up the same universe. For there is one universe made up of all things, and one God who pervades all things, and one substance, and one law, and one reason."

"A little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion."

"Even in the slightest breeze you can hear the voice of the cottonwood tree; this we understand is its prayer to the Great Spirit, for not only men, but all things and all beings pray to Him continually in different ways."

"No coward soul is mine, No trembler in the world's storm-troubled sphere : I see Heaven's glories shine, And Faith shines equal, arming me from Fear."

"Though earth and moon were gone,"

"There is surely a piece of divinity within us, something that was before the elements, and owes no homage unto the sun."

"Our times are in his hand Who saith, "A whole I planned, Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!""

"The miracles of the church seem to me to rest not so much upon faces or voices or healing power coming suddenly near to us from afar off, but upon our perceptions being made finer, so that for a moment our eyes can see and our ears can hear what is there about us always."

"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried."

"In my religion there would be no exclusive doctrine; all would be love, poetry and doubt."

"I can doubt everything, except one thing, and that is the very fact that I doubt."

"I never spoke with God, Nor visited in heaven; Yet certain am I of the spot As if the chart were given."

"For God's sake hold your tongue, and let me love."

"A man may go into the field and say his prayer and be aware of God, or, he may be in Church and be aware of God; but, if he is more aware of Him because he is in a quiet place, that is his own deficiency and not due to God, Who is alike present in all things and places, and is willing to give Himself everywhere so far as lies in Him. He knows God rightly who knows Him everywhere."

"I believe that you can reach the point where there is no longer any difference between developing the habit of pretending to believe and developing the habit of believing."

"In essence, my religion consists of a humble admiration for this illimitable superior spirit that reveals itself in the slight details that we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble minds."

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."

"It is, therefore, quite natural that the churches have always fought against science and have persecuted its supporters. But, on the other hand, I assert that the cosmic religious experience is the strongest and noblest driving force behind scientific research."

"In spite of our imbecility and terrors, and "universal decay of religion," &c. &c, the moral sense reappears today with the same morning newness that has been from of old the fountain of beauty and strength. You say, there is no religion now. 'Tis like saying in rainy weather, there is no sun, when at that moment we are witnessing one of his superlative effects."

"Belief consists in accepting the affirmations of the soul; Unbelief, in denying them."

"Religion is to do right. It is to love, it is to serve, it is to think, it is to be humble."

"We have now learned from our generalizations of the great complexity of the interactions of principles... that what is approached is eternal and instant awareness of absolute reality of all that ever existed. All the great metaphysical integrity of all the individuals, which is potential and inherent in the complex interactions of generalized principles, will always and only coexist eternally."

"You and I didn't design people. God designed people. What I am trying to do is to discover why God included humans in the Universe."

"Even as a tree has a single trunk but many branches and leaves, there is one religion —- human religion -— but any number of faiths."

"Freedom from all attachment is the realization of God as Truth."

"Hinduism as I know it entirely satisfies my soul, fills my whole being … When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and when I see not one ray of light on the horizon, I turn to the Bhagavad Gita, and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. My life has been full of tragedies and if they have not left any visible and indelible effect on me, I owe it to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita."

"My effort should never be to undermine another's faith but to make him a better follower of his own faith."

"The irreligious are more religious than they themselves know, and the religious are less so than they think."

"God created Arrakis to train the faithful."

"Much that was called religion has carried an unconscious attitude of hostility toward life. True religion must teach that life is filled with joys pleasing to the eye of God, that knowledge without action is empty. All men must see that the teaching of religion by rules and rote is largely a hoax. The proper teaching is recognized with ease. You can know it without fail because it awakens within you that sensations which tells you this is something you've always known."

"The folkish-minded man, in particular, has the sacred duty, each in his own denomination, of making people stop just talking superficially of God's will, and actually fulfill God's will, and not let God's word be desecrated. For God's will gave men their form, their essence and their abilities. Anyone who destroys His work is declaring war on the Lord's creation, the divine will."

"Captain, my religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me … That is the way all men should live, and then all would be equally brave."

"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."

"Religion, whatever it is, is a man's total reaction upon life."

"I promised you a letter on Christianity, which I have not forgotten. On the contrary, it is because I have reflected on it, that I find much more time necessary for it than I can at present dispose of. I have a view of the subject which ought to displease neither the rational Christian nor Deists, and would reconcile many to a character they have too hastily rejected. I do not know that it would reconcile the genus irritabile vatum who are all in arms against me. Their hostility is on too interesting ground to be softened. The delusion into which the X. Y. Z. plot showed it possible to push the people; the successful experiment made under the prevalence of that delusion on the clause of the Constitution, which, while it secured the freedom of the press, covered also the freedom of religion, had given to the clergy a very favorite hope of obtaining an establishment of a particular form of Christianity through the United States; and as every sect believes its own form the true one, every one perhaps hoped for his own, but especially the Episcopalians and Congregationalists. The returning good sense of our country threatens abortion to their hopes, and they believe that any portion of power confided to me, will be exerted in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly: for I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man. But this is all they have to fear from me: and enough too in their opinion."

"Among the most inestimable of our blessings, also, is that you so justly particularize, of liberty to worship our Creator in the way we think most agreeable to His will; a liberty deemed in other countries incompatible with good government, and yet proved by our experience to be its best support."

"I believe, with the Quaker preacher, that he who steadily observes those moral precepts in which all religions concur, will never be questioned at the gates of heaven, as to the dogmas in which they all differ."

"I join you, therefore, in sincere congratulations that this den of the priesthood is at length broken up, and that a Protestant Popedom is no longer to disgrace the American history and character. If by religion, we are understand sectarian dogmas, in which no two of them agree, then your exclamation on that hypothesis is just, "that this would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it." But if the moral precepts, innate in man, and made a part of his physical constitution, as necessary for a social being, if the sublime doctrines of philanthropism and deism taught us by Jesus of Nazareth, in which all agree, constitute true religion, then, without it, this would be, as you again say, "something not fit to be named, even indeed, a hell.""

"I saw a marvellous high mystery hid in God, which mystery He shall openly make known to us in Heaven: in which knowing we shall verily see the cause why He suffered sin to come. In which sight we shall endlessly joy in our Lord God."

"Deep, solemn optimism, it seems to me, should spring from this firm belief in the presence of God in the individual; not a remote, unapproachable governor of the universe, but a God who is very near every one of us, who is present not only in earth, sea and sky, but also in every pure and noble impulse of our hearts, 'the source and centre of all minds, their only point of rest'."

"I believe it is a sacred duty to encourage ourselves and others; to hold the tongue from any unhappy word against God's world, because no man has any right to complain of a universe which God made good, and which thousands of men have striven to keep good. I believe we should so act that we may draw nearer and more near the age when no man shall live at his ease while another suffers. These are the articles of my faith, and there is yet another on which all depends -— to bear this faith above every tempest which overfloods it, and to make it a principal in disaster and through affliction. Optimism is the harmony between man's spirit and of God pronouncing His works good."

"We must forgive our enemies. I can truly say that not a day has passed since the war began that I have not prayed for them."

"The best way to insure the earth is never over populated is for sensible and righteous governments to clear all forms of atheism and heresy."

"With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan —- to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations."

"...it may be that there is no God, that "the existence of all that is beautiful and in any sense good is but the accidental and ineffective byproduct of blindly swirling atoms," that we are alone in a world that cares nothing for us or for the values that we create and sustain - that we and they are here for a moment only, and gone, and that eventually there will be left no trace of us in the universe. "A man may well believe that this dredful thing is true. But only the fool will say in his heart that he is glad that it is true."

"Atheism leads not to badness, but only to an incurable sadness and loneliness."

"[Z]eal for the advancement of religion is different from a due attachment to it; and that in order to love it and fulfil its behests, it is not necessary to hate and persecute those who are opposed to it."

"Every religion assumes that God loves men, since He establishes a religion for their happiness; and since He loves men we are certain of pleasing Him in loving them, too. Usbek’s prayer in Letter XLVI. Is not yet out of date. “Lord, I do not understand any of those discussions that are carried on without end regarding Thee: I would serve Thee according to Thy will; but each man whom I consult would have me serve Thee according to his.” He insists that religion is intended for man’s happiness; and that, in order to love it and fulfil its behests, it is not necessary to hate and persecute those who are opposed to our beliefs – not necessary even to attempt to convert them."

"...resident mockery give us an hour for magic."

"Let's reinvent the gods, all the myths of the ages Celebrate symbols from deep elder forests..."

"O great creator of being grant us one more hour to perform our art and perfect our lives."

"I believe in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond this life. I believe in the equality of humans; and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow creatures happy."

"My country is the world, and my religion is to do good."

"Anybody that believes in separation of church and state needs to leave right now."

"The whole duty of humanity, from a Christian perspective is: "To know God and to show God.""

"Religion itself is nothing else but Love to God and Man. He that lives in Love lives in God, says the Beloved Disciple: And to be sure a Man can live no where better."

"The 'wall of separation between church and state' is a metaphor based on bad history, a metaphor which has proved useless as a guide to judging. It should be frankly and explicitly abandoned."

"Creation is too grand, too glorious, too complex and too mysterious to be captured in any narrow creed or reflected in any single metaphor. It is exactly because we so cherish the world in all its multi-hued grandeur that we resist the temptation to see it through only one lens. Our conviction is that we will come a little closer to the truth about the world -- and certainly be more receptive to its splendour if we set a variety of vehicles to apprehend it."

"“[J]ust as the illiterate cannot read books like those who are literate, neither can those who have refused to go through the commandments of Christ by practicing them be granted the revelation of the Holy Spirit like those who have brooded over them and fulfilled them and shed their blood for them.”"

"That friend of mine who lives in God, That God, which ever lives and loves, One God, one law, one element, And one far-off divine event, To which the whole creation moves."

"I have seen several entirely sincere people who thought they were (permanent) Seekers after Truth. They sought diligently, persistently, carefully, cautiously, profoundly, with perfect honesty and nicely adjusted judgment--until they believed that without doubt or question they had found the Truth. That was the end of the search. The man spent the rest of his life hunting up shingles wherewith to protect his Truth from the weather. If he was seeking after political Truth he found it in one or another of the hundred political gospels which govern men in the earth; if he was seeking after the Only True Religion he found it in one or another of the three thousand that are on the market. In any case, when he found the Truth he sought no further; but from that day forth, with his soldering-iron in one hand and his bludgeon in the other he tinkered its leaks and reasoned with objectors."

"Those who believe that they believe in God, but without passion in their hearts, without anguish in mind, without uncertainty, without doubt, without an element of despair even in their consolation, believe only in the God idea, not in God Himself."

"Once you accept the existence of God —- however you define him, however you explain your relationship to him -— then you are caught forever with his presence in the center of all things."

"I see something of God each hour of the twenty-four, and each moment then, In the faces of men and women I see God, and in my own face in the glass, I find letters from God dropt in the street, and every one is sign'd by God's name..."

"What do I know about God and the purpose of life? I know that this world exists."

"To believe in God means to see that the facts of the world are not the end of the matter. To believe in God means to see that life has a meaning."

"Certainly it is correct to say: Conscience is the voice of God."

"In Emerson's case, we know who the god was — even his name and address. His utterances are too highly differentiated for mistake. The divine voice is of course one. All things are one to Emerson. But the one in this instance seems sufficiently distinguished from its other articulatenesses to involve a polytheistic rather than a generally immanent explanation. To us the god is inescapably Emerson himself; it is at least excusable, practically, to identify what you find in no other conjunction. Naturally the inference is that we are all gods, and no doubt Emerson would willingly have adopted, with whatever modifications, the current “panentheism” which unites his pantheism with theism, for though he never lost sight of the existence of the many he always saw them as ultimately resident in the one."

"Various advocates and critics of panentheism find evidence of incipient or implicit forms of panentheism present in religious thought as early as 1300 BCE. Hartshorne discovers the first indication of panentheistic themes in Ikhnaton (1375–1358 BCE), the Egyptian pharaoh often considered the first monotheist. In his poetic description of the sun god, Ikhnaton avoids both the separation of God from the world that will characterize theism and the identification of God with the world that will characterize pantheism … Early Vedantic thought, as well as some modern Indian thought, implies panentheism in non-Advaita forms that understand non-dualism as inclusive of differences."

"It is impossible to place any high value on mental work, unless we believe that it has a cosmic setting, and that behind human undertakings there is the support of a Divine Power. Thus religious conviction is looked upon with no disfavour, but it is rather an admission of infinity into man's finite life, an acknowledgment of an unseen order of things, than a movement toward a new world not to be gained save through shock and revolution. There is much closer kinship to Panentheism, the creed of the noblest minds of the Renaissance, than to the distinctively Christian view which these men incline to look upon as a mere refuge for the weak and sickly. Religion for them is rather an invisible Presence which attends their work than a specific form of spiritual experience."

"The panentheistic God/universe setup is like a mutual admiration society: God needs you, and you need God. … God depends on the world, and the world depends on God … Since God is always growing, or "in process," he never perfectly achieves his aims. In metaphorical terms, God is always on the path but he never reaches his destination. The actual is what he is; the potential is what he is eternally becoming."

"These distinctions make sense only when AR [absolute perfection in some respects, relative perfection in all others] is assumed (hence Spinoza's failure, who assumed mere A). Just as AR is the whole positive content of perfection, so CW, or the conception of the Creator-and-the-Whole-of-what-he-has-created as constituting one life, the super-whole which in its everlasting essence is uncreated (and does not necessitate just the parts which the whole has) but in its de facto concreteness is created — this panentheistic doctrine contains all of deism and pandeism except their arbitrary negations. Thus ARCW, or absolute-relative panentheism, is the one doctrine that really states the whole of what all theists, if not all atheists as/well, are implicitly talking about."

"It is important here to underscore panentheism (with the en in the middle) which is not to be confused with 'pantheism' (without the 'en' in the middle). The former signifies the immanent nature of God without a transcendent spirit, whereas the latter is nature worship characteristic of many pagan faiths, at least as characterized by their opponents. Panentheism refers to the world as God and at the same time God remaining transcendent. This dual character of God is central to integral unity. God is the unchangeable transcendent and also everything that exists, and hence ever in flux. Charles Hartshorne, a prominent philosopher and theologian, introduced the term 'panentheism' into the Western lexicon after his detailed study of Hindu metaphysics in the 1930s (especially Ramanuja and Sri Jiva Goswami)."

"Since God is continuously present, why do you worry? For in Him we live and move. We are carried in His arms. We breathe God; we are vested with God; we touch God; we consume God in the Mystery. Wherever you turn, wherever you look, God is everywhere: in the heavens, on the earth, in the abysses, in the trees, within the rocks, in your nous, in your heart."

"God is everywhere. There is no place where God is not. The more you pay attention to Him, the more He pays attention to you. You cry out to Him, “Where art Thou, my God?” And He answers, “I am present, my child! I am always beside you.” Both inside and outside, above and below, wherever you turn, everything shouts, “God!” In Him we live and move. We breathe God, we eat God, we clothe ourselves with God. Everything praises and blesses God. All of creation shouts His praise. Everything animate and inanimate speaks wondrously and glorifies the Creator. Let every breath praise the Lord!"

"The Avatar appears in different forms, under different names, at different times, in different parts of the world. As his appearance always coincides with the spiritual birth of man, so the period immediately preceding his manifestation is always one in which humanity suffers from the pangs of the approaching birth."

"Whether there have been 26 Avatars since Adam, or 124,000 Prophets, as is sometimes claimed, or whether Jesus Christ was the last and only Messiah, or Muhammad the last Prophet, is all immaterial and insignificant when eternity and reality are under consideration. It matters very little to dispute whether there have been ten or twenty-six or a million Avatars. The truth is that the Avatar is always one and the same, and that the five Sadgurus bring about the advent of the Avatar on earth. This has been going on cycle after cycle, and millions of such cycles must have passed by, and will continue to pass by, without affecting eternity in the least."

"Irrespective of doubts and convictions, and for the Infinite Love I bear for one and all, I continue to come as the Avatar, to be judged time and again by humanity in its ignorance, in order to help man distinguish the Real from the false."

"When I say I am the Avatar, there are a few who feel happy, some who feel shocked, and many who hearing me claim this, would take me for a hypocrite, a fraud, a supreme egoist, or just mad. If I were to say every one of you is an Avatar, a few would be tickled, and many would consider it a blasphemy or a joke. The fact that God being One, Indivisible and equally in us all, we can be nought else but one, is too much for the duality-conscious mind to accept. Yet each of us is what the other is. I know I am the Avatar in every sense of the word, and that each one of you is an Avatar in one sense or the other. It is an unalterable and universally recognized fact since time immemorial that God knows everything. God does everything, and that nothing happens but by the Will of God. Therefore it is God who makes me say I am the Avatar, and that each one of you is an Avatar. Again, it is He Who is tickled through some, and through others is shocked. It is God Who acts, and God Who reacts. It is He Who scoffs, and He Who responds. He is the Creator, the Producer, the Actor and the Audience in His own Divine Play."

"Oh, never star Was lost here, but it rose afar! Look East, where whole new thousands are! In Vishnu-land what Avatar?"

""Waverley" was the avater of a new era ;"

"India has from ancient times held strongly a belief in the reality of the Avatara, the descent into form, the revelation of the Godhead in humanity. In the West this belief has never really stamped itself upon the mind because it has been presented through exoteric Christianity as a theological dogma without any roots in the reason and general consciousness and attitude towards life. But in India it has grown up and persisted as a logical outcome of the Vedantic view of life and taken firm root in the consciousness of the people. All existence is a manifestation of God because He is the only existence and nothing can be except as either a real figuring or else a figment of that one reality. Therefore every conscious being is in part or in some way a descent of the Infinite into the apparent finiteness of name and form. But it is a veiled manifestation and there is a gradation between the supreme being of the Divine and the consciousness shrouded partly or wholly by ignorance of self in the finite. 66"

"We took the liberty to make some enquiries concerning the ground of their pretentions to make war upon nations who had done them no injury, and observed that we considered all mankind as our friends who had done us no wrong, nor had given us any provocation... The Ambassador answered us that it was founded on the laws of their Prophet; that it was written in their Koran; that all nations who should not have acknowledged their authority were sinners; that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners; and that every Mussulman who was slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise. He said, also, that the man who was the first to board a vessel had one slave over and above his share, and that when they sprang to the deck of an enemy's ship, every sailor held a dagger in each hand and a third in his mouth; which usually struck such terror into the foe that they cried out for quarter at once. That it was a law that the first who boarded an Enemy’s Vessell should have one slave."

"INFIDEL, n. In New York, one who does not believe in the Christian religion; in Constantinople, one who does."

"There is but one thing without honour; smitten with eternal barrenness, inability to do or to be: Insincerity, Unbelief."

"He ridiculed the absurdity of refusing to believe every thing that you could not understand; and mentioned a rebuke of Dr. Parr's to a man of the name of Frith, and that of another clergyman to a young man, who said he would believe nothing which he could not understand:--'Then, young man, your creed will be the shortest of any man's I know.'"

"Monotheism has manufactured a number of hate-filled words - infidel, kãfir, unbeliever, munkir, mushrik, heathen, heretic, hypocrite, polytheist, pantheist, pagan - which raise unbreakable barriers between brother and brother, and which divide the one human family into a number of warring camps."

"Infidelity and faith look both through the perspective glass, but at contrary ends. Infidelity looks through the wrong end of the glass; and, therefore, sees those objects near which are afar off, and makes great things little,—diminishing the greatest spiritual blessings, and removing far from us threatened evils. Faith looks at the right end, and brings the blessings that are far off in time close to our eye, and multiplies God's mercies, which, in a distance, lost their greatness."

"The religion-builders have so distorted and deformed the doctrines of Jesus, so muffled them in mysticisms, fancies and falsehoods, have caricatured them into forms so monstrous and inconceivable, as to shock reasonable thinkers, to revolt them against the whole, and drive them rashly to pronounce its Founder an impostor. Had there never been a commentator, there never would have been an infidel."

"The infidels today think they built missiles and invented the atom - but our Lord shakes them and sends the sea upon them, and the sea rises and floods a city, because this sea is a soldier. He sends an earthquake that splits the earth, and swallows them up with all their missiles and possessions. Why? Because Allah never abandons His believers."

"No one is so much alone in the universe as a denier of God."

"Mere negation, mere Epicurean infidelity, as Lord Bacon most justly observes, has never disturbed the peace of the world. It furnishes no motive for action; it inspires no enthusiasm; it has no missionaries, no crusades, no martyrs."

"No matter where the skeptical thought originates, or how it gets access to our minds, we see at once that it flattens the level of life and every aspiration. It makes our character less vigorous. The gospel is not simply a philosophy of religion or law of life, but it is an apocalypse, showing the heavens to our thought, and so bringing its spiritual benedictions to every heart and life."

"Admit their maxims, and the universe returns to a frightful chaos; all things are thrown into disorder upon the earth; all the notions of virtue and vice are overthrown; the most inviolable laws of society are abolished: the discipline of morality is swept away; the government of states and empires ceases to be subject to any rule; the whole harmony of political institutions is dissolved; and the human race becomes an assemblage of madmen, barbarians, cheats, unnatural wretches who have no other laws but force, no other curb than their passions and the dread of authority, no other tie than irreligion and independence, no other gods than themselves."

"The nurse of infidelity is sensuality. Youth are sensual. The Bible stands in their way. It prohibits the indulgence of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life."

"What ardently we wish, we soon believe."

"There is not a single spot between Christianity and atheism, upon which a man can firmly fix his foot."

"There is one single fact that one may oppose to all the wit and argument of infidelity; namely, that no man ever repented of being a Christian on his death-bed."

"The infidelity that springs from the heart is not to be reached by a course of lectures on the evidences of Christianity; argument did not cause, and argument will not remove it."

"There never yet was a mother who taught her child to be an infidel."

"Is it for the cultivated man, the man of broad and general views, to throw himself without reserve and with all his weight, into what, for aught he yet knows, may be only a cross-current and eddy, instead of the main stream of truth?"

"I know not any crime so great that a man could contrive to commit as poisoning the sources of eternal truth."

"Freethinkers are generally those that never think at all."

"Reason is the test of ridicule, not ridicule the test of truth."

"When you see a mad dog, don't argue with him unless you are sure of your logic."

"In my judgment, a great mistake has been made by well- meaning and zealous men, through treating error and infidelity with altogether too much respect. I believe that it is safe to say that Christianity is indebted for none of its progress in the world to rational conflicts with infidelity. I do not believe that a single great wrong has ever been overthrown by meeting the advocates of wrong in argument."

"Klein: In the late 1600s, pirates targeted ships sailing from the Muslim Mughal Empire, including convoys taking wealthy pilgrims to Mecca. What role did attitudes toward Islam play into the colonies’ support of piracy?"

"Piety is not an end but a means to attain ... the highest degree of culture. This is why ... those who parade piety as a purpose and an aim mostly turn into hypocrites."

"I consider piety to be openness to the unmanipulated mystery of life."

"Intellectual life has a certain spontaneous character and inner determination. It has also a peculiar poise of its own, which I believe is established by a balance between two basic qualities in the intellectual’s attitude toward ideas—qualities that may be designated as playfulness and piety."

"Piety, then, needs a counterpoise, something to prevent it from being exercised in an excessively rigid way; and this it has, in most intellectual temperaments, in the quality I would call playfulness. We speak of the play of the mind; and certainly the intellectual relishes the play of the mind for its own sake, and finds in it one of the major values in life. What one thinks of here is the element of sheer delight in intellectual activity. Seen in this guise, intellect may be taken as the healthy animal spirits of the mind, which come into exercise when the surplus of mental energies is released from the tasks required for utility and mere survival. “Man is perfectly human,” said Schiller, “only when he plays.” And it is this awareness of an available surplus beyond the requirements of mere existence that his maxim conveys to us. Veblen spoke often of the intellectual faculty as “idle curiosity”—but this is a misnomer in so far as the curiosity of the playful mind is inordinately restless and active. This very restlessness and activity gives a distinctive cast to its view of truth and its discontent with dogmas."

"Is it not thy piety itself which no longer letteth thee believe in a God?"

"What's piety but the sense of guilt? People want to square off all the things they have wished and done to the beloved dead while they were alive."

"The old Roman virtue of pietas (most beautifully illustrated in Virgil’s Aeneid) is much broader than just being religiously devout on Sundays. It is the virtue through which the divine, yes, but also the state, the homeland, the ancestors, and the family are honored and the duties owed them fulfilled. It is the bone-deep understanding that a country is not just an idea, that a people is not an amorphous pile of Lego bricks that can be changed out every other Thursday. …If pietas is loving what belongs to us more than what does not, we sin against it by doing the opposite. …A man who makes his children sleep in the basement so illegal aliens can sleep in their bedrooms is not charitable. And neither are the bishops just looking for good press and a fat bottom line."

"Piety does not mean that a man should make a sour face about things, and refuse to enjoy in moderation what his Maker has given."

"In theory, piety is reverence and love for God; and in practice, it is the exercise of all our powers in obedience to the Divine will. Combining the theory and practice, we have the richest treasure known on earth — love for God shown in obedience to God."

"In periods that are wanting in inspiration piety always assumes the character of caution. It degenerates from a free and joyful devotion to a melancholy and anxious slavery."

"What you cannot lift before His pure eyes and think of Him while you enjoy, is not for you. Friendship, schemes, plans, ambitions, amusements, speculations, studies, loves, businesses — can you call on the name of the Lord while you put these cups to your lips? If not, fling them behind you."

"Christian piety annihilates the egotism of the heart; worldly politeness veils and represses it."

"There is no piety in the world which is not the result of cultivation, and which cannot be increased by the degree of care and attention bestowed upon it."

"Young men, you who have any piety at all, what sort is it? Is it a hot-house plant, which must be framed and glassed, lest March, that bold young fellow, should shake the life out.of it in his rough play among the flowers? or is it a hardy shrub, which rejoices when the wild winds course along the heather or howl above the crest of Lebanon? We need, believe me, the bravery of godliness to bear true witness for our Master now."

"Young men, terminate, I beseech you, in your own experience, the sad divorce which has too often existed between intellect and piety. Take your stand, unswerving, heroic, by the altar of truth; and from that altar let neither sophistry nor ridicule expel you. Let your faith rest with a child's trust, with a martyr's grip, upon the truth as it is in Jesus."

"The great moral lesson which Saul's history leaves for the instruction of mankind is this: That without true piety the finest qualities of character and the highest position in society will utterly fail to make a true and noble man. If Saul's heart had been true to God, he would have been one of the grandest specimens of humanity; but, lacking this true obedience to God, he made his life an utter failure, and his character a moral wreck."

"The piety that keeps the Sabbath with a great zeal of devotion, yet fails to keep its possessor honest on Monday, is not the kind that is stamped in the mint of heaven."

"What smoky prayers!—one earnest petition, and then a thousand wandering thoughts! What smoky faith!—a joyful sight of the Saviour's sufficiency, and then a long season of inward complacency occasioned by that sight! Self-righteous efforts to extirpate self-righteousness, and most legal endeavors to elaborate faith! What smoky affections!—gleams of love to God, followed by long intervals of estrangement!— spurts of self-sacrifice, followed by systematic worldliness! Fits of fury against some besetting sin, followed by abject surrender to its power! Ah, brethren, if the Saviour were human, He would set His foot on this fuming profession; He would extinguish this smoking flax."

"We must watch over pious impressions, and cultivate them, or they will never become vigorous and enduring."

"Think of a woman by the side of a dying sister, or a sick child, or a sorrowing friend, or a broken-hearted and broken-spirited man, without a word of heaven in her mouth — without so much as the ability to whisper "Our Father," or even to point her finger hopefully towards the stars."

"If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."

"The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord asked me, "What do you see, Amos?""

"The Roman came into the Promised Land that had become less and less as promised. The rich got along quite well with the foreign occupation; it provided protection from desperate peasants and patriotic resistance fighters. It provided protection from prophets who could be labeled "agitators" now, without any qualms."

"The prophet's mantle, ere his flight began, Dropt on the world — a sacred gift to man."

"I shall always consider the best guesser the best prophet."

"I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away."

"The Prophet ... remains always a man apart, a narrow-minded extremist, zealous for his own ideal, and intolerant of every other. And since he cannot have all that he would, he is in a perpetual state of anger and grief; he remains all his life "a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth." [Jeremiah 15:10] Not only this: the other members of society, those many-sided dwarfs, creatures of the general harmony, cry out after him, "The Prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad" [Hosea 9:7]; and they look with lofty contempt on his narrowness and extremeness."

"Prophets don't know everything!"

"The best prophets lead you up to the curtain and let you peer through for yourself."

"The striking surprise is that prophets of Israel were tolerated at all by their people. To the patriots, they seemed pernicious; to the pious multitude, blasphemous; to the men in authority, seditious."

"When you spread out your hands in prayer,"

"While predicting the future is a rare gift, testifying for the truth is a duty for every woman and man of conscience. …A prophet, [Roman Catholic archbishop Óscar] Romero added, is one who has an “undisturbed conscience.” This is an interesting statement. Only those who are firmly rooted in conscience as their moral compass may calmly tell the truth about injustice and corruption, no matter the risks. And risks there are since prophets easily make enemies."

"[Religious leader Abdullah] Hashem teaches that even prophets made mistakes, as only God is infallible by nature. However, Jesus and Muhammad made only minor occasional mistakes and Muhammad, his daughter Fatimah[, and] the Twelve Imams can be called inherently infallible, and the Twelve Mahdis, including the Qaim/Riser, are in the category of “earned infallibility.” This does not mean that the covenant of Muhammad is still in force, and at any rate we do not know the integrality of his teachings, as the Quran that we have today is incomplete and corrupted."

"A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country and in his own house."

"Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? "So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit…"

"No prophet is accepted in his own country."

"And those dwelling on the earth rejoice over them and enjoy themselves, and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those dwelling on the earth. And after the three and a half days spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon those beholding them."

"No voice, no lute, no pipe, no incense sweet From chain-swung censer teeming; No shrine, no grove, no oracle, no heat Of pale-mouth’d prophet dreaming."

"... it is always the habit of man to reincarnate his heroes and divinities, so that and Odin tend to become indistinguishable, and Moses is forever reappearing—in our own time as Joseph Smith, Mary Baker G. Eddy and a long series of lesser prophets. No doubt Noah, as a small boy, heard in his school of an Ur-Noah, and played with a toy ark. And the Ur-Noah that he heard of probably had predecessors of his own."

"As it was, deformed and made mad by his hellish life, he had become what prophets had probably always been: not frauds, for they themselves believed what they had seen, but pitiful creatures, dreaming some salvation from this crushing world in their malfunctioning brains. Yaum ed din, the crazy little man, the prophet Aida’s John the Baptist, had said: the Day of Religion, the Muslim’s term for Judgment Day. Yaum ed din, the last consolation of the crazy and the weak."

"If I have eschewed the word prophet, I do not wish to attribute to myself such lofty title at the present time, for whoever is called a prophet now was once called a seer; since a prophet, my son, is properly speaking one who sees distant things through a natural knowledge of all creatures. And it can happen that the prophet bringing about the perfect light of prophecy may make manifest things both human and divine, because this cannot be done otherwise, given that the effects of predicting the future extend far off into time."

"Would to God that all the LORD's people were Prophets."

"And he said, Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?"

"The prophets in Hebrew Scripture and Jesus in the Gospels are figures in conflict with the religious establishment. They denounce the use of religion to sacralize unjust privilege and to ignore the needs of the people. Prophetic faith announces a God who is active in history, to overturn an unjust social order and to transform the world into a new social order where there will be no more war, no more injustice, where justice between people and harmony with nature has been restored and all creation will be in communion with God."

"I tell you in truth: all men are Prophets or else God does not exist."

"The historian is a reversed prophet."

"If your prophet was sexually insecure, or if his later interpreters were, that religion demanded celibacy or repression or even hatred of women; if the prophet was a homophobe, he preached persecution of homosexuals; and if he was both lecherous and greedy, he preached polygyny. If he was luxurious, he preached give-me-money-and-God-will-make-you-rich; if he felt put upon he preached God-of-Vengeance, let’s kill the other guy; and no matter how much well-meaning ecumenicists pretended all the gods were one god under different aspects, they weren’t any such thing, because every prophet created God in his own image, to confront his own nightmares."

"Prognostics do not always prove prophecies, at least the wisest prophets make sure of the event first."

"The prophets ... hurled their "woe be unto you" against those who oppressed and enslaved the poor, those who joined field to field, and those who deflected justice by bribes. These were the typical actions leading to class stratification everywhere in the ancient world, and were everywhere intensified by the development of the city-state (polis)."

"It is characteristic of the prophets that they do not receive their mission from any human agency, but seize it."

"To determine whether a man is indeed a prophet, one must consider whether he has been following the way of "holiness" (qedushah) and "separation" (perishut). A prophet separates himself from the vanities and the intrigues of the times and "from the general ways of the people, who walk in the darkness of the time." The path of holiness, like the "way of the wise men," is a preparation for theoria. The prophet trains himself to keep his mind completely clear of vain and empty matters."

"If all enlightened men were, like us, to point out, in an impartial spirit, various defects found in different religions, it is not at all impossible that all quarrels should cease, that people should live together in peace all following one religion, and that truth should thus triumph."

"We 'tolerate' those we consider not good enough, but we do not extend our respect to them. 'Tolerance' implies control over those who do not conform to our norms by allowing them some, though not all, of the rights and privileges we enjoy. A religion which involves the worship of 'false gods' and whose adherents are referred to as 'heathens' can be tolerated, but it cannot be respected. Tolerance is a patronizing posture, whereas respect implies that we consider the other to be equally legitimate – a position which some religions routinely deny to others, instead declaring these 'others' to be 'idol worshippers' or 'infidels' and the like.... Tolerance, in short, is an outright insult; it is simply not good enough. pointed out that this notion of tolerance had emerged from religions built on exclusivist claims according to which other religions are false. Hence, tolerating them is the best one can do without undermining one's own claim to exclusivity. Religious 'tolerance' was advocated in Europe after centuries of religious wars between adherents of the different denominations of Christianity. In many European countries, Churches functioned as religious monopolies according to which the mere practice of the 'wrong' religion was a criminal offence. 'Tolerance' was a positive attempt to quell the violence that had plagued Christianity for centuries in Europe, but it did not provide a genuine basis for real unity and cooperation, and so it often broke down."

"Our watchword, then, will be acceptance, and not exclusion. Not only toleration, for so-called toleration is often blasphemy, and I do not believe in it. I believe in acceptance. Why should I tolerate? Toleration means that I think that you are wrong and I am just allowing you to live. Is it not a blasphemy to think that you and I are allowing others to live? I accept all religions that were in the past, and worship with them all; I worship God with every one of them, in whatever form they worship Him. I shall go to the mosque of the Mohammedan; I shall enter the Christian's church and kneel before the crucifix; I shall enter the Buddhistic temple, where I shall take refuge in Buddha and in his Law. I shall go into the forest and sit down in meditation with the Hindu, who is trying to see the Light which enlightens the heart of every one."

"Not only shall I do all these, but I shall keep my heart open for all that may come in the future. Is God's book finished? Or is it still a continuous revelation going on? It is a marvellous book - these spiritual revelations of the world. The Bible, the Vedas, the Koran, and all other sacred books are but so many pages, and an infinite number of pages remain yet to be unfolded. I would leave it open for all of them. We stand in the present, but open ourselves to the infinite future. We take in all that has been in the past, enjoy the light of the present, and open every window of the heart for all that will come in the future. Salutation to all the prophets of the past, to all the great ones of the present, and to all that are to come in the future!"

"I suppose a Hindu could never persecute." "He never yet has done so; he is the most tolerant of all the races of men. Considering how profoundly religious he is, one might have thought that he would persecute those who believe in no God. The Jains regard such belief as sheer delusion, yet no Jain has ever been persecuted. In India the Mohammedans were the first who ever took the sword."

"So what motivates God?" I asked. "Do you have the answer to that question, or are you just yanking my chain?" "I can conceive of only one challenge for an omnipotent being—the challenge of destroying himself." "You think God would want to commit suicide?" I asked. "I'm not saying he wants anything. I'm saying it's the only challenge." "I think God would prefer to exist than to not exist." "That's thinking like a human, not like a God. You have a fear of death so you assume God would share your preference. But God would have no fears. Existing would be a choice. And there would be no pain of death, nor feelings of guilt or remorse or loss. Those are human feelings, not God feelings. God could simply choose to discontinue existence." "There's a logical problem here, according to your way of thinking," I said. "If God knows the future, he already knows if he will choose to end his existence, and he knows if he will succeed at it, so there's no challenge there, either." "Your thinking is getting clearer," he said. "Yes, he will know the future of his own existence under normal conditions. But would his omnipotence include knowing what happens after he loses his omnipotence, or would his knowledge of the future end at that point?" "That sounds like a thoroughly unanswerable question. I think you've hit a dead end," I said. "Maybe. But consider this. A God who knew the answer to that question would indeed know everything and have everything. For that reason he would be unmotivated to do anything or create anything. There would be no purpose to act in any way whatsoever. But a God who had one nagging question—what happens if I cease to exist?—might be motivated to find the answer in order to complete his knowledge. And having no fear and no reason to continue existing, he might try it." "How would we know either way?" "We have the answer. It is our existence. The fact that we exist is proof that God is motivated to act in some way. And since only the challenge of self-destruction could interest an omnipotent God, it stands to reason that we . . ." I interrupted the old man in midsentence and stood straight up from the rocker. It felt as if a pulse of energy ran up my spine, compressing my lungs, electrifying my skin, bringing the hairs on the back of my neck to full alert. I moved closer to the fireplace, unable to absorb its heat. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?" My brain was taking on too much knowledge. There was overflow and I needed to shake off the excess. The old man looked at nothing and said, "We are God's debris."

"Hinduism is a diverse system of thought with beliefs spanning monotheism, polytheism, panentheism, pantheism, pandeism, monism, and atheism among others; and its concept of God is complex and depends upon each individual and the tradition and philosophy followed."

"Abschnitt vorbereitender Natur in einem ersten Hauptteil von den psychisch-religiösen Welt-und Lebensanschauungen in ihrer historischen Entwickelung; der zweite Hauptteil bespricht die philosophisch-deistischen und theosophischen Anschauungen vom Pandeismus der alten Ägypter und Inder bis zu Leibnizens prästabilierter Harmonie und Herbarts Realen; der dritte und letzte endlich bringt die metaphysischen und physischen Welt- und Lebensanschauungen, sucht die Anfänge des Idealismus bei den Indern auf und verfolgt ihn bis Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Ev Hartmann und Eucken, reiht an den Spinozismus den jüngsten Neuspinozismus und Neuidealismus an und gelangt schließlich über den Empirismus usw. und den Positivismus zur Aufzählung und Besprechung der eigentlich physischen An-schauungen im engeren Sinne (Materialismus, Atomistik, Energetische Anschauungen usw)."

"Sometimes pantheists will use the term "pandeism" to underscore that they share with the deists the idea that God is not a personal God who desires to be worshipped."

"Straddling as he does deism and pantheism, Einstein could possibly be classified as a believer in pandeism, a label indicating a hybrid blend of pantheism with deism, which was well described by Raphael Lataster in 2013."

"Where did these “designed laws” or “fixed laws”, as he calls them elsewhere, come from? Darwin made no secret of his belief that they were designed by “an omniscient Creator”. The phrase “whether good or bad” is significant and places Darwin in a position not very different from a believer in an impersonal God, who is amoral and uninvolved in the world. So, although Darwin may not have been conscious of deism as such, his own religious beliefs are a good match for deism, or possibly for pandeism (as discussed earlier in this chapter)."

"Darwin sometimes described himself as an agnostic, but his expressed religious beliefs are in general more in keeping with deism, or possibly with pandeism ."

"Pandeism is the belief that a god gave up their status as a god to become the universe, and is thus based on the ideals of deism."

"It will be seen that this fact of the Immutability of REALITY, when clearly conceived, must serve to confute and refute the erroneous theories of certain schools of Pantheism which hold that "God becomes the Universe by changing into the Universe." Thus it is sought to identify Nature with God, whereby, as Schopenhauer said, "you show God to the door." If God changes Himself into The Phenomenal Universe, then God is non-existent and we need not concern ourselves any more about Him, for he has committed suicide by Change."

"Higgins claimed to reveal the existence of an ancient universal religion (he called it Pandeism), out of which all religious doctrines originated—a religion that yet survives as a secret, fragmented sect that carries its ancient messages in parts of Greece, the Middle East, and India, with its origins in the last."

"Today we are witnessing movements of all kinds toward union. In the commercial world we are seeing great mergers. In the economic world we are seeing whole nations uniting. In the labor world, the unions are waxing bigger and becoming more powerful. In the financial world there is evident an increasing monopoly. In the religious world there are great movements toward union and not only in the professedly Christian world. The church of Rome uses the term "pandeism", to describe her current program of bringing under her wing the non-Christian religions of the world. In this, Rome will finally succeed, because the prediction says, "all the world wondered after the beast". (Revelation 13:3)"

"Sin embargo, resulta sospechoso el modo que tiene el autor de unir la mitología griega con la cristiana, llegando a una especie de pandeísmo, que, por lo demás, siempre queda limitado por la presencia de esa divina Providencia."

"Regarding Western Pantheism, some people feel that the word "pantheism" is misused. Since theology is the study of religion and and means "all," pantheism implies following all religions. The principal of following all named deities, then, would be called Pan-De-ism. So, pantheist or pandeist? You decide."

"If the Bible is only human lore, and not divine truth, then we have no real answer to those who say, "Let's pick the best out of all religions and blend it all into Pan-Deism - one world religion with one god made out of many"."

"Interestingly enough, during the Vatican Council there was criticism from WCC Circles of this Catholic willingness to extend the word and even the concept ecumenical to relations with non-Christian religions. It was felt that ecumenism was being contaminated by “pan-Deist” and syncretistic tendencies."

"One high school teacher once told me that Śankara said that God became the world. In the beginning there was God and then he created the world out of himself. So God became the world. And now there is no God. It is exactly like making idli out of rice. The rice is gone; only idli is there. Later, I repeated this as Śankara's philosophy to someone and he laughed so hard that I knew that there was some mistake in what I had said. But I didn't know what the mistake was and he didn't correct me either."

"I first came upon this extension of ecumenism into pan-deism among some Roman Catholic scholars interested primarily in the "reunion of the churches," Roman, Orthodox, Anglican]]. [...] We may perhaps ask what is the ultimate aim of the Curia in promoting the pan-deist movement. [...] They do not necessarily discern in Rome's ecumenism and pan-deism a project for world dominion."

"In the greatest poet of the older generation in France, Victor Hugo, a weak species of pantheistic deism asserts itself, in spite of his enthusiastic rationalism; we still trace in him the influence of the preceding century; religion is glorified at the expense of religions; love, which unites, at the expense of dogma, which separates and scatters."

"Belief in a single deity, however, is consistent with science and natural cause as long as that belief is in a First Cause that has not and does not, subsequently, alter or change natural order. Reader and Author alike have their own personal preferences, but what is important to the next world-view and way of thinking is accommodating to the still-widespread longing to believe in a "supreme being" while at the same time, not adopting anything which can disturb natural order and natural cause. The next belief system would need to be like an umbrella that reached out to cover atheism, deism, agnosticism, and pantheism (that is, pan-deism). Only in this way, now, can we bring humanity into the real age of scientific discovery, build a new civilization, and ultimately expand the human race far out into the universe beyond this cramped small planet in which we are now so confined."

"The next [world-view] belief system might be like an umbrella that reaches out to cover atheism, deism, agnosticism, and pan-deism because the difference between those assorted beliefs pale in comparison to the importance of not tolerating the belief that some "mystical being" can alter cause and effect, thus interfering with the science and technology we need to replace this old civilization before it is too late."

":FREE THINKERS: all people whose beliefs regarding "spirits" are compatible with modern science. Deism, pan-deism, agnosticism and atheism are compatible; theism is not."

"Deism and pan-deism, as well as agnosticism and atheism, are all Non-Theisms."

"Pandeism, like deism, has no specific theistic creed or scripture that defines the belief as a system, so there is freedom so far to consider a God that is the sentient Universe, or a God that is the non-sentient Universe, or to further attempt to specify God by ascribing attributes that do not appear, at least, to contradict the necessary minimal set."

"Vedantic Hinduism is organized monistic pandeism and acknowledges up front that its scriptures are myths and legends to be mined for parabolic insight, not "divinely inspired truth", and Buddhism isn't a religion, it is an essentially atheistic psychosocial philosophy that unfortunately incorporates some of the religious cosmology of Vedic Hinduism, in particular the notion of serial reincarnation, that is probably false."

"Let us now (at last) state the basic theorem: If God exists, then God is identical to the Universe. That is, the theorem is a statement of conditional pandeism. If God exists at all, God must be absolutely everything that exists."

"Pure Vedantic Hinduism as described in particular in the Upanishads is monist and either pandeist or panendeist - Brahman is the Universe, we (as Atman or "God-souls") are a part of Brahman and Brahman itself, parts separated from the whole to be able to appreciate the whole and ever seeking to rejoin the whole and its perfect state of being as all things. Brahman in the Upanishads is not a being that is worshipped - they make it absolutely clear that Brahman is indifferent to worship and is not the object of worship."

"A deist who believes in God that is the Universe is a pandeist, and is not only compatible with the theorem, but is now affirmed in their conditional belief as being demonstrably proven as a theorem of information theory."

"A pandeist scientist or philosopher studying the Universe is not necessarily irrational, nor is he or she particularly distinguishable, from an atheist scientist or philosopher who loves the subject of his or her work."

