All Quotes

"If this world were our abiding place, we might complain that it makes our bed so hard: But it is only our night-quarters on a journey; and who can expect home comforts?"

"The reed bewailed departed bliss and present woe: "Plucked untimely from my native banks, my heart is torn, that through me may sound the notes that charm the grave and gay. Who that hears my strains knows the secret of my bleeding heart?" Not fruitless was the pain of the reed that made it melodious. And thou, brave heart, arise. Be free of every chain, though blazing with gold. Be nobly bold. Follow the true bride of thy life, though her name be Sorrow. Let the shell perish, that the pearl may appear. Men may not know the secret of thy sad life, but through a bruised heart must be breathed the strain of love and hope which shall enrapture human souls."

"As the stranger, far distant in foreign climes, draws towards home, so the soul, from midst of this world of multiplicity, pants and soars upward to the Unity."

"Rabia, sick upon her bed, By two saints was visited, Holy Malik, Hassan wise,— Men of mark in Moslem eyes. Hassan says, "Whose prayer is pure Will God's chastisements endure." Malik, from a deeper sense, Uttered his experience: "He who hears his Master's voice Will in chastisement rejoice."Rabia saw some selfish will In their maxims lingering still, And replied, "O men of grace! He who sees his Master's face, Will not in his prayer recall That he is chastised at all.""

"I once journeyed long, said Dakiki, seeking the souls wherein my friend had mirrored himself,—in the drop of the: bucket to find the sea and its wealth, in the atoms, in the sunbeam, to know the great sun.I came in my wanderings to the shore of ocean, where time and space disappeared from my thought. Seven lights I saw, whose flames lapped the heavens. Again the lights flowed together, the lights joined in one whose splendor cleft the bosom of the skies. Amazed, overcome, I sank to the ground; but when I awoke, instead of the flame, seven persons I see walking on shore. I could not trust my eyes, since; instead of seven men, seven trees come to view. Their peaks transcend the throne-dwelling of God, their roots pierce the inmost recesses of earth and the deeps.But, wonder of wonders over all! to no eyes but mine was the vision revealed. Hundred thousands pass along there, but never one sees the trees and their fruits. A strange spell is upon their organs: they see the mote in the sunbeam, but never the sun.I shout to them, Hither: come here, eat this fruit, living bread you shall find. They laugh at me, call me foolish, giddy, and demented. But I know I don’t dream. Yet never could I hold my senses sound, were it not that every instant the fruits refresh and inspire me.Then of a sudden again the fruits and trees evanish, and seven persons appear before me. Seven blend in one, one flows out and divides into seven."

"Earth receives the seed and guards it, Trustfully it dies: Then what teeming life rewards it, For self-sacrifice. With green leaf and clustering blossom Clad, or golden fruit, See it from earth’s cheerless bosom Ever sunward shoot."

"Hearken to the reed-flute, how it discourses When complaining of the pains of separation; 'Ever since they tore me from my osier-bed, My plaintive notes have moved men and women to tears. I burst my breast striving to give vent to sighs, And to express the pangs of yearning for my home; He who abides far away from his home, Is ever longing for the day he shall return.'"

"Allah!" was all night long the cry of one oppressed with care, Till softened was his heart, and sweet became his lips with prayer. Then near the subtle tempter stole, and spake: "Fond babbler, cease! For not an 'Here am I' has God e'er sent to give thee peace." With sorrow sank the suppliant's soul, and all his senses fled; But, lo! at midnight the good angel Chiser came and said: "What ails thee now, my child, and why art thou afraid to pray? And why thy former love dost thou repent? declare and say." "Ah!" cries he, "never once spake God to me, 'Here am I, son.' Cast off, methinks I am, and warned far from his gracious throne." To whom the angel answered: "Hear the word from God I bear: 'Go tell,' he said, 'yon mourner, sunk in sorrow and despair, Each "Lord, appear!" thy lips pronounce, contains my "Here am I!" A special messenger I send beneath thine every sigh, And, sleeping in thy "Come, O Lord!" there lies "Here, son!" from me.'"

