Non Fiction Authors

"A divine philosopher is he who through ascetic purification and noetic contemplation has achieved a direct union with God, and is a true friend of God, in that he esteems and loves the supreme, creative and true wisdom above every other love, wisdom and knowledge."

"Noetic prayer is an activity initiated by the cleansing power of the Spirit and the mystical rites celebrated by the intellect."

"For beginners prayer is like a joyous fire kindled in the heart;"

"The principal forms of contemplation are eight in number."

"When you sit in stillness, by day or by night, free from random thoughts and continuously praying to God in humility, you may find that your intellect becomes exhausted through calling upon God and that your body and heart begin to feel pain because of the intense concentration with which you unceasingly invoke the name of Jesus, with the result that you no longer experience the warmth and joy that engender ardour and patience in the spiritual aspirant. If this is the case, stand up and psalmodize, either by yourself or with a disciple who lives with you, or occupy yourself with meditation on some scriptural passage or with the remembrance of death, or with manual labour or with some other thing, or give your attention to reading, preferably standing up so as to involve your body in the task as well. ... With the help of prayer ignore all images, whether sensory or conceptual, that rise up from the heart. For stillness means the shedding of all thoughts for a time, even those which are divine and engendered by the Spirit; otherwise through giving them our attention because they are good we will lose what is better."

"The source and ground of our distractive thoughts is the fragmented state of our memory. The memory was originally simple and one-pointed, but as a result of the fall its natural powers have been perverted: it has lost its recollectedness in God and has become compound instead of simple, diversified instead of onepointed."

"We recover the original state of our memory by restoring it to its primal simplicity, when it will no longer act as a source of evil and destructive thoughts. For Adam's disobedience has not only deformed into a weapon of evil the soul's simple memory of what is good; it has also corrupted all its powers and quenched its natural appetite for virtue. The memory is restored above all by constant mindfulness of God consolidated through prayer, for this spiritually elevates the memory from a natural to a supranatural state."

"... through them [the disciples of Gregory of Sinai] their master’s writings and oral teaching spread through the monasteries and royal courts of Eastern Europe. Byzantium, Bulgaria, Serbia, Rumania and Russia were all affected by this new cosmopolitan movement: monks, churchmen, writers and artists, travelling from country to country – ‘wandering for the sake of the Lord’, as a fourteenth-century writer put it – found themselves in a similar spiritual and cultural environment; and through this ‘Hesychast International’, whose influence extended far beyond the ecclesiastical sphere, the different parts of the Byzantine Commonwealth were, during the last hundred years of its existence, linked to each other and to its centre perhaps more closely than ever before."

"Nothing so fills the heart with contrition and humbles the soul as solitude embraced with self-awareness, and utter silence."

"He who practises hesychasm must acquire the following five virtues, as a foundation on which to build: silence, self-control, vigilance, humility and patience."

"The energy of grace is the power of spiritual fire that fills the heart with joy and gladness, stabilizes, warms and purifies the soul, temporarily stills our provocative thoughts, and for a time suspends the body's impulsions. The signs and fruits that testify to its authenticity are tears, contrition, humility, self-control, silence, patience, self-effacement and similar qualities, all of which constitute undeniable evidence of its presence."

"As just remarked, there are two main forms of ecstatic longing for God:"

"A situation has arisen in which only the Soviet side has to give an account to the Control Council whereas the American and British sides refuse to give an account to the Control Council of the actions in the zones of Germany they occupy. Thus, these delegations merely prove that they are tearing up the agreement on the Control Machinery in Germany and are assuming responsibility for breaking up this agreement. By their actions these three delegations once again confirm that the Control Council virtually no longer exists as the supreme body of authority in Germany exercising quadripartite administration of that country. This is also clear from the position taken by the afore-mentioned three delegations at all recent meetings of the Control Council and its agencies."

"The separate currency reform does serious damage to the economic recovery of Germany. Instead of a uniform German currency there will be two currencies, instead of uniform prices there will be two standards of prices. Trade relations inside the country will be disrupted. In actual fact, inter-zonal trade is becoming trade between different States, in so far as there are different currencies."

"This means that these delegations are destroying the Control Council and burying it, are destroying the agreements reached regarding the Allied Control Council in Germany. Undoubtedly this constitutes one of the most serious violations of the obligations undertaken by the British, American and French occupation authorities in Germany by virtue of the Four-Power agreements on the administration of Germany during the occupation period. But it is hence clear that the actions taken now or which will be taken in the future in the Western zones of occupation in Germany in implementation of the unilateral decisions of the London conference cannot be recognized as lawful."