"Some of us think that postmodernity represents a similar change of dominant worldviews, one which could turn out to be just as singular as modernity by being a stunning amalgam of James and Weber. If we are correct, then the changed attitudes, assumptions, and values might work together to change ways of life which in turn transform our geographies of mind and being, that is, both the actual physical landscapes and the mental valuescapes we inhabit. One increasingly common outcome of this ongoing transformation, itself a symptom perhaps of post-industrial secular societies, is the movement away from self-denial toward a denial of the supernatural. This development promises to fundamentally alter future geographies of mind and being by shifting the locus of causality from an exalted Godhead to the domain of Nature. How this Nature is ultimately defined has broad repercussions for the, at times, artificial distinction between religious and secular worldviews. For Levine, “secularism is a positive, not a negative, condition, not a denial of the world of spirit and of religion, but an affirmation of the world we're living in now ... such a world is capable of bringing us to the condition of 'fullness' that religion has always promised.” For others, this “fullness” is present in more religious-oriented pantheistic or pandeistic belief systems with, in the latter case, the inclusion of God as the ever unfolding expression of a complex universe with an identifiable beginning but no teleological direction necessarily present."

"All the actions of created intelligences are not merely the actions of God. He has created a universe of beings which are said to act freely and responsibly as the proximate causes of their own moral actions. When individuals do evil things it is not God the Creator and Preserver acting. If God was the proximate cause of every act it would make all events to be "God in motion". That is nothing less than pantheism, or more exactly, pandeism. [However, t]he Creator is distinct from his creation. The reality of secondary causes is what separates Christian theism from pandeism."

"Why does calling God the author of sin demand a pandeistic understanding of the universe effectively removing the reality of sin and moral law."

"Against Bruno, Ratzinger is critical of what other commentators have described as his pandeism."

"[W]hatever the deity which satisfied Arnold's personal experience may have been, the religion which he gives us in Literature and Dogma and God and the Bible is neither Deism nor bare Pan-Deism, but a diluted Positivism. As an ethical system it is in theory admirable, but its positive value is in the highest degree questionable. Pascal's judgment upon the God who emerged from the philosophical investigations of Rene Descartes was that He was a God who was unnecessary. And one may with even greater truth say that the man who is able to receive and live by the religion which Arnold offers him is no longer in need of its help and stimulus. To be able to appreciate an a man must himself be already an ethical idealist."

"God is growth, God is structure/knowledge, God is everything and nothing simultaneously. And, rather heretically for the Abrahamic religions, to perceive i.e. to cognate i.e. to be of matter i.e. to be structured energy generating a gravimetric field is an aspect of God relating to another aspect of God through light, which is of course God. In this, the underlying metaphysics are most definitely Pandeist."

"Were the revolutionary Pandeist concepts of the Third Testament just a bunch of lies invented by a monster? Could the synergy between deism and pantheism championed by Damarus be truly mythical, as Ammold Paramo had advocated?"

"The empu uses a typical pedanda ketu, "crown" which is tall and red, and a ball. Another man leads Pande ceremonies on the island. He represents a curious mix of Buddhism, Hinduism, and, if it can be called this, "Pandeism." Thirty or so years ago some of the Singaraja Pande leaders felt the need for proclaiming themselves to be something other than Hindu, since they considered their fundamental beliefs to be different enough from Hinduism to warrant making a distinction."

"The New Age movement includes elements of older spiritual and religious traditions ranging from atheism and monotheism through classical pantheism, naturalistic pantheism, pandeism and panentheism to polytheism combined with science and Gaia philosophy; particularly archaeoastronomy, astronomy, ecology, environmentalism, the Gaia hypothesis, psychology, and physics."

"Se Deus é tudo isso, envolve tudo, a palavra andorinha, a palavra poço o a palavra amor, é que Deus é muito grande, enorme, infinito; é Deus realmente e o pandeismo de Nejar é uma das mais fortes ideias poéticas que nos têm chegado do mundo da Poesia. E o que não pode esperar desse poeta, desse criador poético, que em pouco menos de vinte anos, já chegou a essa grande iluminação poética?"

"Dottrina, che pel suo idealismo poco circospetto, non solo la fede, ma la stessa ragione offende (il sistema di KANT) : farebbe mestieri far aperto gli errori pericolosi, cosi alla Religione, come alla Morale, di quel psicologo franzese, il quale ha sedotte le menti (COUSIN), con far osservare come la di lui filosofia intraprendente ed audace sforza le barriere della sacra Teologia, ponendo innanzi ad ogn' altra autorità la propria : profana i misteri , dichiarandoli in parte vacui di senso, ed in parte riducendoli a volgari allusioni, ed a prette metafore; costringe, come faceva osservare un dotto Critico, la rivelazione a cambiare il suo posto con quello del pensiero istintivo e dell' affermazione senza riflessione e colloca la ragione fuori della persona dell'uomo dichiarandolo un frammento di Dio, una spezie di pandeismo spirituale introducendo, assurdo per noi, ed al Supremo Ente ingiurioso, il quale reca onda grave alla libertà del medesimo, ec, ec."

"Yesterday's pan-deists, who worshiped trees and brooks, have become members of various environmental groups doing much the same thing. People like Al Gore, others, and perhaps the reforesting Obama, have become their latter day shamans."

"Pandeism is another belief that states that God is identical to the universe, but God no longer exists in a way where He can be contacted; therefore, this theory can only be proven to exist by reason. Pandeism views the entire universe as being from God and now the universe is the entirety of God, but the universe at some point in time will fold back into one single being which is God Himself that created all. Pandeism raises the question as to why would God create a universe and then abandon it? As this relates to pantheism, it raises the question of how did the universe come about what is its aim and purpose?"

"Par ailleurs, un certain panthéisme, ou plutôt « pandéisme », se dégage de son œuvre où l'inspiration néoplatonicienne complète parfaitement la stricte orthodoxie chrétienne."

"In the eighteenth century and early nineteenth century Spinoza even became the secular saint of a kind of mystical pantheist deism for authors like Goethe, Schelling, and Coleridge."

"Yet still, should the demigod Pan come to bear, the result will be Pan-deism, the opening of Pandora's Box."

"Within the set of ideas related to panpsychism, one can find variations which too have found a place in the history of human thought. For instance, in Hinduism, the notion of lila is akin to the concept of pandeism."

"But Bruno was not quite an atheist or pantheist. He most likely followed an apophatic creed (via negativa), making him more of a pandeist."

"While some construction using pan-, whether it be pantheism, pandeism or pankubernism describes Anaximander reasonably well, there is one further point to address here. Does this description technically apply to Anaximander? The issue here is that it is the apeiron which surrounds all and steers all, and the apeiron which is the divine. What then of the cosmos? Clearly, that does not surround, but is it not divine? Does it do no steering?"

"Beym Plinius, den man, wo nicht Spinozisten, doch einen Pandeisten nennen konnte, ist Natur oder Gott kein von der Welt getrenntes oder abgesondertes Wesen. Seine Natur ist die ganze Schöpfung im Konkreto, und eben so scheint es mit seiner Gottheit beschaffen zu seyn."

"We might say a word about the Greek and Roman philosophers and compare their pan-deistic religions with ours. Aristotle, Plato, Plotinus, and Aurelius, for instance, allowed men and women to go after pleasure, and to achieve both personal happiness and the exercise of reason for its own sake here on Earth in contrast to the prescriptions set forth by St. Augusting and Thomas Aquinas."

"India worships three hundred millions of divinities. To her, God is everything, and everything is God, and, therefore, everything may be adored. Snakes and monsters are her special divinities. Her pan-deism is a pandemonium."

"There's nothing but syntax, semantics, technicalities, formalisms, (and, possibly, pretensions), to distinguish a Pandeist from an Atheist; truth be told. All "Atheists" believe in the same god pandeists do but their impersonal 'god' is no 'god' at all in the eyes of most religions."

"Are we virtuous merely because we are restrained by the fetters of the law? We hear men prophecy that this war means the death of Christianity and an era of Pandeism or perhaps even the destruction of all which we call modern civilization and culture. We hear men predict that the ultimate result of the war will be a blessing to humanity."

"Mochten die Muslime in der großen Stadt auch ihre geschlossenen kleinen Welten aufbauen, kam es doch immer wieder zu Reibungen mit der hinduistischen Mehrheitsgesellschaft: Kastensystem vs. Egalität der Muslime, Fleischverzehr der Muslime vs. Vegetarismus der Hindus, Monotheismus der Muslime vs. Pandeismus und Heiligenverehrung unter den Hindus."

"Translation: "They want to build up their closed little worlds in the great city of the Muslims, but they came again and again into friction with the Hindu majority society: caste system vs. egalitarianism of the Muslims, meat consumption of the Muslims vs. vegetarianism of Hindus, monotheism of the Muslims vs. Pandeism and veneration of saints among the Hindus.""

"God thus excludes the world; he is only its cause; in no sense is he effect, of himself or anything else. Pantheism (better, "pandeism," for again it is not really the theos that is described) means that God is the integral totality of ordinary cause-effects, and that there, is no super-cause independent of ordinary causes and effects."

"God thus includes the world; he is, in fact, the totality of world parts, which are indifferently causes and effects. Now AR [absolute perfection in some respects, relative perfection in all others] is equally far from either of these doctrines; thanks to its two-aspect view of God, it is able consistently to embrace all that is positive in either deism or pandeism. AR means that God is, in one aspect of himself, the integral totality of all ordinary causes and effects, but that in another aspect, his essence (which is A), he is conceivable in abstraction from any one or any group of particular, contingent beings (though not from the requirement and the power always to provide himself with some particulars or other, sufficient to constitute in their integrated totality the R aspect of himself at the given moment)."

"These distinctions make sense only when AR [absolute perfection in some respects, relative perfection in all others] is assumed (hence Spinoza's failure, who assumed mere A). Just as AR is the whole positive content of perfection, so CW, or the conception of the Creator-and-the-Whole-of-what-he-has-created as constituting one life, the super-whole which in its everlasting essence is uncreated (and does not necessitate just the parts which the whole has) but in its de facto concreteness is created - this panentheistic doctrine contains all of deism and pandeism except their arbitrary negations. Thus ARCW, or absolute-relative panentheism, is the one doctrine that really states the whole of what all theists, if not all atheists as well, are implicitly talking about."

"God split himself into a myriad parts that he might have friends. This may not be true, but it sounds good—and is no sillier than any other theology."

"God can be thought of as a transcendent sum of all things, with the whole transcending the sum in the sense of a 'gestalt'. If 'gods' (in the plural) exist, then they would exist add sub-categories for manifestations of the sum of all things. I have sometimes referred to myself as a 'pandeist', but tend to avoid mainstream or even technical categories because people then believe that they automatically understand your views. In the United States this generally means that one's religious identity is defined in terms of differences from Christianity, which is taken as the standard religious yardstick. I feel this objectifies and subordinates traditional Native American ways, and thus I often do not openly identify either as a traditional practitioner or as a 'pan-deist', often preferring the label 'atheist' as I do not feel that my views correlate with mainstream America's Christian notion of 'God'. However, something like 'pan-deism' does to some extent capture the nature of God as I experience it. Everything is God， any part of God, participating in the divine nature of all."

"I think Pandeism was a system; — and that when I say the country or kingdom of Pandæa, I express myself in a manner similar to what I should do, if I said the Popish kingdom or the kingdoms of Popery; or again, the Greeks have many idle ceremonies in their church, meaning the Greeks of all nations: or, the countries of the Pope are superstitions, &c. At the same time, I beg to be understood as not denying that there was such a kingdom as that of Pandae, the daughter of Cristna, any more than I would deny that there was a kingdom of France ruled by the eldest son of the church, or the eldest son of the Pope."

"We have seen that though Cristna was said to have left many sons, he left his immense empire, which extended from the sources of the Indus to Cape Comorin, (for we find a Regio Pandionis near this point,) to his daughter Pandæa; but, from finding the icon of Buddha so constantly shaded with the nine Cobras, &c., I am induced to think that this Pandeism was a doctrine, which had been received both by Buddhists and Brahmins."

"In that sense the latent rationality of Christianity comes to permeate the everyday experience of the modern world— its values are now variously incarnated in the family, civil society, and the state. What Engels particularly embraced in all of this was an idea of modern pantheism (or, rather, pandeism), a merging of divinity with progressing humanity, a happy dialectical synthesis that freed him from the fixed oppositions of the pietist ethos of devout longing and estrangement. "Through Strauss I have now entered on the straight road to Hegelianism. . . . The Hegelian idea of God has already become mine, and thus I am joining the ranks of the 'modern pantheists",' Engels wrote in one of his final letters to the soon-to-be-discarded Graebers."

"I’ve always liked the concept of God being beyond anything that the human mind can conceive. I think there is a pantheistic-deistic-American Indian combination religion out there for Americans. That rings true to me."

"Even those autistic people who are religious tend to formulate their religious beliefs in a way that aligns more closely with their natural propensity for concrete reasoning, or they focus on finding comfort in rituals and traditions more than theology. Instead of embracing traditional concepts of a humanlike deity involved in the creation and moral governance of the universe, they often perceive divinity as an embodiment of universal laws, a perspective that veers toward pantheism or pandeism rather than classical deism. Their god is usually not a conscious, purposeful creator but more an expression of nature itself or the laws of physics."

"The ontological validity of Pandeistic views aside... every side of the heated and long-lasting argument around the "hard problem of consciousness" seems to be simultaneously correct. Factual or not, the mere fact that a philosophical system can be conceived wherein those apparently mutually-exclusive views no longer contradict one another is remarkable."

"And you have been forever, and will be forever, and all the worrisome smashings of your foot on innocent cupboard doors it was only the Void pretending to be a man pretending not to know the Void."

"Dem Verfasser hat anscheinend die Einteilung: religiöse, rationale und naturwissenschaftlich fundierte Weltanschauungen vorgeschwebt; er hat sie dann aber seinem Material gegenüber schwer durchführbar gefunden und durch die mitgeteilte ersetzt, die das Prinzip der Einteilung nur noch dunkel durchschimmern läßt. Damit hängt wohl auch das vom Verfasser gebildete unschöne griechisch-lateinische Mischwort des ,Pandeismus' zusammen. Nach S. 228 versteht er darunter im Unterschied von dem mehr metaphysisch gearteten Pantheismus einen ,gesteigerten und vereinheitlichten Animismus', also eine populäre Art religiöser Weltdeutung. Prägt man lieh dies ein, so erstaunt man über die weite Ausdehnung, die dem Begriff in der Folge gegeben wird. Nach S. 284 ist Scotus Erigena ein ganzer, nach S. 300 Anselm von Canterbury ein ,halber Pandeist'; aber auch bei Nikolaus Cusanus und Giordano Bruno, ja selbst bei Mendelssohn und Lessing wird eine Art von Pandeismus gefunden (S. 306. 321. 346s)."

"Xenophanes... wrote elaborately on his own religious views that were mainly of a pandeistic character as opposed to the dominant worshiping of multiple anthropomorphic gods of his times."

"Pantheismus und Pandeismus, Monismus und Dualismus: alles dies sind in Wirklichkeit nur verschiedene Formen des Gottschauens, verschiedene Beleuchtungsarten des Grundbegriffes, nämlich des Höchsten, von dem aus die verschiedenen Strahlungen in die Menschenseele sich hineinsenken und hier ein Spiegelbild projizieren, dessen Wahrnehmung die charakteriologische Eigenart des Einzelindividuums, die durch zeitliches, familiäres und soziologisches Milieu bedingte Auffassungsgabe vermittelt."

"“New Age” cosmologies reject materialism, naturalism and physicalism. They are commonly pantheistic or pandeistic. They frequently try to commandeer quantum physics and consciousness studies to illustrate their conception of the cosmos."

"The WHO and MSF and other organizations do great work, but they often lack the long-term committment and grass-roots organization needed to build a sustainable program. Missionaries and hospitals like Holy Family also have made contributions and they recognize the need for providing economics-based aid (i.e. finding employment), but they lack the vigour and drive of the St. Stephens community. The government also does very little, but generally co- operates with St. Stephens in terms of getting OKs, partly because it is older than the Indian government itself and partly because it has a stellar reputation for secularism. Indeed, most of the staff is either Hindu or Moslem, but they are full of these pan-deist ideas, and even Zahir deliberately used the Christian word "God" rather than "Allah" when talking with me."

"If divine becoming were complete, God's kenosis--God's self-emptying for the sake of love--would be total. In this pandeistic view, nothing of God would remain separate and apart from what God would become. Any separate divine existence would be inconsistent with God's unreserved participation in the lives and fortunes of the actualized phenomena."

"In pandeism, God is no superintending, heavenly power, capable of hourly intervention into earthly affairs. No longer existing "above," God cannot intervene from above and cannot be blamed for failing to do so. Instead God bears all suffering, whether the fawn's or anyone else's. Even so, a skeptic might ask, "Why must there be so much suffering,? Why could not the world's design omit or modify the events that cause it?" In pandeism, the reason is clear: to remain unified, a world must convey information through transactions. Reliable conveyance requires relatively simple, uniform laws. Laws designed to skip around suffering-causing events or to alter their natural consequences (i.e., their consequences under simple laws) would need to be vastly complicated or (equivalently) to contain numerous exceptions."

"This one god could be of the deistic or pantheistic sort. Deism might be superior in explaining why God has seemingly left us to our own devices and pantheism could be the more logical option as it fits well with the ontological argument's 'maximally-great entity' and doesn't rely on unproven concepts about 'nothing' (as in 'creation out of nothing'). A mixture of the two, pandeism, could be the most likely God-concept of all."

"Man stelle es also den Denkern frei, ob sie Theisten, Pan-theisten, Atheisten, Deisten (und warum nicht auch Pandeisten?) sein wollen: dem Volke aber predigt nichts von Gott und ja nichts von Unsterblichkeit."

"Caeiro unterläuft die Unterscheidung zwischen dem Schein und dem, was etwa "Denkerge-danken" hinter ihm ausmachen wollen. Die Dinge, wie er sie sieht, sind als was sie scheinen. Sein Pan-Deismus basiert auf einer Ding-Metaphysik, die in der modernen Dichtung des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts noch Schule machen sollte."

"Nehmen wir einmal an, wir würden das allumfassende Gesetz der Natur finden, nach dem wir suchen, so dass wir schließlich voller Stolz versichern könnten, so und nicht anders ist die Welt aufgebaut – sofort entstünde eine neue Frage: Was steht hinter diesem Gesetz, warum ist die Welt gerade so aufgebaut? Dieses Warum führt uns über die Grenzen der Naturwissenschaft in den Bereich der Religion. Als Fachmann sollte ein Physiker antworten: Wir wissen es nicht, wir werden es niemals wissen. Andere würden sagen, dass Gott dieses Gesetz aufstellte, also das Universum schuf. Ein Pandeist würde vielleicht sagen, dass das allumfassende Gesetz eben Gott sei."

"Over time there have been other schools of thought formed under the umbrella of deism including Christian deism, belief in deistic principles coupled with the moral teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, and Pandeism, a belief that God became the entire universe and no longer exists as a separate being."

"What is referred to herein as a "divine spirituality" is nothing but the intrinsic and unaided propensity and proclivity of matter to self-organize. This, of course, is capable of "dying" when the limit of expansion is reached, and the old-age Big Crunch starts. This is the way the Gaia Universe dies. Here I must side with Heracleitus, the Stoics, Bruno, Fichte, Schelling, Goethe and Hegel. Mind is eternal, mind never dies, mind is the universe. The Pandeist God is the Salmon-God: when it spawns it dies. [They] side with Nietzsche — God is dead — only that for Nietzsche there never was a 'god.'"

"According to Olson, Jaspers's perception of ciphers stresses the centrality of the individual experiencing the constitution of the symbol and activity involved in interpreting it, compared with Christian theology, which grants a different weight to the individual and to the symbolic aspects of religion. In his opinion, the fear that pandeism or the tendency to reduce faith into the external means by which it is obtained would eventually lead to the viewing of these means as having purely subjective, and also mutable, validity, was behind the Catholic church's emphasis on the objective truth of the symbols themselves in relation to the individual religious experience."

"The site seems to exude some force, as if there is a multitude of souls in everything around you. I don't know if this is the philosophy of Pandeism or Pantheism, but in the tranquility of the moment, I don't care either."

"There is a religious view I find interesting, which is pandeism: the view that God used to exist, and be the only thing that existed, and then transformed himself into the universe, and so no longer exists. The reason God did this was basically for fun, or to see what happened. And maybe at some point the universe will transform itself back into God—that would be like nirvana or heaven. But then eventually God would get bored again and start the cycle over. As I understand it, this is close to some parts of Hindu cosmology."

"Not all monists are pantheists. Exclusive monists believe that the universe, the God of the pantheist, simply does not exist. In addition, monists can be Deists, pandeists, theists or panentheists; believing in a monotheistic God that is omnipotent and all-pervading, and both transcendent and immanent."

"The theory presented in the Anacalypsis... is that a secret religious order, which [Higgins] labeled Pandeism, had continued from ancient times to the present day, stretching at least from Greece to India, and possibly having covered the entire world."

"What appeared here, at the center of the Pythagorean tradition in philosophy, is another view of psyche that seems to owe little or nothing to the pan-vitalism or pan-deism (see theion) that is the legacy of the Milesians."

"In certain passages of the OT the concept of Babylon emerges into an archetypal figure for the proud, God-defying forces of this world. In the NT it is even more clearly a type of pan-deism formed from a synthesis of Christianity and paganism; this is indicated symbolically in the description of the woman riding on the Beast."

"Otávio de Faria póde falar, com razão, de um pandeísmo de Carlos Nejar. Não uma poesia panteísta, mas pandeísta. Quero dizer, uma cosmogonia, um canto geral, um cancioneiro do humano e do divino. Mas o divino no humano"

"Metafísica es pandeista y degenera en el idealismo."

"Bruno imagines all planets and stars having souls (part of what he means by them all having the same “composition”), and he uses his cosmology as a tool for advancing an animist or Pandeist theology."

"A very contemporary deceptive religious concept that targets uninformed and unsaved people is a type of religious belief called Pandeism. This word is a combination of Pantheism and Deism. Pantheism promotes that God is in everything. Deism means that God is somehow no longer involved with His creation. This false religious view is why many have come to believe that God, the Creator of the universe, no longer exists, because He became the universe and is now the universe. Many unsaved people believe that the universe makes decisions about people."

"Osnovna pitanja političke teologije jesu: polemika protiv svakog teološkog imanentizma i pandeizma Hegelova tipa, zatim polemika protiv polideizma ikao sinonima za politički pluralizam, polemika protiv svakog ateizma kao i njegove suvremene varijante materijalizma i scijentizma."

"But even if the nightmare was a vision of the truth, Mr Mond can still believe in God, because he says that God became the universe. Therefore the universe is God. No. In becoming the universe God abdicated. He destroyed himself as God. He turned what he had been, his true self, into nullity and thereby forfeited the Godlike qualities which pertained to him. The universe which he has become is also his grave. He has no control in it or over it. God, as God, is dead."

"The real significance of the symbiosis becomes evident if one considers the radical pan-psych position that every piece of matter has a “psych” property or pan-deist position that some “Consciousness” interacts with all matter."

"In the pandeism argument, an omnipotent and omnibenevolent God creates the universe and in the process becomes the universe and loses his powers to intervene in human affairs."

"The position of Pope Paul came close to being a pan-Deism, and pan-Deism is the logical development of the virus of Hellenic thought."

"But a sincere idealist, implicitly pan-Deist in faith, deeply concerned with the problems of the world and of time, can be a Ghibelline pope, and Dante's Ghibellines have at last triumphed."

"The view that the universe is not only God but also a person is called "pandeism." Do you agree with James that viewing the universe as a person would help give meaning to your life?"

"Jubal... is a devout and fierce individualist in a world filled with cults and bureaucracies, and by novel's end it is he, not Jill nor Mike, that is still a stranger, still tilting against the windmills. He honestly believes in his own free will, which Mike, Jill, and the Fosterites misinterpret as a pandeistic urge, 'Thou art God!' Mike, by contrast, readily abandons his Martian beliefs for human ones, even as he claims to merely find a congress between them."

"The Eastern view of morality springs from a fundamentally different view of reality. We in the West regard the universe as a creation of God; like an invention or a product. After he created the universe, God set himself to oversee it and manage it. We see God as our boss. He created the universe, he is present in it, he manages every part of it, but he is still separate from it. It's like he installed video cameras all over the universe, so he can see everything that happens, and he can cause this or that to happen, but he is not a part of what happens. The Eastern view is very different. To the Hindu, for example, God didn't create the universe, but God became the universe. Then he forgot that he became the universe. Why would God do this? Basically, for entertainment. You create a universe, and that in itself is very exciting. But then what? Should you sit back and watch this universe of yours having all the fun? No, you should have all the fun yourself. To accomplish this, God transformed into the whole universe. God is the Universe, and everything in it. But the universe doesn't know that because that would ruin the suspense. The universe is God's great drama, and God is the stage, the actors, and the audience all at once. The title of this epic drama is "The Great Unknown Outcome." Throw in potent elements like passion, love, hate, good, evil, free will; and who knows what will happen? No one knows, and that is what keeps the universe interesting. But everyone will have a good time. And there is never really any danger, because everyone is really God, and God is really just playing around."

"Certo è che quel concetto forma una delle basi morali fondamentali di religiosi i cui segnaci sono oltre i due terzi della popolazione del globo, mentre è influenzato dall'indole speciale di ciascuna di esse, cioè da un idealismo sovrumano nel Cristianesimo, da un nichilismo antiumano nel buddismo, e da un pandeismo eclettico nell'incipiente ma progrediente Bramoismo indiano; e a queste credenze che ammettono il principio ideale della fratellanza universale, conviene aggiungere il naturalismo estetico scientifico greco-romano e moderno che inspira, in modo sostanziale, tutto l'insegnamento pubblico Europeo, e contro il quale protestarono sempre e molto logicamente gli ortodossi cristiani, da Paolo II papa a Giuseppe di Maistre."

"在《撒忧的龙船河》里的撒忧文化, "撒忧"又叫"撒阳"、"撒野"、"撒尔嗬" ,就是生长在泛自然神论文化下的生殖崇拜符号, 撒野现象就是指土家情歌中那些强烈的生命冲动和人性张扬中所表现出来的野性美。"

"在叶梅的早期小说里那种泛自然神论的浪漫精神随处可见,其目的是在张扬人性, 张扬泛自然神论下人性的自由。"

"Attention to Christ and the Spirit delivers us from pantheism, pandeism, and process theology."

"God did not create the world, He became the world. God became the world to realize himself, in material form, to realize an eternal and infinite aim. It is for the purpose of realizing His eternal and infinite aim that He became the world. Now notice this. God had to conceive the one primordial idea to become the world. Thus the idea preceded the world. This is supposed to be the relation between cause and effect. The cause is assumed to be prior to and independent of the effect; while the effect is assumed to be posterior to and dependent upon the cause."

"Wenn auch nur durch einen Buchstaben (d statt th), unter­scheiden wir grundsätzlich Pandeismus vom Pantheismus."

"Even if only by a letter (d in place of th), we fundamentally differ Pandeism from Pantheism."

"Wir werden später sehen, daß die Indier auch den Pandeismus gelehrt haben. Der letzte Zustand besteht in dieser Lehre im Eingehen in die betreffende Gottheit, Brahma oder Wischnu. So sagt in der Bhagavad-Gîtâ Krishna-Wischnu, nach vielen Lehren über ein vollkommenes Dasein."

"在这里,人与天是平等和谐的,这就是说,它是泛自然神论或是无神论的,这是中国人文思想的一大特色。"

"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,Hath had elsewhere its setting,And cometh from afar:Not in entire forgetfulness,And not in utter nakedness,But trailing clouds of glory do we comeFrom God, who is our home:Heaven lies about us in our infancy!"

"Als Gesamtcharakteristik wählte H. sich die Bezeichnung eines neo-transzendentalen Subsistenz-Relationismus bzw. mehr inhaltlich: eines Hen-Pan-Deismus (nicht: -theismus); geschichtsphilosophisch schließt dies Atheismus, naturphilosophisch einen Quasi-Pantheismus - das Absolute als definitiver Prinzipiationsgrenzwert unter Gültigkeitsrücksichten - ein."

"泛自然神论的浪漫精神三峡文化的艺术原素是一种独特的理想浪漫精神,是纯朴粗犷、绚丽诡竒的。"

"Pandeism. This is a kind of pantheism that incorporates a form of deism, holding that the universe is identical to God but also that God was previously a conscious and sentient force or entity that designed and created the universe."

"At the moment of consecration the Host glowed with the most dazzling brightness it became in fact a veritable sun to the eye of the clairvoyant, and as the priest lifted it above the heads of the people I noticed that two distinct varieties of spiritual force poured forth from it, which might perhaps be taken as roughly corresponding to the light of the sun and the streamers of his corona. The first rayed out impartially in all directions upon all the people in the church; indeed, it penetrated the walls of the church as though they were not there... The light which I have just described poured forth impartially upon all, the just and the unjust, the believers and the scoffers. But this second force was called into activity only in response to a strong feeling of devotion on the part of an individual. At the elevation of the Host all members of the congregation duly prostrated themselves— some apparently as a mere matter of habit, but some also with a strong feeling of deep devotional feeling. The effect as seen by clairvoyant sight was most striking and profoundly impressive, for to each of these latter there darted from the uplifted Host a ray of fire, which set the higher part of the astral body of the recipient glowing with the most intense ecstasy. Ch. 8"

"Clearly one of the great objects, perhaps the principal object, of the daily celebration of the Mass is that everyone within reach of it shall receive at least once each day one of these electric shocks which are so well calculated to promote any growth of which he is capable. Such an outpouring of force brings to each person whatever he has made himself capable of receiving; but even the quite undeveloped and ignorant cannot but be somewhat the better for the passing touch of a noble emotion, while for the few more advanced it means a spiritual uplifting the value of which it would be difficult to exaggerate. Ch. 8"

"But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow, this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract."

"I like that ancient Saxon phrase, which calls The burial-ground God's-Acre! It is just; It consecrates each grave within its walls, And breathes a benison o'er the sleeping dust."

"O Holy Ghost, divine spirit of light and love, we consecrate to Thee our understanding, our hearts and our wills, our whole being for time and for eternity."

"Ah, my friends, it is not only from the study walls of pastors, but from the walls of every shop, every counting-room, and every hall of justice and legislation, that the countenance of the all-holy Jesus is looking down, and saying, "Do all for me.""

"Live, as it were, on trust. All that is in you, all that you are, is only loaned to you; make use of it according to the will of Him who lends it; but never regard it for a moment as your own."

"See that you receive Christ with all your heart. As there is nothing in Christ that may be refused, so there is nothing in you from which He must be excluded."

"Living or dying, Lord, I ask but to be Thine; My life in Thee, Thy life in me, Makes heaven forever mine."

"Teach us, Master, how to give All we have and are to Thee; Grant us, Saviour, while we live, Wholly, only Thine to be."

"Seek to make life henceforth a consecrated thing; that so, when the sunset is nearing, with its murky vapors and lowering skies, the very clouds of sorrow may be fringed with golden light. Thus will the song in the house of your pilgrimage be always the truest harmony. It will be composed of no jarring, discordant notes; but with all its varied tones will form one sustained, life-long melody; dropped for a moment in death, only to be resumed with the angels, and blended with the everlasting cadences of your Father's house."

"If you want to live in this world, doing the duty of life, knowing the blessings of it, doing your work heartily, and yet not absorbed by it, remember that the one power whereby you can so act is, that all shall be consecrated to Christ, and done for His sake."

"Take me, O my Father, take me! Take me, save me, through Thy Son; That which Thou wouldst have me, make me, Let Thy will in me be done. Long from Thee my footsteps straying, Thorny proved the way I trod; Weary come I now, and praying — Take me to Thy love, my God!"

"God consecrates us with His Spirit; whom He adopts, He anoints; whom He makes sons, He makes saints; He doth not only give them a new name, but a new nature. God turns the wolf into a lamb; He makes the heart humble and gracious; He works such a change as if another soul did dwell in the same body."

"Spirituality is much wider than any particular religion, and in the larger ideas of it that are now coming on us even the greatest religion becomes no more than a broad sect or branch of the one universal religion, by which we shall understand in the future man's seeking for the eternal, the divine, the greater self, the source of unity and his attempt to arrive at some equation, some increasing approximation of the values of human life with the eternal and the divine values."

"Your spirituality is what you do with the fires that burn within."

"The one who is not at home, he is wandering outside. Similarly, the one is not in the worldly life he is wandering around the religion."

"The reason for the corrupt politics and the greedy ambitious planning of so many of the world's leading men, can be found in the fact that the spiritually minded men and women have not assumed - as their spiritual duty and responsibility - the leadership of the people. They have left the power in the wrong hands and permitted the selfish and the undesirable to lead...Spirituality is essentially the establishing of right human relations, the promotion of goodwill, and finally the establishing of a true peace on earth..."

"Later, when the [human] race sees its problem with clarity, it will act with wisdom, and train with care its Observers and Communicators. These will be men and women in whom the intuition has awakened at the behest of an urgent intellect; they will be people whose minds are so subordinated to the group good, and so free from all sense of separativeness, that their minds present no impediment to the contact with the world of reality and of inner truth. They will not necessarily be people who could be termed "religious" in the ordinary sense of that word, but they will be men of goodwill, of high mental calibre, with minds well stocked and equipped; they will be free from personal ambition and selfishness, animated by love of humanity, and by a desire to help the race. Such a man is a spiritual man."

"Materialism and Spirituality: There are today three major human trends: First of all, a trend towards a spiritual and free way of life; secondly, a trend towards intellectual unfoldment; and lastly, a potent trend towards material living and aggression. At present, the last of these innate tendencies is in the saddle, with the second, the intellectual attitude, throwing its weight upon the side of the material goals. A relatively small group is throwing the weight of human aspiration upon the side of the spiritual values. The war between the pairs of opposites — materialism and spirituality — is raging fiercely. Only as men turn away from material aggression and towards spiritual objectives will the world situation change, and men — motivated by goodwill — force the aggressors back to their own place and release humanity from fear and force. We are today reaping the results of our own sowing. The recognition of the cause of the problem provides humanity with the opportunity to end it. The time has arrived in which it is possible to institute those changes in attitude which will bring an era of peace and goodwill, founded on right human relations. These two forces — materialism and spirituality — face each other. What will be the outcome? Will men arrest the evil and initiate a period of understanding, cooperation and right relationship, or will they continue the process of selfish planning and of economic and militant competition? This question must be answered by the clear thinking of the masses and by the calm and unafraid challenges of the democracies."

"What is the spiritual battle? Well, the soul is a garden divided into two parts. On one half are planted thorny bushes, and on the other half flowers. We also have a water pump with two taps and two channels. The one guides the water to the thorns and the other to the flowers. I always have the choice to open one or the other tap. I leave the thorns without water and they dry up, I water the flowers and they blossom."

"The thing about , the thing about spirituality is that it's your responsibility as a spiritual person to be honest. Sometimes being honest is calling somebody on their bullshit and not standing there and being passive and letting somebody self-destruct. Being spiritual doesn't mean going, `Aw, honey, aw, poor baby' . That's not being spiritual. When somebody needs a kick in the pants, you say get your shit together, asshole. If that's what the situation requires, then that's being spiritual. If laying back and saying nothing is appropriate, that's being spiritual. It's really being completely conscious of each situation, whether it's friendships, whether it's with the world. Since I'm a performer, I have a bigger responsibility to be honest for each situation. It's not in any way counter to my spirituality, au contraire."

"To that manifested Presence the name of "the Christ" may rightly be given, and it was He who lived and moved in the form of the man Jesus over the hills and plains of Palestine, teaching, healing diseases, and gathering round Him as disciples a few of the more advanced souls. The rare charm of His royal love, outpouring from Him as rays from a sun, drew round Him the suffering, the weary, and the oppressed, and the subtly tender magic of His gentle wisdom purified, ennobled, and sweetened the lives that came into contact with His own... By parable and luminous imagery He taught the uninstructed crowds who pressed around Him, and, using the powers of the free Spirit, He healed many a disease by word or touch, reinforcing the magnetic energies belonging to His pure body with the compelling force of His inner life... The teachers and rulers of His nation soon came to eye Him with jealousy and anger; His spirituality was a constant reproach to their materialism, His power a constant, though silent, exposure of their weakness. p. 136"

"The historical Christ, then, is a glorious Being belonging to the great spiritual hierarchy that guides the spiritual evolution of humanity, who used for some three years the human body of the disciple Jesus; who spent the last of these three years in public teaching... who was a healer of diseases and performed other remarkable occult works; who gathered round Him a small band of disciples whom He instructed in the deeper truths of the spiritual life; who drew men to Him by the singular love and tenderness and the rich wisdom that breathed from His Person; and who was finally put to death for blasphemy, for teaching the inherent Divinity of Himself and of all men. p.141"

"We require in our life both personal effort and Divine Guidance. Nothing can be achieved simply by personal effort, we also require Divine Mercy. But simply Divine Mercy is not enough, we require the strength and courage to receive it. Just as a bird cannot fly without both wings, so also a man cannot attain success in spiritual life without personal endeavour and Divinity."

"I am not afraid of being thought a sentimentalist when I stand here tonight and tell you that I believe natural beauty has a necessary place in the spiritual development of any individual or any society. I believe that whenever we destroy beauty, or whenever we substitute something man-made and artificial for a natural feature of the earth, we have retarded some part of man's spiritual growth."

"Politics and Religion are obsolete. The time has come for Science and Spirituality."

"Sofi Elizondo: How many senses do worms have?"

"The contemplation of celestial things will make a man both speak and think more sublimely and magnificently when he descends to human affairs."

"I would not expect religion to be the right tool for sequencing the human genome and by the same token would not expect science to be the means to approaching the supernatural. But on the really interesting larger questions, such as ‘Why are we here?’ or ‘Why do human beings long for spirituality?,’ I find science unsatisfactory. Many superstitions have come into existence and then faded away. Faith has not, which suggests it has reality."

"For me, seeking spirituality had a lot to do with trying to seek understanding about my conditions—how these conditions shape me in my everyday life and how I understand them as part of a larger fight, a fight for my life."

"I know some people cringe when they here the word spiritual. But we're here together in the Network because we're trying to change our lives together, and to change the world into a better place. And we can do that only by raising our own consciousness and the consciousness of everyone else to a higher level, where we see that we are all interconnected, we all need each other, we all need the natural world and all living creatures in it, and that the prosperity for each of us depends on the prosperity of all. That is what spirituality is all about. So at heart, we are an economic movement, a political movement, an ecological movement, and above all a spiritual movement, a movement to bring ourselves and all the people to a higher consciousness."

"Western civilisation, with its own spirituality, has permeated all corners of the earth. My thesis is that this is the spirituality of money."

"Many of the that have shaped the study of African spirituality were developed in colonial contexts, often by scholars who, despite their best intentions, viewed African spiritualities through the lens of Christianity or secular rationalism."

"The growth of philosophy is the story of man's spiritual life."

"Whenever you wash dishes, cook, or clean, if you make no sound, this is smartness itself. A person who enters a house and makes a lot of noise is revealing a lack of spirituality; even cats and dogs do not make unnecessary sounds, and man as he naturally is does not make any either."

"See the person's eating and cooking, and then you can judge his or her spirituality."

"It seems to me that whoever says soul, life, beauty, says something purely spiritual and escapes, at least in substance, all the determinations that are the sole object of understanding."

"Spirituality represents the specialization and detachment of profundity from everyday life into a disembodied, disconnected, symbolic realm that becomes compensatory for an everyday life whose immanence is banality."

"The First Truth is an assertion that all manifested life is sorrow, unless man knows how to live it... the Cause of Sorrow is always desire. If a man has no desires, if he is not striving for place or power or wealth, then he is equally tranquil whether the wealth or position comes or whether it goes. He remains unruffled and serene.... Being human, he will of course wish for this or that, but always mildly and gently, so that he does not allow himself to be disturbed..."

"Certain broad facts are always put before men in some form or other. They are explained even to savage tribes by their medicine-men, and to the rest of mankind by various religious teachers and in all kinds of scriptures. It is very true that scriptures and religions differ, but the points in which they all agree have to be accepted by a man before he can understand life sufficiently to live happily. One of these facts is the eternal Law of Cause and Effect. If a man lives under the delusion that he can do anything that he likes, and that the effect of his actions will never recoil upon himself, he will most certainly find that some of these actions eventually involve him in unhappiness and suffering. If, again, he does not understand that the object of his life is progress, that God’s Will for him is that he shall grow to be something better and nobler than he is now, then also he will bring unhappiness and suffering upon himself, because he will be likely to live for the lower side of life only, and that lower side of life never finally satisfies the inner man."

"Spiritual people must sometimes be spiritual warriors."

"It is doubtful whether we may name any weak thing as typically spiritual."

"A physical man does not receive the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot get to know [them], because they are examined spiritually. However, the spiritual man examines indeed all things, but he himself is not examined by any man."

"These things we also speak, not with words taught by human wisdom, but with those taught by [the] spirit, as we combine spiritual [matters] with spiritual [words]."

"The best type of spirituality [is] nourished by the reading of Sacred Scripture and the Church's holy Fathers and Doctors, and by everything else that can foster this awareness in the Church: systematic catechetical instruction; an active participation in the sacred liturgy, an incomparable school of spirituality, with its words, signs and prayers; fervent, silent meditation on heavenly truths; and determined effort to cultivate the prayer of contemplation."

"Everything spiritual is so individual that everyone should sense precisely with his heart what is particularly close to him and follow this path. I am so fond of a statement in the Bagavad Gita, this finest pearl of the Eastern writings, that I never tire of repeating it, and so I shall quote it to you as well. "Man comes to Me by various paths, but by whatever path man comes to Me, on that path I welcome him, for all paths are Mine.""

"Leaders like IMboni are essential. They remind us that spirituality is not an escape from the world but a way of engaging in it. That identity is not imposed from outside."

"I, at any rate, acknowledge only one master, not forty-five million two-legged sheep, or two thousand million, but simply and absolutely the spirit."

"Any action is often better than no action, especially if you have been stuck in an unhappy situation for a long time. If it is a mistake, at least you learn something, in which case it's no longer a mistake. If you remain stuck, you learn nothing. Is fear preventing you from taking action? Acknowledge the fear, watch it, take your attention into it, be fully present with it. Doing so cuts the link between the fear and your thinking. Don't let the fear rise up into your mind. Use the power of the Now. Fear cannot prevail against it. If there is truly nothing that you can do to change your here and now, and you can't remove yourself from the situation, then accept your here and now totally by dropping all inner resistance. The false, unhappy self that loves feeling miserable, resentful, or sorry for itself can then no longer survive. This is called surrender. Surrender is not weakness. There is great strength in it. Only a surrendered person has spiritual power."

"Many people are already aware of the difference between spirituality and religion. They realize that having a belief system, a set of thoughts that you regard as the absolute truth – does not make you spiritual no matter what the nature of those beliefs is. In fact, the more you make your thoughts (beliefs) into your identity, the more cut off you are from the spiritual dimension within yourself."

"The new spirituality, the transformation of consciousness, is arising to a large extent outside of the structures of the existing institutionalized religions. There were always pockets of spirituality even in mind dominated religions, although the institutionalized hierarchies felt threatened by them and often tried to suppress them. A large scale opening of spirituality outside of the religious structures is an entirely new development. In the past, this would have been inconceivable, especially in the West, the most mind dominated of all cultures, where the Christian church had a virtual franchise on spirituality. You couldn’t just stand up and give a spiritual talk or publish a spiritual book unless you were sanctioned by the church, and if you were not, they would quickly silence you."

"Partly as a result of the spiritual teachings that have arisen outside the established religions, but also due to an influx of the ancient Eastern wisdom teachings, a growing number of followers of traditional religions are able to let go of identification with form, dogma, and rigid belief systems and discover the original depth that is hidden within their own spiritual tradition at the same time as they discover the depth within themselves. They realize that how “spiritual” you are has nothing to do with what you believe but everything to do with your state of consciousness. This, in turn, determines how you act in the world and interact with others."

"The ideal spiritual community does not require uniformity but unity of purpose, mutual respect, and love. As the body thrives when its cells are in harmony, the soul flourishes when united with others in the pursuit of good. … In both biology and spirituality, survival and flourishing depend on alignment with the original design. … Importantly, just as medicine seeks to restore cellular order through treatment and intervention, spiritual healing calls for restoring harmony with divine will. Community support, faith, and guidance are vital for both physical recovery and spiritual renewal."

"If an ignorant person is attracted by the things of the world, that is bad. But if a learned person is thus attracted, it is worse."

"Withdrawal from the world does not mean bodily removal from it, but the severance of the soul from sympathy with the body, and the giving up city, home, personal possessions, love of friends, property, means of subsistence, business, social relations, and knowledge derived from human teaching."

"Freedom from the world is, in principle, not asceticism, but rather a distance from the world for which all participation in things worldly takes place in the attitude of “as if not.” (1 Cor. 7:29-31)"

"The Church is worldly when it follows the fashions of thought and action of the world in various areas of human life, rather than orienting the world toward eternal realities. What is worldliness, after all, if not conforming to the mentality of the present age?"

"Facts witness to the reality that [Christians] have abandoned God, that they have entered the world and become one with the world. Whatever the world considers praiseworthy ... vanity, comfort, wealth, fancy notions, blasphemies — the Christians, too, praise with one accord, quite blatantly without shame and without conscience. We can find with difficulty one man in a thousand who does not conform himself to the world. For this reason authority is necessary for the pagan world, since a man of weak faith will not be better than a pagan. A world contrary to God must be kept within bounds by the world’s sword."

