The blizzard of the world has crossed the threshold and it’s overturned the order of the soul…
—Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) Canadian Singer, Songwriter, Poet, Novelist
One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and, if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
Who can map out the various forces at play in one soul? Man is a great depth, O Lord. The hairs of his head are easier by far to count than his feeling, the movements of his heart.
—Augustine of Hippo (354–430) Roman-African Christian Philosopher
The countenance is the portrait of the soul, and the eyes mark its intentions.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
It is the soul’s duty to be loyal to its own desires. It must abandon itself to its master passion.
—Rebecca West (1892–1983) English Author, Journalist, Literary Critic
There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919) American Poet, Journalist
It is heartening to realize that although we may crave comfort and routine, we nourish the soul’s growth primarily through what is hard. As Darwin saw it, it’s not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but those who are most responsive to change.
—Robert Cooper (b.1947) British Diplomat
The care of every man’s soul belongs to himself. But what if he neglect the care of it? Well what if he neglect the care of his health or his estate, which would more nearly relate to the state. Will the magistrate make a law that he not be poor or sick? Laws provide against injury from others; but not from ourselves. God himself will not save men against their wills.
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) American Head of State, Lawyer
A smile is a light in the window of the soul indicating that the heart is at home.
—Unknown
To this military attitude of the soul we give the name of Heroism… It is a self-trust which slights the restraints of prudence, in the plenitude of its energy and power to repair the harms it may suffer. The hero is a mind of such balance that no disturbances can shake his will…
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
We must no more ask whether the soul and body are one than ask whether the wax and the figure impressed on it are one.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
The soul never thinks without a mental picture.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
A little body often harbors a great soul.
—Common Proverb
Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Little, indeed, does it concern us in this our mortal stage, to inquire whence the spirit hath come; but of what infinite concern is the consideration whither it is going. Surely such consideration demands the study of a life.
—Robert South (1634–1716) English Theologian, Preacher
How shall the soul of a man be larger than the life he has lived?
—Edgar Lee Masters (1869–1950) American Poet, Novelist
Each man has his own vocation. The talent is the call. There is one direction in which all space is open to him. He has faculties silently inviting him thither to endless exertion. He is like a ship in a river; he runs against obstructions on every side but one; on that side all obstruction is taken away, and he sweeps serenely over a deepening channel into an infinite sea. This talent and this call depend on his organization, or the mode in which the general soul incarnates itself in him. He inclines to do something which is easy to him, and good when it is done, but which no other man can do. He has no rival. For the more truly he consults his own powers, the more difference will his work exhibit from the work of any other. His ambition is exactly proportioned to his powers. The height of the pinnacle is determined by the breadth of the base. Every man has this call of the power to do somewhat unique, and no man has any other call. The pretence that he has another call, a summons by name and personal election and outward “signs that mark him extraordinary, and not in the roll of common men,” is fanaticism, and betrays obtuseness to perceive that there is one mind in all the individuals, and no respect of persons therein.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Fear must be entirely banished. The purified soul will fear nothing.
—Plotinus (c.205–270 CE) Greek Philosopher, Founder of Neoplatonism
The heroic soul does not sell its justice and its nobleness.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
You must always learn to see yourself as a great advancing soul.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author
Go, Soul, the body
—Walter Raleigh (1552–1618) English Courtier, Navigator, Poet
Just imagine you’re four years old, and someone makes the following proposal: If you’ll wait until after he runs an errand, you can have two marshmallows for a treat. If you can’t wait until then, you can have only one—but you can have it right now. It is a challenge sure to try the soul of any four-year-old, a microcosm of the eternal battle between impulse and restraint, id and ego, desire and self-control, gratification and delay… There is perhaps no psychological skill more fundamental than resisting impulse. It is the root of all emotional self-control, since all emotions, by their very nature, led to one or another impulse to act.
—Daniel Goleman (b.1946) American Psychologist, Author, Science Journalist
From the looks not the lips the soul speaks.
—Unknown
The soul refuses limits and always affirms an optimism, never a pessimism.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
I am fully convinced that the soul is indestructible, and that its activity will continue through eternity. It is like the sun, which, to our eyes, seems to set in night; but it has in reality only gone to diffuse its light elsewhere.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
The soul that is attached to anything however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of divine union. For whether it be a strong wire rope or a slender and delicate thread that holds the bird, it matters not, if it really holds it fast; for, until the cord be broken the bird cannot fly.
—John of the Cross (1542–1591) Spanish Roman Catholic Mystic
A leader will find it difficult to articulate a coherent vision unless it expresses his core values, his basic identity…one must first embark on the formidable journey of self-discovery in order to create a vision with authentic soul.
—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1934–2021) Hungarian-American Psychologist
As far as I know, everyone feels fear as he or she moves forward through life. It is absolutely possible that there are some evolved souls in this world who never experience fear, but I have not met them.
—Susan Jeffers (1938–2012) American Psychologist, Self-Help Author
The destiny of man is in his own soul.
—Herodotus (c.485–425 BCE) Ancient Greek Historian
Obey your soul, have perfect faith in yourself. Never think of yourself with doubt or distrust, or as one who makes mistakes.
—Wallace Wattles (1860–1911) American New Thought Author