"Love is the water of life; receive it in thy heart and soul."

"None but the sun can display the sun."

"Pants thy spirit to be gifted With a deathless life, Let it seek to be uplifted O’er earth’s storm and strife. Spurn its joys,—its ties dissever, Hopes and fears divest; Thus, aspire to live for ever, Be for ever blest."

"'Tis marvellous by what way thou wentest from the world Thou didst strongly shake thy wings and feathers and having broken thy cage Didst ae to the air and journey towards the world of soul. Thou wert a favourite falcon kept in captivity by an old woman When thou heard’st the falcon-drum, thou didst fly away into the void."

"After all soul is linked to body Though it in nowise resembles the body The power of the light of the eye is mated with fat The light of the heart is hidden in a drop of blood Joy harbours in the kidneys and pain in the liver The lamp of reason in the brains of the head. These connections are not without a why and how But reason is at a loss to understand the how."

"For this cause, O son, the Prince of men declared 'The majority of those in Paradise are the foolish'. Cleverness is as a wind raising storms of pride Be foolish, so that your heart may he at peace."

"This world of illusions, fancies, desires and fears Is a mighty obstacle in the traveller's path. Thus when these forms of delusive imaginations Misled Abraham, who was a very mountain of wisdom. He said of the star 'This is my Lord'. Having fallen into the midst of the world of illusion Seeing then that this world of eye-fascinating illusion Seduced from the right path such a mountain as Abraham. So that he said of the star 'This is my Lord', What will not its illusions effect on a stupid ass?"

"First he appeared in the class of inorganic things, Next he passed therefrom into that of plants, For years he lived as one of the plants, Remembering naught of his inorganic state so different, And when he passed from the vegetive to the animal state He had no remembrance of his state as a plant."

"The prophets chose the better part, futurity. The foolish chose the worst, the world's fatuity. Each bird will flock with birds of its own feather still The cock well knows his mate and follows where she will."

"The lover is a monarch; two worlds lie at his feet; The king pays no heed to what lies at his feet; 'Tis love and the lover that live to all eternity Set not thy heart on aught else; 'tis only borrowed."

"The root of hatred is hell and that hate of yours Is a part of that whole and is the foe of your religion Since you are a part of hell, beware! For the part ever tends towards its whole But if you are a portion of heaven, O renowned one, Your joy will be as lasting as heaven itself."

"Let us seek refuge with Allah from Satan; Alas! we are perishing from his insolence. The dog is one yet he enters a thousand forms; Whatever he enters, straight becomes himself; Whatever makes you shiver, know he is in it, The Devil is hidden beneath its outward form. When he finds no form at hand, he enters your thoughts To cause them to draw you into sin."

"For love of our Almighty God, the Lord of all, Who would not die; a stock, a block, we needs must call."

"Imitate the water-wheel that groans and weeps; By prayers and groans and tears a man his heart pure keeps; Wouldst thou shed tears? Feel pity when thou meetest woe, Wouldst mercy find? Show mercy, when men bow them low."

"How many sparks of fire from flint and steel have flown How many hearts like tinder, make those sparks their own. But in the dark some thief his finger presses there And every train puts out that has been lighted here. Extinguished if those sparks were not, a flame would rise A burning light be kindled, flashing beyond the skies A thousand snares are laid to catch our tripping feet But Lord, if thou us shield, harm never shall us meet. If but Thy grace will guide us, lead us on our way, No thief can steal our peace of mind, our light of day."

"Our celestial spirit is free to eternity, Although for a short time we are imprisoned in forms of flesh."

"The next thing is by gentle degrees to accustom children to those things they are too much afraid of. But here great caution is to be used, that you do not make too much haste, nor attempt this cure too early, for fear lest you increase the mischief instead of remedying it."