"It is now clear that the American, British and French representatives, while formally conducting discussions in the Control Council about an all-German currency reform, used these discussions for the secret preparation of a separate currency reform. Attempts to justify the separate currency reform are being made by reference to the necessity of bringing order into the circulation of currency in the Western German zones of occupation, ruined by National Socialism."

"Huge sums of money have remained in the Western Zones, entirely in the hands of big capitalists and profiteers, money which they had made from war deliveries and speculation. German banking and industrial monopolies have remained in the Western zones and many of them have as good as been transformed into branches of Wall Street, that is branches of American banks and industrial monopolies."

"Seeking to make secure the development of Germany’s peace economy on the basis of the Potsdam decisions and in the interests of the German people, the Soviet military administration in Germany tries to get a currency reform for the whole of Germany. The Soviet military administration condemns the action of the American, British and French occupation authorities in carrying out a separate currency reform, and holds them completely responsible for the consequences of this action."

"The engagements in which Zhukov won his reputation were so massive that, inevitably, many outstanding Soviet military men were involved- either under Zhukov's command or in coordinated and associated movements. There was then, and there continued for years to be, a raging competition for military glory in these engagements. Deep lines of political cleavage and quarrels also underlay the military disputes. Not only military glory was involved; political intrigue, intra-Party quarrels, high-level Kremlin politics were at issue. The principal military rivals of Zhukov were his fellow marshals, Ivan S. Konev, Rodion Malinovsky, V. I. Chuikov, A. I. Yeremenko, Semyon Timonshenko, and to a lesser extent men like K. K. Rokossovsky, V. D. Sokolovsky, and the staff chiefs, A. M. Vasilevsky, Boris Shaposhnikov and, later on, S. M. Shtemenko. Rivals of a different category were Stalin's cronies, men like Voroshilov and Budenny, and police generals such as L. Z. Mekhlis and G. I. Kulik."

"The currency reform is being carried out separately, in the interests of the American, British and French monopolies, which are dismembering Germany and trying to weaken her by subordinating her economy to themselves."

"For the purpose of protecting the interests of the population of the Soviet zone of occupation of Germany and of the Greater Berlin area and of preventing economic dislocation through the separate actions of the Western Powers, the Soviet military administration in Germany will also adopt other necessary measures arising out of the present situation. The Soviet military administration in Germany feels certain that the German population will support its measures and will take the necessary steps to overcome difficulties, to raise the level of economy and strengthen currency circulation in the Soviet occupation zone of Germany"

"As everyone knows, the Soviet military administration in Germany, acting in line with instructions from the Soviet Government, has always insisted on the preservation of Germany’s political and economic unity. It has always opposed all separatist actions aimed at the dismemberment of Germany. In the bodies of the Control Council, the representatives of the Soviet Union have used every opportunity to seek agreement on the carrying out of a uniform currency reform for the whole of Germany."

"{{Translated quote"

"At the London conference official representatives of the United States, Britain and France discussed and decided such questions regarding Germany which come directly within the competence of the Control Council and can be decided only on the basis of agreement among the Four Powers occupying Germany. The American, British and French occupation authorities, however, do not wish to inform the Control Council of the decisions prepared in London nor to give an account of the instructions they received in connection with the unilateral London decisions on the German question."

"Our knowledge of Babylonian mathematics is derived mainly from tablets in the British Museum, the Prussian State Museum of Berlin, the Ottoman Museum of Constantinople, the University of Strasbourg, the University of Pennsylvania and the Palais du Cinquantenaire of Brussels."

"The idea of constructing a table in which the logarithm of unity was zero originated with Napier. Napier and Briggs never thought of logarithms as exponents of a base. ... It was not till considerably later that our modern definition of a logarithm as an exponent was put forward by such mathematicians as , 1684; , 1742; , 1748, 1770."

"About half a century after Thales came Pythagoras. Under his inspiration geometry was first pursued as a study for its own sake. A man of great ability and a most interesting and magnetic mystic, he finally settled at Crotona on the southeastern coast of Italy."

"In yesteryears there were two gloriously inspiring centers of mathematical study in America. One of these was at the University of Chicago, when , and and were in their prime. The other center was at The Johns Hopkins University, 1876–83, where scholars were " Led by soaring-genius'd Sylvester," as has expressed it in his " Ode to The Johns Hopkins University.""

