Spiritual Wisdom Quotes

My thoughts and favorites are here.

If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain. – Emily Dickinson

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Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy. – H.L. Mencken, 1916

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Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence. – Richard Dawkins

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This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness. – Dalai Lama

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“For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.” –
Thích Nhất Hạnh, Being Peace

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Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life. – Buddha

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. – Buddha

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting. – Buddha

No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path. – Buddha

Doubt everything. Find your own light. – Buddha

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The church says the earth is flat; but I have seen its shadow on the moon, and I have more confidence even in a shadow than in the church. – Ferdinand Magellan

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I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. – Galileo Galilei
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Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul. – Mark Twain

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Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding. – Albert Einstein



If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed. – Albert Einstein

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May we be our own judges after death? A possibility in my eyes. Wouldn’t it be awesome to die meet god have him give us his knowledge and let us judge for ourselves. ― Antipathy17

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I believe the universe is governed by the laws of science. The laws may have been decreed by God, but God does not intervene to break the laws. – Stephen Hawking

Science is increasingly answering questions that used to be the province of religion. – Stephen Hawking

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When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said ‘Let us pray.’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land. – Desmond Tutu

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Jesus is ideal and wonderful, but you Christians – you are not like him. – Mahatma Gandhi

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Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. – Lucius Annaeus Seneca

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The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion. – Thomas Paine

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Ignorance is preferable to error, and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing than he who believes what is wrong.
-Thomas Jefferson (Notes on Virginia, 1782)
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The more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself. – Richard Burton
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All religion, my friend, is simply evolved out of fraud, fear, greed, imagination, and poetry. – Edgar Allan Poe

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Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich. – Napoleon Bonaparte

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There is no higher religion than human service. To work for the common good is the greatest creed. – Woodrow Wilson

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I Am My Brother's Keeper...

a reply to: Wombocracy

Originally posted by Wombocracy

"When one seeks [truth] one will find it. When one finds he will be disturbed [at first]. Then he will Marvel, and will reign over all."

Paraphrased from the Gospel of Thomas with clarification in brackets.

"Reign over all" does not mean, I would imagine, becoming the ruler of the world. You will probably not see any point in that type of reigning upon finding the Truth and by knowing the Truth and being set free you can no longer be reigned over and that is the Kingdom of God. You only answer to God so who can claim to (truthfully) rule you now!

Absolutely; Ruling over something in a negative fashion just wouldn’t fit the rest of Jesus teachings…

Knowing you’re a part of it and are moving through it in a beautiful symphony of perfection, is how one Rules with it, and by it…

Here’s a great quote regarding the Mind and THE ALL…

Three Initiates, The Kybalion
“Do not make the mistake of supposing that the little world you see around you - the Earth, which is a mere grain of dust in the Universe - is the Universe itself. There are millions upon millions of such worlds, and greater. And there are millions of millions of such Universes in existence within the Infinite Mind of THE ALL”

- JC

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

That’s quite an eclectic taste of quotes you have there Buzzy…

Thanks for sharing…

You've reminded me of a few of the "quote giants" out there...


- JC

I've’ been thinking about spiritual quotes from movies too and from music recently…

Going with movies, Here are some quotes from the Wise Master himself…



“Many of the truths that we cling to depend on our point of view.”

“Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not. Attachment leads to jealously. The shadow of greed, that is.”

“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.”

“Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes. Even between the land and the ship.”

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”

“You will know (the good from the bad) when you are calm, at peace. Passive. A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defence, never for attack.”

Yoda…


- JC

" There’s always a bigger fish." - Qui-Gon Jinn

"I hate a liar more than a thief...a thief is only after my salary, a liar is after my reality."

" Don't burn bridges my friend, imagine one closed and then you had to swim."

C.Jackson

"A very fine line exists between insanity and genius."

I think Einstein.

"As above, so below."

Osiris

"Fredo... You're My Older Brother And I Love You. But Don't Ever Take Sides With Anyone Against The Family Again! Ever!" ~Michael Corleone

"Honestly!" ~Pinocchio

a reply to: Pinocchio

Originally posted by Pinocchio
I Am My Brother's Keeper...

You mean this…




Reminds me of this…

“Each day we must help our brethren for whom we are responsible, for one day God will say, ‘Where is thy Brother?’ Accept no reward, always be a pillar of the Temple, for all the Order holds for us is the opportunity to flee the sins of the world, to live charitably, to be penitent, and above all, to be the servant of Almighty God.”

- JC

Earlier I quoted a teaching story I had forgotten the verbatim story

Here is the story in the original from the Book by Idries Shah, The Sufis


The Creed of Love

One went to the door of the Beloved and knocked.
A voice asked, “Who is there?”
He answered, “It is I.”
The voice said, There is no room for Me and Thee.” The door was shut.
After a year of solitude and deprivation he returned and knocked.
A voice said, “Who is there?
The man said, “It is Thee.”
The door was opened for him

Jalaludin Rumi

Sufi Wisdom


Fishes, asking what water was, went to a wise fish. He told them that it was all around them, yet they still thought that they were thirsty
Nasafi


There are three forms of culture: worldly culture, the mere acquisition of information; religious culture, following rules; elite culture, self-development.
Hujwiri


I asked a child, walking with a candle, “From where comes that light?”
Instantly he blew it out. “ Tell me where it has gone—then I will tell you where it came from.”
Hasan of Basra


Even though you tie a hundred knots—the string remains one
Rumi

When you are still fragmented---lacking certainty (guidance)—what difference does it make what your decisions are?
Sanai


Deeper into the ocean


True devotion is for itself. Not to desire heaven nor to fear hell
Rabia Al Adawiya

Deep in the ocean are riches beyond compare.
But if you seek safety, it is on the shore
Saddi

In an instant, rise from time and space. Set the world aside and become a world within yourself
Shabiastri

The words used to denote states;
in Sufism are mere approximations
Kalabadhi


The ordinary man repents of his sins;
the elect repent of their heedlessness.
Dhul-Nun

I practice the religion of love
my faith and my religion is love
my father is love
my mother is love
my prophet is love
my God is love
I'm a child of love
I've come to speak of nothing...
but Love!
Rumi

My heart has become capable of all forms:
A pasture for gazelles, a monastery for monks,
A temple for idols, the Kabah of the pilgrims,
The tablets of Torah, the Book of Quran.
I profess the religion of Love.
Whatever direction love’s camels take,
That is my religion and my faith.
Ibn Arabi,

a reply to: Joecroft

I Am Servant Of A King! I Do No Wrong!
I Am Honored In The Honor That Is My Service To The First Born!
It Is My Life's Honor To Serve My King! It Is My Good Fortune That He Is My Brother... And That I Am A Servant. Let God Do As He Wills... For I Do What Is Commanded Of Me.
I Am A Servant! There Is No Light... But Mine.