"The only thing we are naturally afraid of is pain, or loss of pleasure. And because these are not annexed to any shape, colour, or size of visible objects, we are frighted of none of them, till either we have felt pain from them, or have notions put into us that they will do us harm."

"Since the great foundation of fear is pain, the way to harden and fortify children against fear and danger is to accustom them to suffer pain. This 'tis possible will be thought, by kind parents, a very unnatural thing towards their children; and by most, unreasonable..."

"How much education may reconcile young people to pain and sufference, the examples of Sparta do sufficiently shew; and they who have once brought themselves not to think bodily pain the greatest of evils, or that which they ought to stand most in fear of, have made no small advance toward virtue."

"Inuring children gently to suffer some degrees of pain without shrinking, is a way to gain firmness to their minds, and lay a foundation for courage and resolution in the future part of their lives."

"The softer you find your child is, the more you are to seek occasions, at fit times, thus to harden him. The great art in this is, to begin with what is but very little painful, and to proceed by insensible degrees, when you are playing, and in good humour with him, and speaking well of him: and when you have once got him to think himself made amends for his suffering by the praise is given him for his courage; when he can take pride in giving such marks of his manliness, and can prefer the reputation of being brave and stout, to the avoiding a little pain, or the shrinking under it; you need nor despair in time and by the assistance of his growing reason, to master his timorousness, and mend the weakness of his constitution."

"When by these steps he has got resolution enough not to be deterr'd from what he ought to do, by the apprehension of danger; when fear does not, in sudden or hazardous occurrences, decompose his mind, set his body a-trembling, and make him unfit for action, or run away from it, he has then the courage of a rational creature: and such an hardiness we should endeavour by custom and use to bring children to, as proper occasions come in our way."

"One thing I have frequently observed in children, that when they have got possession of any poor creature, they are apt to use it ill: they often torment, and treat it very roughly, young birds, butterflies, and such other poor animals which fall into their hands, and that with a seeming kind of pleasure. This I think should be watched in them, and if they incline to any such cruelty, they should be taught the contrary usage. For the custom of tormenting and killing of beasts, will, by degrees, harden their minds even towards men; and they will delight in the suffering and destruction of inferior creatures, will not be apt to be very compassionate or benign to those of their own kind. Our practice takes notice of this in the exclusion of butchers from juries of life and death."

"Children should from the beginning be bred up in an abhorrence of killing or tormenting any living creature; and be taught not to spoil or destroy any thing, unless it be for the preservation or advantage of some other that is nobler."

"Truly, if the preservation of all mankind, as much as in him lies, were every one's persuasion, as indeed it is every one's duty, and the true principle to regulate our religion, politicks and morality by, the world would be much quieter, and better natur'd than it is."

"All the entertainment and talk of history is nothing almost but fighting and killing: and the honour and renown that is bestowed on conquerers (who for the most part are but the great butchers of mankind) farther mislead growing youth, who by this means come to think slaughter the laudible business of mankind, and the most heroick of virtues. By these steps unnatural cruelty is planted in us; and what humanity abhors, custom reconciles and recommends to us, by laying it in the way to honour. Thus, by fashioning and opinion, that comes to be a pleasure, which in itself neither is, nor can be any."

"Children should not be suffer'd to lose the consideration of human nature in the shufflings of outward conditions. The more they have, the better humor'd they should be taught to be, and the more compassionate and gentle to those of their brethren who are placed lower, and have scantier portions. If they are suffer'd from their cradles to treat men ill and rudely, because, by their father's title, they think they have a little power over them, at best it is ill-bred; and if care be not taken, will by degrees nurse up their natural pride into an habitual contempt of those beneath them. And where will that probably end but in oppression and cruelty?"

"Mark what 'tis his mind aims at in the question, and not what words he expresses it in: and when you have informed and satisfied him in that, you shall see how his thoughts will enlarge themselves, and how by fit answers he may be led on farther than perhaps you could have imagine. For knowledge is grateful to the understanding, as light to the eyes."