"Every day that we allow some little physical infirmity or worldly worry to come between us and our obstinate, indignant, defiant exultation, we are weakening our genius for life."

"The worldly man lives in society, marries, establishes a family; Yoga prescribes absolute solitude and chastity. The worldly man is “possessed” by his own life; the yogin refuses to “let himself live”; to continual movement, he opposes his static posture, the immobility of āsana; to agitated, unrhythmical, changing respiration, he opposes prānāyāma, and even dreams of holding his breath indefinitely; to the chaotic flux of psychomental life, he replies by “fixing thought on a single point,” the first step to that final withdrawal from the phenomenal world which he will obtain through pratyāhāra. All of the yogic techniques invite to one and the same gesture—to do exactly the opposite of what human nature forces one to do. From solitude and chastity to samyama, there is no solution of continuity. The orientation always remains the same—to react against the “normal,” “secular,” and finally “human” inclination."

"The habit which many have got into must be as far as possible corrected; those, I mean, who while they fight strenuously against the baser pleasures, yet still go on hunting for pleasure in the shape of worldly honour and positions which will gratify their love of power. They act like some domestic who longed for liberty, but instead of exerting himself to get away from slavery proceeded only to change his masters, and thought liberty consisted in that change. But all alike are slaves, even though they should not all go on being ruled by the same masters, as long as a dominion of any sort, with power to enforce it, is set over them."

"The victorious course of Christianity since Nicaea and especially since Augustine, which was not unlike the expansion of Buddhism since the reign of Asoka, sealed its pact with that worldly wisdom which it had originally professed to renounce. Its readiness for fanaticism, without which its ascendancy would have been unstable, testified to a secret and indomitable hatred for that attitude of mind for which its founder had earlier been put to death."

"θρησκεία καθαρὰ καὶ ἀμίαντος παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ καὶ Πατρὶ αὕτη ἐστίν, ἐπισκέπτεσθαι ὀρφανοὺς καὶ χήρας ἐν τῇ θλίψει αὐτῶν, ἄσπιλον ἑαυτὸν τηρεῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ κόσμου."

"ὃς ἐὰν οὖν βουληθῇ φίλος εἶναι τοῦ κόσμου, ἐχθρὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ καθίσταται."

"Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever."

"This is the greatest wisdom—to seek the kingdom of heaven through contempt of the world. It is vanity, therefore, to seek and trust in riches that perish. It is vanity also to court honor and to be puffed up with pride. It is vanity to follow the lusts of the body and to desire things for which severe punishment later must come. It is vanity to wish for long life and to care little about a well-spent life. It is vanity to be concerned with the present only and not to make provision for things to come. It is vanity to love what passes quickly and not to look ahead where eternal joy abides."

"What we call worldliness simply consists of such people who, if one may so express it, pawn themselves to the world."

"The world and Christianity have completely opposite conceptions. The world says of the apostles, of the Apostle Peter as their spokesman, "He is drunk,"-and the Apostle Peter admonishes, "Become sober." Consequently the secular mentality considers Christianity to be drunkenness, and Christianity considers the secular mentality to be drunkenness. "Do become reasonable, come to your senses, try to become sober"-thus does the secular mentality taunt the Christian. And the Christian says to the secular mentality, "Do become reasonable, come to your senses, become sober." The difference between secularity and Christianity is not that one has one view and the other another-no, the difference is always that they have the very opposite views, that what one calls good the other calls evil, what the one calls love the other calls selfishness, what the one calls piety the other calls impiety, what the one calls being drunk the other calls being sober. it is precisely the drunken man, the apostle, who finds it necessary to bring home to the sober (I assume) world the admonition: "Become sober!" This very admonition may, as intended, most severely wound the callous secular mentality, which as a rule cannot be wounded very easily or disconcerted."

"What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"

"The science, which teaches arts and handicrafts Is merely science for the gaining of a living; But the science which teaches deliverance from worldly existence, Is not that the true science?"

"The civilized classes and nations are swept away by the grand rush for contemptible wealth. Never was the world worldlier, never was it emptier of love and goodness."

"The much quoted text, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36) does not mean that the kingdom is not, or will not be, in this world or on this earth. … When Jesus and his disciples are said to be in the world but not of the world, the meaning is clear enough. Although they live in the world they are not worldly, they do not subscribe to the present values and standards of the world. … The values of the kingdom [of God] are different from, and opposed to, the values of this world. There is no reason for thinking that it means the kingdom will float in the air somewhere above the earth or that it will be an abstract entity without any tangible social and political structure."

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

"We speak wisdom, however, among those who are full grown; yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, who are coming to nothing."

"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

"A dim consciousness of infinite mystery and grandeur lies beneath all the commonplace of life. There is an awfulness and a majesty around us, in all our little worldliness."

"The inexperienced in wisdom and virtue, ever occupied with feasting and such, are carried downward, and there, as is fitting, they wander their whole life long, neither ever looking upward to the truth above them nor rising toward it, nor tasting pure and lasting pleasures. Like cattle, always looking downward with their heads bent toward the ground and the banquet tables, they feed, fatten, and fornicate. In order to increase their possessions they kick and butt with horns and hoofs of steel and kill each other, insatiable as they are."

"The fascination of worldly life today is very powerful indeed, and many people regard conformity to it as an inescapable and indeed a wise course to take."

"Every soul will taste death. And you will be paid your reward fully only on the Resurrection day. Then whoever is removed far from the Fire and is made to enter the Garden, he indeed attains the object. And the life of this world is nothing but an enjoyment of delusion."

"O you who believe, what (excuse) have you that when it is said to you, Go forth in Allah's way, you should incline heavily to earth? Are you contented with this world's life instead of the Hereafter? The provision of this world's life is but little as compared with the Hereafter."

"The ones who prefer the worldly life over the Hereafter and avert (people) from the way of Allah, seeking to make it (seem) deviant. Those are in extreme error."

"O mankind, indeed the promise of Allah is truth, so let not the worldly life delude you and be not deceived about Allah by the Deceiver."

"(This) worldly life is only amusement and diversion. And if you believe and fear Allah, He will give you your rewards and not ask you for your properties."

"So when the great Calamity comes; The day when man remembers all that he strove for, And hell is made manifest to him who sees. Then as for him who is inordinate, And prefers the life of this world, Hell is surely the abode. And as for him who fears to stand before his Lord and restrains himself from low desires, The Garden is surely the abode."

"By constantly repeating, 'I am free, I am free', a man verily becomes free. On the other hand, by constantly repeating, 'I am bound, I am bound', he certainly becomes bound to worldliness. The fool who says only, 'I am a sinner, I am a sinner', verily drowns himself in worldliness. One should rather say: 'I have chanted the name of God. How can I be a sinner? How can I be bound?'"

"The world is water and the mind milk. If you pour milk into water they become one; you cannot find the pure milk any more. But turn the milk into curd and churn it into butter. Then, when that butter is placed in water, it will float. So, practice spiritual discipline in solitude and obtain the butter of knowledge and love. Even if you keep that butter in the water of the world the two will not mix. The butter will float."

"Suppose the offer were this: You shall die slowly; your blood shall daily grow cold, your flesh petrify, your heart beat at last only as a rusted group of iron valves. Your life shall fade from you, and sink through the earth into the ice of Caina; but, day by day, your body shall be dressed more gaily, and set in higher chariots, and have more orders on its breast—crowns on its head, if you will. Men shall bow before it, stare and shout round it, crowd after it up and down the streets; build palaces for it, feast with it at their tables’ heads all the night long; your soul shall stay enough within it to know what they do, and feel the weight of the golden dress on its shoulders, and the furrow of the crown-edge on the skull;—no more. Would you take the offer, verbally made by the death-angel? Would the meanest among us take it, think you? Yet practically and verily we grasp at it, every one of us, in a measure; many of us grasp at it in its fulness of horror. Every man accepts it, who desires to advance in life without knowing what life is; who means only that he is to get more horses, and more footmen, and more fortune, and more public honour, and—not more personal soul."

"I liked Charentz straight off, but more important than this was the feeling that I had that he was a truly great man. Human greatness is a rather difficult thing to account for, and more often than not one is mistaken in one's hunches about somebody one has met. Charentz seemed great to me, I think, because he was made of a mixture of proud virtues and amusing flaws. On the one hand, his independence of spirit was balanced by a humorous worldliness, his acute intelligence by a curiosity that frequently made him seem naive, his profoundly gentle manners by a kind of mocking mischievousness which might easily be mistaken for rudeness. But he was never rude, he was witty, and the purpose of his wit was to keep himself from the terrible condition of pomposity."

"The idea underlying such endless discussion and dreaming about the physical act is that sexual expertise confers worldliness and is therefore part of becoming an affirmed individual. This is a curious suggestion... Sex is many things — a need, a desire, an emotion, a release — but it has nothing to do with worldly sophistication, character building or even existential action. Sex, in general, is more of an obstacle than anything else for those who wish to free themselves and act as individuals... [W]e aren't dealing with a successful affirmation of responsible individualism in the real world. We are creating private dreams which compensate for the fracturing of the individual and the castration of his or her power in public life."

"There is no more mistaken path to happiness than worldliness, revelry, high life."

"O my God! close my eyes, that I may see Thee; separate me from the world, that I may enjoy Thy company."

"Anyone who claims to love both the world and the Creator of the world is lying."

"I, thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated"

"Do we have all the hatred and all the aversion for the world which Our Lord requires, and which his example must inspire in us?"

"The Buddha Is Nearer to Us You see clearly a man, simple, devout, lonely, battling for light, a vivid human personality, not a myth. Beneath a mass of miraculous fable I feel that there also was a man. He too, gave a message to mankind universal in its character. Many of our best modern ideas are in closest harmony with it. All the miseries and discontents of life are due, he taught, to selfishness. Selfishness takes three forms — one, the desire to satisfy the senses; second, the craving for immortality; and the third the desire for prosperity and worldliness. Before a man can become serene he must cease to live for his senses or himself. Then he merges into a greater being. Buddha in a different language called men to self-forgetfulness five hundred years before Christ. In some ways he was near to us and our needs. Buddha was more lucid upon our individual importance in service than Christ, and less ambiguous upon the question of personal immortality."

"Faith is the inspiration of nobleness, it is the strength of integrity; it is the life of love, and is everlasting growth for it; it is courage of soul, and bridges over for our crossing the gulf between worldliness and heavenly-mindedness; and it is the sense of the unseen, without which we could not feel God nor hope for heaven."

"Day and night, and every moment, there are voices about us. All the hours speak as they pass; and in every event there is a message to us; and all our circumstances talk with us; but it is in Divine language, that worldliness misunderstands, that selfishness is frightened at, and that only the children of God hear rightly and happily."

"Set not your heart upon the world, since God hath not made it your portion."

"Lift thyself up, look. around, and see something higher and brighter than earth, earthworms, and earthly darkness."

"Unworldliness is this — to hold things from God in the perpetual conviction that they will not last; to have the world, and not let the world have us; to be the world's masters, and not the world's slaves."

"There is such a thing as a worldly spirit, and there is such a thing as an unworldly spirit — and according as we partake of the one or the other, the savor of the sacrifice of our lives is ordinary, common-place, poor, and base; or elevating, invigorating, useful, noble, and holy."

"Conformity to the world has in all ages proved the ruin of the church. It is utterly impossible to live in nearness to God, and in friendship with the world."

"Show me the men who imbibe the spirit of the world, who choose the company of the world, who imitate the example of the world, conform to the maxims of the world, are swallowed up in the gayety, fashions, and amusements of the world; — behold, these are the ungodly, who are brought into desolation as in a moment."

"There is no surer evidence of an unconverted state than to have the things of the world uppermost in our aim, love, and estimation."

"Not by empty protestations against the pleasures of the world, and cynical denunciations of its enjoyments, but by our superiority to its perishing greatness, to its fading beauties, and its impotent antagonisms, are we to express our redemption from its power."

"We wonder why a certain church-member is so lax in his devotions and loose in his practices. The reason is that, while his trunk and his branches are over on the church side of the wall, his roots run under the wall and dwell in the bad soil on the other side."

"Christians should live in the world, but not be filled with it. A ship lives in the water; but if the water gets into the ship, she goes to the bottom. So Christians may live in the world; but if the world gets into them, they sink."

"The only true method of action in this world is to be in it, but not of it."

"A Christian making money fast is just a man in a cloud of dust, it will fill his eyes if he be not careful."

"Christianity does not condemn traffic, commerce, material activities of any kind. Its highest development is possible with the busiest life. To be a first-rate business man does not involve being a fourth-rate Christian. Buying, possessing, accumulating — this is not worldliness. But doing this in the love of it, with no love of God paramount — doing it so that thoughts of eternity and God are an intrusion — doing it so that one's spirit is secularized in the process; this is worldliness."

"They best pass over the world who trip over it quickly; for it is but a bog. If we stop, we sink."

"I had as lief preach humanity to a battle of eagles, as to urge honesty and integrity upon those who have determined to be rich, and to gain it by gambling stakes, and madmen's ventures."

"Christ clearly has judicial power over the living and the dead. He exercises judgment both over those who are living in the world at present and over those who pass from this world by death. At the Last judgment, however, He will judge the living and the dead together. In this expression the living may be taken to mean the just who live by grace, and the dead may be taken to mean sinners who have fallen from grace. Or else by the living may be meant those who will be found still alive at the Lord’s coming, and by the dead those who have died in previous ages."

"Those who have deprived themselves of this Resurrection by reason of their mutual hatreds or by regarding themselves to be in the right and others in the wrong, were chastised on the Day of Resurrection by reason of such hatreds evinced during their night. Thus they deprived themselves of beholding the countenance of God, and this for no other reason than mutual denunciations."

"When, O crowned Jesus; when, O loving Saviour; when, O patient and just Judge — when wilt Thou come forth from Thy hiding, and change tears to smiles, and groans to joys? When shall that choral song burst forth, sweeping through the air, and circling about Thy throne, which shall proclaim the redemption of the world to the Lord God?"

"Day of judgement, god is calling on their knees the war pigs crawling. Begging mercy for their sins, Satan, laughing, spreads his wings...Oh lord, yeah!"

"Kill not the Moth nor Butterfly, For the Last Judgement draweth nigh."

"But this we may positively state, that nobody has made any progress in the school of Christ unless he cheerfully looks forward to the day of his death and to the day of the final resurrection."

"N'attendez pas le Jugement dernier. Il a lieu tous les jours."

"Cependant la terre chancelle sur ses bases, la lune se couvre d'un voile sanglant, les astres pendent à demi détachés de leur voûte: l'agonie du monde commence. Tout à coup l'heure fatale vient à frapper; Dieu suspend les flots de la création, et le monde a passé comme un fleuve tari.'Alors se fait entendre la trompette de l'ange du jugement; il crie: Morts, levez-vous! Surgite, mortui! Les sépulcres se fendent, le genre humain sort du tombeau, et les races s'assemblent dans Josaphat.'Le Fils de l'homme apparaît sur les nuées; les puissances de l'enfer remontent du fond de l'abîme pour assister au dernier arrêt prononcé sur les siècles; les boucs et les brebis sont séparés, les méchants s'enfoncent dans le gouffre, les justes montent dans les cieux; Dieu rentre dans son repos, et partout règne l'éternité."

"I warrant you, if he danced till doomsday, he thought I was to pay the piper."

"I am against an adjournment. The day of judgment is either approaching, or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause of an adjournment: if it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. I wish therefore that candles may be brought."

"Dies iræ, dies illa Solvet sæclum in favilla Teste David cum Sibylla"

"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."

"In those days the nations will be thrown into confusion and the races of the nations will rise on the Day of Destruction. And in those days, those who are in need will go out, seize their children, and cast out their children. And their offspring will slip from them, and they will cast out their children while they are still sucklings, and will not return to them, and will not have mercy on their beloved ones. And again I swear to you, the sinners, that sin is ready for the Day of Unceasing Bloodshed. And they worship stone, and some carve images of gold and of silver, and of wood and of clay. And some, with no knowledge, worship unclean spirits and demons, and every kind of error. But no help will be obtained from them. [...] And in those days, and in one place, fathers and sons will strike one another, and brothers will together fall in death, until their blood flows as if it were a stream. For a man will not, in mercy, withhold his hand from his sons, nor from his son's sons, in order to kill them. And the sinner will not withhold his hand from his honoured brother from dawn until the Sun sets they will kill one another. And the horse will walk up to its chest in the blood of sinners and the chariot will sink up to its height. And in those days the Angels will come down into the hidden places, and gather together in one place all those who have helped sin, and the Most High will rise on that day to execute the Great Judgment on all the sinners. And he will set guards, from the Holy Angels, over all the righteous and Holy, and they will guard them like the apple of an eye, until an end is made of all evil and all sin. And even if the righteous sleep a long sleep they have nothing to fear. And the wise men will see the truth, and the sons of the Earth will understand all the words of this book, and they will know that their riches will not be able to save them or overthrow their sin."

"Now shall the promises made to Christ by God the Father before the foundation of the world, the promises of the covenant of redemption, be fully accomplished. Christ shall now have perfectly obtained the joy set before Him, for which He undertook those great sufferings in His state of humiliation. Now shall all the hopes and expectations of the saints be fulfilled. The state of the church before was progressive and preparatory; but now she is arrived at her most perfect state of glory. All the glory of the church on earth is but a faint shadow of this her consummate glory in heaven."

"Winds, storms, tempests, thunders, lightnings, raging flames, dissolving elements, the archangel's trump smiting the silence of the tomb, the universal air blazing with disastrous splendors, "the tribes of the earth mourning and beating their breasts," the wicked calling on rocks and hills to fall upon them and cover them, the shouts of the saved, the howlings of the damned — all, all will then utter one voice, all will pierce our very souls with their tones; all will repeat these words, "God alone is great, and God's salvation alone deserved the cares, toils, sacrifices of an immortal spirit.""

"We are all approaching that dread tribunal. However diversified our paths, they all converge toward that common centre. The young, with their elastic tread, are striding to the judgment; the old, with their tottering limbs are creeping to the judgment; the rich in their splendid equipages are driving to the judgment; the poor, in rags and barefooted, are walking to the judgment. The Christian making God's statutes his song, is a pilgrim to the judgment; the sinner, treading upon the mercy of Jesus, and trampling upon His blood, is hastening to the judgment. "We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ.""

"When this great concourse of men came to Babylonia upon their journeyings, they said to one another: "Behold, the time is coming when, at the end of days, neighbor will be separated from neighbor, and brother from brother, and one will carry on war against the other. Go to, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a great name upon the earth. And now let us make bricks, and each one write his name upon his brick.""

"Noah endeavored to inculcate the ordinances and the commands known to him upon his children and his children's children. In particular he admonished them against the fornication, the uncleanness, and all the iniquity which had brought the flood down upon the earth. He reproached them with living apart from one another, and with their jealousies, for he feared that, after his death, they might go so far as to shed human blood. Against this he warned them impressively, that they be not annihilated from the earth like those that went before."

"Standing on my watch-tower I am commanded, if I see aught of evil coming, to give warning. I solemnly declare that I do discern evil approaching; I see a storm collecting in the heavens; I discover the commotion of the troubled elements; I hear the roar of a distant wind — heaven and earth seem mingled in the conflict — and I cry to those for whom I watch, " A storm! A storm! Get you into the ark or you are swept away." Oh! what is it I see? I see a world convulsed and falling to ruins — the sea burning like oil —nations rising from under ground — the sun falling — the damned in chains before the bar, and some of my poor hearers among them! I see them cast from the battlements of the judgment scene. My God! the eternal pit has closed upon them forever!"

"For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment."

"There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?"

"Not every one that saith unto Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? And in Thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works?” And then will I profess unto them, “I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.”"

"The deeds we do, the words we say, Into still air they seem to fleet; We count them ever past; But they shall last — In the dread judgment they And we shall meet."

"Certe adveniente die judicii, non quæretur a nobis quid legimus, sed quid fecimus; nec quam bene diximus, sed quam religiose viximus."

"When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of his glory: And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And He shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and ye gave Me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me in; naked, and ye clothed Me; I was sick, and ye visited Me; I was in prison, and ye came unto Me.” Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, “Lord, when saw we Thee hungry, and fed Thee? Or thirsty, and gave Thee drink? When saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? Or naked, and clothed Thee? Or when saw we Thee sick, or in prison, and came unto Thee?” And the King shall answer and say unto them, “Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto Me.” Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his angels: for I was hungry, and ye gave Me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave Me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took Me not in; naked, and ye clothed Me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited Me not.” Then shall they also answer Him, saying, “Lord, when saw we Thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee?” Then shall He answer them, saying, “Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to Me.” And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."

"Glorious transformation! glorious translation! I seem already to behold the wondrous scene. The sea and the land have given up their dead! the quickened myriads have been judged according to their works. And now, an innumerable company, out of all nations and tribes and tongues, ascend with the Mediator towards the kingdom of His Father. Can it be that these, who were born children of earth, who were long enemies to God by wicked works, are to enter the bright scenes of paradise? Yes, He who leads them has washed them in His blood; He who leads them has sanctified them by His Spirit."

"Then, when the glorious end, The day of God shall come, The angel reapers shall descend, And heaven sing, "Harvest-home!""

"Avoid cruelty and injustice for, on the Day of Judgment, the same will turn into several darknesses; and guard yourselves against miserliness; for this has ruined nations who lived before you."

"The ink of scholars is weighed on the Day of Judgement with the blood of martyrs and the ink of scholars out-weighs the blood of martyrs."

"I have not shut my ears to the words of truth. I have not blasphemed. I am not a man of violence. I am not a stirrer up of strife. I have not judged with undue haste. I have not pried into matters. I have not multiplied my words in speaking. I have wronged none, I have done no evil."

"Oh, on that day, that wrathful day, When man to judgment wakes from clay. Be Thou, O Christ, the sinner's stay, Though heaven and earth shall pass away."

"Oh, remember that as certain as the historical fact,— He died on Calvary; so certain is the prophetic fact, He shall reign, and you and I will stand there. I durst not touch that subject. Take it into your own hearts, and think about it,— a kingdom, a judgment-seat, a crown, a gathered universe; separation, decision, execution of the sentence."

"We should not hold on so strongly to those who are going to leave us some day anyway. We should not feel excessive attachment for them. We have to keep it in moderation. But there is One who will never leave us, One who will never perish. God will never leave us, not in the kingdom of heaven, nor in the kingdom of hell, nor in this world. And since judgment is in His hands, He is the only attachment we must have. If we hold on to only that one attachment, then we will have joy throughout our lives and even at the time of death. On Judgment Day we will know that joy, because we will be with Him."

"In the ailments of the body there are sundry differences, some admitting of an easier, others requiring a more difficult treatment. In these last the use of the knife, or cauteries, or draughts of bitter medicines are adopted to remove the disease that has attacked the body. For the healing of the soul’s sicknesses the future judgment announces something of the same kind, and this to the thoughtless sort is held out as the threat of a terrible correction, in order that through fear of this painful retribution they may gain the wisdom of fleeing from wickedness: while by those of more intelligence it is believed to be a remedial process ordered by God to bring back man, His peculiar creature, to the grace of his primal condition."

"Judgement day," he said in a mocking voice. "Ain't no judgement day, old man. Cept this. Maybe this here judgement day for you."

"Surely they think it to be far off, and We see it nigh: on the day when the heaven shall be as molten copper, and the mountains shall be as tufts of wool, and friend shall not ask of friend (though) they shall be made to see each other."

"So when the trumpet is blown with a single blast, And the earth and the mountains are borne away and crushed with one crash -- On that day will the Event come to pass, And the heaven will be cleft asunder; so that day it will be frail, And the angels will be on its sides. And above them eight will bear that day thy Lord's Throne of Power. On that day you will be exposed to view -- no secret of yours will remain hidden. Then as for him who is given his book in his right hand, he will say: "Lo! Read my book. Surely I knew that I should meet my account." So he will be in a life of bliss, In a lofty Paradise, Its fruits are near. Eat and drink pleasantly for that which you sent on before in bygone days. And as for him who is given his book in his left hand -- he will say: "O would that my book had not been given to me! And I had not known what my account was! O would that (death) had made end of everything! My wealth has not availed me. My authority has gone from me." "Seize him, then fetter him, Then cast him into the burning Fire, Then insert him in a chain the length of which is seventy cubits. Surely he believed not in Allah, the Great, Nor did he urge the feeding of the poor. Therefore he has nor here this day a true friend, Nor any fond except festering, Which none but the wrongdoers eat.""

"Wearily have the years passed, I know; wearily to the pale watcher on the hill who has been so long gazing for the daybreak; wearily to the anxious multitudes who have been waiting for his tidings below. Often has the cry gone up through the darkness, "Watcher, what of the night?" and often has the disappointing answer come, "It is night still; here the stars are clear above me, but they shine afar, and yonder the clouds lower heavily, and the sad night winds blow." But the time shall come, and perhaps sooner than we look for it, when the countenance of that pale watcher shall gather into intenser expectancy, and when the challenge shall be given, with the hopefulness of a nearer vision, "Watcher, what of the night?" and the answer will come," The darkness is not so dense as it was; there are faint streaks on the horizon's verge; mist is in the valleys, but there is a radiance on the distant hill. It comes nearer — that promise of the day. The clouds roll rapidly away, and they are fringed with amber and gold. It is, it is the blest sunlight that I feel around me — Morning! It is Morning!""

"When the sun is overthrown, and when the stars fall, and when the camels big with young are abandoned, and when the wild beasts are herded together, and when the seas rise, and when souls are reunited, and when the girl-child that was buried alive is asked for what sin she was slain, and when the pages are laid open, and when the sky is torn away, and when hell is lighted, and when the Garden is brought nigh, (then) every soul will know what it hath made ready."

"When the Judgment Day comes civilization will have an alibi, "I never took a human life, I only sold the fellow the gun to take it with.""

"“When you see a slave woman giving birth to her master-that is one sign; when you see barefooted, naked, deaf and dumb as the rulers of the earth-that is one of the signs of Doom. And when you see the shepherds of the black camels exult in buildings-that is one of the signs of Doom” (6)."

"The Meaning of the Last Judgement. The Last Judgement is one of the greatest threat concepts in man’s perception. This is only because he does not understand it. Judgement is not an essential attribute of God. Man brought judgement into being only because of the separation. After the separation, however, there was a place for judgement as one of the many learning devices which had to be built into the overall plan. Just as the separation occurred over many millions of years, the Last Judgement will extend over a similarly long period, and perhaps an even longer one. Its length depends, however, on the effectiveness of the present speed-up. We have frequently noted that the miracle is a device for shortening but not abolishing time. If a sufficient number of people become truly miracle-minded quickly, the shortening process can be almost immeasurable. It is essential, however, that these individuals free themselves from fear sooner than would ordinarily be the case, because they must emerge from the conflict if they are to bring peace to other minds. p. 42"

"The Last Judgement is generally thought of as a procedure undertaken by God. Actually it will be undertaken by man, with my help. It is a Final Healing, rather than a meting out of punishment, however much man may think that punishment is deserved. Punishment is a concept in total opposition to right-mindedness. The aim of the Last Judgement is to restore right-mindedness to man. The Last Judgement might be called a process of right evaluation. It simply means that finally all men will come to understand what is worthy and what is not. After this, their ability to choose can be directed reasonably. Until this distinction is made, however, the vacillations between free and imprisoned will cannot but continue. The first step toward freedom MUST entail a sorting out of the false from the true. This is a process of division only in the constructive sense, and reflects the true meaning of the Apocalypse. Man will ultimately look upon his own creations and will to preserve only what is good, just as God Himself looked upon what He had created and knew that it WAS good. p. 43"

"The term “Last Judgement” is frightening not only because it has been falsely projected onto God, but also because of the association of “last” with death. This is an outstanding example of upside-down perception. Actually, if the meaning of the Last Judgement is objectively examined, it is quite apparent that it is really the doorway to life. No-one who lives in fear is really alive. His own last judgement cannot be directed toward himself because he is not his own creation. He can, however, apply it meaningfully and at any time to everything he has created, and retain in his memory only what is good. This is what his right-mindedness cannot but dictate. The purpose of time is solely to “give him time” to achieve this judgement. It is his own perfect judgement of his own creations. When everything he retains is loveable, there IS no reason for fear to remain with him. This is his part in the Atonement. p 44"

"That last day of judgment, with its everlasting issues; that day unlooked for by the nations, the theme of their derision, when the world hoary with age, and all its many products, shall be consumed in one great flame! How vast a spectacle then bursts upon the eye! What there excites my admiration? What my derision? Which sight gives me joy? Which rouses me to exultation? — as I see so many illustrious monarchs, whose reception into the heavens was publicly announced, groaning now in the lowest darkness with great Jove himself, and those, too, who bore witness of their exultation; governors of provinces, too, who persecuted the Christian name, in fires more fierce than those with which in the days of their pride they raged against the followers of Christ. What world's wise men besides, the very philosophers, in fact, who taught their followers that God had no concern in ought that is sublunary, and were wont to assure them that either they had no souls, or that they would never return to the bodies which at death they had left, now covered with shame before the poor deluded ones, as one fire consumes them! Poets also, trembling not before the judgment-seat of Rhadamanthus or Minos, but of the unexpected Christ! I shall have a better opportunity then of hearing the tragedians, louder-voiced in their own calamity; of viewing the play-actors, much more dissolute in the dissolving flame; of looking upon the charioteer, all glowing in his chariot of fire; of beholding the wrestlers, not in their gymnasia, but tossing in the fiery billows... What quæstor or priest in his munificence will bestow on you the favour of seeing and exulting in such things as these? And yet even now we in a measure have them by faith in the picturings of imagination."

"Extenuating circumstance to be mentioned on Judgment Day: We never asked to be born in the first place."

""It is the Lord's Great Day! Let us adjourn," Some said; and then, as if with one accord, All eyes were turned to Abraham Davenport. He rose, slow cleaving with his steady voice The intolerable hush. "This well may be The Day of Judgment which the world awaits; But be it so or not, I only know My present duty, and my Lord's command To occupy till He come. So at the post Where He hath set me in His providence, I choose, for one, to meet Him face to face, — No faithless servant frightened from my task, But ready when the Lord of the harvest calls; And therefore, with all reverence, I would say, Let God do His work, we will see to ours. Bring in the candles." And they brought them in."

"Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity."

"Due to the lack of experienced trumpeters, the end of the world has been postponed for three weeks."

"The world must be coming to an end. Children no longer obey their parents and every man wants to write a book."

"Only the penitent man will pass."

"The law can never save us; and he is nearest to the forgiveness of the gospel who, with a contrite heart, discerns most clearly and feels most profoundly that perfection of the Divine statute which impeaches and condemns him."

"Christian penitence is something more than a thought or an emotion or a tear; it is action."

"The man hath penance done, And penance more will do."

"Know what your sin is and confess it; but do not imagine that you have approved yourself a penitent by confessing sin in the abstract."

"We hear the wail of the remorseful winds In their strange penance. And this wretched orb Knows not the taste of rest; a maniac world, Homeless and sobbing through the deep she goes."

"Prostrate, dear Jesus, at Thy feet, A guilty rebel lies; And upwards, to Thy mercy-seat, Presumes to lift his eyes."

"A pleasant virtue, extreme penance to an extreme course; Also pleasant, when God is delivering me. Pleasant, the carousal that hinders not mental exertion; Also pleasant, to drink together about horns."

"My only crime was being a man and living in the world of men, and you don't have to do special penance for that. The crime and the penance, in that case, coincide perfectly. They are identical."

"One should never spurn a penitent criminal: in his despair he may become twice as much a criminal as before."

"Denominations, churches, sects, are sociological groups whose principle of differentiation is to be sought in their conformity to the order of social classes and castes. It would not be true to affirm that the denominations are not religious groups with religious purposes, but it is true that they represent the accommodation of religion to the caste system. They are emblems, therefore, of the victory of the world over the church, of the secularization of Christianity, of the church's sanction of that divisiveness which the church's gospel condemns."

"Old religious factions are volcanoes burned out; on the lava and ashes and squalid scoriae of old eruptions, grow the peaceful olive, the cheering vine, and the sustaining corn."

"I do not want the walls of separation between different orders of Christians to be destroyed, but only lowered, that we may shake hands a little easier over them."

"It is neither possible nor desirable to make all men think alike. Variety is the very basis of harmony; and, in the sphere of ecclesiastical experience, oneness of feeling is vastly preferable to unanimity of belief. The voice of God, however, as uttered in the events and experiences of the past hundred years, enjoins upon the private membership of the church the culture of that "unity of the Spirit " which is begotten of the Holy Ghost, and which derives from its Divine Author the life in which it resides, the elements of which it is composed, and the impulses under which it acts."

"If God allows us to remain Methodist, Baptist, or Episcopalian, it may be on account of the unconverted, that they may be without excuse; that every type of man may be confronted with a corresponding type of doctrine and of method. Surely there are means adapted to your state, and ministries fitted to your peculiar temperament."

"Were we all one body, we should lose the tremendous stimulation that comes from the present arrangement, and I fear that our uniformity would become the uniformity of death and the tomb."

"God grant that we may contend with other churches as the vine with the olive, which of us shall bear the best fruit; but not as the brier with the thistle, which of us shall be most unprofitable."

"It is not the actual differences of Christian men that do the mischief, but the mismanagement of those differences."

"O for less of an abstract, controversial Christianity, and more of a living, loving, personal Christ."

"SACRAMENT, n. A solemn religious ceremony to which several degrees of authority and significance are attached. Rome has seven sacraments, but the Protestant churches, being less prosperous, feel that they can afford only two, and these of inferior sanctity. Some of the smaller sects have no sacraments at all -- for which mean economy they will indubitable be damned."

"He was the word that spake it, He took the bread and brake it; And what that word did make it, I do believe and take it."

"A wedding is a sacrament... a joyous celebration of love and commitment. In Utopia. In the real world... it's an excuse to drink excessively and say things you shouldn't say."

"Susanna's music touched the bawdy strings Of those white elders; but, escaping, Left only Death's ironic scraping. Now, in its immortality, it plays On the clear viol of her memory, And makes a constant sacrament of praise."

"He who receives a sacrament does not perform a good work, he receives a benefit."

"Sacraments, ordained of Christ, are not only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession; but rather they are certain signs of grace, and God's good-will towards us, by the which He doth work invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm our faith in Him."

"The waters of salvation, welling forth from the mercy-seat above, have descended in copious floods fo refresh and bless the earth. And will you refuse to drink of the river of life which flows full and free before you, proffering health and gladness to your famished soul, because you cannot discover every thing pertaining to its source, far, far away in the recesses of the Eternal Mind?"

"The condition of salvation is that kind of belief in Jesus Christ which authenticates itself in repentance for the past and in an amendment of life for the future."

"None shall be saved by Christ but those only who work out their own salvation while God is working in them by His truth and His Holy Spirit. We cannot do without God; and God will not do without us."

""But what can mortal man do to secure his own salvation?" Mortal man can do just what God bids him do. He can repent and believe. He can arise and follow Christ as Matthew did."

"Grant that the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible is God's truth, and I know not in what way you can escape the doctrine that there is salvation only in Christ. From the liberality which says every body is right — from the charity which forbids you to say any body is wrong—from the peace which is bought at the expense of truth, may the good Lord deliver you."

"And is not this a great salvation, great in its simplicity, great in its comprehensiveness, which thus meets the every necessity of the guilty and helpless; and which, arranged for creatures whom it finds in the lowest degradation, leaves them not till elevated to the very summit of dignity?"

"It is God's purpose to save — to save His people from their sins, to purge out of them all hypocrisy, falsehood, injustice, and make of them honest men, true men, just men — men created anew after His likeness. And this is the meaning of His salvation; and is the only salvation worth having, for this life or the life to come."

"Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you meet with various trials, knowing as you do that this tested quality of your faith produces endurance. But let endurance complete its work, so that you may be complete and sound in all respects, not lacking in anything."

"Happy is the man who keeps on enduring trial, because on becoming approved he will receive the crown of life, which Jehovah promised to those who continue loving Him. When under trial, let no one say: “I am being tried by God.” For with evil things God cannot be tried, nor does he himself try anyone."

"Beloved ones, do not be surprised about the fiery trials that you are experiencing, as though something strange were happening to you. On the contrary, go on rejoicing over the extent to which you are sharers in the sufferings of the Christ, so that you may rejoice and be overjoyed also during the revelation of his glory."

""I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith, I am nothing." "Oh," says man, "but the Babel fish is a dead give-away, isn't it? It proves You exist, and so therefore You don't." "Oh, I hadn't thought of that," says God, who promptly vanishes in a puff of logic. "Ah, that was easy," says man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white, and gets killed on the next zebra crossing. Most leading theologians claim that this argument is a load of dingo's kidneys."

"Jesus wept once; possibly more than once. There are times when God asks nothing of His children except silence, patience, and tears."

"God has not chosen to save us without crosses; as He has not seen fit to create men at once in the full vigor of manhood, but has suffered them to grow up by degrees amid all the perils and weaknesses of youth."

"Under the shadow of earthly disappointment, all unconscious to ourselves, our Divine Redeemer is walking by our side."

"There will be no Christian but will have a Gethsemane; but every praying Christian will find that there is no Gethsemane without its angel!"

"Blessed be the discipline which makes me reach out my soul's roots into closer union with Jesus! Blessed be the dews of the Spirit which keep my leaf ever green! Blessed be the trials which shake down the ripe, golden fruits from the branches."

"Never was there a man of deep piety, who has not been brought into extremities — who has not been put into fire — who has been taught to say, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.""

"Great trials seem to be a necessary preparation for great duties. It would seem that the more important the enterprise, the more severe the trial to which the agent is subjected in his preparation."

"What are we, O blessed Jesus, that we should not take the baptism that Thou dost take, and be crowned, as Thou wert crowned, as Thou art, with glory? We thank Thee for trials, for care, for trouble, for the yoke, for the burden, and for the fulfillment of Thy word, that Thy yoke is easy, and Thy burden light."

"In the time of Jesus the mount of transfiguration was on the way to the cross. In our day the cross is on the way to the mount of transfiguration. If you would be on the mountain. you must consent to pass over the road to it."

"Every Calvary has an Olivet; to every place of crucifixion there is likewise an ascension. The sun that was shrouded is unveiled, and heaven opens with hopes eternal to the soul which was nigh unto despair."

"By His trials, God means to purify us, to take away all our self-confidence, and our trust in each other, and bring us into implicit, humble trust in Himself."

"Oh, how often our all-wise Master puts us into a deep pit ot trial, to subdue our pride, or to tame our passions, or to break our stubborn self-will. Blessed is he who can look up into the countenance of Jesus, and honestly say: " Master, my rebellious self is dead, that Thou mayest live in me, and that 1 may live for Thee and Thee alone.""

"Nothing is intolerable that is necessary. Now God hath bound thy trouble upon thee by His special providence, and with a design to try thee, and with purposes to reward and crown thee. These cords thou canst not break, and therefore lie thou down gently, and suffer the hand of God to do what He pleases."

"The way is dark, my child! but leads to light; I would not have thee always walk by sight. My dealings now, thou canst not understand. I meant it so; but I will take thy hand, And through the gloom lead safely home My child!"

"When our troubles are many we are often by grace made courageous in serving our God; we feel that we have nothing to live for in this world, and we are driven, by hope of the world to come, to exhibit zeal, self-denial, and industry."

"It is the easiest thing in the world for us to obey God when He commands us to do what we like, and to trust Him when the path is all sunshine. The real victory of faith is to trust God in the dark, and through the dark. Let us be assured of this, that if the lesson and the rod are of His appointing, and that His all-wise love has engineered the deep tunnel of trial on the heavenward road, He will never desert us during the discipline. The vital thing for us is not to deny and desert Him."

"Purge me, oh Lord, though it be with fire. Burn up the chaff of vanity and self-indulgence, of hasty prejudice, second-hand dogmas — husks which do not feed my soul, with which I cannot be content, of which I feel ashamed daily — and if there be any grain of wheat in me, any word or thought or power of action which may be of use as seed for my nation after me, gather it, oh Lord, into Thy garner."

"All the lessons He shall send Are the sweetest: And His training, in the end, Is completest."

""Tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience;and experience, hope." That is the order. You cannot put patience and experience into a parenthesis, and, omitting them, bring hope out of tribulation."

"Chastising is an effect of love. It is not only consequential to, but springs from it; wherefore there is nothing properly penal in the chastisement of believers. Punishment proceeds from love to justice, not from love to the person punished; but chastisement is from love to the person chastised, though mixed with displeasure against sin."

"What disturbs us in this world is not " trouble," but our opposition to trouble. The true source of all that frets and irritates and wears away our lives, is not in external things, but in the resistance of our wills to the will of God expressed by external things."

"Whether it be a poison from one serpent sting, or whether it be poison from a million of buzzing,tiny musquitoes; if there be a smart, go to Him, and He will help you bear it. He will do more, He will bear it with you; for if so be that we suffer with Him, He suffers with us."

"Life has no smooth road for any of us; and in the bracing atmosphere of a high aim, the very roughness only stimulates the climber to steadier and steadier steps, till that legend of the rough places fulfills itself at last, "per aspera ad astra, over steep ways to the stars."

"The storms of wintry time will quickly pass, And one unbounded spring encircle all."

"When I consider the Question, Whether there are such Persons in the World as those we call Witches? my Mind is divided between the two opposite Opinions; or rather (to speak my Thoughts freely) I believe in general that there is, and has been such a thing as Witchcraft; but at the same time can give no Credit to any Particular Instance of it."

"Now, it's common knowledge that most towns of a certain size have a witch, if only to eat misbehaving children and the occasional puppy who wanders into her yard. Witches use those bones to cast spells and curses that make the land infertile... Yet of all the witches in Alabama, there was one who was the most feared. For she had one glass eye, which was said to contain mystical powers."

"WITCH, n. (1) Any ugly and repulsive old woman, in a wicked league with the devil. (2) A beautiful and attractive young woman, in wickedness a league beyond the devil."

"Witch. From the Anglo-Saxon word wicce, German wissen, “to know”, and wikken, “to divine”. The witches were at first called “wise women”, until the day when the Church took it unto herself to follow the law of Moses, which put every “witch” or enchantress to death."

"Witches’ Sabbath. The supposed festival and gathering of witches in some lonely spot, where the witches were accused of conferring directly with the Devil. Every race and people believed in it, and some believe in it still. Thus the chief headquarters and place of meeting of all the witches in Russia is said to be the Bald Mountain (Lyssaya Gorâ), near Kief, and in Germany the Brocken, in the Harz Mountains. In old Boston, U.S.A., they met near the “Devil’s Pond ”, in a large forest which has now disappeared. At Salem, they were put to death almost at the will of the Church Elders, and in South Carolina a witch was burnt as late as 1865. In Germany and England they were murdered by Church and State in thousands, being forced to lie and confess under torture their participation in the “ Witches’ Sabbath ”."

"Generals gathered in their masses just like witches at black masses. Evil minds that plot destruction, sorcerer of death's construction."

"Men feared witches and burnt women. It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears."

"We have winning wiles and witcheries, Such incantations as thy sterner wit Did never dream of. Time hath been ere now That Jove hath listen'd to our minstrelsy. Till wrath would seem to drop out of his soul Like a forgotten thing."

"We were apparently rather resistant to the idea of destroying witches in England, unlike views espoused in so-called books — and I use the word "book" very loosely — like The Da Vinci Code. [pretends to spit in disgust] It is complete loose stool water. It is arse-gravy of the worst kind."

"Most books on witchcraft will tell you that witches work naked. This is because most books on witchcraft are written by men."

"Any prowling maniac would have had more than his work cut out if he had accosted Anathema Device. She was a witch, after all. And precisely because she was a witch, and therefore sensible, she put little faith in protective amulets and spells; she saved it all for a foot-long bread knife which she kept in her belt."

"The Parliament of Toulouse burned 400 witches at one time. Four hundred women at one hour on the public square, dying the horrid death of fire for a crime which never existed save in the imagination of those persecutors and which grew in their imagination from a false belief in woman’s extraordinary wickedness, based upon a false theory as to original sin."

"Massachusetts was not the only, colony that treated witchcraft as a crime. Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia possessed similar enactments. Witchcraft was considered and treated as a capital offense by the laws of both Pennsylvania and New York, trials taking place in both colonies not long before the Salem tragedy......... Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New York, eight of the thirteen colonies recognized witchcraft as a capital crime."

"If a man has put a spell upon another man and it is not yet justified, he upon whom the spell is laid shall go to the holy river; into the holy river shall he plunge. If the holy river overcome him and he is drowned, the man who put the spell upon him shall take possession of his house. If the holy river declares him innocent and he remains unharmed the man who laid the spell shall be put to death. He that plunged into the river shall take possession of the house of him who laid the spell upon him."

""Found among his people certain witches, whom he called in his native tongue Haliurunnae. Suspecting these women, he expelled them from the midst of his race and compelled them to wander in solitary exile afar from his army. There the unclean spirits, who beheld them as they wandered through the wilderness, bestowed their embraces upon them and begat this savage race, which dwelt at first in the swamps, a stunted, foul and puny tribe, scarcely human, and having no language save one which bore but slight resemblance to human speech."

"“Witches are of particular interest in this context because their persecution required an extraordinary degree of credulity to get underway, for the simple reason that a confederacy of witches in medieval Europe seems never to have existed. There were no covens of pagan dissidents, meeting in secret, betrothed to Satan, abandoning themselves to the pleasures of group sex, cannibalism, and the casting of spells upon neighbors, crops, and cattle.”"

"There's a little witch in all of us."

