In the spiritual world there are no time divisions such as the past, present and future; for they have contracted themselves into a single moment of the present where life quivers in its true sense. The past and the future are both rolled up in this present moment of illumination, and this present moment is not something standing still with all its contents, for it ceaselessly moves on.
—D. T. Suzuki (1870–1966) Japanese Buddhist Philosopher
There are some people who have the quality of richness and joy in them and they communicate it to everything they touch. It is first of all a physical quality; then it is a quality of the spirit.
—Thomas Wolfe (1900–38) American Novelist
Pure Spirit, one hundred degrees proof—that’s a drink that only the most hardened contemplation-guzzlers indulge in. Bodhisattvas dilute their Nirvana with equal parts of love and work.
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963) English Humanist, Pacifist, Essayist, Short Story Writer, Satirist
Without the spiritual world the material world is a disheartening enigma.
—Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) French Writer, Moralist
I would describe my spirituality as exactly the opposite of having a religious affiliation.
—Bill Maher (b.1956) American Comedian, TV Personality, Social Critic, Author, Actor
He who interrupts the course of his spiritual exercises and prayer is like a man who allows a bird to escape from his hand; he can hardly catch it again.
—John of the Cross (1542–1591) Spanish Roman Catholic Mystic
You must have failed deeply on some level or experienced some deep loss or pain to be drawn to the spiritual dimension. Or perhaps your very success became empty and meaningless and so turned out to be a failure.
—Eckhart Tolle (b.1948) German Spiritual Writer, Public Speaker, Spiritual Teacher
The possibility of stepping into a higher plane is quite real for everyone. It requires no force or effort or sacrifice. It involves little more than changing our ideas about what is normal.
—Deepak Chopra (b.1946) Indian-born American Physician, Public Speaker, Writer
Nothing is more repulsive than a furtively prurient spirituality; it is just as unsavory as gross sensuality.
—Carl Gustav Jung (1875–1961) Swiss Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Philosopher
To win true peace, a man needs to feel himself directed, pardoned, and sustained by a supreme power, to feel himself in the right road, at the point where God would have him be – in order with God and the universe. This faith gives strength and calm.
—Henri Frederic Amiel (1821–81) Swiss Moral Philosopher, Poet, Critic
The most spiritual human beings, assuming they are the most courageous, also experience by far the most painful tragedies: but it is precisely for this reason that they honor life, because it brings against them its most formidable weapons.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
Every spirit makes its house, but as afterwards the house confines the spirit, you had better build well.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
Although the act of nurturing another’s spiritual growth has the effect of nurturing one’s own, a major characteristic of genuine love is that the distinction between oneself and the other is always maintained and preserved.
—M. Scott Peck (1936–2005) American Psychiatrist, Author
Sages speak of the immutable Tree of Life, with its tape root above and its branches below.
—The Bhagavad Gita Hindu Scripture
The great awareness comes slowly, piece by piece. The path of spiritual growth is a path of lifelong learning. The experience of spiritual power is basically a joyful one.
—M. Scott Peck (1936–2005) American Psychiatrist, Author
When you examine the lives of the most influential people who have ever walked among us, you discover one thread that winds through them all. They have been aligned first with their spiritual nature and only then with their physical selves.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
I don’t have any idea of who or what God is. But I do believe in some great spiritual power. I feel it particularly when I’m out in nature. It’s just something that’s bigger and stronger than what I am or what anybody is. I feel it. And it’s enough for me.
—Jane Goodall (b.1934) British Primatologist, Conservationist
The spirit’s foe in man has not been simplicity, but sophistication.
—George Santayana (1863–1952) Spanish-American Poet, Philosopher
Don’t you believe that there is in man a deep so profound as to be hidden even to him in whom it is?
—Augustine of Hippo (354–430) Roman-African Christian Philosopher
The spirit of man is more important than mere physical strength, and the spiritual fiber of a nation more than its wealth
—Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American Head of State, Military Leader
You cannot travel the path until you have become the path itself.
—Buddhist Teaching
There is no easy formula for determining right and wrong livelihood, but it is essential to keep the question alive. To return the sense of dignity and honor to manhood, we have to stop pretending that we can make a living at something that is trivial or destructive and still have sense of legitimate self-worth. A society in which vocation and job are separated for most people gradually creates an economy that is often devoid of spirit, one that frequently fills our pocketbooks at the cost of emptying our souls.
—Sam Keen
You cannot believe in honor until you have achieved it. Better keep yourself clean and bright: you are the window through which you must see the world.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
The mind that does not understand is the Buddha. There is no other.
—Buddhist Teaching
The spiritual is the parent of the practical.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
The adept may reach one of those rare moments that spell illumination—aware of the light of the consciousness that illumines our consciousness as the sun dawns on the sleeping earth and bathes it in effulgence.
—Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan (1916–2004) British Sufi Mystic, Religious Leader, Psychologist
Science has proof without any certainty. Creationists have certainty without any proof.
—Ashley Montagu (1905–1999) British-American Anthropologist
Not by might, or power, but by my spirit, says the Lord.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Impart as much as you can of your spiritual being to those who are on the road with you, and accept as something precious what comes back to you from them.
—Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French Theologian, Musician, Philosopher, Physician
Amazing moments—when you seem to know something beyond what you know and to understand things you don’t understand—can’t be understood in this life.
—Jane Goodall (b.1934) British Primatologist, Conservationist
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