"... in America before the end of 1888 there had been appreciable amount of mathematical research, some of it of first importance, even according to recent standards. There had been centers of mathematical inspiration. Such universities as Yale, The Johns Hopkins, and Harvard, had been sending out doctors in mathematics for a number of years, and many Americans had been getting degrees in Europe. The time was ripe for an organization to draw together many people scattered throughout the country who were especially interested in mathematical pursuits."

"Åland was originally a very poor region, but shipping and seafaring have provided it with income and economic growth. Nowadays, Åland also profits from wind power. In fact, it has the best preconditions in Finland for producing offshore wind power. Åland would like to gain more economic independence to be able to expand its industry and commerce."

"The real human tragedy is living a noneucharistic life in a noneucharistic world."

"“The sacrament of matrimony is wider than family. It is the sacrament of divine love, as the all-embracing mystery of being itself, and it is for this reason that it concerns the whole Church, and – through the Church – the whole world.""

"“Embrace every man as your very own, And shower your love freely wherever you go.”"

"“O Cupbearer, let those long divided embrace one another, And through the intoxication of your love, make all mankind truly human.”"

"“What does is matter if I am called a man? In truth, I am the very soul of love, The entire earth is my home, and the universe my country.”"

"“All places of worship are symbols of the One Beloved. Bow your head when you see a temple, and salute when you see a mosque.”"

"“When the flowers of the church, mosque and temple gather together, Spring will blossom forth in your garden, O Lord.”"

"“We are communing with the moon and the stars, But alas, we have not reached the heart of our neighbor.”"

"“Love has only a beginning, It has no end.”"

"“I have no friend except my Beloved, I have no work except his love.”"

"Rafah has now become the largest refugee camp on earth. One million people fled here because it was supposed to be safe. They’ve joined the population which is there already. It’s the most crowded, it’s the largest refugee camp on earth, and you cannot have a war in a refugee camp."

"The pulverising of Gaza now ranks amongst the worst assaults on any civilian population in our time and age. Each day we see more dead children and new depths of suffering for the innocent people enduring this hell. (...) Countries supporting Israel with arms must understand that these civilian deaths will be a permanent stain on their reputation. (...) The situation in Gaza is a total failure of our shared humanity. The killing must stop."

"I was myself recently also in Afghanistan, and I sat down with the mothers in these displacement camps around Kabul. And I asked them, “What about the future? What do you think of the future?” And they told me very clearly, “We believe we will starve and freeze to death this harsh winter, unless there is an enormous aid operation coming through and unless there is a public sector again that is able to provide services.” It is as acute as that. Forty million civilians were left behind when the NATO countries went for the door in August."

"Money should not go to the military political group called the Taliban that took power by force. The money should go to the people, and it is possible. So, number one, there has to be trust funds, as we call it, that is held by U.N. agencies, that funnel money directly to the hospitals, that you just showed, where people are dying at the moment. It can go straight to the teachers that were on the payroll of the World Bank previously, can go straight to them. So, the money can go through us, international organizations, straight to the people. Secondly, unfreeze those funds that will enable banks to function again. At the moment, we cannot even buy relief items in Afghanistan. We have to ship them over, take them over from Pakistan and Iran, which means that employment is dying in Afghanistan. And thirdly, donors, come down from the fence. See that we are there. We are reliable channels for funding. The money will go to the people. Transmit funding, not just come with pledges. This will not become Switzerland in a long time. You have to share the risk with us to save lives this winter."

"I say to Everyone, if you can find the Quran anywhere, Buy it and read it, then you will know what your fate will be, as a kafir, as an unbeliever if they ever get to rule! Realize that in nineteen four, five thirty-six, when National Socialism was not yet in power, people could already know perfectly what Hitler and his NSDAP would do, they just had to read Mein Kampf, it was all there... Well it's also in the Quran, so you shouldn't ban the Quran, you shouldn't tear the Quran apart, you shouldn't burn the Quran, you should read it!"

"Where the Taliban in Afghanistan previously used Chinese Kalashnikovs, the terror organization now has American M4 and AR-15 rifles at its disposal, modern weapons with which Islamic terrorism can now not only equip itself on site, but which can also be used in the training of terrorists. The Taliban should thank the US military for the $83 billion it spent over 20 years building and equipping the Afghan army."

"The demise of Afghanistan could have an impact on our security. Leaving jihadists and Taliban supporters undisturbed is completely irresponsible."

"Taliban members and sympathizers should be tracked down by the police and deported, including through online monitoring and local neighborhood searches, Detection will also have to take place when the expected waves of migration from Afghanistan will start."

"For years no one has listened to me and now that it has all gone wrong, they say: Dewinter, how are you going to solve this here?"

"I am not the dr. Phil of Flemish politics."