"For me—as I think it is for a lot of women and girls—I felt that they were figures that had power, and I felt very powerless. It was just very exciting and thrilling to think of a witch who didn’t care if she was portrayed as ugly—which of course, I felt like I was—or not beautiful enough or whatever, but still had power and didn’t need to be rescued."

"Let nobody presume to kill a foreign serving maid or female servant as a witch, for it is not possible, nor ought to be believed by Christian minds."

"We need to launch a nationwide campaign against superstition and belief in witchcraft. Nigerians should be told that witches are not real, and that witches and spirits are imaginary entities created by primitive minds during the infancy of human race to explain situations and issues they could not understand or resolve commonsensically. This campaign should be taken to all Nigerian schools, colleges and universities. It should be publicized over the radios and television, in the newspapers, in market places, in churches and mosques. In particular, we need to check the activities of our so called pastors and other self styled men and women of God who use the Bible or Holy books to perpetrate and justify atrocious acts and human right abuses. These religious charlatans continue to act and preach in ways that reinforce the belief in witches and provoke acts of witch accusation, persecution and killing. This has been the driving force in Akwa Ibom State, and until Nigerians learn to reject superstition and irrationalism such tragedies will continue to occur."

"To save the witch-children in Nigeria and rescue this nation from witch-believing forces, we need to get all Nigerians to exercise their common sense, reason and critical intelligence when practicing or professing their religion or belief. This is especially important when they are reading, preaching and interpreting messages and doctrines contained in their holy books."

"A little patience, and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles."

"I am mistress of all the sciences. I go so far beyond all else that my work is called magic. I manipulate noumena, regarding monads as points of entry tangential to hylomorphism. As to the paradox of Primary Essence being contained in Quiddity, the larger in the smaller, I have my own solution. The difficulty is always in not confusing Contingency with Accidence. Do you understand me?" "Sure. You're a witch."

"A study by Rachel Moseley, researcher at the University of Warwick, found that, by the early 2000s, shows like Sabrina and Charmed had created a direct association between witchcraft and the notion of “girl power”. She wrote of her findings: “Historically, witches have been outcasts and much of this unease clearly stems from a fear of female force. The teenage witch genre articulates a new powerful image of femininity. It’s not that the Hag and herb potions have become hip, rather witchcraft has become synonymous with power and girly magic.”"

"Go tell Mankind, that there are Devils and Witches; and that tho those night-birds least appear where the Day-light of the Gospel comes, yet New-Engl. has had Exemples of their Existence and Operation; and that no only the Wigwams of Indians, where the pagan Powaws often raise their masters, in the shapes of Bears and Snakes and Fires, but the House of Christians, where our God has had his constant Worship, have undergone the Annoyance of Evil spirits. Go tell the world, What Prays can do beyond all Devils and Witches, and What it is that these Monsters love to do; and through the Demons in the Audience of several standers-by threatned much disgrace to thy Author, if he let thee come abroad, yet venture That, and in this way seek a just Revenge on Them for the Disturbance they have given to such as have called on the Name of God."

"It were better that Ten Suspected Witches should escape, than that one Innocent Person should be Condemned."

"In Early Modern Europe witchcraft persecution occurred at time of widespread impairment of the health of people and animals. The distribution of illness, often interpreted as a sign of bewitchment, mimics the pattern of the incidence of : it was most common in alpine areas and those with summers in the 17.4°-18.9° C temperature range; a majority of the victims were children and teenagers; and rye was a dietary staple in the areas affected. ... Cold winters traumatize rye and increase the risk of alkaloid formation. Such alkaloids may have caused the symptoms of "bewitchment." When the incidence of these symptoms increased, so did the incidence of witchcraft persecution. We today should avoid the mistake made by the witch-burners of long ago by not overlooking the physical cause for the events that mystify us."

"It struck me that it might be interesting for once to do an almost blue-collar warlock. Somebody who was streetwise, working class, and from a different background than the standard run of comic book mystics. Constantine started to grow out of that."

"Although the most acute judges of the witches and even the witches themselves, were convinced of the guilt of witchery, the guilt nevertheless was non-existent. It is thus with all guilt."

"One of my first dates with a witch was on a satanic altar and I didn't know it. I mean there was a little blood there, and something like that."

"In response to Tacky’s Rebellion in 1760 in Jamaica, the colony’s House of Assembly passed a law naming a new crime, “obeah.” This important statute led the way in establishing obeah as a phenomenon understood by colonial authorities as a singular and dangerous problem. Investigating the Jamaica assembly’s decision within a wider Caribbean and Atlantic context and alongside the near-contemporaneous “Makandal conspiracy” in Saint Domingue, which was interpreted by French planters as a mass outbreak of poisoning, shows how similar practices came to be interpreted and constructed in different ways in different colonial cultures. The practices used by Tacky’s “obeah man” and Makandal’s followers were conceptually and practically similar, deriving from African understandings of medicine in which substances could be imbued with spiritual power. Why, then, did the French colonists emphasize poison while the British emphasized obeah (which they glossed with the term “witchcraft”)?"

"The Inquisition was established not just for the persecution of pitiful witches and sorcerers (mostly mediums), but for the annihilation of all the differently minded people, and all personal enemies of the representatives of the church, the latter having decided to obtain absolute power. First of all, among the so-called enemies of the church were the most enlightened minds, those who were working for the General Welfare, and the true followers of the Testaments of Christ. Indeed, the easiest way to destroy the enemy was by accusing him of being in league with the devil. This devilish psychology the so-called "Guardians of the purity of Christian Principles" attempted to instill into the consciousness of the masses in every possible way. Small wonder that in those days the visions of the nuns and monks had the stamp of the Satanic influence, as they were full of devilish images and all sorts of ugly temptations."

"Sorcerer, you do have magical powers, but where is your sense? How on earth could you think of going to do sorcery at Ereš, which is the city of Nisaba, a city whose destiny was decreed by An and Enlil, the primeval city, the beloved city of Ninlil?"

"What the Malleus comes down to, pretty much, is that if you’re accused of witchcraft, you’re a witch. Torture is an unfailing means to demonstrate the validity of the accusation."

"Most people think witches are a coven of lesbians dancing naked in the forest celebrating the semen stolen from imprisoned hypnotized males, which they then use to inseminate one another using turkey basters in order to create a legion of demon babies. Well, that's only part of it. We are also active in community outreach programs."

"The philosophies behind witch and a wiccan are totally different. A wiccan wears ceremonial black robes and invites her body to be inhabited by an evil spirit that commands her to perform tasks of mayhem and destruction. A witch, on the other hand, can wear anything she wants."

"The result is the same whether she confesses or not. If she confesses, her guilt is clear; she is executed. All recantation is in vain. If she does not confess, the torture is repeated—twice, thrice, four times. In exceptional crimes, the torture is not limited in duration, severity, or frequency."

"She can never clear herself. The investigating committee would feel disgraced if it acquitted a woman; once arrested and in chains, she has to be guilty, by fair means or foul."

"When, under the duress of pain, the witch has confessed, her plight is indescribable. Not only cannot she escape herself, but she is also compelled to accuse others whom she does not know, whose names are frequently put into her mouth by the investigators or suggested by the executioner, or of whom she had heard as suspected or accused."

"Witchcraft offers the model of a religion of poetry, not theology. It presents metaphors, not doctrines, and leaves open the possibility of reconciliation of science and religion, of many ways of knowing."

"In the past, men created witches: now they create mental patients."

"When have I last looked on The round green eyes and the long wavering bodies Of the dark leopards of the moon? All the wild witches, those most noble ladies, For all their broom-sticks and their tears, Their angry tears, are gone."

"No one shall be found among you who makes a son or daughter pass through fire, who practices divination, or is a soothsayer, or an augur, or a sorcerer, or one that casts spells, or who consults ghosts or spirits, or who seeks oracles from the dead. For whoever does these things is abhorrent to the Lord."

"Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."

""But what can I do?" cried she, spreading out her arms helplessly. "I can not hew down trees, as my father used; and in all this end of the king's domain there is nothing else to be done. For there are so many shepherds that no more are needed, and so many tillers of the soil that no more can find employment. Ah, I have tried; hut no one wants a weak girl like me." "Why don't you become a witch?" asked the man. "Me!" gasped Mary-Marie, amazed. "A witch!" "Why not?" he inquired, as if surprised. "Well," said the girl, laughing. "I'm not old enough. Witches, you know, are withered dried-up old hags." "Oh, not at all!" returned the stranger. "And they sell their souls to Satan, in return for a knowledge of witchcraft," continued Mary-Marie more seriously. "Stuff and nonsense!" cried the stranger angrily. "And all the enjoyment they get in life is riding broomsticks through the air on dark nights," declared the girl. "Well, well, well!" said the old man in an astonished tone. "One might think you knew all about witches, to hear you chatter. But your words prove you to be very ignorant of the subject. You may find good people and bad people in the world; and so, I suppose, you may find good witches and bad witches. But I must confess most of the witches I have known were very respectable, indeed, and famous for their kind actions." "Oh. I'd like to be that kind of witch!" said Mary-Marie, clasping her hands earnestly."

"Martha Jones: So. Magic and stuff — it's all a bit Harry Potter … but is it real though — I mean, witches, black magic and and all that — it's real? The Doctor: Of course it isn't! Martha: Well, how am I supposed to know? — I just started believing in time travel; give me a break! The Doctor: It looks like witchcraft, but it isn't — can't be."

"The 10th incarnation of The Doctor: They've still got one foot in the Dark Ages — if I tell them the truth they'll panic and think it was witchcraft. Martha Jones: OK. What was it then? The Doctor [Pauses briefly, stares grimly at her]: Witchcraft."

"Remunerated joy, weekends off or annual holidays paid by the boss is like paying to make love. It seems the same but there is something lacking."

"We take notice of all feasts, and the almanack is part of the common law, the calendar being established by Act of Parliament, and it is published before the Common-prayer Book."

"I have a theory that "holidays" evolved from the medieval pilgrimage, and are essentially a kind of penance for being so happy and comfortable in our daily lives."

"You, masters of the earth – princes, kings, emperors, powerful majesties, invincible conquerors – simply try to make the people go on such-and-such a day each year to a given place to dance. I ask little of you, but I dare give you a solemn challenge to succeed, whereas the humblest missionary will succeed and be obeyed two thousand years after his death. Every year the people gather around some rustic temple in the name of St John, St Martin, St Benedict, etc.; they come, animated by a feverish and yet innocent eagerness; religion sanctifies their joy and the joy embellishes religion; they forget their troubles; on leaving they think of the pleasure that they will have on the same day the following year, and the date is set in their minds."

"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore."

"There were his young barbarians all at play There was their Dacian mother]], he, their sire, Butcherd to make a Roman holiday."

"And that was the way The deuce was to pay As it always is, at the close of the day That gave us]], Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! (With some restrictions, the fault]], finders say) That which, please God, we will keep for aye Our National Independence!"

"The holiest of all holidays are those Kept by ourselves in silence and apart; The secret anniversaries of the heart, When the full river of feeling overflows;]], The happy days unclouded to their close; The sudden joys that out of darkness start As flames from ashes; swift desires that dart Like swallows singing down each wind that blows!"

"For now I am in a holiday humour."

"If all the year were playing holidays, To sport would be as tedious as to work."

"Being holiday, the beggars shop is shut."

"You sunburnt sicklemen, of August weary, Come hither from the furrow and be merry: Make holiday; your rye, straw hats put on And these fresh nymphs encounter every one In country footing."

"Time for work,—yet take Much holiday for arts and friendships sake."

"May God give you...For every storm a rainbow, for every tear a smile, for every care a promise and a blessing in each trial. For every problem life sends, a faithful friend to share, for every sigh a sweet song and an answer for each prayer."

"Blessings may appear under the shape of pains, losses, and disappointments; but let him have patience, and he will see them in their proper figures."

"Blessings star forth forever; but a curse Is like a cloud — it passes."

"Life is a creative endeavor. It is active, not passive. We are the yeast that leavens our lives into rich, fully baked loaves. When we experience our lives as flat and lackluster, it is our consciousness that is at fault. We hold the inner key that turns our lives from thankless to fruitful. That key is "Blessing.""

"The growth of one blesses all. I am committed to grow in love. All that I touch, I leave in love. I move through this world consciously and creatively."

"I honor my importance and the importance of others. None of us is dispensable, none of us is replaceable. In the chorus of life each of us brings a True Note, a perfect pitch that adds to the harmony of the whole. I act creatively and consciously to actively endorse and encourage the expansion of those whose lives I touch. Believing in the goodness of each, I add to the goodness of all. We bless each other even in passing."

"A spring of love gushed from my heart, And I bless'd them unaware."

"For blessings ever wait on virtuous deeds, And though a late, a sure reward succeeds."

"God bless us every one."

"Like a led Victim, to my Death I'll go, And, dying, bless the Hand that gave the Blow."

"I will not let thee go, except thou bless me."

"Das Leben ist der Güter höchstes, und das schlimmste Übel ist der Tod."

"When God at first made man, Having a glass of blessings standing by, 'Let us,' said he, 'pour on him all we can: Let the world's riches, which dispersed lie, Contract into a span.'"

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

"Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."

"It is more blessed to give than to receive."

"My attention was first called to this by watching the effect produced by the celebration of the Mass in a Roman Catholic church in a little village in Sicily... the quite ordinary celebration of the Mass was a magnificent display of the application of occult force.... At the moment of consecration the Host glowed with the most dazzling brightness it became in fact a veritable sun to the eye of the clairvoyant, and as the priest lifted it above the heads of the people I noticed that two distinct varieties of spiritual force poured forth from it, which might perhaps be taken as roughly corresponding to the light of the sun and the streamers of his corona. The first rayed out impartially in all directions upon all the people in the church; indeed, it penetrated the walls of the church as though they were not there, and influenced a considerable section of the surrounding country. Ch. 8"

"The light which I have just described poured forth impartially upon all, the just and the unjust, the believers and the scoffers. But this second force was called into activity only in response to a strong feeling of devotion on the part of an individual. At the elevation of the Host all members of the congregation duly prostrated themselves— some apparently as a mere matter of habit, but some also with a strong feeling of deep devotional feeling. The effect as seen by clairvoyant sight was most striking and profoundly impressive, for to each of these latter there darted from the uplifted Host a ray of fire, which set the higher part of the astral body of the recipient glowing with the most intense ecstasy. Ch. 8"

"Clearly one of the great objects, perhaps the principal object, of the daily celebration of the Mass is that everyone within reach of it shall receive at least once each day one of these electric shocks which are so well calculated to promote any growth of which he is capable. Such an outpouring of force brings to each person whatever he has made himself capable of receiving; but even the quite undeveloped and ignorant cannot but be somewhat the better for the passing touch of a noble emotion, while for the few more advanced it means a spiritual uplifting the value of which it would be difficult to exaggerate. Ch. 8"

"The same idea carried out in a different way shows itself to us in the blessing of the incense before it is burned. For the incense has always a dual significance. It ascends before God as a symbol of the prayers of the people; but also it spreads through the church as a symbol of the sweet savour of the blessing of God, and so once more the priest pours into it a holy influence with the idea that wherever its scent may penetrate, wherever the smallest particle of that which has been blessed may pass, it shall bear with it a feeling of peace and of purity, and shall chase away all inharmonious thoughts and sensations. Ch. 8"

"Blessings. Under this heading should come the various types of blessings such as are given in the Church, in Freemasonry, and by the pupils of our Masters. Blessings may be arranged in two sections—those which a man gives from himself, and those which are given through him as an official by a higher power. The first kind of blessing is merely an expression of an earnest good wish... this will depend upon the earnestness of the good wish and the amount of spiritual force put into it... If the words were uttered... without much feeling or intention behind them, the effect would be slight and transient; on the other hand, if they came from a full heart and were uttered with definite determination, their effect would be deep and lasting. The second type of blessing is that which is uttered by an official appointed for the purpose, through whom power flows from some higher source... the power of giving a definite blessing is one of those conferred upon the Priest at his ordination... he is simply a channel for the power from on high, and if it should unfortunately happen that he speaks it merely as a matter of course and as part of his ritual, that would make no difference to the spiritual power outpoured. The blessing flows equally over all, but the amount of the influences which any individual can obtain from it depends upon his receptivity."

"I well remember giving each of these on different occasions to a great Angel of the neighbourhood with whom I have the honour to be well acquainted. Passing close to his territories... I gave him once as a greeting the full blessing of my Master, and it was indeed beautiful to see the way in which he received it, bowing profoundly and showing his appreciation by a lovely soft glow of holiness and uttermost devotion. Another day under similar circumstances I gave him the blessing of the Brotherhood, and instantly every power of that great Angel flashed out in glad response, and the whole of his territory lit up. It was as though a soldier had leapt to attention, as though everything, not only within himself but in all the thousands of minor creatures working under him, had suddenly been vivified and raised to its highest power. All nature instantly responded. You see, my Master, however deeply reverenced by him, is not his Master, but my King is his King, for there is but One."

"The Lord Buddha has his own special type of force, which he outpours when he gives his blessing to the world, and this benediction is a unique and very marvellous thing; for by his authority and position a Buddha has access to planes of nature which are altogether beyond our reach, hence he can transmute and draw down to our level the forces peculiar to those planes. Without this mediation of the Buddha these forces would be of no use to us here in physical life; their vibrations are so tremendous, so incredibly rapid, that they would pass through us unsensed at any level we can reach, and we should never even know of their existence. But as it is, the force of the blessing is scattered all over the world; and it instantly finds for itself channels through which it can pour (just as water instantly finds an open pipe), thereby strengthening all good work and bringing peace to the hearts of those who are able to receive it."

"What is the greatest blessing?"

"Mangala Sutta by Guatama Buddha, translated thus by Professor Rhys Davids (with slight modifications introduced from other sources, when they seemed decided improvements by CWL) as Quoted in The Masters and the Path by C.W. Leadbeater, (1925) p. 291"

"The blest to-day is as completely so, As who began a thousand years ago."

"Suffer not thy wrongs to shroud thy fate, But turn, my soul, to blessings which remain."

"Steal immortal blessing from her lips."

"The benediction of these covering heavens Fall on their heads like dew!"

"In vita itaque apprime utile est, intellectum seu rationem, quantum possumus, perficere, et in hoc uno summa hominis feticitas seu beatitudo consistit; quippe beatitudo nihil aliud est, quam ipsa animi acquiescentia, quae ex Dei intuitiva cognitione oritur."

"Blessedness is not the reward of virtue, but virtue itself. We do not enjoy blessedness because we keep our lusts in check. On the contrary, it is because we enjoy blessedness that we are able to keep our lusts in check."

"Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas."

"For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that’s Moses, not Jesus. I haven’t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere. "Blessed are the merciful" in a courtroom? "Blessed are the peacemakers" in the Pentagon? Give me a break!"

"Like birds, whose beauties languish half concealed, Till, mounted on the wing, their glossy plumes Expanded, shine with azure, green and gold; How blessings brighten as they take their flight."

"Amid my list of blessings infinite, Stands this the foremost, "That my heart has bled.""

"'Tis not for mortals always to be blest."

"Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; Adversity is the blessing of the New."

"Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store."

"O close my hand upon Beatitude! Not on her toys."

"To heal divisions, to relieve the oppress'd, In virtue rich; in blessing others, bless'd."

"A man's best things are nearest him, Lie close about his feet."

"God bless us every one, prayed Tiny Tim, Crippled and dwarfed of body yet so tall Of soul, we tiptoe earth to look on him, High towering over all."

"He that will not when he may, When he will he shall have nay."

"Better to sink beneath the shock Than moulder piecemeal on the rock!"

"The strongest principle of growth lies in human choice."

"Betwixt the devil and the deep sea."

"Be they wynners or loosers,…beggers should be no choosers."

"He is no wise man that will quit a certainty for an uncertainty."

"Imagine a captain of a ship the moment a shift of direction must be made; then he may be able to say: I can do either this or that. But if he is not a mediocre captain he will also be aware that during all this the ship is ploughing ahead with its ordinary velocity, and thus there is but a single moment when it is inconsequential whether he does this or does that. So also with a person-if he forgets to take into account the velocity-there eventually comes a moment where it is no longer a matter of an Either/Or, not because he has chosen, but because he has refrained from it, which also can be expressed by saying: Because others have chosen for him-or because he has lost himself."

"Every person, if he so wills, can become a paradigmatic human being, not by brushing of his accidental qualities, but by remaining in them and ennobling them. He ennobles them by choosing them."

"So much to win, so much to lose, No marvel that I fear to choose."

"Rather than be less Car'd not to be at all."

"Who would not, finding way, break loose from hell, * * * * * * And boldly venture to whatever place Farthest from pain?"

"When presented with options it's interesting to see what choices the people make."

"We must now take precautions to prevent you from being embarrassed by something in which the ignorant majority is at fault for lack of proper consideration, and so from supposing with them, that man has not been created truly good simply because he is able to do evil. ... If you reconsider this matter carefully and force your mind to apply a more acute understanding to it, it will be revealed to you that man's status is better and higher for the very reason for which it is thought to be inferior: it is on this choice between two ways, on this freedom to choose either alternative, that the glory of the rational mind is based, it is in this that the whole honor of our nature consists, it is from this that its dignity is derived."

"Set honour in one eye and death i' the other, And I will look on both indifferently."

"Which of them shall I take? Both? one? or neither? Neither can be enjoy'd, If both remain alive."

"I will not choose what many men desire, Because I will not jump with common spirits, And rank me with the barbarous multitudes."

"Preferment goes by letter and affection."

"There's small choice in rotten apples."

"[W]e now face a demand to make choices that is unparalleled in human history."

"When conflicted between two choices, take neither."

"Better fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathay."

"It is misleading to say that somebody "chose" a dysfunctional relationship or any other negative situation in his or her life. Choice implies consciousness - a high degree of consciousness. Without it, you have no choice. Choice begins the moment you disidentify from the mind and its conditioned patterns, the moment you become present. Until you reach that point, you are unconscious, spiritually speaking. This means that you are compelled to think, feel, and act in certain ways according to the conditioning of your mind. That is why Jesus said: "Forgive them, for they know not what they do." This is not related to intelligence in the conventional sense of the word. I have met many highly intelligent and educated people who were also completely unconscious, which is to say completely identified with their mind. In fact, if mental development and increased knowledge are not counterbalanced by a corresponding growth in consciousness, the potential for unhappiness and disaster is very great. p. 142"

"A strange alternative * * * Must women have a doctor or a dance?"

"If I were not Alexander, I should wish to be Diogenes."

"Of harmes two the less is for to chose."

"What voice did on my spirit fall, Peschiera, when thy bridge I crost? 'Tis better to have fought and lost Than never to have fought at all!"

"Life often presents us with a choice of evils, rather than of goods."

"Devine, si tu peux, et choisis, si tu l'oses."

"God offers to every mind its choice between truth and repose."

"Inter sacrum et sazim."

"Se soumettre ou se démettre."

"Where passion leads or prudence points the way."

"But one thing is needful; and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her."

"For many are called, but few are chosen."

"The difficulty in life is the choice."

"Or fight or fly, This choice is left ye, to resist or die."

"S'asseoir entre deux selles le cul a terre."

"Thy royal will be done—'tis just," Replied the wretch, and kissed the dust; "Since, my last moments to assuage, Your Majesty's humane decree Has deigned to leave the choice to me, I'll die, so please you, of old age."

"When to elect there is but one, 'Tis Hobson's Choice; take that or none."

"Great God! I'd rather be A Pagan, suckled in a creed outworn; So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea, Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn."

"So much of the uncanny—or the holy, for that matter—is inward experience. As such, testimony about it tends to be tainted. People lie. People delude themselves, or others. People are swayed or frightened or convinced they have seen things they have not. People are, frankly, sometimes simply mad."

"If I am absolutely, i.e., by nature wicked and unholy, how can holiness and goodness be the objects of my thought – no matter whether these objects are given to me internally or externally? If my heart is wicked, my understanding corrupt, how can I perceive and feel the holy to be holy, the good to be good? How can I perceive a beautiful painting as beautiful if my soul is by nature ugly, and hence incapable of perceiving aesthetic beauty?"

"Holy poverty … is the foundation and guardian of all virtues."

"Jesus ... combines all duties (1) in one universal rule (which includes within itself both the inner and the outer moral relations of men), namely: Perform your duty for no motive other than unconditioned esteem for duty itself, i.e., love God (the Legislator of all duties) above all else; and (2) in a particular rule, that, namely, which concerns man’s external relation to other men as universal duty: Love every one as yourself, i.e., further his welfare from good-will that is immediate and not derived from motives of self-advantage. These commands are not mere laws of virtue but precepts of holiness which we ought to pursue, and the very pursuit of them is called virtue."

"We are chosen “according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,-through sanctification of the Spirit;” and this sanctification, it is a comfort to know, is a sanctification we may safely confide in; because it is widely different from the self-sanctification, the fleshly holiness, or wilful separation, to which “he that runneth,” and “he that willeth,” addicts himself, in order that the idol self may be magnified and worshipped."

"The you is older than the I; the you has been pronounced holy, but not yet the I: so man crowds towards his neighbor."

"Wirf den Helden in deiner Seele nicht weg! Halte heilig deine höchste Hoffnung!"

"The word Holy (from Old English: hālig meaning "wholeness") denotes the presence of sacredness in an object, being, person, place or idea."

"If a state should pass laws forbidding its citizens to become wise and holy, it would be made a byword for all time. But this, in effect, is what our commercial, social, and political systems do. They compel the sacrifice of mental and moral power to money and dissipation."

"A devotee of Utu is among the holy."

"For the early Church, "church" and "world" were visibly distinct yet affirmed in faith to have one and the same lord. This pair of affirmations is what the so-called Constantinian transformation changes (I here use the name of Constantine merely as a label for this transformation, which began before AD200 and took over 200 years; the use of his name does not mean an evaluation of his person or work). The most pertinent fact about the new state of things after Constantine and Augustine is not that Christians were no longer persecuted and began to be privileged, nor that emperors built churches and presided over ecumenical deliberations about the Trinity; what matters is that the two visible realities, church and world, were fused. There is no longer anything to call "world"; state, economy, art, rhetoric, superstition, and war have all been baptized."

"Homage to you, , Lord of eternity, King of the gods, whose names are manifold, whose forms are holy, you being of hidden form in the temples, whose Ka is holy."

"The gods rejoice when they see crowned upon his throne, and when his beams flood the world with light. The majesty of this holy god setteth out on his journey, and he goeth onwards until he reacheth the land of Manu; the earth becometh light at his birth each day; he proceedeth until he reacheth the place where he was yesterday."

"The scribe Ani, whose word is true, is holy and righteous. He hath not committed any sin, and he hath done no evil against us."

"The Spirits fall headlong in the darkness, but the hath made me holy, and Upuati hath nursed me. I will hide myself among you, O ye stars which are imperishable."

"I look upon the holy things which are hidden. I see the being who is therein. ... I shall see the gods [and] the Eye of Horus burning with fire before my eyes. They shall reach out their hands to me. I shall stand up. I shall be master of him that would subject me to restraint. They shall open the holy paths to me, they shall see my form, they shall listen to my words."

"Homage to you, O ye gods of the Tuat, whose faces are turned back, whose powers advance, conduct ye me to the Star-gods which never rest. Prepare ye for me the holy ways to the Hemat house, and to your god, the Soul, who is the mighty one of terror. hath commanded me to lift up your faces; do ye look upon me. I have risen up like a divine hawk. Horus hath made me to be a Spirit-body by means of his Soul, and to take possession of the things of Osiris in the Tuat."

"Homage to thee, O thou who comest as the Soul of Souls, the Holy One in Amentet."

"Grant thou that I may reach the heaven of eternity, and the region where thy favoured ones dwell. May I unite with those holy and perfect Spirit-souls of ."

"Homage to you, O ye divine Lords of things, ye holy beings, whose seats are veiled! Homage to you, O ye Lords of Eternity, whose forms are concealed, whose sanctuaries are mysteries, whose places of abode are not known!"

"I am exalted like that holy god who dwelleth in the Great House. The gods rejoice greatly when they see my beautiful appearances from the body of the goddess Nut, and when the goddess Nut bringeth me forth."

"I am the holy lotus that cometh forth from the light which belongeth to the nostrils of Ra, and which belongeth to the head of Hathor. I have made my way, and I seek after him, that is to say, Horus. I am the pure lotus that cometh forth from the field [of Ra]."

"Thy throne hath descended unto thy son Horus, and the god Tem hath decreed that thy course shall be among the holy princes. In truth he shall rule from thy throne, and he shall be heir to the throne of the Dweller in the fiery Lake [Neserser]. In truth it hath been decreed that in me he shall see his likeness, and that my face shall look upon the face of the Lord Tem. How long then have I to live? It is decreed that thou shalt live for millions of years, a life of millions of years. Let it be granted to me to pass on to the holy princes, for indeed, I have done away all the evil which I committed, from the time when this earth came into being from Nu, when it sprang from the watery abyss even as it was in the days of old."

"I am holy because I know the names of two feet wherewith thou wouldst walk upon me."

"Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy."

"Do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”"

"Might make a saintship of an anchorite."

"Where'er we tread 'tis haunted, holy ground."

"God attributes to place No sanctity, if none be thither brought By men who there frequent."

"Whoso lives the holiest life Is fittest far to die."

"But all his mind is bent to holiness, To number Ave-Maries on his beads; His champions are the prophets and apostles, His weapons holy saw of sacred writ, His study is his tilt-yard, and his loves Are brazen images of canonized saints."

"He who the sword of heaven will bear Should be as holy as severe; Pattern in himself to know, Grace to stand, and virtue go; More or less to others paying Than by self-offences weighing. Shame to him whose cruel striking Kills for faults of his own liking!"

"Our holy lives must win a new world's crown."

"Holiness is the architectural plan upon which God buildeth up His living temple."

"It is not the oath that makes us believe the man, but the man the oath."

"I will not disgrace my sacred arms Nor desert my comrade, wherever I am stationed. I will fight for things sacred And things profane. And both alone and with all to help me. I will transmit my fatherland not diminished But greater and better than before. I will obey the ruling magistrates Who rule reasonably And I will observe the established laws And whatever laws in the future May be reasonably established. any person seek to overturn the laws, Both alone and with all to help me, I will oppose him. I will honor the religion of my fathers. call to witness the Gods … The borders of my fatherland, The wheat, the barley, the vines, And the trees of the olive and the fig."

"Oaths were not purpos'd, more than law, To keep the Good and Just in awe, But to confine the Bad and Sinful, Like mortal cattle in a penfold."

"He that imposes an Oath makes it, Not he that for Convenience takes it. Then how can any man be said To break an oath he never made?"

"I will take my corporal oath on it."

"Juravi lingua, mentem injuratam gero."

"In the name of all the competitors I promise that we shall take part in these Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules which govern them, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honour of our teams."

"They fix attention, heedless of your pain, With oaths like rivets forced into the brain; And e'en when sober truth prevails throughout, They swear it, till affirmance breeds a doubt."

"And hast thou sworn on every slight, pretence, Till perjuries are common as bad pence, While thousands, careless of the damning sin, Kiss the book's outside, who ne'er look'd within?"

"ἡ γλῶσσ᾽ ὀμώμοχ᾽, ἡ δὲ φρὴν ἀνώμοτος"

"I took an oath of office to the Constitution, I didn't take an oath of office to my party or my president."

"There is no constitutional or legal requirement that the President shall take the oath of office in the presence of the people, but there is so manifest an appropriateness in the public induction to office of the chief executive officer of the nation that from the beginning of the Government the people, to whose service the official oath consecrates the officer, have been called to witness the solemn ceremonial. The oath taken in the presence of the people becomes a mutual covenant. The officer covenants to serve the whole body of the people by a faithful execution of the laws, so that they may be the unfailing defense and security of those who respect and observe them, and that neither wealth, station, nor the power of combinations shall be able to evade their just penalties or to wrest them from a beneficent public purpose to serve the ends of cruelty or selfishness."

"Before Utu, I will not change my word."

"I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil."

"In lapidary inscriptions a man is not upon oath."

"Between 1525 and 1800 more than two hundred decrees were issued by various European governments denouncing the Anabaptists. These denunciations were often based on the Anabaptist position that conscious adult believers should be baptized and not unknowing infants. But they were also denounced for their refusal to bear arms. Like the early Christians, their refusal extended to any participation in the state. They also refused to swear oaths, including oaths of allegiance, a stand that can be traced at least as far back as the Cathars. In the Middle Ages oaths had been essential to the warrior code, and rejecting them was rejecting war. Today oaths seem less important, and most contemporaries never swear an oath. But Americans are still required as young children to pledge allegiance to the flag, one of the first steps in conditioning young Americans for war. This assertion can be easily tested: denounced the saying of the pledge of allegiance and see if the people who are outraged are not the same people who promote war."

"I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations and with no purpose to construe the Constitution by any hypercritical rules."

"You can have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government; while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend" it."

"He that sweareth to his own hurt and changeth not."

"'Tis not the many oaths that makes the truth, But the plain single vow that is vow'd true."

"Trust none; For oaths are straws, men's faiths are wafer-cakes, And hold-fast is the only dog."

"It is a great sin to swear unto a sin, But greater sin to keep a sinful oath."

"Or, having sworn too hard a keeping oath, Study to break it and not break my troth."

"What fool is not so wise To lose an oath to win a paradise?"

"An oath, an oath, I have an oath in heaven: Shall I lay perjury upon my soul? No, not for Venice."

"I'll take thy word for faith, not ask thine oath; Who shuns not to break one will sure crack both."

"I write a woman's oaths in water."

"I, AB, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

"Quran (66:2) - "Allah has already ordained for you the dissolution of your oaths...""

"Quran (2:225) - "Allah will not call you to account for thoughtlessness in your oaths, but for the intention in your hearts"."

"Allah will not call you to account for what is futile in your oaths, but He will call you to account for your deliberate oaths: for expiation, feed ten indigent persons, on a scale of the average for the food of your families; or clothe them; or give a slave his freedom. If that is beyond your means, fast for three days. That is the expiation for the oaths ye have sworn. But keep to your oaths. Thus doth Allah make clear to you His signs, that ye may be grateful."

"So we returned to the Prophet and said, "O Allah's Apostle! We asked you for mounts, but you took an oath that you would not give us any mounts; we think that you have forgotten your oath.' He said, 'It is Allah Who has given you mounts. By Allah, and Allah willing, if I take an oath and later find something else better than that. then I do what is better and expiate my oath.' ""

"If you ever take an oath to do something and later on you find that something else is better, then you should expiate your oath and do what is better.""

"So far as I am concerned, by Allah, if He so wills, I would not swear, but if, later on, I would see better than it, I (would break the vow) and expiate it and do that which is better."

"Abu Huraira reported: A person sat late in the night with Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him), and then came to his family and found that his children had gone to sleep. His wife brought food for him. but he took an oath that he would not eat because of his children (having gone to sleep without food) He then gave precedence (of breaking the vow and then expiating it) and ate the food He then came to Allah s Messenger (may peace be upon him) and made mention of that to him, whereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace he upon him) said: He who took an oath and (later on) found something better than that should do that, and expiate for (breaking) his vow."

"Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: He who took an oath and then found another thing better than (this) should expiate for the oath (broken) by him and do (the better thing)."

"Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: He who took an oath and (later on) found another thing better than that, he should do that which is better, and expiate for the vow (broken by him)."

"This hadith is narrated on the authority of Suhail with the same chain of transmitters (with these words): "He should expiate for (breaking) the vow and do that which is better.""

"'Adi reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: When anyone amongst you takes an oath, but he finds (something) better than that he should expiate (the breaking of the oath), and do that which is better."

"Abd al-Rahman b. Samura reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said to me: Abd al-Rahman b. Samura, don't ask for authority for if it is granted to you for asking for it, you would be commissioned for it (without having the support of Allah), but if you are granted it without your asking for it. You would be helped (by Allah) in it. And when you take an oath and find something else better than that, expiate for (breaking) your oath, and do that which is better. This hadith has also been transmitted on the authority of Ibn Farrukh."

"It's calm under the waves in the blue of my oblivion."

"[Horror fiction] shows us that the control we believe we have is purely illusory, and that every moment we teeter on chaos and oblivion."

"Oblivion is full of people who allow the opinions of others to overrule their belief in themselves."

"I fear oblivion. I fear it like the proverbial blind man who's afraid of the dark."

"There was time before organisms experienced consciousness, and there will be time after. And if the inevitability of human oblivion worries you, I encourage you to ignore it."

"Only the dead could afford oblivion."

"No matter how much time passes, no matter what takes place in the interim, there are some things we can never assign to oblivion, memories we can never rub away."

"Sleep is my lover now, my forgetting, my opiate, my oblivion."

"I let go. Lost in oblivion. Dark and silent and complete. I found freedom. Losing all hope was freedom."

"Wishing to grab the life with nothingness wanting to erase the sigh of tiredness forgetting myself completely from my being why do I seek embrace of yours do not ask me, I know not, I am in oblivion."

"Gods prefer simple, vicious games, where you Do Not Achieve Transcendence but Go Straight To Oblivion; a key to the understanding of all religion is that a god's idea of amusement is Snakes and Ladders with greased rungs."

"As for oblivion, well, we can wait a little while for that."

"Then she was kissing him as she had never kissed him before...and it was blissful oblivion, better than firewhisky; she was the only real thing in the world."

"Oblivion - what a blessing...for the mind to dwell a world away from pain."

"Oblivion is not to be hired."

"For those sacred powers Tread on oblivion: no desert of ours Can be entombed in their celestial breasts."

"It is not in the storm nor in the strife We feel benumb'd, and wish to be no more, But in the after-silence on the shore, When all is lost, except a little life."

"Without oblivion, there is no remembrance possible. When both oblivion and memory are wise, when the general soul of man is clear, melodious, true, there may come a modern Iliad as memorial of the Past."

"And o'er the past oblivion stretch her wing."

"He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more."

"Injuriarum remedium est oblivio."

"What's past and what's to come is strew'd with husks And formless ruin of oblivion."

"Eo magis præfulgebant quod non videbantur."

"But from your mind's chilled sky It needs must drop, and lie with stiffened wings Among your soul's forlornest things; A speck upon your memory, alack! A dead fly in a dusty window-crack."

"The oracle-glass was maddeningly literal, capable of answering only the question one asked, rather than that which one wanted answered."

"Ibis redibis non morieris in bello."

"A Delphic sword."

"The oracles are dumb, No voice or hideous hum Runs thro' the arched roof in words deceiving."

"I am Sir Oracle, And when I ope my lips let no dog bark!"

"Can prophecies remain unfulfilled? Indeed they can... A true prophecy foresees the best combination of possibilities, but it is possible to allow them to escape. The subject of fulfillment of prophecies is very profound; in it are combined cooperation and higher knowledge of the spirit.... Since time immemorial prophecies have been issued... as benevolent signs for humanity. Prophecies best of all inform mankind."

"The manifestation of unfit elements is great at the end of Kali Yuga. The fiercer Armageddon is, the better it serves as purifier of the dross. (66) ...The end of Kali Yuga is significant, for many cosmic events are connected with this period... Armageddon was predicted ages ago, and the abnormalities at the end of Kali Yuga were described in the Puranas, but even keen thinkers underestimated those clear indications... (106) ...It is true that Armageddon is raging and incredible crimes have been committed, but it is also true that against the background of these terrors a speedy evolution rushes onward. Is it possible that people do not see how much of the new is entering life? We should not permit the doubting worldlings to proclaim that the dark forces are victorious. That which belongs to Infinity cannot be conquered. (259)"

"In the Puranas it was predicted that toward the end of Kali Yuga humanity would be driven to acts of madness. It is very dangerous that people do not recognize this state, for while it is possible to cure a patient who does not resist treatment, if he struggles against it the beneficial effects of the medicine will be diminished. But how do you explain to people that their leaders and their teachers are insane? ...such mental confusion fully corresponds with the end of Kali Yuga... Most people hate the messenger who brings knowledge... let them at least remember the warning that humanity is acting insanely. The Thinker warned, “Do not fall into madness.” (285)"

"The ancient writings all claim that a Golden Age is indeed due to follow the death of the present Dark Age. How long it will take to develop depends upon the people and the interest and initiative which they show in regard to the whole matter. It is therefore considered that a great deal may now be written or taught to people at this time on this vital subject, because for them it is still an unaccustomed topic, and it will take some time for them thoroughly to grasp the importance of it and the magnitude of the opportunity... (Ch. 1) Nations will for a long time insist upon a large measure of self-government, but when they begin to see the benefits which accrue from each successive international co-operative development, they will finally grasp the new principle of synthesis, and the age of separation will be over for ever..."

"The ancient writings all claim that a Golden Age is indeed due to follow the death of the present Dark Age. How long it will take to develop depends upon the people and the interest and initiative which they show in regard to the whole matter. It is therefore considered that a great deal may now be written or taught to people at this time on this vital subject, because for them it is still an unaccustomed topic, and it will take some time for them thoroughly to grasp the importance of it and the magnitude of the opportunity... (Ch. 1)"

"Nations will for a long time insist upon a large measure of self-government, but when they begin to see the benefits which accrue from each successive international co-operative development, they will finally grasp the new principle of synthesis, and the age of separation will be over for ever... There will be tremendous difficulties to surmount whilst trying to arrive at the coming stages... All this will happen more easily and quickly than seems possible today, firstly because it is an inescapable step in the natural process of human evolution; secondly because humanity itself by its earnest aspiration and patient blind endeavour and endurance, has struggled out of the ancient egotistic separatist attitude, and cast aside the fetters of conventional thought, and is beginning to offer an open mind and heart for the impress of new values and inspirations; thirdly, because the initial steps in world organization which arc about to be achieved by such bodies as the World Health Organization, the U.N. Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, the Economic and Social Council etc., will soon show up the stupendous possibilities lying ahead. (Ch. 2)"

"It may be said that the actual birth of World Government coincided with the formation of the United Nations Organization, and with the desperate wish to invest it with real authority. So the embryonic World Government is potentially already there... What shape it eventually takes, whether it becomes an enlargement of former tyrannies, or whether in fact it will prove to be the instrument by means of which we shall produce our promised Golden Age, depends upon ourselves, the people. (Ch. 2)"

"We are living in a time of transition, when everything is going to be so different that the experts are possibly more handicapped by their traditional time-worn knowledge than are we, untrained and with minds empty of red tape and orthodoxy. (Ch. 2)"

"Can we grasp, for instance, that in spite of weather vagaries, even in spite of present soil erosion, there is and could be more than enough produced to-day to allow everyone everywhere a fair standard of living, without entailing drudgery for anybody? Can we grasp that there is more than enough land surface, capable of restoration, to support and feed in comfort a larger population than now exists on this globe? Can we grasp that the only requirement in order that this may be so is organization, a combined world organization founded upon the spiritual principle of sharing and cooperation; and that this would change the world from the state it is now in to a comparative Heaven?"

"Eventually this will come about. But the amount of delay, the number of false starts and mistakes which will have to be lived through first will depend upon how much clear and active thinking we will do.(Ch. 2)"

"Those... who foresee that which may or ought to be, are nevertheless well aware that though the fulfillment of... [some prophecies] is inevitable... the time factor may not work out as indicated...because the distressed human mechanisms of those to whom the work is given, will fail to react either correctly, or at the right time."

"The world has been changed beyond belief during the past five hundred years, and during the next two hundred years the changes will be still more rapid and deep-seated, for the growth of the intellectual powers of man is gathering momentum, and Man, the Creator, is coming into possession of His powers."

"The future will shine with an added glory and, though difficulties and problems incident to world adjustment and the new relationships between the spiritual man and his material environment will be found, the future will prove itself as the best yet unrolled. Difficulties will be found on all planes up until the last initiation, but the destructiveness of the life process will never again be so potent. The reason for this is that humanity is most definitely emerging from the thralldom of matter, and in such cases destruction parallels the impact of the descending spirit upon opposing matter. Ponder on this statement."

"Profoundly interesting is this world-tragedy of conflict to those who see in it a necessary preparation, a clearing of the ground, for the coming of the World-Teacher and for the new civilisation... The terrible lesson now being taught, the widespread suffering, the devastation by sword and fire, the poverty caused by the dislocation of trade, the tension, the bankruptcies... But through this Armageddon the world will pass into a realm of peace, of brotherhood, of co-operation, and will forget the darkness and the terrors of the night in the joy that cometh in the morning..."

"Prophecy, n. The art and practice of selling one's credibility for future delivery."

"We are in the Kali Yuga [a Sanskrit term meaning Dark Age] and its fatal influence is a thousand-fold more powerful in the West than it is in the East; hence the easy preys made by the Powers of the Age of Darkness [evil] in this cyclic struggle, and the many delusions under which the world is now laboring. One of these is the relative facility with which men fancy they can get at the "Gate" and cross the threshold of Occultism without any great sacrifice. It is the dream of most Theosophists, one inspired by desire for Power and personal selfishness, and it is not such feelings that can ever lead them to the coveted goal. For, as well said by one believed to have sacrificed himself for Humanity--"Strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life" eternal, and therefore "few there be that find it." (Matthew 7:14) So strait indeed, that at the bare mention of some of the preliminary difficulties the affrighted Western candidates turn back and retreat with a shudder... Let them stop here and attempt no more in their great weakness. For if, while turning their backs on the narrow gate, they are dragged by their desire for the Occult one step in the direction of the broad and more inviting gates of that golden mystery which glitters in the light of illusion, woe to them!"