"I doubt not but one great reason why many children abandon themselves wholly to silly sports, and trifle away all their time insipidly, is, because they have found their curiosity baulk'd, and their inquiries neglected. But had they been treated with more kindness and respect, and their questions answered, as they should, to their satisfaction; I doubt not but that they would have taken more pleasure in learning, and improving their knowledge, wherein there would still be newness and variety, which is what they are delighted with, than in returning over and over to the same play and play-things."

"You shall find, that there cannot be a greater spur to the attaining what you would have the eldest learn, and know himself, than to set him upon teaching it his younger brothers and sisters."

"The native and untaught suggestions of inquisitive children do often offer things, that may set a considering man's thoughts on work. And I think there is frequently more to be learn'd from the unexpected questions of a child than the discourses of men, who talk in a road, according to the notions they have borrowed, and the prejudices of their education."

"Encourage therefore his inquisitiveness all you can, by satisfying his demands, and informing his judgement, as far as it is capable. When his reasons are any way tolerable, let him find the credit and commendation of it, without being laugh'd at for his mistake be gently put into the right; and if he shew a forwardness to be reasoning about things that come in his way, take care, as much as you can, that no body check this inclination in him, or mislead it by captious or fallacious ways of talking with him. For when all is done, this is the highest and most important faculty of our minds, deserves the greatest care and attention in cultivating it: the right improvement, and exercise of our reason being the highest perfection that a man can attain to in his life."

"This I think is sufficiently evident, that children generally hate to be idle. All the care then is, that their busy humour should be constantly employ'd in something of use to them; which, if you will attain, you must make what you would have them do a recreation to them, and not a business."

"Enjoin him to play so many hours every day, and look that he do it; and you shall see he will quickly be sick of it; and willing to leave it. By this means making the recreations you dislike a business to him, he will of himself with delight betake himself to those things you would have him do, especially if they be proposed as rewards for having performed the task in that play which is commanded of him."

""How then shall they have the play-games you allow them, if none must be bought for them?" I answer, they should make them themselves, or at least endeavour it, and set themselves about it. ...And if you help them where they are at a stand, it will more endear you to them than any chargeable toys that you shall buy for them."

"Lying... is so ill a quality, and the mother of so many ill ones that spawn from it, and take shelter under it, that a child should be brought up in the greatest abhorrence of it imaginable. It should be always spoke of before him with the utmost detestation, as a quality so wholly inconsistent with the name and character of a gentleman, that no body of any credit can bear the imputation of a lie; a mark that is judg'd in utmost disgrace, which debases a man to the lowest degree of a shameful meanness, and ranks him with the most contemptible part of mankind and the abhorred rascality; and is not to be endured in any one who would converse with people of condition, or have any esteem or reputation in the world."

"To teach him betimes to love and be good-natur'd to others, is to lay early the true foundation of an honest man; all injustice generally springing from too great love of ourselves and too little of others."

"The next good quality belonging to a gentleman, is good breeding [manners]. There are two sorts of ill-breeding: the one a sheepish bashfulness, and the other a mis-becoming negligence and disrespect in our carriage; both of which are avoided by duly observing this one rule, not to think meanly of ourselves, and not to think meanly of others."

"Though the managing ourselves well in this part of our behavior has the name good-breeding, as if a peculiar effect of education; yet... young children should not be much perplexed about it... Teach them humility, and to be good-natur'd, if you can, and this sort of manners will not be wanting; civility being in truth nothing but a care not to shew any slighting or contempt of any one in conversation."

"There cannot be a greater rudeness, than to interrupt another in the current of his discourse... To which, if there be added, as is usual, a correcting of any mistake, or a contradiction of what has been said, it is a mark of yet greater pride and self-conceitedness, when we thus intrude our selves for teachers, and take upon us either to set another right in his story, or shew the mistakes of his judgement."

"I do not say this, that I think there should be no difference of opinions in conversation, nor opposition in men's discourses... 'Tis not the owning one's dissent from another, that I speak against, but the manner of doing it."