Browse The Living Book

You cannot serve two masters, my dear friends, not Evil on the one hand and God on the other hand! Bruno Groening (1906)

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. Kahlil Gibran (1883)

All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. Albert Einstein (1879)

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. Licius Annaeus Seneca (4 B.C.E.)

This too shall pass. Sufi Saying

Go within or go without. Mayan (325)

Whoever sees all beings in the soul and the soul in all beings...
What delusion or sorrow is there for one who sees unity?
It has filled all. It is radiant, incorporeal, invulnerable...
Wise, intelligent, encompassing, self-existent,
It organizes objects throughout eternity.
Upanishads (800 B.C.E.)

The perfect man employs his mind as a mirror. It grasps nothing; it refuses nothing. It receives, but does not keep. Chuang Tzu (399 B.C.E.)

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 Dickenson (1830)

Reality is simply the loss of ego. Destroy the ego by seeking its identity. Because the ego is no entity it will automatically vanish and reality will shine forth by itself. Ramana Maharshi (1879)

God dwells in you, as you, and you don't have to 'do' anything to be God-realized or Self-realized, it is already your true and natural state. Just drop all seeking, turn your attention inward, and sacrifice your mind to the One Self radiating in the Heart of your very being. For this to be your own presently lived experience, Self-Inquiry is the one direct and immediate way. Ramana Maharshi (1879)

The almighty Allah judges you neither by your countenance nor your wealth, but by the purity of your hearts and your deeds. Muhammed (570)

Life only demands from you the strength you possess. Only one feat is possible -- not to have run away. Dag Hammarskjold (1905)

If you reveal your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees. Kahlil Gibran (1883)

And watch two men washing clothes, one makes dry clothes wet. The other makes wet clothes dry. They seem to be thwarting each other, but their work is a perfect harmony. Every holy person seems to have a different doctrine and practice, but there's really only one work. Jalal Al Din Rumi (1207)

Marvel at your Lord not only because He has made heaven and the sun, but also because He has made the ant... Consider how prudent the ant is, and consider how God has implanted in so small a body such an increasing desire for work. Psalm 130.I (999 B.C.E.)

Do not despair or cast aside every good hope because your present state is quite unenviable. Rather, turn your thoughts to the blessings already granted you by God and to those reserved by promise for the future. Basil The Great (330)

Oh Great Spirit whose voice I hear in the winds, I come to you as one of your many children. I need your strength and your wisdom. Make me strong not to be superior to my brother, but to be able to fight my greatest enemy; Myself. Chief Dan George, Coast Salish (1899)

The Indian believes profoundly in silence -- the sign of a perfect equilibrium. Silence is the absolute poise or balance of body, mind and spirit. The man who preserves his self-hood is ever calm and unshaken by the storms of existence. What are the fruits of silence? They are self control, true courage or endurance, patience, dignity and reverence. Silence is the cornerstone of character. Ohiyesa (Charles Eastman), Santee Sioux (1858)

We were taught to believe that the Great Spirit sees and hears everything, and that he never forgets, that hereafter he will give every man a spirit home according to his deserts. This I believe, and all my people believe the same. Chief Joseph, Nez Perce (1840)

Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit. Kahlil Gibran (1883)

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Jesus Christ (4 B.C.E.)

By every THOUGHT you mould your SOUL,
Which from the WHOLE exacts a toll,
That will just fill the impressed mould
Which CONTEMPLATION thus does hold.

God your answer is bound to pay;
The law's exact, the same alway.
For GOD is YOU and YOU are HE,
Just like a drop is to the sea.

Know that to think is to create,
And you will love instead of hate;
For when you think you make a mould
The Law will fill, if you but hold.
Retsama (1928)

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. Jim Elliot (1927)

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries,
And daub their natural faces unaware.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806)