"As the “ Satya-yuga” is always the first in the series of the four ages or Yugas, so the Kali ever comes the last... Anyhow, it is curious to see how prophetic in almost all things was the writer of Vishnu Purâna when foretelling to Maitreya some of the dark influences and sins of this Kali Yug. For after saying that the “barbarians” will be masters of the banks… he adds: “ There will be contemporary monarchs, reigning over the earth— kings of churlish spirit, violent temper, and ever addicted to falsehood and wickedness. They will inflict death on women, children, and cows; they will seize upon the property of their subjects, and be intent upon the wives of others; they will be of unlimited power, their lives will be short, their desires insatiable... People of various countries intermingling with them, will follow their example; and the barbarians being powerful... in the patronage of the princes, while purer tribes are neglected... Wealth and piety will decrease until the world will be wholly depraved. Property alone will confer rank; wealth will be the only source of devotion; passion will be the sole bond of union between the sexes; falsehood will be the only means of success in litigation; and women will be objects merely of sensual gratification."

"Nativity is the enemy of prophecy."

"You don't need no crystal ball, Don't fall for a magic wand. We humans got it all, we perform the miracles."

"Of all the horrid, hideous notes of woe, Sadder than owl-songs or the midnight blast; Is that portentous phrase, "I told you so.""

"Chapter I: The Doctrine of the Coming One"

"Right down the ages, in many world cycles and in many countries (and today in all) great points of tension have occurred which have been characterised by a hopeful sense of expectancy. Some one is expected and His coming is anticipated. Always in the past, it has been the religious teachers of the period who have fostered and proclaimed this expectancy and the time has always been one of chaos and difficulty, of a climaxing point at the close of a civilisation or culture and when the resources of the old religions have seemed inadequate to meet men's difficulties or to solve their problems...When the times are ripe, the invocation of the masses is strident enough and the faith of those who know is keen enough, then always He has come and today will be no exception to this ancient rule..."

"When men feel that they have exhausted all their own resources and have come to an end of all their own innate possibilities and that the problems and conditions confronting them are beyond their solving or handling, they are apt to look for a divine Intermediary and for the Mediator Who will plead their cause with God and bring about a rescue. They look for a Saviour."

"This doctrine of Mediators, of Messiahs, of Christs and of Avatars can be found running like a golden thread through all the world faiths and Scriptures and, relating these world Scriptures to some central source of emanation, they are found in rich abundance everywhere. Even the human soul is regarded as an intermediary between man and God; Christ is believed by countless millions to act as the divine mediator between humanity and divinity."

"Ever down the ages, and at every great human crisis, always in the hours of necessity, at the founding of a new race, or in the awakening of a prepared humanity to a new and wider vision, the Heart of God—impelled by the Law of Compassion—sends forth a Teacher, a world Saviour, an Illuminator, an Avatar, a transmitting Intermediary, a Christ. He gives the message which will heal, which will indicate the next step to be taken by the race of men, which will illumine a dark world problem and give to man an expression of some hitherto unrealised aspect of divinity. Upon this fact of the continuity of revelation and upon the sequence of this progressive manifestation of the divine Nature, is based the doctrine of Avatars, divine Messengers, divine Appearances and Saviours. To Them all, history unmistakenly testifies."

"The reason He has not come again is that the needed work has not been done by His followers in all countries. His coming is largely dependent, as we shall later see, upon the establishing of right human relations. This the church has hindered down the centuries, and has not helped because of its fanatical zeal to make "Christians" of all peoples and not followers of the Christ. It has emphasised theological doctrine, and not love and loving understanding as Christ exemplified it."

"It is not for us yet to know the date or the hour of the reappearance of the Christ. His coming is dependent upon the appeal (the often voiceless appeal) of all who stand with massed intent; it is dependent also upon the better establishment of right human relations and upon certain work being done at this time by senior Members of the Kingdom of God, the Church Invisible, the spiritual Hierarchy of our planet; it is dependent also upon the steadfastness of the Christ's disciples in the world at this time and His initiate-workers—all working in the many groups, religious, political and economic."

"When the Christ, the Avatar of Love, makes His reappearance then will the Sons of men who are now the Sons of God withdraw Their faces from the shining light and radiate that light upon the sons of men who know not yet they are the Sons of God. Then shall the Coming One appear, His footsteps hastened through the valley of the shadow by the One of awful power Who stands upon the mountain top, breathing out love eternal, light supernal and peaceful, silent Will. Then will the sons of men respond. Then will a newer light shine forth into the dismal, weary vale of earth. Then will new life course through the veins of men, and then will their vision compass all the ways of what may be. So peace will come again on earth, but a peace unlike aught known before. Then will the will-to-good flower forth as understanding, and understanding blossom as goodwill in men."

"Prophecy, however honest, is generally a poor substitute for experience."

"Thus, those who sought to penetrate the future cannot even see in front of themselves; they attempted to move themselves forward in time, so must they go backwards through all eternity; and as the arts of sorcery are a distortion of God's law, so are their bodies distorted in Hell."

"But we had to go believe a prophecy instead of our own eyes, elf! There’s no good ever came of listening to wizards. Half of them are crazy and the other half are so old they sound crazy. And we listened! We’re the craziest of the lot."

"Now in those days, brethren, there shall arise in the world an Exalted One by name Maitreya (the Kindly One) an Arhat, a Fully Enlightened One, endowed with wisdom and righteousness, a Happy One, a World-knower, the Peerless Charioteer of men to be tamed, a teacher of the devas (angels) and mankind, an Exalted One, a Buddha like myself. He of His own abnormal powers shall realize and make known the world, and the worlds of the devas, with their Maras, their Brahmas, the host of recluses and brahmins, of devas and mankind alike, even as I do now. He shall proclaim the norm, lovely in its beginning, lovely in its middle, and lovely in the end thereof. He shall make known the wholly perfect life of righteousness in all its purity, both in the spirit and in the letter of it, even as I do now. He shall lead an Order of Brethren numbering many thousands, even as I do now lead an order of Brethren numbering many hundreds."

"At the beginning and end of the discourse, the Buddha exhorts his monks to 'keep to their own preserves' by the practice of mindfulness. Then he tells of a 'wheel-turning monarch' (a righteous ruler) who had the sacred Wheel Treasure, which had to be carefully guarded. He was followed by a line of righteous kings, but eventually they degenerated, and society went from bad to worse, while the human life-span sank to ten years and all sense of morality was lost. After a brief but dreadful 'sword-interval' things improved, and finally another Buddha, Metteyya (Sanskrit: Maitreya) will appear. (26)"

"Dreams, something like prophecy, are the offspring of imaginations and comparisons which we may form whilst awake."

"Prophets don't know everything!"

"Muad'Dib could indeed see the Future, but you must understand the limits of this power. Think of sight. You have eyes, yet cannot see without light. If you are on the floor of a valley, you cannot see beyond your valley. Just so, Muad'Dib could not always choose to look across the mysterious terrain. He tells us that a single obscure decision of prophecy, perhaps the choice of one word over another, could change the entire aspect of the future. He tells us "The vision of time is broad, but when you pass through it, time becomes a narrow door." And always, he fought the temptation to choose a clear, safe course, warning "That path leads ever down into stagnation.""

"Prophecy and prescience — How can they be put to the test in the face of the unanswered questions? Consider: How much is actual prediction of the "wave form" (as Muad'Dib referred to his vision-image) and how much is the prophet shaping the future to fit the prophecy? What of the harmonics inherent in the act of prophecy? Does the prophet see the future or does he see a line of weakness, a fault or cleavage that he may shatter with words or decisions as a diamond-cutter shatters his gem with a blow of a knife?"

"The trance-state of prophecy is like no other visionary experience. It is not a retreat from the raw exposure of the senses (as many trance states) but an immersion in a multitude of new movements. Things move. It is an ultimate pragmatism in the midst of Infinity, a demanding consciousness where you come at last into the unbroken awareness that the universe moves of itself, that it changes, that its rules change, that nothing remains permanent or absolute throughout all such movement, that mechanical explanations for anything can work only within precise confinements and, once the walls are broken down, the old explanations shatter and dissolve, blown away by new movements. The things you see in this trance are sobering, often shattering. They demand your utmost effort to remain whole, and even so, you emerge from that state profoundly changed."

"The prophet is not diverted by illusions of past, present and future. The fixity of language determines such linear distinctions. Prophets hold a key to the lock in a language. The mechanical image remains only an image to them. This is not a mechanical universe. The linear progression of events is imposed by the observer. Cause and effect? That's not it at all. The prophet utters fateful words. You glimpse a thing "destined to occur." But the prophetic instant releases something of infinite portent and power. The universe undergoes a ghostly shift. Thus, the wise prophet conceals actuality behind shimmering labels. The uninitiated then believe the prophetic language is ambiguous. The listener distrusts the prophetic messenger. Instinct tells you how the utterance blunts the power of such words. The best prophets lead you up to the curtain and let you peer through for yourself."

"A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country and in his own house."

"Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

"Whenever...there is a decline in religious practice... I descend Myself. To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I Myself appear, millennium after millennium."

"The Future … is like a puzzle — with missing pieces — difficult to read, and never, NEVER, what you think."

"The Future is a puzzle, with many pieces to be sorted. In Time you will learn to separate what can be from what will be."

"Everybody makes the same mistake. Fortune-telling doesn't reveal the future; it mirrors the present. It resonates against what your subconscious already knows and hauls it up out of the darkness so you can get a good look at it."

"Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 22:42 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 22:44"

"Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 22:42 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.22:44"

"The self-fulfilling prophecy is, in the beginning, a false definition of the situation evoking a new behaviour which makes the original false conception come "true". This specious validity of the self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuates a reign of error. For the prophet will cite the actual course of events as proof that he was right from the very beginning."

"Armageddon has already begun—the end of 1931 saw the start of the Great Battle, and I did not conceal it from you. So the Battle cannot end now, but must reach a victorious conclusion. Of course, when the flaming pentagram must be uplifted as a shield, all the sensations of the Battle affect the heart. You should not be surprised that events are piling up, for the earthly battle is following the heavenly. A great deal has been said about the Heavenly Host, about Michael the Archistrategus, the Supreme General, about the manifestation of the affirmed Leader, and about all the perturbations. That is why I say, “Caution!”"

"Those who understand Armageddon to be a field in which signs of the highest energy manifest are correct. This battlefield cannot be something that arises accidentally; rather, it is like a magnet that attracts opposing energies. The field of the future City of Light is destined to act as a counterbalance to this battlefield. Just as the existence of the field of Armageddon is proclaimed by the clash and clatter of arms, the existence of the field of the City of Light is proclaimed by the peal of bells. According to the contrast, one can judge the dimensions of the destined. So you might turn your ears to the din of the battle in order to hear the ringing of the bells."

"Pure thinking is the best disinfectant. It is high time that thinking was accepted as a chemical process. Likewise, the manifestation of Armageddon should not only be understood as a war in the conventional sense but should also be viewed in terms of all the events in life. The epidemic of possession is a phenomenon that characterizes the time of the Great Battle. Certainly, our convulsed planet is overrun with suicides as well as physical and spiritual calamities. Amidst humanity can be found unusual diseases of the brain and nerves, as well as every sort of perversion. The vacillations of the spirit may be truly astonishing. One may feel indignant about the way in which the finest people are greeted with threats and hatred. It is as if the soil itself were speeding to destruction! Of course, the mad ones do not see all the luminous warriors, and they allow the dark forces to drag them into the abyss. So every seeker must summon up all his strength in fortifying himself on the foundation of the Hierarchy. Even on an ordinary battlefield a warrior must not let his communications get cut off."

"Kali Yuga Predictions"

"O thou foremost of all speakers, O Muni of Bhrigu's race, that which we have heard from thee about the destruction and re-birth of all things at the end of the Yuga, is, indeed, full of wonder! I am filled with curiosity, however, in respect of what may happen in the Kali age. When morality and virtue will be at an end, what will remain... tell me all in detail, O Muni, for all that thou narratest is varied and delightful...(Section CLXXXIX, p. 387)"

"Thus addressed, that foremost of Munis began his discourse... listen to me as I narrate the future history of the world during the sinful age. O bull of the Bharata race, in the Krita age, everything was free from deceit and guile and avarice and covetousness; and morality like a bull was among men, with all the four legs complete... In the dark age (of Kali)... morality mixed with three parts of sin liveth by the side of men... men in general will deceive their fellows..."

"And men with false reputation of learning will... cause truth to be contracted and concealed. And in consequence of the shortness of their lives they will not be able to acquire much knowledge. And in consequence of the littleness of their knowledge, they will have no wisdom. And for this, covetousness and avarice will overwhelm them all. And wedded to avarice and wrath and ignorance and lust men will entertain animosities towards one another, desiring to take one another's lives. (Section CLXXXIX, p. 387)"

"And the lowest orders of men will rise to the position of the intermediate ones, and those in intermediate stations will, without doubt, descend to the level of the lowest ones... And towards that period, even they that are always observant of vows, will become covetous... People will become atheists and thieves... the kings of the earth, with hearts wedded to sin without knowledge and always boastful of their wisdom, will challenge one another... (Section CLXXXIX, p. 388)"

"And the Kshatriyas [military caste] also towards the end of such a period will become the thorns of the earth. And filled with avarice and swelling with pride and vanity... And attacking and repeating their attacks upon the good and the honest, and feeling no pity for the latter.. the Kshatriyas will, O Bharata, rob these of their wives and wealth..."

"And no one will ask for a girl (for purposes of marriage) and no one will give away a girl (for such purposes), but the girls will themselves choose their lords, when the end of the Yuga comes..."

"And the kings of the earth with souls steeped in ignorance, and discontented with what they have, will at such a time, rob their subjects by every means in their power..., the right hand will deceive the left; and the left, the right...."

"And men with false reputation of learning will contract Truth and the old will betray the senselessness of the young, and the young will betray the dotage of the old. (Section CLXXXIX, p. 388)"

"And cowards will have the reputation of bravery and the brave will be cheerless like cowards... men will cease to trust one another... full of avarice... sin will increase and prosper, while virtue will fade and cease to flourish."

"And Brahmanas and Kshatriyas and Vaisyas will disappear, leaving, O king, no remnants of their orders... jealousy and malice will fill the world. And no one will, at that time, be a giver (of wealth or anything else) in respect to any one else... men will... become omnivorous without distinction, and cruel in all their acts... urged by avarice, men will, at that time, deceive one another when they sell and purchase. And when the end of the Yuga comes, urged by their very dispositions, men will act cruelly, and speak ill of one another.. people will, without compunction, destroy trees and gardens. (Section CLXL, p. 392)"

"And men will be filled with anxiety as regards the means of living... overwhelmed with covetousness, men will kill... and enjoy the possessions of their victims... And when men become fierce and destitute of virtue and carnivorous and addicted to intoxicating drinks, then doth the Yuga come to an end... friends and relatives and kinsmen will perform friendly offices for the sake of the wealth only that is possessed by a person...When the end of the Yuga comes, men abandoning the countries and directions and towns and cities of their occupation, will seek for new ones, one after another. And people will wander over the earth, uttering, 'O father, O son', and such other frightful and rending cries. (Section CLXL, p. 392)"

"After Kali Yuga"

"And when those terrible times will be over, the creation will begin anew. And men will again be created and distributed.. and about that time, in order that men may increase, Providence, according to its pleasure, will once more become propitious... And the clouds will commence to shower seasonably, and the stars and stellar conjunctions will become auspicious. And the planets, duly revolving in their orbits, will become exceedingly propitious. And all around, there will be prosperity and abundance and health and peace....(Section CLXL, p. 392)"

"And commissioned by Time, a Brahmana of the name of Kalki will take his birth. And he will glorify Vishnu and possess great energy, great intelligence, and great prowess.... vehicles and weapons, and warriors and arms, and coats of mail will be at his disposal as soon as he will think of them. And he will be the king of kings, and ever victorious with the strength of virtue. And he will restore order and peace in this world crowded with creatures and contradictory in its course. And that blazing Brahmana of mighty intellect... will be the Destroyer of all, and will inaugurate a new Yuga. And surrounded by the Brahmanas, that Brahmana will exterminate all the mlecchas wherever those low and despicable persons may take refuge."(Section CLXL, p. 392)"

"Markandeya continued, Having exterminated the thieves and robbers... and having established anew the blessed rectitude ordained by the Self-create, Kalki, of sacred deeds and illustrious reputation... the people of this earth will imitate his conduct... there will be prosperity everywhere (on earth). And as the countries of the earth will one after another be subjugated... (Section CLXL, p. 392)"

"Vaisampayana continued, "Hearing these words of Markandeya, the royal head of the Kurus... spoke... 'O muni, if I am to protect my subjects, to what course of conduct should I adhere? And how should I behave so that I may not fall away from the duties of my order?' Markandeya, hearing this, answered, 'Be merciful to all creatures, and devoted to their good. Love all creatures, scorning none. Be truthful in speech, humble, with passions under complete control, and always devoted to the protection of thy people. Practise virtue and renounce sin, and worship thou the manes and the god and whatever thou mayst have done from ignorance or carelessness, wash them off and expiate them by charity. (Section CLXL, p. 393)"

"Renouncing pride and vanity, be thou possessed to humility and good behaviour. And subjugating the whole earth, rejoice thou and let happiness be thine. This is the course of conduct that accords with virtue. I have recited to thee all that was and all that will be regarded as virtuous. There is nothing appertaining to the past or the future that is unknown to thee. Therefore, O son, take not to heart this present calamity of thine. They that are wise are never overwhelmed when they are persecuted by Time. O thou of mighty arms, the very dwellers of heaven cannot rise superior to Time. Time afflicts all creatures. (Section CLXL, p. 393)"

"I had determined to go as far as declaring in abstruse and puzzling utterances the future causes of the "common advent", even those truly cogent ones that I have foreseen. Yet lest whatever human changes may be to come should scandalise delicate ears, the whole thing is written in nebulous form, rather than as a clear prophecy of any kind."

"If I have eschewed the word prophet, I do not wish to attribute to myself such lofty title at the present time, for whoever is called a prophet now was once called a seer; since a prophet, my son, is properly speaking one who sees distant things through a natural knowledge of all creatures. And it can happen that the prophet bringing about the perfect light of prophecy may make manifest things both human and divine, because this cannot be done otherwise, given that the effects of predicting the future extend far off into time."

"Perfect knowledge of such things cannot be acquired without divine inspiration, given that all prophetic inspiration derives its initial origin from God Almighty, then from chance and nature. Since all these portents are produced impartially, prophecy comes to pass partly as predicted. For understanding created by the intellect cannot be acquired by means of the occult, only by the aid of the zodiac, bringing forth that small flame by whose light part of the future may be discerned."

"When twenty years of the Moon's reign have passed another will take up his reign for seven thousand years. When the exhausted Sun takes up his cycle then my prophecy and threats will be accomplished."

"For you know this first, that no prophecy of Scripture springs from any private interpretation. For prophecy was at no time brought by man’s will, but men spoke from God as they were moved by holy spirit."

"Sir Isaac Newton, having perhaps the greatest scientific mind of all time, accepted the books of Book of Daniel and Revelation as revelations from God, being very detailed and accurate representations of the history of the world's dominating kingdoms, and prophesying both the first and second coming of Christ. He understood that the scriptures taught that the true Church of Jesus Christ had been lost, and he awaited three separate future events: 1) the restoration of the gospel by an angel, 2) the re-establishment of the true church, and 3) the rise of a new world kingdom led by the Savior himself, which will crush the kingdoms of the world as the stone pulverized the statue to powder. He saw the whole purpose of these revelations is not to satisfy man's curiosity about the future, but to be a testimony of the foreknowledge of God after they are all fulfilled in the last days. He proposed that the revelations can be understood by discovering rules governing their consistent imagery, but only after they have been fulfilled, unless an interpretation is given with the revelation. Truly Newton's genius was remarkable, and we could learn much from his insights and systematic methods."

"Every prophecy, afterwards uttered by various prophets, was handed over on Sinai at the time of the giving of the Decalogue, but was to be kept unproclaimed until each prophet had received the charge of proclaiming his respective prophecy"

"We are now in the midst of the Great Battle predicted in all the most ancient prophecies and in the writings of all peoples. We are approaching the great decisive battle between the Armies of Light...and the hordes of the Prince of this World....the whole army of Gog must be exterminated. But immutable is the Law of Light, and darkness shall be defeated."

"Dreadful is Armageddon — the dark forces are struggling for their very existence. Despair unites them and makes them so persistent in trying to achieve their aim. The Prince of the World has very many talented collaborators—some conscious, some unconscious—and it is foolish to think that they do not know the ways of the most cunning subtlety. There are very shrewd and inventive, and they act according to the level of their victims. But all of them lack tolerance and warmth of heart. (23 August 1934)"

"Armageddon is the great decisive Battle between the Forces of Light and darkness. It was predicted in all the ancient scriptures, and the name "Armageddon, as well as the description of it, can be found in the Apocalypse... It is interesting to note that these calculations are also found in the pyramid of Cheops. Thus, today, we find ourselves in the midst of this Battle, which will increase... (10 September 1934)."

"The predicted great Armageddon of our race is in full swing... victory is always with the forces of Light, but dreadful cataclysms are unavoidable... the destiny of the world is in the hands of humanity. The planet can be saved only if there is a resurrection of the spirit, only if the consciousness is liberated from the phantoms of the past and directed toward the construction of the New World on the basis of a new understanding of cooperation and knowledge. (16 July 1935) ...At present the whole world is passing through thrice difficult days, and it was indicated to read in the Apocalypse the first verse, chapter 21—"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth" so it is, and with the old consciousness one cannot enter the New World. (11 February 1938)."

"I shall quote an interesting passage from The Secret Doctrine taken from the Puranas. "...Anyhow, it is curious to see how prophetic in almost all things was the writer of Vishnu-Purana when foretelling... a man if rich will be reputed pure; dishonesty... will be the universal means of subsistence, weakness the cause of dependence, menace and presumption will be substituted for learning; liberality will be devotion; mutual assent, [will replace] marriage; fine clothes [will be regarded as] dignity. . . . He who is the strongest will reign.. the people, unable to bear the heavy burden, Kara-bhara (the load of taxes) will take refuge among the valleys. . ."

"Thus, in the Kali age will decay constantly proceed, until the human race approaches its annihilation (pralaya). . . . When the close of the Kali age shall be nigh, a portion of that divine being which exists, if its own spiritual nature . . . shall descend on Earth . . . as Kalki (Avatar) endowed with the eight superhuman faculties. . . . He will re-establish righteousness on Earth, and the minds of those who live at the end of Kali-Yuga shall be awakened and become as pellucid as crystal. The men who are thus changed. . . shall be the seeds of human beings, and shall give birth to a race who shall follow the laws of the Krita age, (the age of purity). As it is said, 'When the sun and moon and the lunar asterism Tishya and the planet Jupiter are in one mansion the Krita (or Satya) age shall return.'"

"I myself once heard intelligent people trying to prove that the Bolsheviks were predicted in the Apocalypse, and that even the number of the days of their power was mentioned, and that the Michael mentioned there was none other than the Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich! I certainly do not mention this to discredit Bajenov's book, but simply to warn those who are greatly attracted by research into Biblical prophecies. (22 June 1936)"

"Osama Bin Laden and George Bush were both terrorists. They were both building international networks that perpetrate terror and devastate people’s lives. Bush with the Pentagon, the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank. Bin Laden with Al-Qaeda. The difference is that nobody elected Bin Laden... The United States supported Saddam Hussein and made sure that he ruled with an iron fist for all those years. Then they used the sanctions to break the back of civil society. Then they made Iraq disarm. Then they attacked Iraq. And now they’ve taken over all its assets. p. 91"

"The Manuscript dates back to about 600 B.C... predicts a massive transformation in human society... It's not religious in nature, but it is spiritual."

"We're discovering something new about human life on this planet, about what our existence means, and according to the priest, this knowledge will alter human culture dramatically. p. 6"

"The Manuscript predicts that... human beings will begin to grasp these insights sequentially, one insight then another, as we move from where we are now to a completely spiritual culture on Earth."

"The transformation is beginning with the First Insight... this insight always surfaces unconsciously at first, as a profound sense of restlessness... We're beginning to glimpse an alternative kind of experience... moments in our lives that feel different somehow, more intense and inspiring. But we don't know what this experience is or how to make it last, and when it ends we're left feeling dissatisfied and restless with a life that seems ordinary again... Most of society's recent ills, can be traced to this restlessness and searching, this problem is temporary, and will come to an end."

"The First Insight occurs when we become conscious of the coincidences in our lives.... Coincidences are happening more and more frequently and that, when they do, they strike us as beyond what would be expected by pure chance."

"The Manuscript says the number of people who are conscious of such coincidences would begin to grow dramatically... He said that this growth would continue... we would reach a specific level of such individuals a level I think of as a critical mass... once we reach this critical mass, the entire culture will begin to take these coincidental experiences seriously."

"We will wonder, in mass, what mysterious process underlies human life on this planet. And it will be this question, asked at the same time by enough people... we will begin to find out."

"Most church officials were fighting against it... because it challenges the completeness of their religion. Apparently the... insights extend some of the church's traditional ideas in a way that alarms the church elders, who think things are fine the way they are."

"Staying connected, Father Carl said, will be easier once you get clear on who you are... The process of finding your true spiritual identity involves looking at your whole life as one long story, trying to find a higher meaning. Begin by asking yourself this question: why was I born to this particular family? What might have been the purpose for that?"

"You can go to sleep and never think again of what we have discussed. You can go right back into your old drama, or you can wake up tomorrow and hold on to this new idea of who you are."

"The worst thing that can be done to children is to drain their energy while correcting them. This is what creates control dramas in them..."

"You should never take responsibility for more children than you can give attention to."

"The Ninth Insight explains how human culture will change in the next millennium as a result of conscious evolution. It describes a significantly different way of life."

"The Manuscript predicts that we humans will voluntarily decrease our population so that we all may live in the most powerful and beautiful places on the Earth. But remarkably, many more of these areas will exist in the future, because we will intentionally let the forests go uncut so that they can mature and build energy."

"By the middle of the next millennium... humans will typically live among five hundred year old trees and carefully tended gardens, yet within easy travel distance of an urban area of incredible technological wizardry."

"The means of survival food stuffs and clothing and transportation-will all be totally automated and at everyone's disposal. Our needs will be completely met without the exchange of any currency, yet also without any overindulgence or laziness."

"Guided by their intuitions, everyone will know precisely what to do and when to do it, and this will fit harmoniously with the actions of others. No one will consume excessively because we will have let go of the need to possess and to control for security."

"The Ninth depicts a human world where everyone has slowed down and become more alert, ever vigilant for the next meaningful encounter that comes along. We will know that it could occur anywhere: on a path that winds through a forest, for instance, or on a bridge that traverses some canyon."

"Can you visualize human encounters that have this much meaning and significance? Think how it would be for two people meeting for the first time. Each will first observe the other's energy field, exposing any manipulations. Once clear, they will consciously share life stories until, elatedly, messages are discovered. Afterward, each will go forward again on their individual journey, but they will be significantly altered. They will vibrate at a new level and will thereafter touch others in a way not possible before their meeting..."

"Our natural pursuit of the truth will lead us there."

"The real reason we spent five centuries creating material supports for human life was to set the stage for something else, a way of life that returns the mystery to existence."

"That is what the information now returning from the scientific method indicates: mankind is on this planet to consciously evolve. And as we learn to evolve and pursue our particular path, truth by truth, the Ninth Insight says the overall culture will transform in a very predictable way. p.143"

"The Manuscript describes the progress of succeeding generations as an evolution of understanding, an evolution toward a higher spirituality and vibration. Each generation incorporates more energy and accumulates more truth and then passes that status on to the people of the next generation, who extend it further."

"Isn't the story of the scriptures a story of people learning to receive God's energy and will within? Isn't that what the early prophets led the people to do in the Old Testament? And isn't that receptivity to God's energy within what culminated in the life of a carpenter's son, to the extent that we say God, himself, descended to Earth? Isn't the story of the New Testament... the story of a group of people being filled with some kind of energy that transformed them? Didn't Jesus, himself, say that what he did, we could do also, and more? We've never really taken that idea seriously, not until now. We're only now grasping what Jesus was talking about, where he was leading us. The Manuscript clarifies what he meant! How to do it! p. 151"

"Fear lowers one's vibration tremendously."

"The Ninth Insight says that while some individuals may cross over sporadically, a general rapture will not occur until we have abolished fear, until we can maintain a sufficient vibration in all situations."

"We can't do it yet but the role of the Ninth Insight is to help create that confidence. The Ninth Insight is the insight of knowing where we are headed. All the other insights create a picture of the world as one of incredible beauty and energy, and of ourselves as increasing our connection with and thus seeing this beauty... The more beauty we can see, the more we evolve. The more we evolve, the higher we vibrate."

"The Ninth Insight shows us that ultimately, our increased perception and vibration will open us up to a Heaven that is already before us. We just can't see it yet."

"Whenever we doubt our own path, or lose sight of the process, we must remember what we are evolving toward, what the process of living is all about. Reaching heaven on Earth is why we are here. And now we know how it can be done... how it will be done."

"Connecting with energy is something humans have to be open to and talking about and expecting, otherwise the whole human race can go back to pretending that life is about having power over others and exploiting the planet. If we go back to doing this, then we won't survive. Each of us must do what we can to get this message out."

"A Page from the Sacred History of the Lord Buddha The Predestined Maitreya"

"The eyes of the child Prince opened early to the miracles of the world. Naught escaped his penetrative attention. The King said, “Perception is the crown of the Lord, but the strength of His arm is His shield. Let Him strengthen His arm with the bow. Let the children of the noble Kshatriyas compete with the Prince.” The Queen Mother added, “If penetration is the crown of the Lord, and the strength of His arm is His shield, then the glory of the Lord is His mercy and His wisdom. I would that my near one should be surrounded by the Devas of Wisdom who created the Vedas.”"

"Then an old sage turned to the King saying, “Reverend Mother, and thou, Lord, command me to combine your wishes. Command me to bring unto you her whom we call the daughter of the Great Nag, whom we have sheltered in our house. And for seven years have we marveled at her wisdom and the strength of her bow. Verily she is worthy of the hand which has inscribed the wisdom of the Vedas.” “Let her be brought here,” commanded the King. The wise councilor brought a young being, saying, “Maitri, send the worthiest greeting to our King.”"

"Unheard of was it to see a seven-year-old girl in a white garment, her bow and arrow in hand and a dagger in her girdle. The crown of heavy dark hair was not restrained by the fillet of the Nag and the eyes peered out sadly and sternly. The King said, “Maitri, if you can send the arrow, transfix yonder peacock.” Maitri bowed to the King and said, “I may not take life from an animal; but permit me, King, to pierce an apple on the top of the apple tree.” The King commanded Maitri to be companion to the Prince and greatly admired the wisdom of her who was found on the shores of the lake."

"Many years did the Prince spend with Maitri, calling her at times Stern One, or Glowing One, or Warrior, or Seeress of the Wisdom of Nagi."

"Maitri opened before him the door of the Path."

"When the powerful Lion returned and with the roar of Truth mantled the mountains, Maitri guarded for Him his best pupil and pronounced, “She shall glorify the sight of Thy labors.”"

"The Lord of Truth answered, “Maitri, manifested Councilor and Keeper. Thou who hast hidden thy wisdom from the crowd. Thou shalst assume My place as the Lord of Compassion and Labor. Maitreya shall lead the nations towards Light. And the arrow of achievement shall bestow the apple of Knowledge.”"

"What has been said is as true as that the Temple of Knowledge shall be erected near the site of the glorification of the Teacher. What has been said is as true as that the pupil of the Blessed One shall give her name to the Temple of Knowledge. The base of the manifestation of Truth is affirmed by the labors of life. Given in Chorten-Karpo."

"The historian is a prophet facing backwards."

"O my prophetic soul! My uncle!"

"There is a history in all men's lives, Figuring the nature of the times deceas'd, The which observed, a man may prophesy With a near aim, of the main chance of things As yet not come to life, which in their seeds And weak beginnings lie intreasured."

"In the East, the cyclical return of an Avatar is well understood, but in the West, such knowledge has been lost. Jesus Christ predicted His own return saying, "they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and glory." (Mt. 24:30) This advent, He said, would be accompanied by various signs of strife and destruction. After His death the early Christians clung to a firm belief in an imminent return, but after generations had passed with no such sign, various interpretations of His words arose. Today there are vast misunderstandings about His work with humanity and the meaning of the Second Coming. Many groups are predicting a catastrophic destruction of all earthly lifeforms followed by His return as a righteous and avenging judge. But other more level-headed ones say that He will come as an utterly wise and beneficent teacher. There are, in fact, a growing number of people who believe that the one we call the Christ is living in our present world; a number of religious groups have claimed their own leader to be His manifestation... His name is Maitreya and He has lived in London since 1977. His followers say that He is the Christ, and that He has been working on an energetic level, behind the scenes, influencing world events...awaiting the proper time, when humanity is better prepared, to enter into public life..."

"Because of the compelling nature of His ideas I believe they should be closely studied in relation to the present world situation. The answers He offers are unique. His approach is planetary, not tied to the narrowness of any single interest. His insights penetrate the heart of a situation and generate profound solutions that are often startling in their simplicity. He and His group of co-workers are extending the offer to help us set our house in order. Their intent is to lead but they say that we ourselves must do the groundwork. The message that they bring is one of hope, not doom, for despite our many problems as a world community, their very presence — shown in the miraculous and angelic manifestations that we now so often see — is a sign, they say, that they are convinced of our good intentions. With their help, each of us may see a time in which we become co-creators in fashioning a world which expresses the sublimity and peace of universal fellowship. our future course can correct the mistakes of the past and enter into a glowing new age."

"Deafer," said the blameless King, "Gawain, and blinder unto holy things Hope not to make thyself by idle vows, Being too blind to have desire to see. But if indeed there came a sign from heaven, Blessed are Bors, Lancelot and Percivale, For these have seen according to their sight. For every fiery prophet in old times, And all the sacred madness of the bard, When God made music through them, could but speak His music by the framework and the chord; And as ye saw it ye have spoken truth."

"The inspiration for the title of this book came from a Bible prophecy that seems more applicable now than at any other time in human history. It occurs in both the Old and the New Testament and speaks of the collapse of the existing world order and the arising of a new heaven and a new earth. We need to understand here that heaven is not a location but refers to the inner realm of consciousness. This is the esoteric meaning of the word, and this is also its meaning in the teachings of Jesus. Collective human consciousness and life on our planet are intrinsically connected. “A new heaven” is the emergence of a transformed state of human consciousness, and “a new earth” is its reflection in the physical realm."

"The inspiration for the title of this book came from a Bible prophecy that seems more applicable now than at any other time in human history. It occurs in both the Old and the New Testament and speaks of the collapse of the existing world order and the arising of “a new heaven and a new earth." We need to understand here that heaven is not a location but refers to the inner realm of consciousness. This is the esoteric meaning of the word, and this is also its meaning in the teachings of Jesus."

"Collective human consciousness and life on our planet are intrinsically connected. “A new heaven” is the emergence of a transformed state of human consciousness, and “a new earth” is its reflection in the physical realm. Since human life and human consciousness are intrinsically one with the life of the planet, as the old consciousness dissolves, there are bound to be synchronistic geographic and climatic natural upheavals in many parts of the planet, some of which we are already witnessing now. (1) Revelation 21:1 and Isaiah 65:17 (New Revised Standard Version)"

"The greatest achievement of humanity is not its works of art, science, or technology, but the recognition of its own dysfunction, its own madness."

"In the distant past, this recognition already came to a few individuals. A man called Gautama Siddhartha, who lived 2,600 years ago in India, was perhaps the first who saw it with absolute clarity. Later the title Buddha was conferred upon him. Buddha means “the awakened one.”"

"Another of humanity’s early awakened teachers emerged in China. His name was Lao Tzu. He left a record of his teaching in the form of one of the most profound spiritual books ever written, the Tao Te Ching."

"To recognize one’s own insanity, is of course, the arising of sanity, the beginning of healing and transcendence."

"Is humanity ready for a transformation of consciousness, an inner flowering so radical and profound that compared to it the flowering of plants, no matter how beautiful, is only a pale reflection? Can human beings lose the density of their conditioned mind structures and become like crystals or precious stones, so to speak, transparent to the light of consciousness? Can they defy the gravitational pull of materialism and materiality and rise above identification with form that keeps the ego in place and condemns them to imprisonment within their own personality?"

"The possibility of such a transformation has been the central message of the great wisdom teachings of humankind. The messengers—Buddha, Jesus, and others, not all of them known—were humanity's early flowers. They were precursors, rare and precious beings. A widespread flowering was not yet possible at that time, and their message became largely misunderstood and often greatly distorted. It certainly did not transform human behavior, except in a small minority of people."

"This book itself is a transformational device that has come out of the arising new consciousness. The ideas and concepts presented here may be important, but they are secondary. They are no more than signposts pointing toward awakening. As you read, a shift takes place within you."

"What a liberation to realize that the "voice in my head" is not who I am. Who am I then? The one who sees that."

"Only by awakening can you know the true meaning of that word."

"When you don't cover up the world with words and labels, a sense of the miraculous returns to your life."

"How do you let go of attachment to things? Don't even try. It's impossible. Attachment to things drops away by itself when you no longer seek to find yourself in them."

"Accepting means you allow yourself to feel whatever it is you are feeling at that moment...you can't argue with what is. Well, you can, but if you do, you suffer."

"The more unconscious individuals, groups, or nations are, the more likely it is that egoic pathology will assume the form of physical violence. Violence is a primitive but still very widespread way in which the ego attempts to assert itself, to prove itself right or another wrong. With very unconscious people, arguments can easily lead to physical violence."

"Awareness is the greatest agent for change."

"You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you, and allowing that goodness to emerge."

"Teachings that pointed the way beyond the dysfunction of the human mind, the way out of the collective insanity, were distorted and became themselves part of the insanity. And so religions, to a large extent, became divisive rather than unifying forces. Instead of bringing about an ending of violence and hatred through a realization of the fundamental oneness of all life, they brought more violence and hatred, more divisions between people as well as between different religions and even within the same religion."

"Instead of asking "what do I want from life?", a more powerful question is, "what does life want from me?""

"You cannot be both unhappy and fully present in the Now."

"Nothing ever happened in the past that can prevent you from being present now; and if the past cannot prevent you from being present now, what power does it have?"

"All the things that truly matter - beauty, love, creativity, joy, inner peace - arise from beyond the mind."

"You cannot find yourself in the past or future. The only place where you can find yourself is in the Now."

"When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself."

"Suffering has a noble purpose: the evolution of the consciousness and the burning up of the ego."

"A new species is arising on the planet. It is arising now, and you are it!"

"Being must be felt. It can't be thought."

"Listen to people's stories and they all could be entitled "Why I Cannot Be At Peace Now" The ego doesn't know that your only opportunity for being at peace is now."

"Presence is a state of inner spaciousness."

"Nonresistance is the key to the greatest power in the universe."

"Being spiritual has nothing to do with what you believe and everything to do with your state of consciousness."

"When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself. When you lose touch with yourself, you lose yourself in the world."

"The human condition: lost in thought."

"Life is the dancer and you are the dance."

"What you react to in others, you strengthen in yourself."

"We could say that the totality, life wants the sapling to become a tree, but the sapling doesn't see itself as separate from life and so wants nothing for itself. It is one with what life wants. That's why it isn't worried or stressed. And, if it has to die prematurely, it dies with ease....."

"When you accept everything for what it is without labels you are outside of your ego."

"Right now we are being given the experience we need to raise our consciousness."

"The New Earth Is No Utopia... All utopian visions have this in common: the mental projection of a future time when all will be well, we will be saved, there will be peace and harmony and the end of our problems. There have been many such utopian visions. Some ended in disappointment, others in disaster. At the core of all utopian visions lies one of the main structural dysfunctions of the old consciousness: looking to the future for salvation. The only existence the future actually has is as a thought form in your mind, so when you look to the future for salvation, you are unconsciously looking to your own mind for salvation. You are trapped in form, and that is ego."

"“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth,”(1) writes the biblical prophet. The foundation for a new earth is a new heaven – the awakened consciousness. The earth – external reality – is only its outer reflection. The arising of a new heaven and by implication a new earth are not future events that are going to make us free. Nothing is going to make us free because only the present moment can make us free. That realization is the awakening. Awakening as a future event has no meaning because awakening is the realization of Presence. So the new heaven , the awakened consciousness, is not a future state to be achieved. A new heaven and a new earth are arising within you at this moment, and if they are not arising at this moment, they are no more than a thought in your head and therefore not arising at all. What did Jesus tell his disciples? “Heaven is right here in the midst of you.” (2) (1.) Revelation 21:1 (New Revised Standard Version). (2.) Luke 17:21 (New Revised Standard Version)."

"And in that day men will be weary of life, and they will cease to think the universe worthy of reverent wonder and of worship. And so religion, the greatest of all blessings, for there is nothing, nor has been, nor ever shall be, that can be deemed a greater boon, will be threatened with destruction; men will think it a burden, and will come to scorn it."

"They will no longer love this world around us, this incomparable work of God, this glorious structure which He has built..."

"Darkness will be preferred to light, and death will be thought more profitable than life; no one will raise his eyes to heaven."

"The pious will be deemed insane, and the impious wise; the madman will be thought a brave man, and the wicked will be esteemed as good."

"No word of reverence or piety, no utterance worthy of heaven and of the Gods of heaven, will be heard or believed."

"But when all this has befallen, Asclepius, then the Master and Father, God, the first before all, the maker of that God who first came into being, will look on that which has come to pass, and will stay the disorder by the counterworking of His will, which is the good."

"He will call back to the right path those who have gone astray; He will cleanse the world from evil, now washing it away with water-floods, now burning it out with fiercest fire, or again expelling it by war and pestilence."

"And thus He will bring back His world to its former aspect, so that the Cosmos will once more be deemed worthy of worship and wondering reverence, and God, the maker and restorer of the mighty fabric, will be adored by the men of that day with unceasing hymns of praise and blessing."

"Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life! The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, And tints to-morrow with prophetic ray!"

"The prophet's mantle, ere his flight began, Dropt on the world—a sacred gift to man."

"Bene qui conjiciet, vatem hunc perhibebo optimum."

"Ancestral voices prophesying war."

"We know in part, and we prophesy in part."

"From hence, no question, has sprung an observation … confirmed now into a settled opinion, that some long experienced souls in the world, before their dislodging, arrive to the height of prophetic spirits."

"Thy voice sounds like a prophet's word; And in its hollow tones are heard The thanks of millions yet to be."

"Prophet of evil! never hadst thou yet A cheerful word for me. To mark the signs Of coming mischief is thy great delight, Good dost thou ne'er foretell nor bring to pass."

"A tunnel underneath the sea from Calais straight to Dover, Sir, The squeamish folks may cross by land from shore to shore, With sluices made to drown the French, if e'er they would come over, Sir, Has long been talk'd of, till at length 'tis thought a monstrous bore."

"This solemn moment of triumph, one of the greatest moments in the history of the world … this great hour which rings in a new era … and which is going to lift up humanity to a higher plane of existence for all the ages of the future."

"My gran'ther's rule was safer 'n 't is to crow: Don't never prophesy—onless ye know."

"It takes a mind like Dannel's, fact, ez big ez all ou'doors To find out thet it looks like rain arter it fairly pours."

"No mighty trance, or breathed spell Inspires the pale-eyed priest from the prophetic cell."

"Till old experience do attain To something like prophetic strain."

"Is Saul also among the prophets?"

"Prognostics do not always prove prophecies, at least the wisest prophets make sure of the event first."

"Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?"

"And pleas'd th' Almighty's orders to perform, Rides in the whirlwind and directs the storm."

"But they that are above Have ends in everything."

""Let us hope", I prayed, "that a kind Providence will put a speedy end to the acts of God under which we have been laboring"."

"We sometimes had those little rubs which Providence sends to enhance the value of its favours."

"To a close shorn sheep, God gives wind by measure."

"God sends cold according to clothes."

"Eye me, blest Providence, and square my trial To my proportion'd strength."

"But my host speaks of the "old fashioned unenlightened times," like a philosopher in the best light of civilization. "I believe in Providence," said he. "Our fathers came into these valleys, got the richest of them, and skimmed off the cream of the soil. The worn-out ground won’t yield no roastin’ ears now. But the Lord foresaw this state of affairs, and prepared something else for us. And what is it? Why, He meant us to bust open these copper mines and gold mines, so that we may have money to buy the corn that we cannot raise." A most profound observation."

"Who sees with equal eye, as God of all, A hero perish, or a sparrow fall, Atoms or systems into ruin hurl'd, And now a bubble burst, and now a world."

"Destroy all creatures for thy sport or gust, Yet cry, if man's unhappy, God's unjust."

"Who finds not Providence all good and wise, Alike in what it gives, and what denies."

"Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees."

"Dieu modère tout à son plaisir."

"He that doth the ravens feed, Yea, providently caters for the sparrow, Be comfort to my age!"

"There is a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will."

"We defy augury: there's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come; the readiness is all."

"O God, thy arm was here; And not to us, but to thy arm alone, Ascribe we all!"

"For nought so vile that on the earth doth live But to the earth some special good doth give."

"He maketh kings to sit in soverainty; He maketh subjects to their powre obey; He pulleth downe, he setteth up on hy: He gives to this, from that he takes away; For all we have is his: what he list doe he may."

"God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb."

"The contingency of effects or of causes cannot upset the certainty of divine providence. Three things seem to guarantee the certainty of providence: the infallibility of divine foreknowledge, the efficaciousness of the divine will, and the wisdom. of the divine management, which discovers adequate ways of procuring an effect. None of these factors is opposed to the contingency of things."

