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Explore all of the quotations in our Living Book…
Our grand business is, not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.
No one can conquer an enemy without coming in site of him.
I have often said that all the misfortunes of men spring from their not knowing how to live quietly at home, in their own rooms.
We are the creatures of imagination, passion, and self-will, more than of reason, or even of self-interest… Even in the common transactions and daily intercourse of life, we are governed by whim, caprice, prejudice or accident. The falling of a teacup puts us out of temper for the day.
Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow; he who would search for pearls must dive below.
The mind is never right but when it is at peace within itself: the spirit is in heaven even while it is in the flesh, if it be emptied of its imperfections, and taken up with divine thoughts and contemplation.
I would have nobody to control me; I would be absolute… Now, he that is absolute can do what he likes; he that can do what he likes can take his pleasure; he that can take his pleasure can be content; and he that can be content has no more to desire. So the matter is over, and come what will, I am satisfied.
Say nothing more to yourself than what the first appearances report. Suppose that it has been reported to you that a certain person speaks ill of you. This has been reported, but that you have been injured has not been reported… Thus then always abide by the first appearances, and add nothing yourself from within, and then nothing hurtful happens to you.
It is natural for great minds — the true teachers of humanity — to care little about the constant company of others, just as little as the schoolmaster cares for joining in the frolic of the noisy crowd of boys which surrounds him. The mission of these great minds is to guide mankind over the sea of error to the harbor of truth, to draw men back from the dark abyss of barbarous crudeness into the light of culture and refinement.
Whatever thou doest, whatever thou eatest, do all as if for me.
He who ascends to this height has all things under his feet.
If we turn our minds towards the good, it is impossible that little by little the whole soul will not be attracted thereto in spite of itself.
The thoughts that come often unsought, and, as it were, drop into the mind, are commonly the most valuable of any we have.
Nothing is more delightful than the light of truth.
When we first seek the truth, we think we are far from it. When we discover that the truth is already in us, we are all at once our original self. If we watch the shore from a boat, it seems that the shore is moving. But when we watch the boat directly, we know it is the boat that is moving. If we look at the world with a deluded body and mind, we will think that our self is permanent. But if we practice correctly and return to our true self, we will realize that nothing is permanent.
Endeavour to be inclined always:
not to the easiest, but to the most difficult;
not to the most delightful, but to the most distasteful;
not to the most gratifying, but to the less pleasant;
not to what means rest for you, but to hard work;
not to the consoling, but to the unconsoling;
not to the most, but to the least;
not to the highest and most precious, but to the lowest and most despised;
not to wanting something but to wanting nothing.
Resign yourself to the sequence of things, forgetting the changes of life, and you shall enter into the pure, the divine, the One.
Always check your inner state
with the lord of your heart.
Copper doesn’t know it’s copper,
until it’s changed to gold.
Your loving doesn’t know its majesty,
until it knows its helplessness.
If the beloved is everywhere,
the lover is a veil,
but when living itself becomes
the Friend, lovers disappear.
There is a remedy for every wrong and a satisfaction for every soul.
What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. That is the entire Law. All the rest is commentary.