"The same process of reasoning enables us to perceive that, without prejudice to divine providence, evil can arise in the world because of defects in secondary causes. Thus in causes that follow one another in order, we see that evil finds its way into an effect owing to some fault in a secondary cause, although this fault is by no means the product of the first cause. For example, the evil of lameness is caused by a curvature in the leg, not by the motive power of the soul. Whatever movement there is in the progress of a lame man, is attributed to the motive power as to its cause; but the unevenness of the progress is caused by the curvature of the leg, not by the motive power. Similarly the evil that arises in things, so far as it has existence or species or a certain nature, is referred to God as to its cause; for there can be no evil unless it resides in something good,. as is clear from what we said above. But with regard to the defect that disfigures it, the evil is referred to a lower, defectible cause. Accordingly’ although God is the universal cause of all things, He is not the cause of evil as evil. But whatever good is bound up with the evil, has God as its cause."

"As for those wicked and ungodly men, whom God as a righteous judge, for former sins doth blind and harden, from them He not only withholdeth His grace, whereby they might have been enlightened in their understandings and wrought upon in their hearts, but sometimes also withdraweth the gifts which they had and exposeth them to such objects as their corruption makes occasion of sin: and withal, gives them over to their own lusts, the temptations of the world, and the power of Satan: whereby it comes to pass that they harden themselves, even under those means, which God useth for the softening of others."

"Fear not, but trust in Providence, Wherever thou may'st be."

"If heaven send no supplies, The fairest blossom of the garden dies."

"In some time, his good time, I shall arrive; He guides me and the bird In his good time."

"Le hasard est un sobriquet de la Providence."

"'Tis Providence alone secures In every change both mine and yours."

"Behind a frowning Providence He hides a smiling face."

"God made bees, and bees made honey, God made man, and man made money, Pride made the devil, and the devil made sin; So God made a cole-pit to put the devil in."

"Whatever is, is in its causes just."

"Dieu mesure le froid à la brebis tondue."

"Deus haec fortasse benigna Reducet in sedem vice."

"Behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own."

"Lap of providence."

"The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night."

"Mutos enim nasci, et egere omni ratione satius fuisset, quam providentiæ munera in mutuam perniciem convertere."

"And I will trust that He who heeds The life that hides, in mead and wold, Who hangs yon alder's crimson beads, And stains these mosses green and gold, Will still, as He hath done, incline His gracious care to me and mine."

"When it was first revealed that each of our own deaths had to be balanced by that of an enemy— ~ It wasn’t revealed, Huyler. It was made up. It was a tale we told ourselves, not something the gods graced us with."

"Lochiel, Lochiel! beware of the day; For, dark and despairing, my sight I may seal But man cannot cover what God would reveal."

"'Tis Revelation satisfies all doubts, Explains all mysteries except her own, And so illuminates the path of life, That fools discover it, and stray no more."

"That same noughting that was shewed in His Passion, it was shewed again here in this Compassion. Wherein were two manner of understandings in our Lord’s meaning. The one was the bliss that we are brought to, wherein He willeth that we rejoice. The other is for comfort in our pain: for He willeth that we perceive that it shall all be turned to worship and profit by virtue of His passion, that we perceive that we suffer not alone but with Him, and see Him to be our Ground, and that we see His pains and His noughting passeth so far all that we may suffer, that it may not be fully thought. The beholding of this will save us from murmuring and despair in the feeling of our pains. And if we see soothly that our sin deserveth it, yet His love excuseth us, and of His great courtesy He doeth away all our blame, and beholdeth us with ruth and pity as children innocent and unloathful."

"We are all one in God’s seeing."

"Then shall we see God face to face, homely and fully. The creature that is made shall see and endlessly behold God which is the Maker. For thus may no man see God and live after, that is to say, in this deadly life. But when He of His special grace will shew Himself here, He strengtheneth the creature above its self, and He measureth the Shewing, after His own will, as it is profitable for the time."

"Truth seethe God, and Wisdom beholdeth God, and of these two cometh the third: that is, a holy marvelous delight in God; which is Love. Where Truth and Wisdom are verily, there is Love verily, coming of them both. And all of God’s making: for He is endless sovereign Truth, endless sovereign Wisdom, endless sovereign Love, unmade; and man’s Soul is a creature in God which hath the same properties made, and evermore it doeth that it was made for: it seeth God, it beholdeth God, and it loveth God. Whereof God enjoyeth in the creature; and the creature in God, endlessly marvelling. In which marvelling he seeth his God, his Lord, his Maker so high, so great, and so good, in comparison with him that is made, that scarcely the creature seemeth ought to the self. But the clarity and the clearness of Truth and Wisdom maketh him to see and to bear witness that he is made for Love, in which God endlessly keepeth him."

"And it came to pass … that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth."

"Darkseid: I like you Glorious Godfrey! You're a shallow, precious child -- The Revelationist -- Happy with the sweeping sound of words! But I am the Revelation! The tiger-force at the core of all things! When you cry out in your dreams--it is Darkseid that you see!"

"All revelation is a lie. It must be. The divine is an incommunicable disease, too large and splintered to fit within the confines of a primate brain. Our minds evolved to compete for fruit and pick carrion, not to comb through the parasites that drop from the clouds of God’s dreaming."

"Nature is a revelation of God; Art a revelation of man."

"God hides nothing. His very work from the beginning is revelation, — a casting aside of veil after veil, a showing unto men of truth after truth. On and on, from fact to fact divine he advances, until at length in his Son Jesus he unveils his very face. Then begins a fresh unveiling, for the very work of the Father is the work the Son himself has to do, — to reveal. His life was the unveiling of himself, and the unveiling of the Son is still going on, and is that for the sake of which the world exists. When he is unveiled, that is, when we know the Son, we shall know the Father also. The whole of creation, its growth, its history, the gathering total of human existence, is an unveiling of the Father. He is the life, the eternal life, the Only. I see it — ah! believe me — I see it as I cannot say it. From month to month it grows upon me. The lovely home-light, the one essence of peaceful being, is God himself. He loves light and not darkness, therefore shines, therefore reveals. True, there are infinite gulfs in him, into which our small vision cannot pierce, but they are gulfs of light, and the truths there are invisible only through excess of their own clarity. There is a darkness that comes of effulgence, and the most veiling of all veils is the light. That for which the eye exists is light, but through light no human eye can pierce. — I find myself beyond my depth. I am ever beyond my depth, afloat in an infinite sea; but the depth of the sea knows me, for the ocean of my being is God. — What I would say is this, that the light is not blinding because God would hide, but because the truth is too glorious for our vision. The effulgence of himself God veiled that he might unveil it — in his Son. Inter-universal spaces, icons, eternities — what word of vastness you can find or choose — take unfathomable darkness itself, if you will, to express the infinitude of God, that original splendor existing only to the consciousness of God himself — I say he hides it not, but is revealing it ever, for ever, at all cost of labor, yea of pain to himself. His whole creation is a sacrificing of himself to the being and well-being of his little ones, that, being wrought out at last into partakers of his divine nature, that nature may be revealed in them to their divinest bliss. He brings hidden things out of the light of his own being into the light of ours. But see how different we are, — until we learn of him! See the tendency of man to conceal his treasures, to claim even truth as his own by discovery, to hide it and be proud of it, gloating over that which he thinks he has in himself, instead of groaning after the infinite of God! We would be forever heaping together possessions, dragging things into the cave of our finitude, our individual self, not perceiving that the things which pass that dreariest of doors, whatever they may have been, are thenceforth "but straws, small sticks, and dust of the floor." When a man would have a truth in thither as if it were of private interpretation, he drags in only the bag which the truth, remaining outside, has burst and left."

"Sir Isaac Newton, having perhaps the greatest scientific mind of all time, accepted the books of Book of Daniel and Revelation as revelations from God, being very detailed and accurate representations of the history of the world's dominating kingdoms, and prophesying both the first and second coming of Christ. He understood that the scriptures taught that the true Church of Jesus Christ had been lost, and he awaited three separate future events: 1) the restoration of the gospel by an angel, 2) the re-establishment of the true church, and 3) the rise of a new world kingdom led by the Savior himself, which will crush the kingdoms of the world as the stone pulverized the statue to powder. He saw the whole purpose of these revelations is not to satisfy man's curiosity about the future, but to be a testimony of the foreknowledge of God after they are all fulfilled in the last days. He proposed that the revelations can be understood by discovering rules governing their consistent imagery, but only after they have been fulfilled, unless an interpretation is given with the revelation. Truly Newton's genius was remarkable, and we could learn much from his insights and systematic methods."

"Revelation was not a necessitating motive of assent, but a means of information. We should not confound the way whereby we come to the knowledge of a thing with the grounds we have to believe it."

"Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, and those who pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in grief because of him. Yes, Amen."

"When I saw him, I fell as dead at his feet. And he laid his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last."

"And round about the throne [there are] twenty-four thrones, and upon these thrones [I saw] seated twenty-four elders dressed in white outer garments, and upon their heads golden crowns. 5 And out of the throne there are proceeding lightnings and voices and thunders; and [there are] seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, and these mean the seven spirits of God. 6 And before the throne there is, as it were, a glassy sea like crystal."

"Before the throne was something resembling a glassy sea, like crystal. In the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures that were full of eyes in front and behind. The first living creature was like a lion, and the second living creature was like a young bull, and the third living creature had a face like a man’s, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle."

"Because the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, will shepherd them and will guide them to springs of waters of life. And God will wipe out every tear from their eyes."

"For her sins have massed together clear up to heaven, and God has called her acts of injustice to mind. Repay her in the way she treated others, yes, pay her back double for the things she has done; in the cup she has mixed, mix a double portion for her."

"His eyes are a fiery flame, and on his head are many diadems. He has a name written that no one knows but he himself."

"With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them. And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away."

"Whenever righteousness wanes and unrighteousness increases I send myself forth. For the protection of the good and for the destruction of evil, and for the establishment of righteousness, I come into being age after age."

"RIGHTEOUSNESS, n. A sturdy virtue that was once found among the Pantidoodles inhabiting the lower part of the peninsula of Oque. Some feeble attempts were made by returned missionaries to introduce it into several European countries, but it appears to have been imperfectly expounded."

"Righteousness and faith certainly are instrumental in healing the sick, deaf, or lame — if such healing accomplishes God's purposes and is in accordance with His will. Thus, even with strong faith, many mountains will not be moved. And not all of the sick and infirm will be healed."

"A home with a loving and loyal husband and wife is the supreme setting in which children can be reared in love and righteousness and in which the spiritual and physical needs of children can be met."

"One of the trials of life is that we do not usually receive immediately the full blessing for righteousness or the full cursing for wickedness."

"Now, the redemption which we as yet await (continued Imlac), will be that of Kalki, who will come as a Silver Stallion: all evils and every sort of folly will perish at the coming of this Kalki: true righteousness will be restored, and the minds of men will be made as clear as crystal."

"But seek till ye find, and, whatever ye find for the present, let your last act be to lay and leave yourselves on the righteousness of His Son, expecting life through His name, according to the promise of the Father."

"The Superior Man is aware of Righteousness, the inferior man is aware of advantage."

"Some cultural anthropologists posit that Westerners do the right thing to avoid feeling guilty, and Asians do the right thing to avoid feeling shame. If correct, it would explain the deeply ingrained aversion to a loss of face among Chinese people, as shame, unlike guilt, implies the public knows about the act."

"There are two sorts of hypocrites: one that are deceived with their outward morality and external religion; many of which are professed Arminians, in the doctrine of justification: and the other, are those that are deceived with false discoveries and elevations; which often cry down works, and men's own righteousness, and talk much of free grace; but at the same time make a righteousness of their discoveries, and of their humiliation, and exalt themselves to heaven with them. These two kinds of hypocrites, Mr. Shepard, in his Exposition of the Parable of the Ten Virgins, distinguishes by the names of legal and evangelical hypocrites; and often speaks of the latter as the worst. And it is evident that the latter are commonly by far the most confident in their hope, and with the most difficulty brought off from it: I have scarcely known the instance of such a one, in my life, that has been undeceived."

"True religion is real living; living with all one's soul, with all one's goodness and righteousness."

"The company of just and righteous men is better than wealth and a rich estate."

"When all is said and done, the greatest satisfaction you'll have in this life as you grow old will be seeing your children grow in righteousness and faith and goodness as citizens of the society of which they are a part."

"It means, people who are in high and responsible positions, if they go against righteousness, righteousness itself will get transformed into a destroyer."

"You have to expect spiritual warfare whenever you stand up for righteousness or call attention to basic values. It's just a matter of light battling the darkness. But the light wins every time. You can't throw enough darkness on light to put it out."

"That swarm of ants that I observed, each one following the one ahead, have every one been Indra in the world of the gods by virtue of their own past action. And now, by virtue of their deeds done in the past, they have gradually fallen to the state of ants."

"Another definition of a hero is someone who is concerned about other people's well-being, and will go out of his or her way to help them -- even if there is no chance of a reward. That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt, a real superhero."

"To our constant prayers for the welfare of our country, and of the whole human race, we shall esteem it our duty and happiness to unite our most earnest endeavors to promote the pure and undefiled religion of Christ; for as this secures eternal felicity to men in a future state, so we are persuaded that good Christians will always be good citizens, and that where righteousness prevails among individuals the Nation will be great and happy. Thus while just government protects all in their religious rights, true religion affords to government its surest support."

"A lot of the time, I write a lot of angry stuff, but then I don't want to be a finger-pointer - I'd rather be a cheerleader than a judge. I don't want to preach as if I'm in some position of righteousness, but I do want to speak my mind and scream at the clouds and shout out of the pit of hopelessness that I sometimes think the human race is in."

"People don't ever seem to realise that doing what's right's no guarantee against misfortune."

"Canada has a passive-aggressive culture, with a lot of sarcasm and righteousness. That went with my weird messianic complex. The ego is a fascinating monster. I was taught from a young age that I had to serve, so that turned into me thinking I had to save the planet."

"The truth is, the secular world isn't too enamored with Jesus. And they're not too enamored with someone who is leading people to Jesus. So if you're out there talking about people's sins, and you're talking about righteousness, you will get pushback. Jesus Himself did. The apostles did. I mean, there's persecution all up and down the line."

"By no means shall you attain to righteousness until you spend (benevolently) out of what you love; and whatever thing you spend, God surely knows it."

"Whoever acts righteously, whether male or female, and is a believer, We will certainly enable him lead a pure life and surely We will bestow on such their reward according to the best of their deeds."

"The holy spirit means the invisible power of Jehovah, holy because he is holy. This power of Jehovah operated upon the minds of honest men who loved and who were devoted to righteousness, directing them in the writing of the Bible. The spirit of God, i. e., his invisible power, moved upon the waters and thereby he created."

"A man's sentiments are generally just and right, while it is second selfish thought which makes him trim and adopt some other view. The best reforms are worked out when sentiment operates, as it does in women, with the indignation of righteousness."

"Who can compete with righteousness? It creates life."

"When righteousness is cut off, injustice is increased."

"Even a millstone will float in the river for a righteous man."

"Passive righteousness tells us that God does not need our good works. Active righteousness tells us that our neighbor does. The aim and direction of good works are horizontal, not vertical."

"The atom bomb was no great decision. It was merely another powerful weapon in the arsenal of righteousness."

"Leaving sin is not enough, unless we embrace righteousness."

"The righteousness of Jesus Christ is one of those great mysteries, which the angels desire to look into, and seems to be one of the first lessons that God taught men after the fall."

"My heart hath often been deeply afflicted under a feeling that the standard of pure righteousness is not lifted up to the people by us, as a society, in that clearness which it might have been, had we been as faithful as we ought to be to the teachings of Christ."

"Wilt Thou indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt Thou indeed sweep away and not forgive the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from Thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that so the righteous should be as the wicked; that be far from Thee; shall not the Judge of all the earth do justly? … Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD, who am but dust and ashes. Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous; wilt Thou destroy all the city for lack of five? … Oh, let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak yet but this once. Peradventure ten shall be found there?"

"אֹ֭הֵב צְדָקָ֣ה וּמִשְׁפָּ֑ט חֶ֥סֶד יְ֝הוָ֗ה מָלְאָ֥ה הָאָֽרֶץ׃"

"גֹּ֣ול עַל־יְהוָ֣ה דַּרְכֶּ֑ךָ וּבְטַ֥ח עָ֝לָ֗יו וְה֣וּא יַעֲשֶֽׂה׃ וְהֹוצִ֣יא כָאֹ֣ור צִדְקֶ֑ךָ וּ֝מִשְׁפָּטֶ֗ךָ כַּֽצָּהֳרָֽיִם׃"

"Listen to me, you who are pursuing righteousness, You who are seeking the Lord. Look to the rock from which you were hewn And to the quarry from which you were dug."

"For I say to you that if your righteousness does not surpass that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will by no means enter into the Kingdom of heavens."

"The anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him."

"For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts."

"If you see oppression of the poor, and justice and righteousness trampled in a country, do not be astounded."

"Gray hair is a crown of beauty when it is found in the way of righteousness."

"The righteous care about justice for the poor,"

"The ungodly ... reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves,..."

"Be not righteous overmuch."

"Every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe."

"A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast; but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel."

"Righteousness exalteth a nation."

"I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread."

"The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon."

"All we have gained then by our unbelief Is a life of doubt diversified by faith, For one of faith diversified by doubt; We called the chessboard white,— we call it black."

"The fearful Unbelief is unbelief in yourself."

"Fear, fear, she's the mother of violence"

"Unbelief was easier than belief, much less demanding and subtly flattering because the agnostic felt himself to be intellectually superior to the believer. And then unbelief haunted by faith, as she knew by experience, produced a rather pleasant nostalgia."

"Anti-clericalism and non-belief have their bigots just as orthodoxy does."

"The trouble is I don't believe my unbelief."

"Now let it be written in history and on Mr. Lincoln's tombstone: "He died an unbeliever.""

"Perhaps unbelievers do not so much reject the religious needs and impulses of the human race as adapt to them in realistic and humanistic terms, replacing the fairy tales of conventional religion with the more intellectually demanding tales, provided by modern science, of natural laws and of the demonstrable, replicable evidence of cause-and-effect relationships."

"A world with no place for God is dark, empty without hope."

"In the relics of the saints the Lord Christ has provided us with saving fountains which in many ways pour out benefactions and gush with fragrant ointment. And let no one disbelieve. For, if by the will of God water poured out of the precipitous living rock in the desert, and for the thirsty Sampson from the jawbone of an ass, is it unbelievable that fragrant ointment should flow from the relics of the martyrs? Certainly not, at least for such as know the power of God and the honor which the saints have from Him."

"Alternate translation: Christ gives us the relics of saints as health-giving springs through which flow blessings and healing. This should not be doubted. For if at God’s word water gushed from hard rock in the wilderness-yes, and from an ass’s jawbone when Samson was thirsty -why should it seem incredible that healing medicine should distill from the relics of saints"

"Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe."

"There seems to be a terrible misunderstanding on the part of a great many people to the effect that when you cease to believe you may cease to behave."

"With most men, unbelief in one thing springs from blind belief in another."

"There is no stretch in unbelief. Even the unbelief of what is false is no source of might. It is the truth shining from behind that gives the strength to disbelieve."

"Unbelief is blind."

"How does one kill a God? With unbelief, my logic told me."

"To choose unbelief is to choose mind over dogma, to trust in our humanity instead of all these dangerous divinities."

"I'm from Missouri; you must show me."

"My death and life, My bane and antidote, are both before me."

"“Destiny,” said John. “The ghastliest word a man can speak.”"

"Destiny, prosperity -- the wood of destiny, wood of prosperity, and the reeds of destiny, reeds of prosperity, adorn the holy cattle-pen."

"Lifting your head in your goodness, greatness and majesty, majestically you extend your arm in order to determine destinies."

"God does reprobate some. For it was said above (A[1]) that predestination is a part of providence. To providence, however, it belongs to permit certain defects in those things which are subject to providence, as was said above (Q[22], A[2]). Thus, as men are ordained to eternal life through the providence of God, it likewise is part of that providence to permit some to fall away from that end; this is called reprobation. Thus, as predestination is a part of providence, in regard to those ordained to eternal salvation, so reprobation is a part of providence in regard to those who turn aside from that end. Hence reprobation implies not only foreknowledge, but also something more, as does providence, as was said above (Q[22], A[1]). Therefore, as predestination includes the will to confer grace and glory; so also reprobation includes the will to permit a person to fall into sin, and to impose the punishment of damnation on account of that sin."

"Che l'uomo il suo destin fugge di raro."

"[God] promised not from the power of our will but from His own predestination. For He promised what He Himself would do, not what men would do. Because, although men do those good things which pertain to God’s worship, He Himself makes them to do what He has commanded; it is not they that cause Him to do what He has promised. Otherwise the fulfilment of God’s promises would not be in the power of God, but in that of men."

"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 character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny."

"We believe that all the posterity of Adam, being thus fallen into perdition and ruin by the sin of our first parents, God then did manifest himself such as he is; that is to say, merciful and just: Merciful, since he delivers and preserves from this perdition all whom he, in his eternal and unchangeable council, of mere goodness hath elected in Christ Jesus our Lord, without respect to their works: Just, in leaving others in the fall and perdition wherein they have involved themselves."

"There are two futures, the future of desire and the future of fate, and man's reason has never learnt to separate them. Desire, the strongest thing in the world, is itself all future, and it is not for nothing that in all the religions the motive is always forwards to an endless futurity of bliss or annihilation. Now that religion gives place to science the paradisical future of the soul fades before the Utopian future of the species, and still the future rules. But always there is, on the other side, destiny, that which inevitably will happen, a future here concerned not as the other was with man and his desires, but blindly and inexorably with the whole universe of space and time. The Buddhist seeks to escape from the Wheel of Life and Death, the Christian passes through them in the faith of another world to come, the modern reformer, as unrealistic but less imaginative, demands his chosen future in this world of men. Can we in any better way reconcile desire and fate?"

"DESTINY, n. A tyrant's authority for crime and fool's excuse for failure."

"Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved."

"There are certain events which to each man's life are as comets to the earth, seemingly strange and erratic portents; distinct from the ordinary lights which guide our course and mark our seasons, yet true to their own laws, potent in their own influences."

"For I am a weed, Flung from the rock, on Ocean's foam, to sail, Where'er the surge may sweep, the tempest's breath prevail."

"All events whatsoever are governed by the secret counsel of God."

"I believe that we are given choices, places where decisions may be made to walk one road or another. We do not know what provides these choices, but we may call it destiny to give a name to that which is unknowable. Destiny offers the choices, but we choose the road."

"We create our own destiny by the way we do things. We have to take advantage of opportunities and be responsible for our choices."

"The trick in chasing destiny is to feel it as a rider, a rider on a spinning ball waiting for a rare chance in time. Those few moments of balance between darkness and light where the infinite is in motion and the motion is felt as a dance, as a solution that dissolves the question."

"[Ivan:] "Imagine that you are creating a fabric of human destiny with the object of making men happy in the end, giving them peace and rest at last, but that it was essential and inevitable to torture to death only one tiny creature—that baby beating its breast with its fist, for instance—and to found that edifice on its unavenged tears, would you consent to be the architect on those conditions? Tell me, and tell the truth." "No, I wouldn't consent," said Alyosha softly."

"No people are truly free until they can determine their own destiny."

"Nature—pitiless in a pitiless universe—is certainly not concerned with the survival of Americans or, for that matter, of any of the two billion people now inhabiting this earth. Hence, our destiny, with the aid of God, remains in our own hands."

"Our destiny is frequently met in the very paths we take to avoid it."

"Nothing is more seductive than a sense of destiny."

"Sometimes a man can still meet his destiny on the road he took to avoid it."

"Weddyng is desteny, And hangyng likewise."

"Hot tunnels alternated with cool tunnels. Coolness was wedded to discomfort in the form of hard X-rays. By the time they were decanted the embryos had a horror of cold. They were predestined to emigrate to the tropics, to be miner and acetate silk spinners and steel workers. Later on their minds would be made to endorse the judgment of their bodies. "We condition them to thrive on heat," concluded Mr. Foster. "Our colleagues upstairs will teach them to love it.""

"If the heavens turn against me, I can do nothing."

"Karma is often wrongly confused with the notion of a fixed destiny. It is more like an accumulation of tendencies that can lock us into particular behavior patterns, which themselves result in further accumulations of tendencies of a similar nature... But it is not necessary to be a prisoner of old karma. Understanding the law of karma is known as the light of the world because through this understanding we can take responsibility for our destinies and be truly more guided to greater fulfillment in our lives."

"'Tis strange how the heart can create Or colour from itself its fate; We make ourselves our own distress, We are ourselves our happiness."

"Living in to the fear of feeling and working to capacity is a luxury only the unintentional can afford, and the unintentional are those who do not wish to guide their own destinies."

"We can't run from who we are. Our destiny chooses us."

"Destiny is the bridge you build to the one you love."

"We may not have chosen the time, but the time has chosen us."

"We are what we must And not what we would be. I know that one hour Assures not another. The will and the power Are diverse."

"Destiny has a funny way When it comes and takes all your cares away I can't think of a single thing Other than what a beautiful state I'm in"

"We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified."

"Don't you know that what happens to you once always happens again? You always react in the same way to the same thing. It's no accident when you make a mess. Then you do it again. It's called destiny."

"When one has made a mistake, one says. "Another time I shall know what to do," when one should say is: "I already know what I shall really do another time.""

"Life is not a search for experience, but for ourselves. Having discovered our own fundamental level we realize that it conforms to our own destiny and we find peace."

"A decision, an action, are infallible omens of what we shall do another time, not for any vague, mystic, astrological reason but because they result from an automatic reaction that will repeat itself."

"The problem is not the harshness of Fate, for anything we want strongly enough we get. The trouble is rather that when we have it we grow sick of it, and then we should never blame Fate, only our own desire."

"When we heard what they [Simmias and Cebes] said we were all depressed, as we told each other afterwards. We had been quite convinced by the previous argument [Socrates' argument], and they seemed to confuse us again, and to drive us to doubt not only what had already been said but also what was going to be said, lest we be worthless as critics or the subject itself [the fate of the soul] admitted of no certainty."

"when a girl is wedded, her fate is fixedwhen a child is born, his stars are fixedlife is fixed, love is fixed, death is fixed"

"The problem with Destiny, of course, is that she is often not careful where she puts her finger."

"I think the destiny of all men is not to sit in the rubble of their own making but to reach out for an ultimate perfection which is to be had. At the moment, it is a dream. But as of the moment we clasp hands with our neighbor, we build the first span to bridge the gap between the young and the old. At this hour, it’s a wish. But we have it within our power to make it a reality. If you want to prove that God is not dead, first prove that man is alive."

"What a falling-off was there!"

"A man may fish with the worm that hath eat of a king, and eat of the fish that hath fed of that worm."

"Imperious Cæsar, dead and turn'd to clay, Might stop a hole to keep the wind away: O, that that earth, which kept the world in awe, Should patch a wall to expel the winter's flaw!"

"Let Hercules himself do what he may, The cat will mew and dog will have his day."

"We shall be winnow'd with so rough a wind That even our corn shall seem as light as chaff, And good from bad find no partition."

"Here burns my candle out; ay, here it dies, Which, whiles it lasted, gave King Henry light."

"Think you I bear the shears of destiny? Have I commandment on the pulse of life?"

"For it is a knell That summons thee to heaven or to hell."

"What, will the line stretch out to the crack of doom?"

"Things at the worst will cease or else climb upward To what they were before."

"If he had been as you and you as he, You would have slipt like him."

"A man whom both the waters and the wind, In that vast tennis-court, hath made the ball For them to play upon."

"They that stand high have many blasts to shake them; And if they fall, they dash themselves to pieces."

"What is done cannot be now amended."

"But He, that hath the steerage of my course, Direct my sail!"

"And all the bustle of departure—sometimes sad, sometimes intoxicating—just as fear or hope may be inspired by the new chances of coming destiny."

"And from his ashes may be made The violet of his native land."

"Quisque suos patimur manes."

"God from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so as thereby neither is God the author of sin; nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established. By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting death. As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so hath He, by the eternal and most free purpose of His will, foreordained all the means thereunto. Wherefore, they who are elected . . . are effectually called unto faith in Christ by His Spirit working in due season, are justified, adopted, sanctified, and kept by His power. through faith, unto salvation. Neither are any other redeemed by Christ, effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only. The rest of mankind God was pleased, according to the unsearchable counsel of His own will, whereby He extendeth or withholdeth mercy, as He pleaseth, for the glory of His Sovereign power over His creatures, to pass by; and to ordain them to dishonour and wrath for their sin, to the praise of His glorious justice. (Chap. III — Articles I, III, VI and VII)"

"We talk about destiny, about what's meant to be, when in reality it's usually a combination of failure plus time, a series of adjusted circumstances, a question of human resilience and ability to reconfigure our expectations."

"Life treads on life, and heart on heart; We press too close in church and mart To keep a dream or grave apart."

"Art and power will go on as they have done,—will make day out of night, time out of space, and space out of time."

"Character is fate. (Destiny)."

"No living man can send me to the shades Before my time; no man of woman born, Coward or brave, can shun his destiny."

"All, soon or late, are doom'd that path to tread."

"The future works out great men's destinies: The present is enough for common souls, Who, never looking forward, are indeed Mere clay wherein the footprints of their age Are petrified forever."

"We are but as the instrument of Heaven. Our work is not design, but destiny."

"Unseen hands delay The coming of what oft seems close in ken, And, contrary, the moment, when we say "'Twill never come!" comes on us even then."

"They only fall, that strive to move, Or lose, that care to keep."

"The irrevocable Hand That opes the year's fair gate, doth ope and shut The portals of our earthly destinies; We walk through blindfold, and the noiseless doors Close after us, forever."

"Every man meets his Waterloo at last."

"Ich fühl 's das ich der Mann des Schicksals bin."

"Truly some men there be That live always in great horrour, And say it goeth by destiny To hang or wed: both hath one hour; And whether it be, I am well sure, Hanging is better of the twain; Sooner done, and shorter pain."

"The seed ye sow, another reaps; The wealth ye find, another keeps; The robes ye weave, another wears; The arms ye forge, another bears."

"Thou cam'st not to thy place by accident, It is the very place God meant for thee; And should'st thou there small room for action see, Do not for this give room for discontent."

"Tes destins sont d'un homme, et tes vœux sont d'un dieu."

"Pluck one thread, and the web ye mar; Break but one Of a thousand keys, and the paining jar Through all will run."

"One country, one constitution, one destiny."

"To be a Prodigal's favourite,—then worse truth, A Miser's Pensioner,—behold our lot!"

"Still more do men pretend in this time of ours, wherein the habitual use of the human intelligence has sunk to its lowest, that doctrine is but a private, individual affair, creating a mere opinion. Upon the contrary, it is doctrine that drives the State; and every State is stronger in the degree in which the doctrine of its citizens is united. Nor have I met any man in my life, arguing for what should be among men, but took for granted as he argued that the doctrine he consciously or unconsciously accepted was or should be a similar foundation for all mankind. Hence battle."

"For his religion, it was fit To match his learning and his wit; 'Twas Presbyterian true blue; For he was of that stubborn crew Of errant saints, whom all men grant To be the true Church Militant; Such as do build their faith upon The holy text of pike and gun; Decide all controversies by Infallible artillery; And prove their doctrine orthodox, By Apostolic blows and knocks."

"What makes all doctrines plain and clear?— About two hundred pounds a year. And that which was prov'd true before Prove false again? Two hundred more."

"Nothing can be progressive without being doctrinal."

"The Athanasian Creed is the most splendid ecclesiastical lyric ever poured forth by the genius of man."

"He was the word that spake it, He took the bread and brake it; And what that word did make it, I do believe and take it."

"'Twas God the word that spake it, He took the bread and brake it, And what the word did make it, That I believe and take it."

"Sound doctrine does not enter into the hard and disobedient heart; but, as if beaten back, enters anew into itself."

"My doctrine is this, that if we see cruelty or wrong that we have the power to stop, and do nothing, we make ourselves sharers in the guilt."

"We are not called on to believe this or that doctrine which may be proposed to us till we can do so from honest conviction. But we are called on to trust, — to trust ourselves to God, being sure that He will lead us right, — to keep close to Him, — and to trust the promises which He whispers through our conscience; this we can do, and we ought to do."

"O how far remov'd, Predestination! is thy foot from such As see not the First Cause entire: and ye, O mortal men! be wary how ye judge: For we, who see the Maker, know not yet The number of the chosen; and esteem Such scantiness of knowledge our delight: For all our good is, in that primal good, Concentrate; and God's will and ours are one."

"You can and you can't, You will and you won't; You'll be damn'd if you do, You'll be damn'd if you don't."

"And after hearing what our Church can say, If still our reason runs another way, That private reason 'tis more just to curb, Than by disputes the public peace disturb; For points obscure are of small use to learn, But common quiet is mankind's concern."

"Carried about with every wind of doctrine."

"Die Theologie ist die Anthropologie."

"Thus this brook hath conveyed his ashes into Avon, Avon into Severn, Severn into the narrow seas, they into the main ocean. And thus the ashes of Wickliffe are the emblem of his doctrine, which now is dispersed all the world over."

"Shall I ask the brave soldier, who fights by my side In the cause of mankind, if our creeds agree? Shall I give up the friend I have valued and tried, If he kneel not before the same altar with me? From the heretic girl of my soul should I fly, To seek somewhere else a more orthodox kiss? No! perish the hearts, and the laws that try Truth, valour, or love, by a standard like this!"

"Orthodoxy, my Lord," said Bishop Warburton, in a whisper,—"orthodoxy is my doxy,—heterodoxy is another man's doxy."

"Live to explain thy doctrine by thy life."

"The Avon to the Severn runs, The Severn, to the sea, And Wickliff's dust shall spread abroad Wide as the waters be."

"As thou these ashes, little brook! will bear Into the Avon, Avon to the tide Of Severn, Severn to the narrow seas, Into main ocean they, this deed accurst, An emblem yields to friends and enemies How the bold teacher's doctrine, sanctified By truth, shall spread throughout the world dispersed."

"The old and received law for above a century is not to be broken in upon by any new doctrine."

"The law of England is wisely reluctant to admit any doctrine which is repugnant to the settled principles and policy of its own institution."

"That doctrine cannot be law which injures the rights of individuals, and will be productive of evil to the Church and to the community."

"I can never assent to a doctrine so discreditable to our Courts of law as that, because it is equitable and just, that it is therefore not strictly legal."

"A most unjust doctrine and I shall not extend it."

"Go on your knees before God. Bring all your idols; bring self-will, and pride, and every evil lust before Him, and give them up. Devote yourself, heart and soul, to His will; and see if you do not "know of the doctrine.""

"Don't turn your back upon your doctrinal doubts and difficulties. Go up to them and examine them. Perhaps the ghastly object which looks to you in the twilight like a sheeted ghost may prove to be no more than a table-cloth hanging upon a hedge."

"Doctrine is the frame-work of life; it is the skeleton of truth, to be clothed and rounded out by the living graces of a holy life. It is only the lean creature whose bones become offensive."

"Religion, as embodied in the character and conduct of its disciples, cannot survive without doctrinal purity. In the absence of this element, religious feeling inevitably decays; while even religious necessity becomes a thing of naught."

"The dawn is overcast, the morning lowers, And heavily in clouds brings on the day, The great, the important day, big with the fate Of Cato, and of Rome."

"I am the prince who decides the destiny of rolling rivers. I keep on the straight and narrow path the righteous who follow Enlil's counsel. [...] If I fix a fate, who shall alter it? If I but say the word, who shall change it?"

"For whatever reasons, Ray, call it . . . fate, call it luck, call it karma. I believe everything happens for a reason. I believe that we were destined to get thrown out of this dump."

"Fate has a way of circling back on a man, and taking him by surprise. A man sees things differently at different times in his life. This town didn't seem the same now that he was older."

"The heart is its own Fate."

"There's nothing you can know that isn't known Nothing you can see that isn't shown There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be It's easy"

"Let those deplore their doom, Whose hope still grovels in this dark sojourn: But lofty souls, who look beyond the tomb, Can smile at Fate, and wonder how they mourn."

"There are two futures, the future of desire and the future of fate, and man's reason has never learnt to separate them. Desire, the strongest thing in the world, is itself all future, and it is not for nothing that in all the religions the motive is always forwards to an endless futurity of bliss or annihilation. Now that religion gives place to science the paradisical future of the soul fades before the Utopian future of the species, and still the future rules. But always there is, on the other side, destiny, that which inevitably will happen, a future here concerned not as the other was with man and his desires, but blindly and inexorably with the whole universe of space and time. The Buddhist seeks to escape from the Wheel of Life and Death, the Christian passes through them in the faith of another world to come, the modern reformer, as unrealistic but less imaginative, demands his chosen future in this world of men. Can we in any better way reconcile desire and fate?"

"There is no fate but what we make."

"Fate is not an eagle, it creeps like a rat."

"Many things happen between the cup and the lip."

"Success, the mark no mortal wit, Or surest hand, can always hit: For whatsoe'er we perpetrate, We do but row, we're steer'd by Fate, Which in success oft disinherits, For spurious causes, noblest merits."

"Don't let them tell us stories. Don't let them say of the man sentenced to death "He is going to pay his debt to society," but: "They are going to cut off his head." It looks like nothing. But it does make a little difference. And then there are people who prefer to look their fate in the eye."

"Fate is created, not ordained."

"Fate was turning a page in her Book of Delusions."

"Fate steals along with silent tread, Found oftenest in what least we dread; Frowns in the storm with angry brow, But in the sunshine strikes the blow."

"Le sort fait les parents, la choix fait les amis."

"He has gone to the demnition bow-wows."

"Before I draw nearer to that stone to which you point, answer me one question. Are these the shadows of the things that will be, or are they shadows of things that May be only?"

"Fate has carried me 'Mid the thick arrows: I will keep my stand— Not shrink and let the shaft pass by my breast To pierce another."

"People are the pawns of fate."

"Marty, the future isn't written. It can be changed. You know that. Anyone can make their future whatever they want it to be."

"How a person masters his fate is more important than what his fate is."

"Adam: Nature mandates that mankind will eventually succumb to its poison. However, humans created their own poison, called medicine. It's delusional to believe you can poison Nature to avoid your fate."

"We are spinning our own fates, good or evil, and never to be undone. Every smallest stroke of virtue or of vice leaves its never so little scar. ...Nothing we ever do is, in strict scientific literalness, wiped out."

"Naomi: Each person is born with their fate written into their own genetic code... it's unchangeable, immutable... But that's not all there is to life. I finally realized that. I told you before. The reason that I was interested in genes and DNA. Because I wanted to know who I was... where I came from. I thought that if I analyzed my DNA I could find out who I was, who my parents were. And I thought that if I knew that, then I'd know what path I should take in life. But I was wrong. I didn't find anything. I didn't learn anything. Just like with the Genome Soldiers... you can input all the genetic information, but that doesn't make them into the strongest soldiers. The most we can say about DNA is that it governs a person's potential strengths... potential destiny. You mustn't allow yourself to be chained to fate... to be ruled by your genes. Humans can choose the type of life they want to live."

"There is no such thing as a historical fatality; there is only a historical nemesis which punishes those who have hesitated to act when action was still possible."

"'Tis strange how the heart can create Or colour from itself its fate; We make ourselves our own distress, We are ourselves our happiness."

"All are architects of Fate, Working in these walls of Time; Some with massive deeds and great, Some with ornaments of rhyme."

"Everything is preordained. Even my responses."

"We must go through life so inconspicuously that Fate does not notice us."

"So long as it fated, fate didn’t care what it fated."

"Fool, don't you know you cannot change your fate."

"Fate is Never Final."

"I do not believe in a fate that will fall on us no matter what we do. I do believe in a fate that will fall on us if we do nothing."

"Eat, speak, and move, under the influence of the most received star; and though the devil lead the measure such are to be followed."

"My fate cries out, And makes each petty artery in this body As hardy as the Numean lion's nerve."

"Our wills and fates do so contrary run That our devices still are overthrown; Our thoughts are ours, their ends none of our own."

"O God! that one might read the book of fate, And see the revolutions of the times Make mountains level, and the continent Weary of solid firmness, melt itself Into the sea!"

"What fates impose, that men must needs abide; It boots not to resist both wind and tide."

"If thou read this, O Cæsar, thou mayst live; If not, the Fates with traitors do contrive."

"Fates, we will know your pleasures: That we shall die we know; 'tis but the time And drawing days out, that men stand upon."

"What should be spoken here, where our fate, Hid within an auger-hole, may rush, and seize us?"

"But yet I'll make assurance double sure, And take a bond of fate: thou shalt not live."

"But, O vain boast! Who can control his fate?"

"You fools! I and my fellows Are ministers of Fate; the elements Of whom your swords are temper'd, may as well Wound the loud winds, or with bemock'd-at stabs Kill the still-closing waters, as diminish One dowle that's in my plume."

"Fate, show thy force; ourselves we do not owe; What is decreed must be, and be this so."

"As the old hermit of Prague … said,… "That that is, is.""

"Let me tell you about my fate: it is an insult. Let me explain it to you: it is a disgrace. Were I to tell my neighbour about my fate, he would heap insults upon me. I looked into the water. My destiny was drifting past. I was born on an ill-fated day."

"Fate is a dog, well able to bite."

"Fate is a raging storm blowing over the Land."

"A pig which was about to be slaughtered by the pig-butcher squealed. (The butcher said:) "Your ancestors and forebears walked this road, and now you too are walking it, so why are you squealing?""

"Fate is a wet bank; it can make one slip."

"Human effort can be used for self-betterment and that there is no such thing as an external fate imposed by the gods."

"Durate, et vosmet rebus servate secundis."

"Vivite felices, quibus est fortuna peracta Jam sua: nos alia ex aliis in fata vocamur."

"The Oracle: You're going to have to make a choice. In the one hand you'll have Morpheus' life and in the other hand you'll have your own. One of you is going to die. Which one will be up to you. I'm sorry, kiddo, I really am. You have a good soul, and I hate giving good people bad news. Oh, don't worry about it. As soon as you step outside that door, you'll start feeling better. You'll remember you don't believe in any of this fate crap. You're in control of your own life, remember? Here, take a cookie. I promise, by the time you're done eating it, you'll feel right as rain."

"Wyrd bið ful aræd."

"GaeS a wyrd swa hio scel."

"The bow is bent, the arrow flies, The wingéd shaft of fate."

"Yet who shall shut out Fate?"

"Things and actions are what they are, and the consequences of them will be what they will be: why, then, should we desire to be deceived?"

"Here's a sigh to those who love me, And a smile to those who hate; And whatever sky's above me, Here's a heart for every fate."

"To bear is to conquer our fate."

"Le vin est versé, il faut le boire."

"Tolluntur in altum Ut lapsu graviore ruant."

"All human things are subject to decay, And when fate summons, monarchs must obey."

"'Tis Fate that flings the dice, And as she flings Of kings makes peasants, And of peasants kings."

"Stern fate and time Will have their victims; and the best die first, Leaving the bad still strong, though past their prime, To curse the hopeless world they ever curs'd, Vaunting vile deeds, and vainest of the worst."

"On est, quand on veut, maître de son sort."

"One common fate we both must prove; You die with envy, I with love."

"Du musst (herrschen und gewinnen, Oder dienen und verlieren, Leiden oder triumphiren), Amboss oder Hammer sein."

"Der Mensch erfährt, er sei auch wer er mag, Ein letztes Glück und einen letzten Tag."

"Each curs'd his fate that thus their project cross'd; How hard their lot who neither won nor lost."

"Yet, ah! why should they know their fate, Since sorrow never comes too late, And happiness too swiftly flies? Thought would destroy their paradise."

"Though men determine, the gods doo dispose: and oft times many things fall out betweene the cup and the lip."

"Why doth IT so and so, and ever so, This viewless, voiceless Turner of the Wheel?"

"'Tis writ on Paradise's gate, "Woe to the dupe that yields to Fate!""

"ἦθος ἀνθρώπῳ δαίμων"

"Toil is the lot of all, and bitter woe The fate of many."

"Jove lifts the golden balances that show The fates of mortal men, and things below."

"And not a man appears to tell their fate."

"With equal pace, impartial Fate Knocks at the palace, as the cottage gate."

"Sæpius ventis agitatur ingens Pinus, et celsæ graviore casu Decidunt terres feriuntque summos Fulgura montes."

"East, to the dawn, or west or south or north! Loose rein upon the neck of—and forth!"

"I do not know beneath what sky Nor on what seas shall be thy fate; I only know it shall be high, I only know it shall be great."

"Must helpless man, in ignorance sedate, Roll darkling down the torrent of his fate?"

"Even if there were exceedingly few things in a finite space in an infinite time, they would not have to repeat in the same configurations. Suppose there were three wheels of equal size, rotating on the same axis, one point marked on the circumference of each wheel, and these three points lined up in one straight line. If the second wheel rotated twice as fast as the first, and if the speed of the third wheel was 1/π of the speed of the first, the initial line-up would never recur."

"Blue! Gentle cousin of the forest-green, Married to green in all the sweetest flowers— Forget-me-not,—the blue bell,—and, that queen Of secrecy, the violet: what strange powers Hast thou, as a mere shadow! But how great, When in an Eye thou art alive with fate!"

"The karma of cruelty is the most terrible of all. The fate of the cruel must fall also upon all who go out intentionally to kill God's creatures, and call it "sport"."

"Just to save himself a few minutes' trouble, a man does not pay his workmen on the proper day, thinking nothing of the difficulties he brings upon them. So much suffering is caused just by carelessness — by forgetting to think how an action will affect others. But karma never forgets, and it takes no account of the fact that men forget."

"Fate holds the strings, and Men like children move But as they're led: Success is from above."

"Some things are fixed, some things are in flux. Pompeii is fixed."

"No one is so accursed by fate, No one so utterly desolate, But some heart, though unknown, Responds unto his own."

"A millstone and the human heart are driven ever round, If they have nothing else to grind, they must themselves be ground."

"Kabira wept when he beheld the millstone roll, Of that which passes 'twixt the stones, nought goes forth whole."

"In se magna ruunt: lætis hunc numina rebus Crescendi posuere modum."

"Sed quo fata trahunt, virtus secura sequetur."

"Nulla vis humana vel virtus meruisse unquam potuit, ut, quod præscripsit fatalis ordo, non fiat."

"It lies not in our power to love or hate, For will in us is over-rul'd by fate."

"Earth loves to gibber o'er her dross, Her golden souls, to waste; The cup she fills for her god-men Is a bitter cup to taste."

"For him who fain would teach the world The world holds hate in fee— For Socrates, the hemlock cup; For Christ, Gethsemane."

"He either fears his fate too much, Or his deserts are small, That dares not put it to the touch To gain or lose it all."

"Nullo fata loco possis excludere."

"All the great things of life are swiftly done, Creation, death, and love the double gate. However much we dawdle in the sun We have to hurry at the touch of Fate."

"And sing to those that hold the vital shears; And turn the adamantine spindle round, On which the fate of gods and men is wound."

"Fixed, fate, free will, foreknowledge absolute."

"Necessity and chance Approach not me, and what I will is fate."

"The Moving Finger writes; and having writ, Moves on; nor all your Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it."

"Big with the fate of Rome."

"Geminos, horoscope, varo Producis genio."

""Thou shalt see me at Philippi," was the remark of the spectre which appeared to Brutus in his tent at Abydos [B.C. 42]. Brutus answered boldly: "I will meet thee there." At Philippi the spectre reappeared, and Brutus, after being defeated, died upon his own sword."

"But blind to former as to future fate, What mortal knows his pre-existent state?"

"Heaven from all creatures hides the book of fate."

"A brave man struggling in the storms of fate."

"As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come."

"He putteth down one and setteth up another."

"Fate sits on these dark battlements, and frowns; And as the portals open to receive me, Her voice, in sullen echoes, through the courts, Tells of a nameless deed."

"Sæpe calamitas solatium est nosse sortem suam."

"Der Zug des Herzens ist des Schicksals Stimme."

"Mach deine Rechnung mit dem Himmel, Vogt! Fort musst du, deine Uhr ist abgelaufen."

"Fata volentem ducunt, nolentem trahunt."

"Multi ad fatum Venere suum dum fata timent."

"Nemo fit fato nocens."

"Yet what are they, the learned and the great? Awhile of longer wonderment the theme! Who shall presume to prophesy their date, Where nought is certain save the uncertainty of fate?"

"Two shall be born, the whole wide world apart, And speak in different tongues, and have no thought Each of the other's being; and have no heed; And these, o'er unknown seas to unknown lands Shall cross, escaping wreck, defying death; And, all unconsciously, shape every act to this one end: That one day out of darkness they shall meet And read life's meanings in each other's eyes."

"Jacta alea esto. (Jacta est alea.)"

"From too much love of living, From hope and fear set free, We thank with brief thanksgiving Whatever gods may be That no life lives forever; That dead men rise up never; That even the weariest river Winds somewhere safe to sea."

"Sometimes an hour of Fate's serenest weather Strikes through our changeful sky its coming beams; Somewhere above us, in elusive ether, Waits the fulfilment of our dearest dreams."

"Ad restim mihi quidem res rediit planissume."

"Dare fatis vela."

"Quo fata trahunt retrahuntque sequamur."

"Fata viam invenient."

"Perge; decet. Forsan miseros meliora sequentur."

"Fata vocant."

"I saw him even now going the way of all flesh."

"Ah me! what boots us all our boasted power, Our golden treasure, and our purple state. They cannot ward the inevitable hour, Nor stay the fearful violence of fate."

"This day we fashion Destiny, our web of Fate we spin."

"Blindlings that er blos den Willen des Geschickes."

"Des Schiksals Zwang ist bjtter."

"My fearful trust "en vogant la galère." (Come what may.)"

"There has always been a belief in miracles in the popular mind. As L. Sprague de Camp once said, the public would rather be bunked than debunked."

"Every believer is God's miracle."

"Man's need of self-esteem entails the need for a sense of control over reality – but no control is possible in a universe which, by one's own concession, contains the supernatural, the miraculous and the causeless, a universe in which one is at the mercy of ghosts and demons, in which one must deal, not with the unknown, but with the unknowable; no control is possible if man proposes, but a ghost disposes; no control is possible if the universe is a haunted house."

"The proper course, therefore, is, in the first instance, to ascertain and examine the doctrine; ... then after it has been proved, but not till then, it may receive confirmation from miracles. But the mark of sound doctrine given by our Saviour himself is its tendency to promote the glory not of men, but of God (John 7:18; 8:50). Our Saviour having declared this to be test of doctrine, we are in error if we regard as miraculous, works which are used for any other purpose than to magnify the name of God."

"Being a miracle doesn't mean it's mysterious. Being a miracle means it's beautiful and important."

"“I’ll tell you what it is. It’s a goddam miracle, that’s what it is.” “Come, now,” the older man murmured. “I don’t believe in miracles—neither do you.”"

"A miracle: a chance distribution of events, occurring one time in a billion."

"Nimrod, becoming weary of arguing with Abraham, decided to cast him before his god--fire--and challenged Abraham's deliverance by the God of Abraham, but God saved him out of the fiery furnace. Haran too was challenged to declare his god, but halted between two opinions, and delayed his answer until he saw the result of Abraham's fate. When he saw the latter saved he declared himself on the side of Abraham's God, thinking that he too, having now become an adherent of that God, would be saved by the same miracle. But since his faith was not real, but depended on a miracle, he perished in the fire, into which like Abraham he was cast by Nimrod. This is hinted in the words (Gen. 11. 28): 'And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.'"

"No testimony is sufficient to establish a miracle, unless the testimony be of such a kind, that its falsehood would be more miraculous, than the fact, which it endeavors to establish."

"Man is the miracle in nature. God Is the One Miracle to man. Behold, "There is a God," thou sayest. Thou sayest well: In that thou sayest all. To Be is more Of wonderful, than being, to have wrought, Or reigned, or rested."

"The miracles of earth are the laws of heaven."

"Miracles were nonsense, mere coping mechanisms."

"A miracle is a supernatural event, whose antecedent forces are beyond our finite vision, whose design is the display of almighty power for the accomplishment of almighty purposes, and whose immediate result, as regards man, is his recognition of God as the Supreme Ruler of all things, and of His will as the only supreme law."

"It was a great thing to open the eyes of a blind man, but it is a greater thing to open the eyes of a blind soul. It was a great thing to bring a dead body back to life, but it is a greater miracle to bring a soul dead in sin back to life. My friends have you ever felt the touch of this Jesus? Oh! that we all might feel His touch, that we might look and be healed and live."

"Miracles are very often thought of, both by those who believe in them and by those who do not, as events, or purported events, that contradict the laws of nature and that therefore cannot be explained by science or reason. But this is not at all what the Bible means by a miracle, as any Biblical scholar will tell you. “The laws of nature” is a modern scientific concept. The Bible knows nothing about nature, let alone the laws of nature."

"That miracles are things in themselves possible, must be allowed so long as it is evident that there is in nature a power equal to the working of them. And certainly the power, principle, or being, by whatever name it be denominated, which produced the universe, and established the laws of it, is fully equal to any occasional departures from them. The object and use of those miracles on which the christian religion is founded, is also maintained to be consonant to the object and use of the general system of nature, viz. the production of happiness. We have nothing, therefore to do, but to examine, by the known rules of estimating the value of testimony whether there be reason to think that such miracles have been wrought, or whether the evidence of Christianity, or of the christian history, does not stand upon as good ground as that of any other history whatever."

"When I look to my guiltiness, I see that my salvation is one of our Saviour's greatest miracles, either in heaven or earth."

"This is a course in miracles. It is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary... you can elect what you want to take at a given time. The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence, which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite... This course can therefore be summed up very simply in this way: Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God."

"Great floods have flown From simple sources, and great seas have dried When miracles have by the greatest been denied."

"It must be so; for miracles are ceased And therefore we must needs admit the means How things are perfected."

"As nothing happens in nature which does not follow from her laws, and as her laws embrace everything conceived by the Divine intellect, and lastly, as nature preserves a fixed and immutable order; it most clearly follows that miracles are only intelligible as in relation to human opinions, and merely mean events of which the natural cause cannot be explained by a reference to any ordinary occurrence, either by us, or at any rate, by the writer and narrator of the miracle. ...Since miracles were wrought according to the understanding of the masses, who are wholly ignorant of the workings of nature, it is certain that the ancients took for a miracle whatever they could not explain by the method adopted by the unlearned in such cases, namely, an appeal to the memory, a recalling of something similar, which is ordinarily regarded without wonder; for most people think they sufficiently understand a thing when they have ceased to wonder at it. The ancients, then, and indeed most men up to the present day, had no other criterion for a miracle; hence we cannot doubt that many things are narrated in Scripture as miracles of which the causes could easily be explained by reference to ascertained workings of nature."

"All the events narrated in Scripture came to pass naturally, and are referred directly to God because Scripture, as we have shown, does not aim at explaining things by their natural causes, but only at narrating what appeals to the popular imagination, and doing so in the manner best calculated to excite wonder, and consequently to impress the minds of the masses with devotion."

"I’ve always tried to be a rational man. I don’t have much use for the idea of miracles. Things are what they are, that’s all."

"Mohammed did not claim the power of working miracles. The Koran itself, he said, was a miracle sufficient to convince the most stubborn."

"Seeing, hearing, feeling, are miracles, and each part and tag of me is a miracle. Divine am I inside and out, and I make holy whatever I touch or am touch'd from, The scent of these arm-pits aroma finer than prayer, This head more than churches, bibles, and all the creeds."

"The narrowest hinge in my hand puts to scorn all machinery, And the cow crunching with depress'd head surpasses any statue, And a mouse is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of infidels."

"Why, who makes much of a miracle? As to me I know of nothing else but miracles."

"The wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining so quiet and bright, Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring; These with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles, The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place."

"To me every hour of the light and dark is a miracle, Every cubic inch of space is a miracle, Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the same, Every foot of the interior swarms with the same. To me the sea is a continual miracle, The fishes that swim — the rocks — the motion of the waves — the ships with men in them, What stranger miracles are there?"

"Miracles in mysticism don't occupy such an important place. It's metaphor, for the peasants, for the crowds, to impress people. What does mysticism really mean? It means the way to attain knowledge. It's close to philosophy, except in philosophy you go horizontally while in mysticism you go vertically. You plunge into it. Philosophy is a slow process of logic and logical discourse: A bringing B bringing C and so forth. In mysticism you can jump from A to Z. But the ultimate objective is the same. It's knowledge. It's truth."

"Miracles are magic processed by faith and a lack of a scientific imagination."

"What is a miracle?—'Tis a reproach, 'Tis an implicit satire on mankind; And while it satisfies, it censures too."

"Thou water turn'st to wine, fair friend of life; Thy foe, to cross the sweet arts of Thy reign, Distils from thence the tears of wrath and strife, And so turns wine to water back again."

"When Christ at Cana's feast by pow'r divine, Inspir'd cold water, with the warmth of wine, See! cry'd they while, in red'ning tide, it gush'd, The bashful stream hath seen its God and blush'd."

"Accept a miracle; instead of wit,— See two dull lines by Stanhope's pencil writ."

"The water owns a power Divine, And conscious blushes into wine; Its very nature changed displays The power Divine that it obeys."

"All sin tends to be addictive, and the terminal point of addiction is what is called damnation."

"For it still seemed to me “that it is not we who sin, but some other nature sinned in us.” And it gratified my pride to be beyond blame, and when I did anything wrong not to have to confess that I had done wrong. … I loved to excuse my soul and to accuse something else inside me (I knew not what) but which was not I. But, assuredly, it was I, and it was my impiety that had divided me against myself. That sin then was all the more incurable because I did not deem myself a sinner."

"Numquam propter vitia homines oderis, neque vitia propter homines dilexeris."

"It is the older generation who foster in a child an early and most unnecessary sense of guilt, of sinfulness and of wrongdoing. So much emphasis is laid upon petty little things that are not really wrong, but are annoying to the parent or teacher, that a true sense of wrong (which is the recognition of failure to preserve right relations with the group) gets overlaid and is not recognized for what it is. The many small and petty sins, imposed upon the children by the constant reiteration of "No", by the use of the word "naughty", and based largely on parental failure to understand and occupy the child, are of no real moment. If these aspects of the child's life are rightly handled, then the truly wrong things, the infringements upon the rights of others, . . . the hurting or damaging of others in order to achieve personal gain, will emerge in right perspective and at the right time."

"Just as those who do not feel sick do not go to the doctor, so those who do not feel sinful do not go to Jesus."

"The sin against hope: the most deadly of all, and perhaps the most accepted, the most cherished."

"That is the true definition of sin; when knowing right you do the lower, ah, then you sin. Where there is no knowledge, sin is not present."

"I have committed the worst sin of all That a man can commit. I have not been Happy."

"By our sinful falls — the powers of the soul are weakened; the strength of grace is decayed; our evidences for heaven are blotted; fears and doubts in the soul are raised (will God once more pardon this scarlet sin, and show mercy to this wretched soul?); the corruptions in the heart are more advantaged and confirmed; and the conscience of a man after falls is the more enraged or the more benumbed."

"So as you may see in Daniel and his companions, that would rather choose to burn, and be cast to the lions—than they would bow to the idol which Nebuchadnezzar had set up. When this 'slight offense', in the world's account, and a hot fiery furnace stood in competition, that they must either fall into sin, or be cast into the fiery furnace—such was their tenderness of the honor and glory of God, and their hatred and indignation against sin, that they would rather burn than sin!"

"Compound for sins they are inclin'd to, By damning those they have no mind to."

"For every sin, I'll have to pay. I've come to work, I've come to play. I think I'll find another way. It's not my time to go."

"Small sins are sometimes harder to confess than big ones... but that's why it's important to confess them."

"We are not always sinners; on the contrary, we also know how to be saints. And who could ever live if it were otherwise?"

"He that falls into sin is a man; that grieves at it, is a saint; that boasteth of it, is a devil."

"1. Wealth without work."

"One may have to choose between communal sin and individual crucifixion, as Christ did; but there is absolutely no sin forced upon the individual."

"It coucheth at the door of thy heart, yet it depends upon thee whether thou shalt be master over it, or it shall be master over thee."

"Sun and Moon have always to be driven to duty, never doing it voluntarily because they do not wish to look upon the sins of man upon earth."

"The most unpardonable sin in society is independence of thought."

"When sin turned into guilt, something was lost."

"Old sinne makes newe shame."

""What is the Unpardonable Sin?" asked the lime-burner; and then he shrank farther from his companion, trembling lest his question should be answered. "It is a sin that grew within my own breast," replied Ethan Brand, standing erect with a pride that distinguishes all enthusiasts of his stamp. "A sin that grew nowhere else! The sin of an intellect that triumphed over the sense of brotherhood with man and reverence for God, and sacrificed everything to its own mighty claims!"

"Age is not an accomplishment, and youth is not a sin."

"Sin lies only in hurting others unnecessarily. All other "sins" are invented nonsense."

"A boor cannot be sin-fearing, an ignoramus cannot be pious, a bashful one cannot learn, a short-tempered person cannot teach, nor does anyone who does much business grow wise."

"The aim of the law is not to punish sins, but is to prevent certain external results."

"Nothing can remit [sin] without Christ, and Christ will not remit anything without the Church. The Church can remit nothing except to those who are repentant, that is, to those whom Christ has touched with his grace; Christ will not consider anything forgiven to those who despise the Church."

"Sin is an evil of a kind that could not exist except through the denial of grace. It is not in any sense a violation of a law: it is always a personal offense against a person. It is unfaithfulness."

"¿O cuál es más de culpar, Aunque cualquiera mal haga: La que peca por la paga, O el que paga por pecar?"

"A handful of sand, thrown into the sea, is what sinning is, when compared to God’s Providence and mercy. Just like an abundant source of water is not impeded by a handful of dust, so is the Creator’s mercy not defeated by the sins of His creations."

"Let you love sinners and despise their deeds."

"When a man severs himself from evil, he gains an exact understanding of all the sins he has committed against God; for he does not see his sins unless he severs himself from them with a feeling of revulsion."

"It is proclaimed that there is forgiveness of sins, but no one says, “It is impossible.” Scarcely anyone turns away offended and says, “It is impossible”; even less does anyone say it in wonder or as the one says it who would like it to be true but does not dare to believe it, the one who still does not want to let go of it but unhappily loves this pronouncement that he does not dare to believe; even less is it said by one who just believes it, one whose repentance is mitigated into a quiet sorrow that in turn is transfigured into a blessed joy, the one who therefore, expressing his unspeakable gratitude to God, refreshes his soul by repeating, “It is impossible!” Oh, blessed refreshment, that the one who was brought close to despair because it was impossible now believes it, blessedly believes it, but in his soul’s wonder continues to say, “It is impossible!”"

"The one who by nature is depressed – how the depressed person looks upon everything as alien and unimportant, how in a certain sense, just as the air can be too light to breathe – for him everything is too light, because his mind is heavy; but this is not sorrow over his sin. The one who year after year with dreadful zest for life piled crime upon crime, most of whose time was spent in sinning – until he stood there annihilated and everything became unimportant to him; but sorrow over his sin there was not – there were sins enough, but sorrow over his sin there was not. On the whole, there is one thing that is altogether common; you can find it in all and in everyone, in yourself just as I find it in myself: sin and sins; there is one thing that is more rare: sorrow over one’s sin. Yet I have seen, and perhaps you also, the one who unconditionally sorrowed over only one thing, over his sin."

"A Christian will consider a tyrannical person bossing a city brutally a lesser evil than a whole city lynching one man. In the first case there is one sinner and thousands of sufferers, in the latter case thousands of sinners and one sufferer. The materialist will look at the problem the other way round. He is never interested in sin, but as a humanitarian only in suffering. His final logical conclusion is euthanasia and the sacrifice of individuals to the whim of the masses."

"There is no true love for the sinner without hatred for his sin."

"Alas! alas! how plague-spot like will sin Spread over the wrung heart it enters in!"

"Intendo per innocente non uno incapace di peccare, ma di peccare senza rimorso"

"It is the duty of nations, as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truths announced in the Holy Scriptures, and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord."

"O Mother, keep back the arm of justice of thy indignant Son, and conquer by thy mercy the hearts of sinners, since they are our brethren and thy children, redeemed through the blood of our sweet Jesus and through the wounds of thy most tender heart pierced with the sword. Show thyself to all in this day, as thou art, the Queen of peace and mercy."

"The sinner must feel far worse before he ever has a right to feel any better."

"In God’s eyes – listen – no one is a victim. We are all perpetrators of open rebellion, scandalous, blasphemous sin against God."

"Thine angry threatening toward sinners is importable, but thy merciful promise is unmeasurable and unsearchable; for thou art the most high Lord, of great compassion, longsuffering, very merciful, and repentest of the evils of men...Thine infinite mercies hast appointed repentance unto sinners, that they may be saved...Be not condemn me to the lower parts of the earth. Therefore I will praise thee for ever all the days of my life: for all the powers of the heavens do praise thee, and thine is the glory for ever and ever. Amen."

"Affectation hides three times as many virtues as charity does sins."

"Mary said: What is the sin of the world? The Savior said: there is no sin, but it is you who make sin when you do the things that are like the nature of adultery, which is called sin. That is why the Good came into your midst, to the essence of every nature in order to restore it to its root. Then He continued and said, That is why you become sick and die, for you are deprived of the one who can heal you."

"On the determinist hypothesis an omnipotent God could have prevented all sin by creating us with better natures and in more favourable surroundings. … Hence we should not be responsible for our sins to God."

"Her rash hand in evil hour Forth reaching to the fruit, she pluck'd, she eat; Earth felt the wound, and Nature from her seat Sighing through all her works gave signs of woe That all was lost."

"Law can discover sin, but not remove, Save by those shadowy expiations weak."

"So many laws argues so many sins."

"But the trail of the serpent is over them all."

"As long as you will have a feeling of shame, you will not lightly commit sins."

"Most of the sins of the children of Adam are on their tongues."

"Sins which would terrify us if they were peculiar to ourselves alone cease to frighten us when they are shared. The sinner sleeps soundly when he finds himself surrounded by a multitude, as though God were obliged to spare him."

"Every being which is endowed with reason, and transgresses its statutes and limitations, is undoubtedly involved in sin."

"Be killing sin or it will be killing you."

"I know what sin is-God only knows who is a sinner."

"If it were possible to have a life absolutely free from every feeling of sin, what a terrifying vacuum it would be!"

"It is neither wrongful nor sinful to discriminate against sin."

"According to the teachings of St. John of the Cross and St. Francis de Sales, it is not sin that necessarily prevents the soul from ascending to God, as long as one sincerely repents of sin each time with the firm intention of never committing it again in the future. Much more harmful is a habitual and conscious desire to cling tightly to something, no matter how small, when God asks us to let it go."

"How shall I lose the sin yet keep the sense, And love th' offender, yet detest the offence?"

"See sin in state, majestically drunk; Proud as a peeress, prouder as a punk."

"“And that’s what your holy men discuss, is it?” “Not usually. There is a very interesting debate raging at the moment about the nature of sin, for example.” “And what do they think? Against it, are they?” “It’s not as simple as that. It’s not a black and white issue. There are so many shades of gray.” “Nope.” “Pardon?” “There’s no grays, only white that’s got grubby. I’m surprised you don’t know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people as things. Including yourself. That’s what sin is.” “It’s a lot more complicated than that—” “No. It ain’t. When people say things are a lot more complicated than that, they means they’re getting worried that they won’t like the truth. People as things, that’s where it starts.” ”Oh, I’m sure there are worse crimes—” ”But they starts with thinking about people as things…”"

"May it be known that, by night or by day the enemy's sins are forever grave."

"It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think and to put them down upon a paper no others are to see. It is base and evil. It is as if we were speaking alone to no ears but our own. And we know well that there is no transgression blacker than to do or think alone. We have broken the laws. The laws say that men may not write unless the Council of Vocations bid them so. May we be forgiven!But this is not the only sin upon us. We have committed a greater crime, and for this crime there is no name. What punishment awaits us if it be discovered we know not, for no such crime has come in the memory of men and there are no laws to provide for it."

"To feel oneself so tiny, so fragile, so inherently losable, was at first spiritually crushing. But, by the same token, this realisation was also strangely liberating: if an individual human existence meant so little, if one’s actions were so cosmically irrelevant, then the notion of some absolute moral framework made about as much sense as the universal ether. Measured against the infinite, therefore, people were no more capable of meaningful sin—or meaningful good—than ants, or dust. Worlds barely registered sin. Suns hardly deigned to notice it. On the scale of solar systems and galaxies, it meant nothing at all. It was like some obscure subatomic force that simply petered out on those scales."

"If you are going to sin, sin against God, not the bureaucracy. God will forgive you but the bureaucracy won't."

"Lying to oneself is the most terrible sin. It injures the consciousness and leads to so-called death of the spirit."

"And now, what is the greatest sin of the church? The fact that during the centuries the church has inculcated into its adherents a sense of irresponsibility. From childhood people have been taught that a person can commit the worst crimes and yet (if he goes to confession and the priest grants forgiveness) be relieved of all burden. This process of shedding sins for a fee can go on and on, save that progressively perhaps the sinner is charged higher and higher fees. Why not sin, when forgiveness can be bought with coin? How many churches have been built and founded on the tears of orphans! Precisely for the erection of the great cathedrals, from what sources has the money most often come? How many candles, lit in front of the Sacred Images, were placed there by the hands of traitors? Verily, as it is said, "Great would be the venality of Christ if He were ready to conceal treachery for a candle! Such candles are abominations."

""And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, that Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist." (St. Matthew 17:10–13.) Furthermore: And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, "Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" (St. John 9:1-2.) Did not these questions of the disciples reveal that they knew of the law of Karma and that Christ also did not reject it?"

"What lack of comprehension in the prayer "I, undeserving priest, by the power given to me by God, now forgive thy sins"! Yes, the forgiveness granted to the repentant sinner in exchange for his money is the greatest crime. The bribery of Divinity with gold—is it not worse than the worst forms of fetishism? This dreadful question must be discussed from every angle. Verily, this hideous ulcer is spread all over the world, in all religions. Thus, in Tibet, there is a gang of robbers called gollocks, who believe in lamaism, a religion just as distant from the Covenants of Buddha as our church is from the Teaching of Christ. These gollocks go to Lhassa annually on pilgrimage to pray for the forgiveness of their crimes. On this particular journey they abstain from robbing the helpless population because they hope to be received by the high priests of their sect. But after receiving full forgiveness for their crimes upon payment of money, they give full freedom to debauchery and return to their practices of robbery, with even more violence, whenever they can. Has not their guilt been taken from them, and may they not purify themselves again the following year? It is only a question of a fee!"

"Recently, the Catholic Church renewed the ancient practice of granting indulgences. And now Catholics need not even bother to make pilgrimage to Rome or elsewhere to do penance for their sins! All that is necessary is to send a certain sum for an indulgence, and thus the remittance of a fee will permit entrance into Heaven. Undoubtedly there must be a scale of prices for these indulgences, as sins vary so much. Verily, through correct estimating, a fortune might be made! Alas, can nothing put a stop to this? Are we not returning speedily to the darkness of medievalism?"

"It is essential to point out one of the chief evils of modern religious instruction, i.e., the instilling into the human consciousness a sense of irresponsibility. Precisely, a degenerating church, during the centuries, instilled into the consciousness of its flock an animal sense of irresponsibility. From childhood, people are allowed to believe that they may commit most terrible crimes because the priest, by the power given to him, can free the person of sin through confession and remission. Then, after this liberation, what is there to prevent the erring one from again committing the same sins and once more receiving remission, for perhaps a yet higher fee?"

"Indeed, by instilling into the minds of children the idea that the church, as a powerful intercessor, can for a tear of repentance and a fee give passage to the erring through the Gates of Paradise, the church commits the greatest sin. By removing from man the sense of responsibility, the church shuts him off from his Divine Origin. The church has discredited the great concept of Divine Justice. Losing the understanding of responsibility and justice, man will inevitably begin his involution, for those who fail to follow the cosmic laws are destined to deterioration."

"Just think! Only in the sixth century A.D. was the dogma of Reincarnation rejected by the Second Council of Constantinople! Thus the contrivances of greedy and petty minds were stratified and become dogma for the following generations which did not yet dare to think independently... And there are so many affirmations in the Gospel about Reincarnation, actually in the words of Christ himself. The Fathers of the Church committed great sin by eliminating this law of the Highest Justice from the consciousness of the flocks entrusted to them."

"Sin is geographical."

"And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king."

"Commit The oldest sins the newest kind of ways?"

"It is great sin to swear unto a sin, But greater sin to keep a sinful oath."

"Some sins do bear their privilege on earth."

"I am a man More sinn'd against than sinning."

"Robes and furr'd gowns hide all. Plate sin with gold, And the strong lance of justice hurtless breaks; Arm it in rags, a pigmy's straw doth pierce it."

"Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall; Some run from breaks of ice, and answer none: And some condemned for a fault alone."

"O, fie, fie, fie! Thy sin's not accidental, but a trade."

"O, what authority and show of truth Can cunning sin cover itself withal!"

"Few love to hear the sins they love to act."

"Though some of you with Pilate wash your hands Showing an outward pity; yet you Pilates Have here deliver'd me to my sour cross, And water cannot wash away your sin."

"Sin is always egocentric, while love is altruism and kinship."

"Do not say, “I have sinned and nothing has happened!” For the Lord bides his time. Do not be so sure of pardon when you are heaping sin upon sin. Do not say, “His compassion is great! He will forgive the vast number of my sins!” For with him is mercy but also anger; his fury will be poured out on sinners."

"What is brighter than the sun? Yet it disappears. Man is no more than flesh and blood, yet he thinks of doing evil. While the sun surveys the stars in the lofty sky, human beings remain dust and ashes."

"In all your actions remember your last end and you will never sin."

"Do not say, “It was God who made me sin.” God does not cause what he hates. Do not say, “He made me do wrong,” for he has nothing to do with a sinner. The Lord hates all evil and those who fear him hate it as well...When he created man in the beginning, he left him free to make his own decisions. If you wish, you can keep the commandments and it is in your power to remain faithful. He has set fire and water before you; you stretch out your hand to whichever you prefer. Life and death are set before man: whichever a man prefers will be given him."

"On the one hand, there is the type of sinner whom, in present-day language, we would call ‘oppressor.’ Their basic sin consists in oppressing, placing intolerable burdens on others, acting unjustly and so on. On the other hand, there are those who sin ‘from weakness’ or those ‘legally considered sinners’ according to the dominant religious view.Jesus takes a very different approach to each group. He offers salvation to all, and makes demands of all, but in a very different way. He directly demands a radical conversion of the first group, an active cessation from oppressing. For these, the coming of the Kingdom is above all a radical need to stop being oppressors."

"It lies not in man's right nor in man's power truly to justify the guilty. This is a miracle reserved for the Lord alone. God, the infinitely just Sovereign, knows that there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not, and therefore, in the infinite sovereignty of His divine nature and in the splendor of His ineffable love, He undertakes the task, not so much of justifying the just as of justifying the ungodly. God has devised ways and means of making the ungodly man to stand justly accepted before Him: He has set up a system by which with perfect justice He can treat the guilty as if he had been all his life free from offence, yea, can treat him as if he were wholly free from sin. He justifieth the ungodly."

"When I look back upon my life It's always with a sense of shame I've always been the one to blame For everything I long to do No matter where or when or who Has one thing in common too; It's a — it's a — it's a — it's a sin!"

"Those who commit mortal sins seek to please not God, but the devil; and since the devil is nothing but darkness, the poor soul becomes darkness with him."

"When there is rust on the mirror, it is not possible that a man’s face be seen in the mirror; so also when there is sin in a man, such a man cannot behold God."

"I don't like the word sin. It implies that I am being judged and found guilty. I can understand that. Over the centuries, many erroneous views and interpretations have accumulated around words such as sin, due to ignorance, misunderstanding, or a desire to control, but they contain an essential core of truth. If you are unable to look beyond such interpretations and so cannot recognize the reality to which the word points, then don't use it. Don't get stuck on the level of words... you can talk or think about God continuously for the rest of your life, but does that mean you know or have even glimpsed the reality to which the word points?... if a word doesn't work for you anymore, then drop it and replace it with one that does work. If you don't like the word sin, then call it unconsciousness or insanity. That may get you closer to the truth, the reality behind the word, than a long-misused word like sin, and leaves little room for guilt."

"A sin takes on new and real terrors when there seems a chance that it is going to be found out. This gives it a fresh and most substantial and important aspect."

"Sin is the executioner of the good Lord and the murderer of the soul. It is sin that takes us away from heaven and plunges us into hell. Nevertheless, we love it! What madness! If we thought about it carefully, we would be so horrified by sin that we would not be able to commit it."

"The greatest error is to call a man a weak and miserable sinner. Every time a person thinks in this mistaken manner, he rivets one more link in the chain of avidya that binds him, adds one more layer to the “self-hypnotism” that lies heavy over his mind."

"Past sins, if you repent of them, whiten you. They made a great psalmist out of David, a faithful believer out of the prostitute Rahab, a zealous apostle out of the persecutor Saul. I have been a loved preacher and writer with a particular vocation. My sermons and books would not have had the same quality without my past of anarchy, vice, and violent atheism."

"Sin, in its essential core, is the rejection of oneself, the rejection of freedom, the rejection of growth, the rejection of reaching divine life. And it is this central rejection that drags everything else along with it. If I choose to fall back on myself, I necessarily remain at the mercy of my instincts, whatever they may be."

"One sins not because one loves the creature, but because one does not love it enough."

"And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him."

"My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not."

"Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard."

"Who can say: “I have cleansed my heart; I am pure from my sin”?"

"Come now, let us settle the matter, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."

"As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the ” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing."

"Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains."

"Dens propitius esto mihi peccatori."

"That is why, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because they had all sinned."

"Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin."

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

"Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness."

"... to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin."

"... he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins."

"For in God's sight are (all) his servants, (namely), those who say: 'Our Lord, we have indeed believed: forgive us, then, our sins ("dhunub"), and save us from the agony of the Fire.'"

"If you avoid great sins (kaba’ir or dhanb) which are forbidden you, We will remit from you your evil deeds (sayyi’a)"

"They will ask thee about wine and maysir. Say, ‘In both of them there is great sin (ithm) and also some uses for men, but their sin is greater than their usefulness."

"He who associates with God has surely forged a great sin"

"God forgiveth not (the sin of) joining other gods to Him; but He forgiveth whom He pleaseth other sins that this: one who joins other gods with God hath strayed far, far away."

"I waive the quantum o' the sin, The hazard of concealing: But, och! it hardens a' within, And petrifies the feeling!"

"But, sad as angels for the good man's sin, Weep to record, and blush to give it in."

"Sin let loose speaks punishment at hand."

"Come, now again, thy woes impart, Tell all thy sorrows, all thy sin; We cannot heal the throbbing heart Till we discern the wounds within."

"I couldn't live in peace if I put the shadow of a wilful sin between myself and God."

"O Lord and Master of my life, give me not a spirit of sloth, vain curiosity, lust for power and idle talk, but give to me, Thy servant, a spirit of soberness, humility, patience and love. O Lord and King, grant me to see my own faults and not to condemn my brother: for blessed art Thou to the ages of ages. Amen. O God, cleanse me, a sinner."

"Das Uebel macht eine Geschichte und das Gute keine."

"Man-like is it to fall into sin, Fiend-like is it to dwell therein, Christ-like is it for sin to grieve, God-like is it all sin to leave."

"One should next proceed to the Vaitarani capable of destroying every sin."

"Nor custom, nor example, nor vast numbers Of such as do offend, make less the sin."

"In Adam's fall— We sinned all."

"Young Timothy Learnt sin to fly."

"Di faciles, peccasse semel concedite tuto: Id satis est. Pœnam culpa secunda ferat."

"Cui peccare licet peccat minus. Ipsa potestas Semina nequitiæ languidiora facit."

"Si quoties homines peccant sua fulmina mittat Jupiter, exiguo tempore inermis erit."

"Palam mutire plebeio piaculum est."

"Aliena vitia in oculis habemus; a tergo nostra sunt."

"Magna pars hominum est, quæ non peccatis irascitur sed peccantibus."

"Omnes mali sumus. Quidquid itaque in alio reprehenditur, id unusquisque in suo sinu inveniet."

"Sin is a state of mind, not an outward act."

"They say sin touches not a man so near As shame a woman; yet he too should be Part of the penance, being more deep than she Set in the sin."

"To abstain from sin when a man cannot sin is to be forsaken by sin, not to forsake it."

"Nec tibi celandi spes sit peccare paranti; Est deus, occultos spes qui vetat esse dolos."

"But he who never sins can little boast Compared to him who goes and sins no more!"

"Though sin may be in the Christian, yet it hath no more dominion over him; he hath an unfeigned respect to all God's commandments, making conscience even of little sins and little duties."

"Sin is the insurrection and rebellion of the heart against God; it turns from Him, and turns against Him; it takes up arms against God."

"Presumption has many forms; and it is worth considering, whether a great and good Being would most disapprove the presumption which expected too much from His goodness, or the presumption which dared positively to disbelieve His promise."

"The slave who digs in the mine or labors at the oar can rejoice at the prospect of laying down his burden together with his life; but to the slave of guilt there arises no hope from death. On the contrary, he is obliged to look forward with constant terror to this most certain of all events, as the conclusion of all his hopes, and the commencement of his greatest miseries."

"There is the seed of all sins — of the vilest and worst of sins — in the best of men."

"Sin works by no set methods. It has a way of ruin for every man, that is original and proper only to himself. Suffice it to say that, as long as you are in and under its power, you can never tell what you are in danger of. This one thing you may have as a truth eternally fixed, that respectable sin is, in principle, the mother of all basest crime. Follow it on to the bitter end, and there is ignominy eternal."

"Sin, without strong restraints, would pull God from His throne, make the world the minion of its lusts, and all beings bow down and worship."

"Sin is an awful fact. It beggars description. Like the shirt of Nessus, it burns one alive. As that poisoned garment ate away the muscles of the victim in his vain attempt to rid himself of it, so sin will destroy the power of him who becomes its victim. Eternal death is eternal sin; sin through all the ages."

"To please ourselves with a notion of gospel liberty, while we have not a gospel principle of holiness within to free us from the power of sin, is nothing else but to gild over our bonds and fetters, and to fancy ourselves the inmates of a golden cage. There is a straitness, slavery, and narrowness in sin; sin crowds and crumples up our souls which, if they were freely spread abroad, would. be as wide and as broad as the whole universe. No man is truly free, but he that has his will enlarged to the extent of God's own will, by loving whatever God loves, and nothing else."

"Misery follows sin; sin itself is misery; and the soul that sinneth dies of course, without any means taken to put that soul to death; though Divine interference would be indispensable to prevent the consequences following the cause."

"Sin! Sin! Thou art a hateful and horrible thing, that abominable thing which God hates. And what wonder? Thou hast insulted His holy majesty; thou hast bereaved Him of beloved children; thou hast crucified the Son of His infinite love; thou hast vexed His gracious Spirit; thou hast defied His power; thou hast despised His grace; and in the body and blood of Jesus, as if that were a common thing, thou hast trodden under foot His matchless mercy. Surely, brethren, the wonder of wonders is, that sin is not that abominable thing which we also hate."

"Remember that every guilty compliance with the humors of the world, every sinful indulgence of our own passions, is laying up cares and fears for the hour of darkness; and that the remembrance of ill-spent time will strew our sick-bed with thorns, and rack our sinking spirits with despair."

"He that avoideth not small faults, by little and little falleth into greater."

"St. Augustine used to say that, but for God's grace, he should have been capable of committing any crime; and it is when we feel this sincerely, that we are most likely to be really improving, and best able to give assistance to others without moral loss to ourselves."

"Sin is essentially a departure from God."

"I learn the depth to which I have sunk from the length of the chain let down to up-draw me. I ascertain the mightiness of the ruin by examining the machinery for restoration."

"He that hath slight thoughts of sin, never had great thoughts of God."

"God, save us from ourselves! We carry within us the elements of hell if we but choose to make them such. Ahaz, Judas, Nero, Borgia, Herod, all were once prattling infants in happy mother's arms."

"No sin is small. It is a sin against an infinite God, and may have consequences immeasurable. No grain of sand is small in the mechanism of a watch."

"The fact is that sin is the most unmanly thing in God's world. You never were made for sin and selfishness. You were made for love and obedience."

"There are burdens which are bad and blameworthy, and these it is our duty at once to cast away. Such a burden is the evil conscience, from which the true deliverance is the cross of Christ; such a burden is the easily besetting sin, from which the sanctifying Spirit sets free the vigilant and prayerful Christian."

"Yes, every sin is a mistake, and the epitaph for the sinner is, "Thou fool.""

"Every burning tear, every harrowing fear, every festering grief, every corroding care, every shooting pain, every piercing remorse; the sighs and moans of lazar-houses reeking with putrefaction and death; the shrieks and wails and clanking chains in hospitals swarming with maniacs; and the curses and blasphemies of dungeons where guilt rots and raves — these, all these, are but feeble reverberations of those dismal truths, " Sin reigns unto death." " Death hath passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.""

"That is the bitterest of all, — to wear the yoke of our own wrong-doing."

"And O when the whirlwind of passion is raging, When sin in our hearts its wild warfare is waging, Then send down Thy grace, Thy redeemed to cherish; Rebuke the destroyer; "Save, Lord, or we perish.""

"Secret sins commonly lie nearest the heart."

"The sin that now rises to memory as your bosom sin, let this f1rst of all be withstood and mastered. Oppose it instantly by a detestation of it, by a firm will to conquer it, by reflection, by reason, and by prayer."

"Though the scorpion be little, yet will it sting a lion to death; and so will the least sin the sinner, unless pardoned by the blood of Christ."

"Nature has no promise for society, least of all, any remedy for sin."

"You cannot stay the shell in its flight; after it has left the mortar, it goes on to its mark, and there explodes, dealing destruction all around. Just as little can you stay the consequences of a sin after it has been committed. You may repent of it, you may even be forgiven for it, but still it goes on its deadly and desolating way. It has passed entirely beyond your reach; once done, it cannot be undone."

"Sin is to be overcome, not so much by maintaining a direct opposition to it, as by cultivating opposite principles. Would you kill the weeds in your garden, plant it with good seed; if the ground be well occupied, there will be less need of the labor of the hoe. If a man wished to quench fire, he might fight it with his hands till he was burnt to death; the only way is to apply an opposite element."

"The deliberate and habitual practice of any form of dishonesty or immorality is impossible to one who follows Christ."

"A believer is far more apt to be burdened with a sense of sin, and to feel the fear of it in his own character than an unbeliever; because if we are carried along the stream we fear nothing, and it is only when we strive against it, that its progress and power are discernible."

"If, in proportion as our minds are enlarged, our hearts purified, and our consciences cultivated, our abhorrence of wrong and aversion to it increases, what must be the moral indignation of the infinite and holy God against wrong-doers?"

"As for our own faults, it would take a large slate to hold the account of them; but, thank God, we know where to take them, and how to get the better of them."

"When a sinner has any just sense of his condition, as alienated from a holy God, he will not be apt to think of the unpardonable sin."

"Sin on more."

"Prima sapientiae clavis definitur, assidua scilicet seu frequens interrogatio … Dubitando enim ad inquisitionem venimus; inquirendo veritatem percipimus."

"Wisdom is not absolute autocracy and independence of the soul, but obedience and subordination of the soul to higher things, through which it acquires the ability to dominate and subordinate lower things. Only in this way does it become subordinate and mistress. “'Servire Deo libertas est”'. Humility and freedom are equally necessary."

"It is necessary therefore that the person who is to study, with any tolerable chance of profit, the principles of nobleness and justice and politics generally, should have received a good moral training. For our data here are moral judgments, and if a man knows what it is right to do, he does not require a formal reason. And a person that has been thus trained, either possesses these first principles already, or can easily acquire them. As for him who neither possesses nor can acquire them, let him take to heart the words of Hesiod:"

"‘ He is the best of all who thinks for himself in all things."

"He, too, is good who takes advice from a wiser (person)."

"But he who neither thinks for himself, nor lays to heart another's wisdom, this is a useless man.’"

"Knowledge is indivisible. When people grow wise in one direction, they are sure to make it easier for themselves to grow wise in other directions as well. On the other hand, when they split up knowledge, concentrate on their own field, and scorn and ignore other fields, they grow less wise — even in their own field."

"For many of my years — perhaps twelve — had passed away since my nineteenth, when, upon the reading of Cicero's Hortensius, I was roused to a desire for wisdom. And here I was, still postponing the abandonment of this world's happiness to devote myself to the search. For not just the finding alone, but also the bare search for it, ought to have been preferred above the treasures and kingdoms of this world; better than all bodily pleasures, though they were to be had for the taking."

"A fence to wisdom is silence."

"Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom."

"Wisdom is the science of the spirit, just as knowledge is the science of matter. Knowledge is separative and objective, whilst wisdom is synthetic and subjective. Knowledge divides; wisdom unites. Knowledge differentiates whilst wisdom blends."

"Wisdom concerns the one Self, knowledge deals with the not-self whilst the understanding is the point of view of the Ego [soul or higher self], or Thinker, or his relation between them."

"Wisdom, actuated and motivated by love, and intelligently applied to world problems, is much needed today... Many more must love with wisdom, and appreciate the group aspiration, before we shall see the next reality to be known and to emerge out of the darkness which we are now in the process of dispelling."

"It is not my place to tell you whether there is indefeasible ignorance of ultimate reality. I am ignorant of whether there is or is not. But you should think of these things because there are no things more important, though there are no questions more difficult or less answerable. But one's whole life may be changed if one changes his mind about these questions."

"The storyteller is a man who has counsel for his readers. But if today "having counsel" is beginning to have an old-fashioned ring, this is because the communicability of experience is decreasing. In consequence we have no counsel either for ourselves or for others. After all, counsel is less an answer to a question than a proposal concerning the continuation of a story which is just unfolding. To seek this counsel one would first have to be able to tell the story. ... Counsel woven into the fabric of real life is wisdom. The art of storytelling is reaching its end because the epic side of truth, wisdom, is dying out."

"Men are often praised for their sagacity, but all the foresight in the world can't tell a double-yoked egg until it is broken."

"Every man thinks his own wisdom faultless, and every mother her own child beautiful. (January) ... If wisdom were to vanish suddenly from the universe, no one yet would suspect himself a fool. (January) ... To feel one’s ignorance is to be wise; to feel sure of one’s wisdom is to be a fool. (February) ...Daily practical wisdom consists of four things: To know the root of Truth, the branches of Truth, the limit of Truth, and the opposite of Truth. (February 28) ... The heart of the fool is in his tongue; the tongue of the wise is in his heart. (July) ... One is not aged because his head is grey. Whoever, although a youth, has wisdom, him the gods consider an elder. (October) ... Intelligence is not shown by witty words, but by wise actions. (October) ....The most precious gift received by man on earth is desire for wisdom. (December) ... Do but return to the principles of wisdom, and those who take you now for a monkey or a wild beast will make a god of you. (December)"

"Do not go by revelation; Do not go by tradition; Do not go by hearsay; Do not go on the authority of sacred texts; Do not go on the grounds of pure logic; Do not go by a view that seems rational; Do not go by reflecting on mere appearances; Do not go along with a considered view because you agree with it; Do not go along on the grounds that the person is competent; Do not go along because "the recluse is our teacher." Kalamas, when you yourselves know: These things are unwholesome, these things are blameworthy; these things are censured by the wise; and when undertaken and observed, these things lead to harm and ill, abandon them... Kalamas, when you know for yourselves: These are wholesome; these things are not blameworthy; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness, having undertaken them, abide in them."

"Wisdom is purified by morality, and morality is purified by wisdom: where one is, the other is, the moral man has wisdom and the wise man has morality, and the combination of morality and wisdom is called the highest thing in the world."

"But these are foolish things to all the wise, And I love wisdom more than she loves me; My tendency is to philosophise On most things, from a tyrant to a tree; But still the spouseless virgin Knowledge flies, What are we? and whence come we? what shall be Our ultimate existence? What's our present? Are questions answerless, and yet incessant."

"Perhaps that is the only wisdom there really is, young Mage: that our choices matter."

"Don’t be afraid to be a fool. Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics. Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no. But saying yes begins things. Saying yes is how things grow. Saying yes leads to knowledge. "Yes" is for young people. So for as long as you have the strength to, say yes."

"It seems the part of wisdom."

"Knowledge is proud that he has learn'd so much; Wisdom is humble that he knows no more."

"The fear of God is not the beginning of wisdom. The fear of God is the death of wisdom. Skepticism and doubt lead to study and investigation, and investigation is the beginning of wisdom."

""I do not know." The person who cannot make that statement is one who will never learn anything. And I have prided myself on my ability to learn."

"Verily, wisdom is like hunger. Perhaps it is a very fine thing—but who would willingly partake of it?"

"To finish the moment, to find the journey's end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom."

"Man thinks Brutes have no wisdom, since they know not his: Can we divine their world?"

"In our age, when men seem more than ever prone to confuse wisdom with knowledge, and knowledge with information, and to try to solve problems of life in terms of engineering, there is coming into existence a new kind of provincialism."

"I must reveal to you that I am not one of the Divine who march into the desert and return gravid with wisdom."

"Cleverness is not wisdom. And not to think mortal thoughts is to see few days."

"For in much wisdom there is much sorrow; whoever increases knowledge increases grief."

"Wisdom is a better defence for the wise than ten princes in the city."

"How will people become wise"

"A wise man changes his mind sometimes, but a fool never. To change your mind is the best evidence you have one. The last redoubt holding out for me was the year-day principle (on which I had written a defense in 1972 for the Southern Publishing Association Daniel volume which was published in 1978). This collapsed when I handled hundreds of books of commentary on Revelation in the Library of Congress stacks and found that the respective authors had in many cases suggested dates that seemed appropriate for their own time but ridiculous later. It became clear that we, as Adventists, had done the same as our predecessors."

"Wisdom is intelligence in context."

"Laissez dire les sots: le savoir a son prix."

"The Doors of Wisdom are never shut."

"Silence is not always a Sign of Wisdom, but Babbling is ever a Mark of Folly."

"Wisdom makes but a slow defence against trouble, though at last a sure one."

"... quantum theory reminds us, as Bohr has put it, of the old wisdom that when searching for harmony in life one must never forget that in the drama of existence we are ourselves both players and spectators. It is understandable that in our scientific relation to nature our own activity becomes very important when we have to deal with parts of nature into which we can penetrate only by using the most elaborate tools."

"A boor cannot be sin-fearing, an ignoramus cannot be pious, a bashful one cannot learn, a short-tempered person cannot teach, nor does anyone who does much business grow wise."

"Vis consili expers mole ruit sua."

"Virtus est vitium fugere et sapientia prima stultitia caruisse."

"No se avergüenzan los Sabios de mirarse convencidos; porque saben, como Sabios, que su saber es finito."

"But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, reasonable, ready to obey, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, not hypocritical. Moreover, the fruit of righteousness is sown in peaceful conditions for those who are making peace."

"The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook."

"Wisdom requires the long view. And the long view shows us that the revolution of national independence is a fundamental fact of our era. This revolution will not be stopped. As new nations emerge from the oblivion of centuries, their first aspiration is to affirm their national identity. Their deepest hope is for a world where, within a framework of international cooperation, every country can solve its own problems according to its own traditions and ideals."

"Beyond the drumfire of daily crisis, therefore, there is arising the outlines of a robust and vital world community, founded on nations secure in their own independence, and united by their allegiance to world peace. It would be foolish to say that this world will be won tomorrow, or the day after. The processes of history are fitful and uncertain and aggravating. There will be frustrations and setbacks. There will be times of anxiety and gloom. The specter of thermonuclear war will continue to hang over mankind; and we must heed the advice of Oliver Wendell Holmes of "freedom leaning on her spear" until all nations are wise enough to disarm safely and effectively. Yet we can have a new confidence today in the direction in which history is moving. Nothing is more stirring than the recognition of great public purpose. Every great age is marked by innovation and daring--by the ability to meet unprecedented problems with intelligent solutions. In a time of turbulence and change, it is more true than ever that knowledge is power; for only by true understanding and steadfast judgment are we able to master the challenge of history. If this is so, we must strive to acquire knowledge--and to apply it with wisdom."

"What the world actually admires as sagacity is knowledge of evil—whereas wisdom is knowledge of the good. The one who loves does not have and does not want to have knowledge of evil; in this regard he is and remains, he wants to be and wants to remain, a child."

"The humble sages, by virtue of true knowledge, see with equal vision a learned and gentle brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste]."

"You grieve for those who should not be grieved for; yet you speak wise words. Neither for the dead nor those not dead do the wise grieve. Never was there a time when I did not exist nor you nor these lords of men. As the soul experiences in this body childhood, youth, and old age, so also it acquires another body; the sage in this is not deluded."

"For verily (the true nature) of 'right action' should be known; also (that) of 'forbidden (or unlawful) action' and of 'inaction'; imponderable is the nature (path) of action. He who recognises inaction in action and action in inaction is wise among men; he is a Yogi and a true performer of all actions."

"As enjoyments, born of contacts (with external objects), have a beginning and an end, they become the cause of unhappiness. The wise man, O Kaunteya! does not find happiness in them."

"There is nothing so easy as to be wise for others ; a species of prodigality, by the by — for such wisdom is wholly wasted."

"Wisdom is only knowledge well applied."

"To know one's ignorance is the best part of knowledge. To be ignorant of such knowledge is a disease. If one only regards it as a disease, he will be cured of it. The wise man is exempt from this disease. He knows it for what it is, and hence is free from it."

"Theosophy... has its good news to bring you; not the good news of salvation, indeed, but the still greater good news that there is nothing to be “saved” from except your own error and ignorance that there is no Divine wrath from which you must escape, but that the whole world is moving on in one mighty and glorious order towards an end greater than the mind of man can conceive. This is not a poetic dream, not a mere flight of the imagination, but a certainty which can be seen and known, which can be examined scientifically by those who will take the trouble to prepare themselves for such an investigation."

"Never... forget that though the outer side of life may seem so dull and heavy, there is yet always the Divine fire glowing within, remember that 'the soul of things is sweet, the heart of being is celestial rest, stronger than woe is Will, that which is good doth pass to better, best.' ...So this celestial bliss, that lies beyond the sorrow and the suffering shall become for you the ever present reality, until you learn to look through the misery and see its cause — and not only to see the cause but (far beyond that) the exhaustion of that evil through this temporary suffering, and the glory that is to come the magnificent qualities which all this is developing in the man. So this gospel will become a living reality to you. So, although you sympathize ever more and more deeply, you will find that you have within you the power to help, to comfort and to save, because you know, because you have this gospel in your hearts, and so you can communicate its light to others. So you will say to them once more, in the words of the greatest of Indian teachers: "Do not complain, and cry and pray, but open your eyes and see; the light is all about you, if you will only remove the bandage from your eyes and look; it is always with you, so wonderful, so glorious, so far bond anything that man has ever dreamt of or prayed for, and it is forever and forever.” p. 392"

"Ripe in wisdom was he, but patient, and simple, and childlike."

"The sons of this system of things are wiser in a practical way toward their own generation than the sons of the light are."

"Wisdom enough to leech us of our ill Is daily spun; but there exists no loom To weave it into fabric"

"Though wisdom wake, suspicion sleeps At wisdom's gate, and to simplicity Resigns her charge, while goodness thinks no ill Where no ill seems."

"But to know That which before us lies in daily life, Is the prime wisdom."

"Socrates * * * Whom, well inspir'd, the oracle pronounc'd Wisest of men."

"It takes finishing 490 books for one to achieve wisdom."

"Wisdom is not the purchase of a day, and it is no wonder that we should err at the first setting off."

"O the depth of God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How unsearchable his judgments are and beyond tracing out his ways are! For “who has come to know Jehovah’s mind, or who has become his adviser?” Or, “who has first given to him, so that it must be repaid to him?” Because from him and by him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen."

"Wisdom … never closes her school of thought but always opens her doors to those who thirst for the sweet water of discourse, and pouring on them an unstinted stream of undiluted doctrine, persuades them to be drunken with the drunkenness which is soberness itself."

"Tell (for you can) what is it to be wise? 'Tis but to know how little can be known, To see all other's faults, and feel our own."

"Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man. O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart. Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things. For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge. Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength."

"I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men. Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death."

"The wise person storms the city of the mighty, and overthrows the stronghold in which they trust."

"He gives wisdom to whom He wills, and whoever has been given wisdom has certainly been given much good. And none will remember except those of understanding."

"Afin que ne semblons es Atheniens, qui ne consultoient jamais sinon après le cas faict."

"You are that rarest of creatures: a man with the wisdom to see beyond his own time."

"Wisdom precludes boldness."

"To realise the unimportance of time is the gate of wisdom."

"Having granted the excellence of these maxims, I come to certain points in which I do not believe that one can grant either the superlative wisdom or the superlative goodness of Christ as depicted in the Gospels... there one does find some things that do not seem to be very wise. For one thing, he certainly thought that His second coming would occur in clouds of glory before the death of all the people who were living at that time. There are a great many texts that prove that. He says, for instance, "Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel till the Son of Man be come." Then he says, "There are some standing here which shall not taste death till the Son of Man comes into His kingdom"; and there are a lot of places where it is quite clear that He believed that His second coming would happen during the lifetime of many then living. That was the belief of His earlier followers, and it was the basis of a good deal of His moral teaching. When He said, "Take no thought for the morrow," and things of that sort, it was very largely because He thought that the second coming was going to be very soon, and that all ordinary mundane affairs did not count. I have, as a matter of fact, known some Christians who did believe that the second coming was imminent. I knew a parson who frightened his congregation terribly by telling them that the second coming was very imminent indeed, but they were much consoled when they found that he was planting trees in his garden. The early Christians did really believe it, and they did abstain from such things as planting trees in their gardens, because they did accept from Christ the belief that the second coming was imminent. In that respect, clearly He was not so wise as some other people have been, and He was certainly not superlatively wise."

"There is the instance of the Gadarene swine, where it certainly was not very kind to the pigs to put the devils into them and make them rush down the hill into the sea. You must remember that He was omnipotent, and He could have made the devils simply go away; but He chose to send them into the pigs. Then there is the curious story of the fig-tree, which always rather puzzled me. You remember what happened about the fig-tree. "He was hungry; and seeing a fig-tree afar off having leaves, He came if haply He might find anything thereon; and when he came to it He found nothing but leaves, for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it: 'No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever'.... and Peter.... saith unto Him: 'Master, behold the fig-tree which thou cursedst is withered away.'" This is a very curious story, because it was not the right time of year for figs, and you really could not blame the tree. I cannot myself feel that either in the matter of wisdom or in the matter of virtue Christ stands quite as high as some other people known to History. I think I should put Buddha and Socrates above Him in those respects."

"I am interested in a phase that I think we are entering. I call it "teleological evolution," evolution with a purpose. The idea of evolution by design, designing the future, anticipating the future. I think of the need for more wisdom in the world, to deal with the knowledge that we have. At one time we had wisdom, but little knowledge. Now we have a great deal of knowledge, but do we have enough wisdom to deal with that knowledge?"

"Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, no less wise, to balance it."

"The disease having been caused by allowing cleverness to displace wisdom, no amount of clever research is likely to produce a cure."

"Full oft we see Cold wisdom waiting on superfluous folly."

"Wisdom and fortune combating together, If that the former dare but what it can, No chance may shake it."

"Thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst been wise."

"To that dauntless temper of his mind, He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour To act in safety."

"Well, God give them wisdom that have it; and those that are fools, let them use their talents."

"Do you desire wisdom? Keep the commandments and the Lord will give her to you without measure; for fear of the Lord is wisdom and learning"

"My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding."

"Be not wise in thine own eyes."

"He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee."

"O ye simple, understand wisdom: and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart."

"For wisdom is better than rubies; And all the things that may be desired are not to be compared unto it."

"He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind. And the fool shall be servant to the wise in heart."

"For those who despise wisdom and instruction are doomed. Vain is their hope, fruitless their labours, and worthless their works."

"The beginning of wisdom is the most sincere desire for instruction."

"Those who get it obtain friendship with God."

"If you listen well enough, even the emptiness will whisper wisdom."

"It takes extraordinary wisdom and self-control to accept that many things have a logic we do not understand that is smarter than our own."

"I shall maintain that there simply is no such thing as philosophical knowledge, nor any philosophical way of knowing anything, and defend the humble point that philosophy is indeed the love of wisdom."

"Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers."

"'Tis held that sorrow makes us wise."

"Nor is he the wisest man who never proved himself a fool."

"It is a confusion to present the items of one sort in the idioms of another -- without awareness. For to do this is not just to cross two different sorts; it is to confuse them. It is to mistake, for example, the theory for the fact, the procedure for the process, the myth for history, the model for the thing and the metaphor for the face of literal truth."

"The wisest man is he who can account for his actions."

"Experience is the only source of wisdom: by which I mean, the competent conduct of life."

"Wisdom is oftimes nearer when we stoop Than when we soar."

"σοφίαν δὲ τὸ μέγιστον ἀγαθὸν οὐ δοκεῖ σοι ἀπείργουσα τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἡ ἀκρασία εἰς τοὐναντίον αὐτοὺς ἐμβάλλειν; ἢ οὐ δοκεῖ σοι προσέχειν τε τοῖς ὠφελοῦσι καὶ καταμανθάνειν αὐτὰ κωλύειν, ἀφέλκουσα ἐπὶ τὰ ἡδέα, καὶ πολλάκις αἰσθανομένους τῶν ἀγαθῶν τε καὶ τῶν κακῶν ἐκπλήξασα ποιεῖν τὸ χεῖρον ἀντὶ τοῦ βελτίονος αἱρεῖσθαι;"

"There is no wisdom without leisure."

"And wisdom is a butterfly And not a gloomy bird of prey."

"On every thorn, delightful wisdom grows, In every rill a sweet instruction flows."

"Be wise to-day; 'tis madness to defer; Next day the fatal precedent will plead; Thus on, till wisdom is push'd out of life."

"Wisdom, though richer than Peruvian mines, And sweeter than the sweet ambrosial hive, What is she, but the means of happiness? That unobtain'd, than folly more a fool."

"The man of wisdom is the man of years."

"But wisdom, awful wisdom! which inspects, Discerns, compares, weighs, separates, infers, Seizes the right, and holds it to the last."

"Teach me my days to number, and apply My trembling heart to wisdom."

"Putting human affairs in exact formulas shows in itself a lack of the sense of humor and therefore a lack of wisdom."

"To speak as the common people do, to think as wise men do."

"A wise man is out of the reach of fortune."

"The wisdom of our ancestors."

"Wise men learn more from fools than fools from the wise."

"Wisdom and goodness are twin-born, one heart Must hold both sisters, never seen apart."

"Some people are more nice than wise."

"But they whom truth and wisdom lead Can gather honey from a weed."

"Who are a little wise the best fools be."

"In much wisdom is much grief."

"The words of the wise are as goads."

"Nequicquam sapere sapientem, qui ipse sibi prodesse non quiret."

"No one could be so wise as Thurlow looked."

"Some are weather-wise, some are otherwise."

"Die Weisheit ist nur in der Wahrheit."

"The heart is wiser than the intellect."

"Chiefs who no more in bloody fights engage, But, wise through time, and narrative with age, In summer-days like grasshoppers rejoice, A bloodless race, that send a feeble voice."

"For never, never, wicked man was wise."

"In youth and beauty wisdom is but rare!"

"How prone to doubt, how cautious are the wise!"

"Utiliumque sagax rerum et divina futuri."

"Sapere aude."

"Quis nam igitur liber? Sapiens qui sibi imperiosus."

"He taketh the wise in their own craftiness."

"Wisdom shall die with you."

"The price of wisdom is above rubies."

"Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom."

"Great men are not always wise."

"Away, thou strange justifier of thyself, to be wiser than thou wert, by the event."

"Victrix fortunæ sapientia."

"Il est plus aisé d'être sage pour les autres, que pour soi-même."

"Quisquis plus justo non sapit, ille sapit."

"Be wise; Soar not too high to fall; but stoop to rise."

"Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves."

"Wisdom is justified of her children."

"A little too wise they say do ne'er live long."

"Il est bon de frotter et limer notre cervelle centre celle d'autrui."

"The most manifest sign of wisdom is a continual cheerfulness: her state is like that of things in the regions above the moon, always clear and serene."

"Le sage vit tant qu'il doibt, non pas tent qu'il peut."

"Qui aura esté une fois bien fol ne sera nulle aultre fois bien sage."

"Seven wise men on an old black settle, Seven wise men of the Mermaid Inn, Ringing blades of the one right metal, What is the best that a blade can win?"

"Some men never spake a wise word, yet doe wisely; some on the other side doe never a wise deed, and yet speake wisely."

"When swelling buds their od'rous foliage shed, And gently harden into fruit, the wise Spare not the little offsprings, if they grow Redundant."

"Feliciter sapit qui alieno periculo sapit."

"Nemo solus satis sapit."

"Nemo mortalium omnibus horis sapit."

"Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the street."

"Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom; and with all thy getting get understanding."

"Wisdom is better than rubies."

"Get wisdom, because it is better than gold: and purchase prudence, for it is more precious than silver."

"Those who seek me diligently find me."

"Be wisely worldly, but not worldly wise."

"Ce n'est pas être sage D'être plus sage qu'il ne le faut."

"The power is yours, but not the sight; You see not upon what you tread; You have the ages for your guide, But not the wisdom to be led."

"Wouldst thou wisely, and with pleasure, Pass the days of life's short measure, From the slow one counsel take, But a tool of him ne'er make; Ne'er as friend the swift one know, Nor the constant one as foe."

"The Italian seemes wise, and is wise; the Spaniard seemes wise, and is a foole; the French seemes a foole, and is wise; and the English seemes a foole and is a foole."

"Wisdom does not show itself so much in precept as in life—in a firmness of mind and mastery of appetite. It teaches us to do, as well as to talk; and to make our actions and words all of a color."

"Nulli sapere casu obtigit."

"Melius in malis sapimus, secunda rectum auferunt."

"As for me, all I know is that I know nothing."

"A short saying oft contains much wisdom."

"Happy those Who in the after-days shall live, when Time Hath spoken, and the multitude of years Taught wisdom to mankind!"

"The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of our own ignorance."

"By Wisdom wealth is won; But riches purchased wisdom yet for none."

"The Prophet's words were true; The mouth of Ali is the golden door Of Wisdom." When his friends to Ali bore These words, he smiled and said: "And should they ask The same until my dying day, the task Were easy; for the stream from Wisdom's well, Which God supplies, is inexhaustible."

"Isthuc est sapere non quod ante pedes modo est Videre sed etiam illa, quæ futura sunt Prospicere."

"The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light."

"Wisdom alone is true ambition's aim Wisdom the source of virtue, and of fame, Obtained with labour, for mankind employed, And then, when most you share it, best enjoyed."

"Wisdom sits alone, Topmost in heaven:—she is its light—its God; And in the heart of man she sits as high— Though grovelling eyes forget her oftentimes, Seeing but this world's idols. The pure mind Sees her forever: and in youth we come Fill'd with her sainted ravishment, and kneel, Worshipping God through her sweet altar fires, And then is knowledge "good.""

"Wisdom is the gray hair unto men, and an unspotted life is old age."

"And he is oft the wisest man Who is not wise at all."

"The wise man is but a clever infant, spelling letters from a hieroglyphical prophetic book, the lexicon of which lies in eternity."

"What in me is dark, Illumine, what is low, raise and support."

"For knowledge to become wisdom, and for the soul to grow, the soul must be rooted in God: and it is through prayer that there comes to us that which is the strength of our strength, and the virtue of our virtue, the Holy Spirit."

"The question is, whether, like the Divine Child in the Temple, we are turning knowledge into wisdom, and whether, understanding more of the mysteries of life, we are feeling more of its sacred law; and whether, having left behind the priests and the scribes and the doctors and the fathers, we are about our Father's business, and becoming wise to God."

"Drop, drop—in our sleep, upon the heart sorrow falls, memory's pain, and to us, though against our very will, even in our own despite, comes wisdom by the awful grace of God."

"[The argument of Alcidamas:] Everyone honours the wise. Thus the Parians have honoured Archilochus, in spite of his bitter tongue; the Chians Homer, though he was not their countryman; the Mytilenaeans Sappho, though she was a woman; the Lacedaemonians actually made Chilon a member of their senate, though they are the least literary of men; the inhabitants of Lampsacus gave public burial to Anaxagoras, though he was an alien, and honour him even to this day."

"Ask counsel of both times—of the ancient time what is best, and of the latter time what is fittest."

"Wisdom too often never comes, and so one ought not to reject it merely because it comes late."

"Standing in this presence, mindful of the solemnity of this occasion, feeling the emotions which no one may know until he senses the great weight of responsibility for himself, I must utter my belief in the divine inspiration of the founding fathers."

"The poet's aim is either to profit or to please, or to blend in one the delightful and the useful. Whatever the lesson you would convey, be brief, that your hearers may catch quickly what is said and faithfully retain it. Every superfluous word is spilled from the too-full memory."

"That which seems the height of absurdity in one generation often becomes the height of wisdom in the next."

"Pain makes man think. Thought makes man wise. Wisdom makes life endurable."

"When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years."

"But when the dust has drunk the blood of men, No resurrection comes for one who's dead."

"We cannot understand the preaching of the resurrection if it is understood as a miraculous moment which founds a new religion. If it is taken thus, we are in fact denying the force and efficacy of the resurrection. For the resurrection brings about the definitive installation in our midst, as a constructive hermeneutical principle, of the cult of Yahweh who knows not death, and who is worshipped in a continuous apprenticeship in participating in and not being scandalised by the collapse of the sacred. A sacred whose secret is always the victims which it hides, and on whose sacrifice it depends."

"In triumph over death, which resulted from our first parent’s sin, Christ was the first of all men to rise to immortal life. Thus, as life first became mortal through Adam’s sin, immortal life made its first appearance in Christ through the atonement for sin He offered. Others, it is true, raised up either by Christ or by the prophets, had returned to life before Him; yet they had to die a second time. But “Christ rising again from the dead, dies now no more” (Rom. 6:9). As He was the first to escape the necessity of dying, He is called “the first begotten of the dead” (Apoc. 1:5) and “the first fruits of those who sleep” (1 Cor. 15:20). Having thrown off the yoke of death, He was the first to rise from the sleep of death."

"Those who have deprived themselves of this Resurrection by reason of their mutual hatreds or by regarding themselves to be in the right and others in the wrong, were chastised on the Day of Resurrection by reason of such hatreds evinced during their night. Thus they deprived themselves of beholding the countenance of God, and this for no other reason than mutual denunciations."

"As soon as the generals and the politicos can predict the motions of your mind, lose it. Leave it as a sign to mark the false trail, the way you didn't go. Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary, some in the wrong direction. Practice resurrection."

"We therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ."

"Because Jesus came, died, and was resurrected, O[ld] T[estament] festivals have now been fulfilled, and to maintain them ‘means reverting back to the old covenant, as if Christ had never come."

"The last loud trumpet's wondrous sound, Shall thro' the rending tombs rebound, And wake the nations under ground."

"Resurrection, like politics, makes strange bedfellows."

"The fact that we awake from sleep is some evidence for the resurrection."

"J. B. S. Haldane counts fanaticism among the only four really important inventions made between 3000 B.C and 1400 A.D. It was a Judaic-Christian invention. And it is strange to think that in receiving this malady of the soul the world also received a miraculous instrument for raising societies and nations from the dead—an instrument of resurrection."

"For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven."

"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."

"And I have hope toward God, which hope these men also look forward to, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous."

"God could cause a dead person to resurrect without possessing a single atom of the matter of which his earthly body was made."

"The trumpet! the trumpet! the dead have all heard: Lo, the depths of the stone-cover'd charnels are stirr'd: From the sea, from the land, from the south and the north, The vast generations of man are come forth."

"Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?"

"And it is God who sends the winds, and they stir the clouds, and We drive them to a dead land and give life thereby to the earth after its lifelessness. Thus is the resurrection."

"Jede Trennung gibt einen Vorgeschmack des Todes und jedes Wiedersehen einen Vorgeschmack der Auferstehung."

"The word "resurrection" has for many people the connotation of dead bodies leaving their graves or other fanciful images. But resurrection means the victory of the New state of things, the New Being born out of the death of the Old. Resurrection is not an event that might happen in some remote future, but it is the power of the New Being to create life out of death, here and now, today and tomorrow."

"Shall man alone, for whom all else revives, No resurrection know? Shall man alone, Imperial man! be sown in barren ground, Less privileged than grain, on which he feeds?"

"I see the Judge enthroned; the flaming guard: The volume open'd!—open'd every heart!"

"The resurrection morning is a true sun-rising, the inbursting of a cloudless sky on all the righteous dead. They wake transfigured, at their Maker's call, with the fashion of their countenance altered and shining like His own."

"The resurrection state is the culmination of glorified humanity; is the change of the earthly for the heavenly; is the putting off of flesh and blood, and the putting on of the spiritual body. The body of the resurrection is the body with which the spirit is clothed for its celestial life."

"I shall see Him with these eyes, Him whom I shall surely know; Not another shall I rise, With His love this heart shall glow; Only there shall disappear Weakness in and round me here."

"Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time."

"O, on that glorious day, when all the hosts of God shall have been gathered from Europe and Asia, from Africa and America — when the long-buried armies of the dead shall come forth, spiritual, incorruptible, glorious, immortal — when the sons of God who have kept their first estate, shall sing " unto Him that loved us," and the redeemed from all parts of the earth, and from all the generations, shall respond in a song sweeter than the songs of the morning-stars when all the sons of God shouted for joy,— may you and I be there to join that everlasting song, and realize that bliss unspeakable which is the enduring portion of the Lord's redeemed."

"And shall they rise, all these? Will there be a trumpet blast so shrill that none of them may refuse to hear it, and the soul, re-entering its shrine of eminent or common clay, pass upward to the judgment? " Many and mighty, but all hushed," shall they submit with us to the judgment of the last assize? And in that world is it true that gold is not the currency, and that rank is not hereditary, and that there is only one name that is honored? Then, if this is the end of all men, let the living lay it to heart. Solemn and thoughtful, let us search for an assured refuge; childlike and earnest, let us confide in the one accepted Name; let us realize the tender and infinite nearness of God our Father, through Jesus our Surety and our Friend."

"How divinely full of glory and pleasure shall that hour be when all the millions of mankind that have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb of God shall meet together and stand around Him, with every tongue and every heart full of joy and praise! How astonishing will be the glory and the joy of that day when all the saints shall join together in one common song of gratitude and love, and of everlasting thankfulness to this Redeemer! With what unknown delight, and inexpressible satisfaction, shall all that are saved from the ruins of sin and hell address the Lamb that was slain, and rejoice in His presence!"

"Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited. . . .What a Eutopia - What a Paradise would this region be!"

"In the nine heavens are eight Paradises; Where is the ninth one? In the human breast. Only the blessed dwell in th' Paradises, But blessedness dwells in the human breast."

"I have always imagined Paradise as a kind of library."

"If you want to view paradise Simply look around and view it Anything you want to, do it Wanta change the world? There's nothing To it"

"I would gladly wander in Paradise, But it is far away and there is no road."

"Paradise is being able to say at that moment: “I made some mistakes, but I wasn’t a coward. I lived my life and did what I had to do.”.. It’s enough that I keep trying. Even those who didn’t do all they could have done have already been forgiven; they had their punishment while they were alive by being unhappy when they could have been living in peace and harmony. We are all redeemed and free to follow the path that has no beginning and will have no end."

"This is the Church’s destination: it is, as the Bible says, the “new Jerusalem”, “Paradise”. More than a place, it is a “state” of soul in which our deepest hopes are fulfilled in superabundance and our being, as creatures and as children of God, reach their full maturity. We will finally be clothed in the joy, peace and love of God, completely, without any limit, and we will come face to face with Him! (cf. 1 Cor 13:12). It is beautiful to think of this, to think of Heaven. We will all be there together. It is beautiful, it gives strength to the soul."

"Where there is no trouble, nor grief, nor sighing, but peace and rejoicing and life unending"

"The meanest floweret of the vale, The simplest note that swells the gale, The common sun, the air, the skies, To him are open paradise."

"Aus dem Paradies, das Cantor uns geschaffen, soll uns niemand vertreiben können."

"That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes. For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind."

"The command to increase and multiply first finds fulfilment after the expulsion from paradise, after the nakedness and the fig-leaves which speak of sexual passion. Let them marry and be given in marriage who eat their bread in the sweat of their brow; whose land brings forth to them thorns and thistles, Genesis 3:18-19 and whose crops are choked with briars."

"In paradise Eve was a virgin, and it was only after the coats of skins that she began her married life. Now paradise is your home too. Keep therefore your birthright and say: Return unto your rest, O my soul."

"A Book of Verses underneath the Bough, A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread—and Thou Beside me singing in the Wilderness— Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!"

"The notions of hell and purgatory, of paradise and resurrections are all caricatured, distorted echoes of the primeval one Truth, taught humanity in the infancy of its races by every First Messenger—the Planetary Spirit mentioned on the reverse of page the third— and whose remembrance lingered in the memory of man, as Elu of the Chaldees, Osiris the Egyptian, Vishnu, the first Buddahs and so on. p. 48"

""Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you" is the greatest phrase ever written. If everyone followed that creed, this world would be a paradise."

"This living together of husband and wife—that they occupy the same home, that they take care of the household, that together they produce and bring up children—is a kind of faint image and a remnant, as it were, of that blessed living together [in Eden]."

"A limbo large and broad, since call'd The Paradise of Fools to few unknown."

"So on he fares, and to the border comes, Of Eden, where delicious Paradise, Now nearer, crowns with her enclosure green, As with a rural mound, the champain head Of a steep wilderness."

"Know ye that at the right hand of the Indies there is an island called California, very close to that part of the Terrestrial Paradise, which was inhabited by black women without a single man among them, and they lived in the manner of Amazons. They were robust of body with strong passionate hearts and great virtue. The island itself is one of the wildest in the world on account of the bold and craggy rocks."

"Swamp Thing: In the precambrian...when all the world was weeds...and nothing crawled...or swam...or flew...the earthgods ruled the last non-violent era...'til the sun grows red and swollen and all life is fled.... They could have made their kingdom of plants....as perfect as I'll make the kingdom of men...and there would never have been need...for any other form of life. They would have kept...this planet for their own...and yet did not... I wonder why? Instead...they let the fish glide in...upon the wild, silurian tide...and took their forms...and played with them...yet never made this world a cool piscean paradise... ...Nor when the fish with legs boiled up...from Devonian mud...did they impose reptilian utopia...but watched instead...delighting in the dazzling diversity...of shapes and shades..."

"One morn a Peri at the gate Of Eden stood disconsolate."

"He who builds a mosque in the way of Allah, God will build a house for him in the paradise."

"In the paradise, made by God, all the plants were endowed in the souls and reason, producing for their fruit the different virtues, and, moreover, imperishable wisdom and prudence. ... These statements appear to me to be dictated by a philosophy which is symbolical rather than strictly accurate. For no trees of life or of knowledge have ever at any previous time appeared upon the earth, nor is it likely that any will appear hereafter. But I rather conceive that Moses was speaking in an allegorical spirit, intending by his paradise to intimate the dominant character of the soul, which is full of innumerable opinions as this figurative paradise was of trees."

"Do you think that you will enter Paradise while God has not yet known from among you ones who sacrifice nor ones who be steadfast in belief?"

"Or do you think you will enter Paradise, while there has not yet befallen you the such of what befell those who have passed away before you. Persecution and affliction befell them and they were shaken violently, so that the Messenger and those who believed with him said: 'When will the help of God come?' surely the help of God is nigh!"

"The word paradise comes from the Persian word pairidaeza, which means "walled garden." ...There never was a Garden of Eden, but there was, perhaps, a Garden of Ediacara... blob-like creatures that lived in the sea..."

"Repeating pain, why? It's all the same, same. I hate this place, stuck in this paradigm. Don't believe in paradise, this must be what Hell is like."

"She approached the gates of Paradise on earth, and saw the Cherubim guarding the gates of Paradise, and sat down facing the Flaming Sword, for she originated from that flame. When that flame revolved, she fled."

"Or were I in the wildest waste, Sae bleak and bare, sae bleak and bare, The desert were a paradise If thou wert there, if thou wert there."

"In this fool's paradise, he drank delight."

"Nor count compartments of the floors, But mount to paradise By the stairway of surprise."

"Unto you is paradise opened."

"Dry your eyes—O dry your eyes, For I was taught in Paradise To ease my breast of melodies."

"Mahomet was taking his afternoon nap in his Paradise. An houri had rolled a cloud under his head, and he was snoring serenely near the fountain of Salsabil."

"The loves that meet in Paradise shall cast out fear, And Paradise hath room for you and me and all."

"There is no expeditious road To pack and label men for God, And save them by the barrel-load. Some may perchance, with strange surprise, Have blundered into Paradise."

"When we speak of "paradise," we must not fall into the trap of imagining it as a physical place with human or earthly characteristics. Paradise is not a place we can describe using the categories we use for our world, such as space, time, matter or energy. These are dimensions of reality that we know and study with science, but paradise goes beyond these limits. Science teaches us that the universe is governed by physical laws that regulate space, time, mass, energy and electrical charges. But what if there is a dimension or reality beyond these laws? We cannot rule out the possibility that a reality might exist outside the co-ordinates of space and time, a reality in which the notions of matter and energy, as we understand them, have no meaning. In the context of this reflection, paradise can be conceived as a reality that transcends all the physical laws of the universe. A reality that is not subject to the limitations of our earthly experience and that cannot be represented with human images or concepts. It is a dimension of existence that, by its very nature, is totally different from everything we know, and for this very reason we cannot imagine it as something anthropomorphic, that is, in our likeness."

"I'm down to sell records, but not my soul."

"I was thrown out of college for cheating on the metaphysics exam: I looked into the soul of another boy."

"A mermaid has not an immortal soul, nor can she obtain one unless she wins the love of a human being. On the power of another hangs her eternal destiny. But the daughters of the air, although they do not possess an immortal soul, can, by their good deeds, procure one for themselves. We fly to warm countries, and cool the sultry air that destroys mankind with the pestilence. We carry the perfume of the flowers to spread health and restoration. After we have striven for three hundred years to all the good in our power, we receive an immortal soul and take part in the happiness of mankind. You, poor little mermaid, have tried with your whole heart to do as we are doing; you have suffered and endured and raised yourself to the spirit-world by your good deeds; and now, by striving for three hundred years in the same way, you may obtain an immortal soul."

"The arts are a wonderful medicine for the soul."

"Antony, however, according to his custom, returned alone to his own cell, increased his discipline, and sighed daily as he thought of the mansions in Heaven, having his desire fixed on them, and pondering over the shortness of man's life. And he used to eat and sleep, and go about all other bodily necessities with shame when he thought of the spiritual faculties of the soul. So often, when about to eat with any other hermits, recollecting the spiritual food, he begged to be excused, and departed far off from them, deeming it a matter for shame if he should be seen eating by others."

"Antony ... used to say that it behooved a man to give all his time to his soul rather than his body, yet to grant a short space to the body through its necessities; but all the more earnestly to give up the whole remainder to the soul and seek its profit, that it might not be dragged down by the pleasures of the body, but, on the contrary, the body might be in subjection to the soul."

"Anima mea non sum ego."

"The relation of the soul to the Oversoul is that of the part towards the Whole, and it is this relation and its consequent recognitions, which develop into that sense of oneness with all beings and with the supreme Reality to which the mystics have always testified."

"The next two hundred years will see the abolition of death, as we now understand that great transition, and the establishing of the soul's existence. The soul will be known as an entity, as the motivating impulse, and the spiritual centre back of all manifested forms. . . . Our essential immortality will be demonstrated and realised to be a fact in nature."

"Death, as the human consciousness understands it, pain and sorrow, loss and disaster, joy and distress, are only such because man, as yet, identifies himself with the life of the form and not with the life and consciousness of the soul..."

"The spirit in man is undying; it forever endures, progressing from point to point, and stage to stage upon the Path of Evolution, unfolding steadily and sequentially the divine attributes and aspects... The immortality of the human soul, and the innate ability of the spiritual, inner man to work out his own salvation under the Law of Rebirth, in response to the Law of Cause and Effect, are the underlying factors governing all human conduct and all human aspiration. They condition him at all times, until he has achieved the desired and the designed perfection, and can manifest on earth as a rightly functioning son of God."

"The basic law underlying all occult healing, may be stated to be as follows: Law I: All disease is the result of inhibited soul life... The art of the healer consists in releasing the soul, so that its life can flow through the aggregate of organisms which constitute any particular form. It is interesting to note that the attempt of the scientist to release the energy of the atom, is of the same general nature as the work of the esotericist when he endeavours to release the energy of the soul. In this release the nature of the true art of healing is hidden."

"The study of the soul will before long be as legitimate and respectable an investigation as any scientific problem, such as research into the nature of the atom. The investigation of the soul and its governing laws, will before long, engross the attention of our finest minds. The newer psychology will eventually succeed in proving the fact of its existence, and the paralleling intuitive and instinctive response of mankind to soul nurture, emanating from the invisible side of life, will steadily and successfully prove the existence of a spiritual entity in man, - an entity all-wise, immortal, divine and creative."

"Humanity is an expression of two aspects of the soul - the animal soul and the divine soul - and these two, blended and fused in man, constitute the human soul. It is this fact that is the cause of man's special problems, and it is these two factors which involve him in the long struggle which eventuates in the liberation of the divine soul, through the sublimation of the animal soul. In these words lie much food for thought."

"For Plato, the soul was something that entered the body and left it at the moment of death. For the pre-Socratics, it was a kind of spectre. Aristotle, as many know, defines the soul as the form, or the first act of the body. We need to reflect on the concept of form; form is not a part of the organism, which has its own unity. Organisms are bodies capable of performing certain functions; these capacities are obviously reduced in plants, while in animals they are already more complex. In human beings, we find activities that we call superior, such as thinking and willing. The soul is the possession of these capacities."

"SOUL, n. A spiritual entity concerning which there hath been brave disputation. Plato held that those souls which in a previous state of existence (antedating Athens) had obtained the clearest glimpses of eternal truth entered into the bodies of persons who became philosophers. Plato himself was a philosopher. The souls that had least contemplated divine truth animated the bodies of usurpers and despots. Dionysius I, who had threatened to decapitate the broad-browed philosopher, was a usurper and a despot. Plato, doubtless, was not the first to construct a system of philosophy that could be quoted against his enemies; certainly he was not the last."

"When one sees mortal man displaying tremendous capabilities, controlling the forces of nature and opening up to view the world of spirit, the reflective mind is overwhelmed with the conviction that if one man's spiritual Ego can do this much, the capabilities of the FATHER SPIRIT must be relatively as much vaster as the whole ocean surpasses the single drop in volume and potency. Ex nihilo nihil fit; prove the soul of man by its wondrous powers — you have proved God! In our studies, mysteries were shown to be no mysteries."

"SPIRIT. — The lack of any mutual agreement between writers in the use of this word has resulted in dire confusion. It is commonly made synonymous with soul; and the lexicographers countenance the usage. This is the natural result of our ignorance of the other word, and repudiation of the classification adopted by the ancients. Elsewhere we attempt to make clear the distinction between the terms "spirit" and "soul." There are no more important passages in this work. Meanwhile, we will only add that "spirit" is the nou'" of Plato, the immortal, immaterial, and purely divine principle in man — the crown of the human Triad; whereas, SOUL is the fuch , or the nephesh of the Bible; the vital principle, or the breath of life, which every animal, down to the infusoria, shares with man. In the translated Bible it stands indifferently for life, blood, and soul. "Let us not kill his nephesh," says the original text: "let us not kill him," translate the Christians (Genesis xxxvii. 21), and so on."

"Crantor, another philosopher associated with the earliest days of Plato's Academy, conceived the human soul as formed out of the primary substance of all things, the Monad or One, and the Duad or the Two. Plutarch speaks at length of this philosopher, who like his master believed in souls being distributed in earthly bodies as an exile and punishment."

"Although neither an alchemist, magician, nor astrologer, but simply a great philosopher, Henry More, of Cambridge University — a man universally esteemed, may be named as a shrewd logician, scientist, and metaphysician... His faith in immortality and able arguments in demonstration of the survival of man's spirit after death are all based on the Pythagorean system, adopted by Cardan, Van Helmont, and other mystics. The infinite and uncreated spirit that we usually call God, a substance of the highest virtue and excellency, produced everything else by emanative causality. God thus is the primary substance... He firmly believed in apparitions, and stoutly defended the theory of the individuality of every soul in which "personality, memory, and conscience will surely continue in the future state." He divided the astral spirit of man after its exit from the body into two distinct entities: the "aerial" and the "aethereal vehicle." During the time that a disembodied man moves in its aerial clothing, he is subject to Fate -- i.e., evil and temptation, attached to its earthly interests, and therefore is not utterly pure; it is only when he casts off this garb of the first spheres and becomes ethereal that he becomes sure of his immortality. "For what shadow can that body cast that is a pure and transparent light, such as the ethereal vehicle is? And therefore that oracle is then fulfilled, when the soul has ascended into that condition we have already described, in which alone it is out of the reach of fate and mortality.""

"Go for souls and go for the worst."

"The way to the soul is a very long walk"

"The plan for the soul was a cycle of experience, unlimited in scope and duration, in which the new individual would come to know creation in all its aspects, at the discretion of will. The cycle would be completed when the desire of will was no longer different from the thought of God. The consciousness of the new individual would then merge with its spiritual consciousness of identity with God, and the soul would return to its source as the companion it was intended to be. In this state the soul would retain its consciousness of a separate individuality and would be aware that of its own free will it now acted as a part of God, not diverting mind force because it was in agreement with the action toward which this force was directed. Until this state was reached the soul would not be a companion in the true sense of the word."

"The control is usually by the soul itself, if it has evolved sufficiently, because once the body of this dimension has been left and the consciousness of this life has been absorbed into the subconscious, the veil between the two is lifted. The subconscious, you see, is the record of all the lives of the soul, in this system and in other systems, out among the stars. It’s the record we think of as being kept by the Recording Angel. It’s the story of what we do with our spirit—the portion of God that is given to us for life, with the gift of individuality, or separate existence from God. Our problem is to perfect our individuality, and then we return to God. Our spirit and soul, or individuality, are joined to Him."

"The idea that a return to God means a loss of individuality is paradoxical, since God is aware of everything that happens and must therefore be aware of the consciousness of each individual. Thus the return of the soul is the return of the image to that which imagined it, and the consciousness of an individual—its record, written in mind—could not be destroyed without destroying part of God Himself. When a soul returns to God it becomes aware of itself not only as a part of God, but as a part of every other soul, and everything. The plan for the soul included experience of all creation, but it did not necessarily mean identification with and participation in all forms and substance. Nor did it mean interference in creation by souls. It did not mean that they were to spin their own little worlds, twisting and bending laws to make images of their dreams. But these things could happen. The soul was the greatest thing that was made; it had free will. Once free will was given, God did nothing to curb it; however it acted, it had to act within Him; by whatever route, it had to return to Him."

"The hypothesis of the soul, on the other hand, has not once in all of human history been supported by good, solid scientific evidence. That's pretty surprising when you think about it. For decades, and indeed centuries, most scientists had some sort of religious beliefs, and most of them believed in the soul. So a great deal of early science was dedicated to proving the soul's existence, and discovering and exploring its nature. It wasn't until after decades upon decades of fruitless research in this area that scientists finally gave it up as a bad job, and concluded, almost unanimously, that the reason they hadn't found a soul was that there was no such thing."

"The superior man loves his soul; the inferior man loves his property."

""You," your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules."

"The devil went down to Georgia He was lookin' for a soul to steal He was in a bind 'Cause he was way behind And he was willin' to make a deal."

"The soul is placed in the body like a rough diamond; and must be polished, or the lustre of it will never appear"

"[T]he diverse states of the soul are always correlative with those of the body."

"A fiery soul, which, working out its way, Fretted the pygmy-body to decay, And o'er-inform'd the tenement of clay."

"Since our inner experiences consist of reproductions and combinations of sensory impressions, the concept of a soul without a body seem to me to be empty and devoid of meaning."

"Ryght so euery man is capitayne of his owne soule."

"The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire."

"Inmate: You can't sell your soul. It doesn't really belong to you in the first place. No way, no how."

"Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, "I have found a truth." Say not, "I have found the path of the soul." Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path." For the soul walks upon all paths. The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed. The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals."