Opening the book…
Opening the book…
Belief, doubt, and what helps us live with uncertainty.
“What do you believe in that you cannot prove? How did you come to it, and what does it ask of you?”
Related passages from different traditions. Read them together, or follow a question that interests you.
Faith as surrender to a power greater than the self—God, the Tao, dharma—especially when circumstances are hardest.
32 passages · 9 traditions
Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, Job 1:21, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
In the Way of Heaven, there is no partiality of love; it is always on the side of the good man.
He wholly applied himself, as to righteousness in all his actions, so to the common nature in all things that should happen unto him. And contenting himself with these two things, to do all things justly, and whatsoever God doth send to like well of it: what others shall either say or think of him, or shall do against him, he doth not so much as trouble his thoughts with it.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 10.XII, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
And strain not thine eye after what We have bestowed on divers of them-the braveries of this world-that we may thereby prove them. The portion which thy Lord will give, is better and more lasting.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 20:131, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, Job 13:15, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
O friend, never strike sail to a fear! Come into port greatly, or sail with God the seas.
— Transcendentalism · Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, Heroism §13, 1844 ↗
Cultivating an interior stability—through soul, reason, or equanimity—that remains unshaken by fortune, pain, or death.
44 passages · 6 traditions
Our spirit finds its larger self in the whole world, and is filled with an absolute certainty that it is immortal. It dies a hundred times in its enclosures of self; for separateness is doomed to die, it cannot be made eternal. But it never can die where it is one with the all, for there is its truth, its joy.
— The turn of the century · Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, V (preceding chapter VI), 1913 ↗
Let death surprise me when it will, and where it will, I may be εὔμοιρος, or a happy man, nevertheless. For he is a happy man, who in his lifetime dealeth unto himself a happy lot and portion. A happy lot and portion is, good inclinations of the soul, good desires, good actions.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.XXX, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
One's own self conquered is better than all other people; not even a god, a Gandharva, not Mara with Brahman could change into defeat the victory of a man who has vanquished himself, and always lives under restraint.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 8.v.104–105, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
The spiritual demand to labor, serve, and give faithfully—without attachment to outcome, recognition, or recompense.
32 passages · 10 traditions
But thou, want not! ask not! Find full reward Of doing right in right! Let right deeds be Thy motive, not the fruit which comes from them. And live in action! Labour! Make thine acts Thy piety, casting all self aside, Contemning gain and merit; equable In good or evil: equability Is Yog, is piety!
— Hinduism · Bhagavad Gita, 2, tr. Edwin Arnold, 1885 ↗
Let not to get a living be thy trade, but thy sport. Enjoy the land, but own it not. Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and selling, and spending their lives like serfs.
— Transcendentalism · Henry David Thoreau, Walden, and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, Baker Farm, 1854 ↗
The mere being worthy of happiness can interest of itself even without the motive of participating in this happiness.
— The Enlightenment · Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, SEC_3 — Of the Interest attaching to the Ideas of Morality, tr. Thomas Kingsmill Abbott, 1873 ↗
Passages on how suffering, trial, and mortality reveal or deepen what we truly believe and who we truly are.
30 passages · 6 traditions
I had reached the point, at which I was _not afraid to die_. This spirit made me a freeman in _fact_, while I remained a slave in _form_. When a slave cannot be flogged he is more than half free.
— Transcendentalism · Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom, Chapter XVII, 1855 ↗
It is true, that a little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion. For while the mind of man looketh upon second causes scattered, it may sometimes rest in them, and go no further; but when it beholdeth the chain of them, confederate and linked together, it must needs fly to Providence and Deity.
— Renaissance humanism · Francis Bacon, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral, Of Atheism, 1625 ↗
Our life, like a river, strikes its banks not to find itself closed in by them, but to realise anew every moment that it has its unending opening towards the sea. It is a poem that strikes its metre at every step not to be silenced by its rigid regulations, but to give expression every moment to the inner freedom of its harmony.
— The turn of the century · Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, IV (opening), 1913 ↗
Warnings against hollow profession, double-mindedness, and the gap between claimed belief and lived integrity.
28 passages · 7 traditions
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, Matthew 6:24, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
Between ourselves, I have ever observed supercelestial opinions and subterranean manners to be of singular accord.
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Book III (final chapter), tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
The sacredness which attaches to the act of creation, the act of thought, is instantly transferred to the record. The poet chanting was felt to be a divine man. Henceforth the chant is divine also. The writer was a just and wise spirit. Henceforward it is settled the book is perfect; as love of the hero corrupts into worship of his statue. Instantly the book becomes noxious. The guide is a tyrant.
— Transcendentalism · Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, The American Scholar, 1844 ↗
The sense that one's inner moral record is always being weighed—by God, heaven, karma, or one's own conscience—and cannot be hidden.
26 passages · 7 traditions
And whosoever shall have wrought an atom's weight of good shall behold it, And whosoever shall have wrought an atom's weight of evil shall behold it.
All such sentiments suppose the idea of some other being, who is the natural judge of the person that feels them; and it is only by sympathy with the decisions of this arbiter of his conduct, that he can conceive, either the triumph of self-applause, or the shame of self-condemnation.
— The Enlightenment · Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Part IV (preceding Part V), 1759 ↗
That no burdened soul shall bear the burdens of another, And that nothing shall be reckoned to a man but that for which he hath made efforts: And that his efforts shall at last be seen in their true light: That then he shall be recompensed with a most exact recompense.
Faith expressed not as settled certainty but as earnest, ongoing inquiry—seeking truth, tradition, or the Tao with humility.
29 passages · 7 traditions
I am not one who was born in the possession of knowledge; I am one who is fond of antiquity, and earnest in seeking it there.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 7.19, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
let thy house be a house of meeting for the Sages and sit in the very dust of their feet, and drink in their words with thirst.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 1:4, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
When you pray, do not make your prayer something automatic, but a plea for compassion before God.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 2:13, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
They who know of no purer sources of truth, who have traced up its stream no higher, stand, and wisely stand, by the Bible and the Constitution, and drink at it there with reverence and humanity; but they who behold where it comes trickling into this lake or that pool, gird up their loins once more, and continue their pilgrimage toward its fountain-head.
We created man: and we know what his soul whispereth to him, and we are closer to him than his neck-vein.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 50:16, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, Proverbs 3:5-6, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
Either there is a God, and then all is well; or if all things go by chance and fortune, yet mayest thou use thine own providence in those things that concern thee properly; and then art thou well.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 9.XXVI, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
so man, when he resteth and assureth himself, upon divine protection and favor, gathered a force and faith, which human nature in itself could not obtain. Therefore, as atheism is in all respects hateful, so in this, that it depriveth human nature of the means to exalt itself, above human frailty.
— Renaissance humanism · Francis Bacon, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral, Of Atheism, 1625 ↗
Then verily along with trouble cometh ease. Verily along with trouble cometh ease. But when thou art set at liberty, then prosecute thy toil. And seek thy Lord with fervour.
Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, Psalms 27:14, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, Psalms 23:4, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
Give what thou wilt, and take away what thou wilt, saith he that is well taught and truly modest, to Him that gives, and takes away. And it is not out of a stout and peremptory resolution, that he saith it, but in mere love, and humble submission.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 10.XVI, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
"And who," said he, "despaireth of the mercy of his Lord, but they who err?"
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 15:56, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
We will not burden a soul beyond its power: and with us is a book, which speaketh the truth; and they shall not be wronged.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 23:62, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
Despair not! give Me lower service! seek To reach Me, worshipping with steadfast will; And, if thou canst not worship steadfastly, Work for Me, toil in works pleasing to Me! For he that laboureth right for love of Me Shall finally attain!
— Hinduism · Bhagavad Gita, 12, tr. Edwin Arnold, 1885 ↗
Only by fullest service, perfect faith, And uttermost surrender am I known And seen, and entered into, Indian Prince!
— Hinduism · Bhagavad Gita, 11, tr. Edwin Arnold, 1885 ↗
Every soul shall taste of death: and for trial will we prove you with evil and with good; and unto Us shall ye be brought back.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 21:35, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
Now to set a certain time to every man's acting, belongs unto him only, who as first he was of thy composition, so is now the cause of thy dissolution. As for thyself; thou hast to do with neither. Go thy ways then well pleased and contented: for so is He that dismisseth thee.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 12.XXVII, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
Verily, man's lot is cast amid destruction, Save those who believe and do the things which be right, and enjoin truth and enjoin stedfastness on each other.
The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, Psalms 27:1, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
give to Him of that which is His, for you and that which is yours is His; and thus it says with regards to David: 'for everything comes from You, and from Your own hand have we given you.'
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 3:7, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
Everything is foreseen yet freedom of choice is granted, And the world is judged with goodness; And everything is in accordance with the preponderance of works.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 3:15, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
But, if in this Thy faint heart fails, bring Me thy failure! find Refuge in Me! let fruits of labour go, Renouncing hope for Me, with lowliest heart, So shalt thou come.
— Hinduism · Bhagavad Gita, 12, tr. Edwin Arnold, 1885 ↗
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, Matthew 6:34, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
But he who shall have done the things that are right and is a believer, shall fear neither wrong nor loss.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 20:112, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
Our daily worship of God is not really the process of gradual acquisition of him, but the daily process of surrendering ourselves, removing all obstacles to union and extending our consciousness of him in devotion and service, in goodness and in love.
— The turn of the century · Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, VIII, 1913 ↗
As we say commonly, The physician hath prescribed unto this man, riding; unto another, cold baths; unto a third, to go barefoot: so it is alike to say, The nature of the universe hath prescribed unto this man sickness, or blindness, or some loss, or damage or some such thing... These therefore let us accept of in like manner, as we do those that are prescribed unto us our physicians. For them also in themselves shall we find to contain many harsh things, but we nevertheless, in hope of health, and recovery, accept of them.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.VIII, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, Psalms 51:17, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
from my earliest recollections of serious matters, I date the entertainment of something like an ineffaceable conviction, that slavery would not always be able to hold me within its foul embrace; and this conviction, like a word of living faith, strengthened me through the darkest trials of my lot.
— Transcendentalism · Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom, Chapter IX (preceding Chapter X), 1855 ↗
Be certain none can perish, trusting Me! / O Pritha's Son! whoso will turn to Me, / Though they be born from the very womb of Sin, / Woman or man; sprung of the Vaisya caste / Or lowly disregarded Sudra,--all / Plant foot upon the highest path;
— Hinduism · Bhagavad Gita, 9, tr. Edwin Arnold, 1885 ↗
All our egoistic impulses, our selfish desires, obscure our true vision of the soul. For they only indicate our own narrow self. When we are conscious of our soul, we perceive the inner being that transcends our ego and has its deeper affinity with the All.
— The turn of the century · Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, II, 1913 ↗
Death is a cessation from the impression of the senses, the tyranny of the passions, the errors of the mind, and the servitude of the body.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.XXVI, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
As rain does not break through a well-thatched house, passion will not break through a well-reflecting mind.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 1.v.14, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
The sovereign soul Of him who lives self-governed and at peace Is centred in itself, taking alike Pleasure and pain; heat, cold; glory and shame.
— Hinduism · Bhagavad Gita, 6, tr. Edwin Arnold, 1885 ↗
Through all the sorrow of the Sorrow Songs there breathes a hope—a faith in the ultimate justice of things. The minor cadences of despair change often to triumph and calm confidence. Sometimes it is faith in life, sometimes a faith in death, sometimes assurance of boundless justice in some fair world beyond. But whichever it is, the meaning is always clear: that sometime, somewhere, men will judge men by their souls and not by their skins.
— The turn of the century · W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk, Of the Sorrow Songs, 1903 ↗
Thou must not in matter of death carry thyself scornfully, but as one that is well pleased with it, as being one of those things that nature hath appointed. For what thou dost conceive of these, of a boy to become a young man, to wax old, to grow, to ripen, to get teeth, or a beard, or grey hairs to beget, to bear, or to be delivered; or what other action soever it be, that is natural unto man according to the several seasons of his life; such a thing is it also to be dissolved.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 9.III, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
Within us we have a hope which always walks in front of our present narrow experience; it is the undying faith in the infinite in us; it will never accept any of our disabilities as a permanent fact; it sets no limit to its own scope; it dares to assert that man has oneness with God; and its wild dreams become true every day.
— The turn of the century · Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, III — The Problem of Evil, 1913 ↗
What is it then that shall always be remembered? all is vanity. What is it that we must bestow our care and diligence upon? even upon this only: that our minds and wills be just; that our actions be charitable; that our speech be never deceitful, or that our understanding be not subject to error; that our inclination be always set to embrace whatsoever shall happen unto us, as necessary, as usual, as ordinary.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 4.XXVIII, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
See to it only that thyself is here;--and art and nature, hope and fate, friends, angels, and the Supreme Being, shall not be absent from the chamber where thou sittest.
— Transcendentalism · Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, Heroism §12, 1844 ↗
Let the wise man guard his thoughts, for they are difficult to perceive, very artful, and they rush wherever they list: thoughts well guarded bring happiness.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 3.v.36, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
Instinct almost never fails. An animal instinctively knows a poisonous herb from an edible one, but its instinct is limited to one or two things; it works like a machine. Then comes the higher state of knowledge, which is fallible, makes mistakes often, but has a larger scope, although it is slow, and this you call reason. It is much larger than instinct, but there are more dangers of mistake in reasoning than in instinct. There is a still higher state of the mind, the super-conscious, which belongs only to the Yogis, men who have cultivated it. This is as infallible as instinct, and still more unlimited than reason.
— The turn of the century · Swami Vivekananda, Jnâna Yoga, PRAKRITI AND PURUSHA, 1907 ↗
The soul which is not moved, The soul that with a strong and constant calm Takes sorrow and takes joy indifferently, Lives in the life undying!
— Hinduism · Bhagavad Gita, 2, tr. Edwin Arnold, 1885 ↗
There is nothing more wretched than that soul, which in a kind of circuit compasseth all things, searching even the very depths of the earth; and by all signs and conjectures prying into the very thoughts of other men's souls; and yet of this, is not sensible, that it is sufficient for a man to apply himself wholly, and to confine all his thoughts and cares to the tendance of that spirit which is within him.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 2.XI, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
The one thing in the world of value is the active soul,--the soul, free, sovereign, active. This every man is entitled to; this every man contains within him, although in almost all men obstructed, and as yet unborn.
— Transcendentalism · Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, The American Scholar, 1844 ↗
Whensoever by some present hard occurrences thou art constrained to be in some sort troubled and vexed, return unto thyself as soon as may be, and be not out of tune longer than thou must needs. For so shalt thou be the better able to keep thy part another time, and to maintain the harmony, if thou dost use thyself to this continually; once out, presently to have recourse unto it, and to begin again.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.IX, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
It is in my power concerning this thing that is happened, what soever it be, to conceit that which is right and true. If it be, why then am I troubled? Those things that are without my understanding, are nothing to it at all: and that is it only, which doth properly concern me.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.II, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
What the superior man seeks, is in himself. What the mean man seeks, is in others.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 15.20, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
He that preferreth before all things his rational part and spirit, and the sacred mysteries of virtue which issueth from it, he shall never lament and exclaim, never sigh; he shall never want either solitude or company: and which is chiefest of all, he shall live without either desire or fear.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 3.VIII, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
Philosophy doth consist in this, for a man to preserve that spirit which is within him, from all manner of contumelies and injuries, and above all pains or pleasures; never to do anything either rashly, or feignedly, or hypocritically: wholly to depend from himself and his own proper actions: all things that happen unto him to embrace contentedly, as coming from Him from whom he himself also came; and above all things, with all meekness and a calm cheerfulness, to expect death, as being nothing else but the resolution of those elements, of which every creature is composed.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 2.XV, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.
— Transcendentalism · Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, Self-Reliance, §4, 1844 ↗
The wise are free from perplexities; the virtuous from anxiety; and the bold from fear.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 9.28, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
He unto whom--self-centred--grief and joy Sound as one word; to whose deep-seeing eyes The clod, the marble, and the gold are one; Whose equal heart holds the same gentleness For lovely and unlovely things, firm-set, Well-pleased in praise and dispraise; satisfied With honour or dishonour; unto friends And unto foes alike in tolerance; Detached from undertakings,--he is named Surmounter of the Qualities!
— Hinduism · Bhagavad Gita, 14, tr. Edwin Arnold, 1885 ↗
When internal examination discovers nothing wrong, what is there to be anxious about, what is there to fear?
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 12.4, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 1.v.2, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
Such as thy thoughts and ordinary cogitations are, such will thy mind be in time. For the soul doth as it were receive its tincture from the fancies, and imaginations. Dye it therefore and thoroughly soak it with the assiduity of these cogitations.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.XV, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
From Apollonius, true liberty, and unvariable steadfastness, and not to regard anything at all, though never so little, but right and reason: and always, whether in the sharpest pains, or after the loss of a child, or in long diseases, to be still the same man.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 1.V, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
The soul has neither pleasure nor pain; it is the Witness of everything, the eternal Witness of things that are going on, but it takes no fruits from any work. "As the sun is the cause of sight in every eye, yet is not itself affected by the defects in any eye; as a piece of crystal appears red when red flowers are placed before it, so this Purusha appears to be affected by pleasure or pain from the reflection cast upon It by Nature, but it remains ever unchanged."
— The turn of the century · Swami Vivekananda, Jnâna Yoga, The Soul and Its Witness, 1907 ↗
We must know with absolute certainty that essentially we are spirit. This we can do by winning mastery over self, by rising above all pride and greed and fear, by knowing that worldly losses and physical death can take nothing away from the truth and the greatness of our soul.
— The turn of the century · Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, II, 1913 ↗
Health is the greatest of gifts, contentedness the best riches; trust is the best of relationships, Nirvana the highest happiness.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 15.v.204, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
Without knowledge there is no meditation, without meditation there is no knowledge: he who has knowledge and meditation is near unto Nirvana.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 25.v.372, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
Let not things future trouble thee. For if necessity so require that they come to pass, thou shalt (whensoever that is) be provided for them with the same reason, by which whatsoever is now present, is made both tolerable and acceptable unto thee.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.VI, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
To live happily is an inward power of the soul, when she is affected with indifferency, towards those things that are by their nature indifferent... Now it is in our power, not to print them; and if they creep in and lurk in some corner, it is in our power to wipe them off.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 11.XV, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
Self is the lord of self, who else could be the lord? With self well subdued, a man finds a lord such as few can find.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 12.v.160, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
At what time soever thou wilt, it is in thy power to retire into thyself, and to be at rest, and free from all businesses. A man cannot any whither retire better than to his own soul; he especially who is beforehand provided of such things within, which whensoever he doth withdraw himself to look in, may presently afford unto him perfect ease and tranquillity.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 4.III, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
If thou shalt intend that which is present, following the rule of right and reason carefully, solidly, meekly, and shalt not intermix any other businesses, but shall study this only to preserve thy spirit unpolluted, and pure, and shall cleave unto him without either hope or fear of anything, in all things that thou shalt either do or speak, contenting thyself with heroical truth, thou shalt live happily; and from this, there is no man that can hinder thee.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 3.XIII, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
A man is not learned because he talks much; he who is patient, free from hatred and fear, he is called learned.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 19.v.258, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
Receive temporal blessings without ostentation, when they are sent and thou shalt be able to part with them with all readiness and facility when they are taken from thee again.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.XXXI, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
Whatsoever doth happen unto thee, thou art naturally by thy natural constitution either able, or not able to bear. If thou beest able, be not offended, but bear it according to thy natural constitution, or as nature hath enabled thee. If thou beest not able, be not offended. For it will soon make an end of thee, and itself, (whatsoever it be) at the same time end with thee.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 10.III, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
Virtuous, he is free from anxieties; wise, he is free from perplexities; bold, he is free from fear.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 14.30, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
Look within; within is the fountain of all good. Such a fountain, where springing waters can never fail, so thou dig still deeper and deeper.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.XXXI, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
The sage whose soul Holds off from outer contacts, in himself Finds bliss; to Brahma joined by piety, His spirit tastes eternal peace.
— Hinduism · Bhagavad Gita, 5, tr. Edwin Arnold, 1885 ↗
do not be like servants who serve the master in the expectation of receiving a reward, but be like servants who serve the master without the expectation of receiving a reward, and let the fear of Heaven be upon you.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 1:3, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
Who giveth away his substance that he may become pure; And who offereth not favours to any one for the sake of recompense, But only as seeking the face of his Lord the Most High.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 107-92.92:18-20, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
Their work was done and their undertakings were successful, while the people all said, 'We are as we are, of ourselves!'
The thoughtless man, even if he can recite a large portion (of the law), but is not a doer of it, has no share in the priesthood, but is like a cowherd counting the cows of others.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 1.v.19, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
Yet, the right act Is less, far less, than the right-thinking mind. Seek refuge in thy soul; have there thy heaven! Scorn them that follow virtue for her gifts!
— Hinduism · Bhagavad Gita, 2, tr. Edwin Arnold, 1885 ↗
If you have learned much Torah, do not claim credit for yourself, because for such a purpose were you created.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 2:8, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
You yourself must make an effort. The Tathagatas (Buddhas) are only preachers. The thoughtful who enter the way are freed from the bondage of Mara.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 20.v.276, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
He who learns in order to teach, it is granted to him to study and to teach; But he who learns in order to practice, it is granted to him to learn and to teach and to practice.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 4:5, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
He who sits Suppressing all the instruments of flesh, Yet in his idle heart thinking on them, Plays the inept and guilty hypocrite: But he who, with strong body serving mind, Gives up his mortal powers to worthy work, Not seeking gain, Arjuna! such an one Is honourable.
— Hinduism · Bhagavad Gita, 3, tr. Edwin Arnold, 1885 ↗
Do not seek greatness for yourself, and do not covet honor. Practice more than you learn. Do not yearn for the table of kings, for your table is greater than their table, and your crown is greater than their crown, and faithful is your employer to pay you the reward of your labor.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 6:5, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
neither fear nor inclination, but simply respect for the law, is the spring which can give actions a moral worth.
— The Enlightenment · Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Kingdom of Ends, tr. Thomas Kingsmill Abbott, 1873 ↗
For in order that an action should be morally good, it is not enough that it conform to the moral law, but it must also be done for the sake of the law, otherwise that conformity is only very contingent and uncertain; since a principle which is not moral, although it may now and then produce actions conformable to the law, will also often produce actions which contradict it.
— The Enlightenment · Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Preface, tr. Thomas Kingsmill Abbott, 1873 ↗
reason of itself, independent on all experience, ordains what ought to take place, that accordingly actions of which perhaps the world has hitherto never given an example, the feasibility even of which might be very much doubted by one who founds everything on experience, are nevertheless inflexibly commanded by reason; that, e.g., even though there might never yet have been a sincere friend, yet not a whit the less is pure sincerity in friendship required of every man, because, prior to all experience, this duty is involved as duty in the idea of a reason determining the will by a priori principles.
— The Enlightenment · Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, SEC_2, tr. Thomas Kingsmill Abbott, 1873 ↗
An absolutely good will, then, the principle of which must be a categorical imperative, will be indeterminate as regards all objects and will contain merely the form of volition generally, and that as autonomy, that is to say, the capability of the maxims of every good will to make themselves a universal law, is itself the only law which the will of every rational being imposes on itself, without needing to assume any spring or interest as a foundation.
Who though longing for it themselves, bestowed their food on the poor and the orphan and the captive: 'We feed you for the sake of God: we seek from you neither recompense nor thanks.'
As soon as it is able to say, 'All my work is thine,' everything remains the same, only it is taken across.
— The turn of the century · Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, The Relation of the Individual to the Universe, 1913 ↗
Excellent is the study of the Torah when combined with a worldly occupation, for toil in them both keeps sin out of one's mind; But [study of the] Torah which is not combined with a worldly occupation, in the end comes to be neglected and becomes the cause of sin.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 2:2, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
The magnanimous know very well that they who give time, or money, or shelter, to the stranger--so it be done for love, and not for ostentation--do, as it were, put God under obligation to them, so perfect are the compensations of the universe. In some way the time they seem to lose is redeemed, and the pains they seem to take remunerate themselves.
— Transcendentalism · Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, Heroism §8, 1844 ↗
The sacrifice which Knowledge pays is better than great gifts Offered by wealth, since gifts' worth--O my Prince!-- Lies in the mind which gives, the will that serves.
— Hinduism · Bhagavad Gita, 4, tr. Edwin Arnold, 1885 ↗
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, James 2:17, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
Abstaining from attachment to the work, Abstaining from rewardment in the work, While yet one doeth it full faithfully, Saying, 'Tis right to do!' that is 'true' act And abstinence!
— Hinduism · Bhagavad Gita, 18, tr. Edwin Arnold, 1885 ↗
Therefore, thy task prescribed With spirit unattached gladly perform, Since in performance of plain duty man Mounts to his highest bliss.
— Hinduism · Bhagavad Gita, 3, tr. Edwin Arnold, 1885 ↗
Not to commit any sin, to do good, and to purify one's mind, that is the teaching of (all) the Awakened.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 14.v.183, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, James 1:22, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
The pre-eminent good which we call moral can therefore consist in nothing else than the conception of law in itself, which certainly is only possible in a rational being, in so far as this conception, and not the expected effect, determines the will. This is a good which is already present in the person who acts accordingly, and we have not to wait for it to appear first in the result.
— The Enlightenment · Immanuel Kant, Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals, Third Proposition (following), tr. Thomas Kingsmill Abbott, 1873 ↗
Thou shalt do; if thou shalt go about every action as thy last action, free from all vanity, all passionate and wilful aberration from reason, and from all hypocrisy, and self-love, and dislike of those things, which by the fates or appointment of God have happened unto thee.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 2.II, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗
whoever takes upon himself the yoke of the Torah, they remove from him the yoke of government and the yoke of worldly concerns, and whoever breaks off from himself the yoke of the Torah, they place upon him the yoke of government and the yoke of worldly concerns.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 3:5, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
If a man does what is good, let him do it again; let him delight in it: happiness is the outcome of good.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 9.v.118, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
anyone whose fear of sin precedes his wisdom, his wisdom is enduring, but anyone whose wisdom precedes his fear of sin, his wisdom is not enduring. He [also] used to say: anyone whose deeds exceed his wisdom, his wisdom is enduring, but anyone whose wisdom exceeds his deeds, his wisdom is not enduring.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 3:9, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
Justice is not postponed. A perfect equity adjusts its balance in all parts of life. The dice of God are always loaded. The world looks like a multiplication table, or a mathematical equation, which, turn it how you will, balances itself. Take what figure you will, its exact value, nor more nor less, still returns to you. Every secret is told, every crime is punished, every virtue rewarded, every wrong redressed, in silence and certainty.
— Transcendentalism · Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, Compensation, 1844 ↗
Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, Proverbs 13:12, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, Ecclesiastes 9:11, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
Yet they may determine attitudes though they cannot furnish formulas, and open a region though they fail to give a map. At any rate, they forbid a premature closing of our accounts with reality.
— The turn of the century · William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Lecture on Mysticism (nitrous oxide passage), 1902 ↗
As to man, when his Lord trieth him and honoureth him and is bounteous to him, Then saith he, 'My Lord honoureth me:' But when he proveth him and limiteth his gifts to him, He saith, 'My Lord despiseth me.'
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 78-75.89:15-16, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
Heroism is an obedience to a secret impulse of an individual's character. Now to no other man can its wisdom appear as it does to him, for every man must be supposed to see a little further on his own proper path than any one else.
— Transcendentalism · Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, Heroism §6, 1844 ↗
A mere fact is like a blind lane, it leads only to itself--it has no beyond. But a truth opens up a whole horizon, it leads us to the infinite.
— The turn of the century · Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, II, 1913 ↗
Nothing is secure but life, transition, the energizing spirit. No love can be bound by oath or covenant to secure it against a higher love. No truth so sublime but it may be trivial to-morrow in the light of new thoughts. People wish to be settled: only as far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them.
— Transcendentalism · Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, Circles, 1844 ↗
Never say: 'O Lord, I am a miserable sinner.' Who shall help you? You are the help of the universe. What in this universe can help you? Never help came from anywhere but from yourself.
— The turn of the century · Swami Vivekananda, Jnâna Yoga, The Absolute and Its Manifestations, 1907 ↗
Work, culture, liberty,—all these we need, not singly but together, not successively but together, each growing and aiding each, and all striving toward that vaster ideal that swims before the Negro people, the ideal of human brotherhood.
— The turn of the century · W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk, Of Our Spiritual Strivings, 1903 ↗
As in intellectual error, so in evil of any other form, its essence is impermanence, for it cannot accord with the whole. Every moment it is being corrected by the totality of things and keeps changing its aspect. We exaggerate its importance by imagining it as a standstill.
— The turn of the century · Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, III — The Problem of Evil, 1913 ↗
The higher nature in man always seeks for something which transcends itself and yet is its deepest truth; which claims all its sacrifice, yet makes this sacrifice its own recompense. This is man's dharma, man's religion, and man's self is the vessel which is to carry this sacrifice to the altar.
— The turn of the century · Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, Chapter 4 (The Problem of Self), 1913 ↗
O what a valiant faculty is hope, that in a mortal subject, and in a moment, makes nothing of usurping infinity, immensity, eternity, and of supplying its master's indigence, at its pleasure, with all things he can imagine or desire! Nature has given us this passion for a pretty toy to play withal.
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Chapter XLVI, tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
We gain our freedom when we attain our truest nature. The man who is an artist finds his artistic freedom when he finds his ideal of art. Then is he freed from laborious attempts at imitation, from the goadings of popular approbation. It is the function of religion not to destroy our nature but to fulfil it.
— The turn of the century · Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, Chapter 4 (The Problem of Self), 1913 ↗
The freedom of the seed is in the attainment of its dharma, its nature and destiny of becoming a tree; it is the non-accomplishment which is its prison. The sacrifice by which a thing attains its fulfilment is not a sacrifice which ends in death; it is the casting-off of bonds which wins freedom.
— The turn of the century · Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, Chapter 4 (The Problem of Self), 1913 ↗
We can look upon a road from two different points of view. One regards it as dividing us from the object of our desire; in that case we count every step of our journey over it as something attained by force in the face of obstruction. The other sees it as the road which leads us to our destination; and as such it is part of our goal. It is already the beginning of our attainment, and by journeying over it we can only gain that which in itself it offers to us.
— The turn of the century · Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, I. THE RELATION OF THE INDIVIDUAL TO THE UNIVERSE, 1913 ↗
Our brains are not the wisest part of us. In the great moments of life, when a man decides upon an important step, his action is directed not so much by any clear knowledge of the right thing to do, as by an inner impulse--you may almost call it an instinct--proceeding from the deepest foundations of his being.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · Arthur Schopenhauer, Counsels and Maxims, Section 48 (before Section 49), tr. T. Bailey Saunders, 1890 ↗
When you know that whatever there is is filled by him and whatever you have is his gift, then you realise the infinite in the finite, and the giver in the gifts. Then you know that all the facts of the reality have their only meaning in the manifestation of the one truth, and all your possessions have their only significance for you, not in themselves but in the relation they establish with the infinite.
— The turn of the century · Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, VIII, 1913 ↗
It is only those who have known that joy expresses itself through law who have learnt to transcend the law. Not that the bonds of law have ceased to exist for them--but that the bonds have become to them as the form of freedom incarnate. The freed soul delights in accepting bonds, and does not seek to evade any of them, for in each does it feel the manifestation of an infinite energy whose joy is in creation.
— The turn of the century · Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, VI, 1913 ↗
When a man does not realise his kinship with the world, he lives in a prison-house whose walls are alien to him. When he meets the eternal spirit in all objects, then is he emancipated, for then he discovers the fullest significance of the world into which he is born; then he finds himself in perfect truth, and his harmony with the all is established.
— The turn of the century · Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, I. THE RELATION OF THE INDIVIDUAL TO THE UNIVERSE, 1913 ↗
Pain, which is the feeling of our finiteness, is not a fixture in our life. It is not an end in itself, as joy is. To meet with it is to know that it has no part in the true permanence of creation.
— The turn of the century · Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, III — The Problem of Evil, 1913 ↗
The wonder is not that there should be obstacles and sufferings in this world, but that there should be law and order, beauty and joy, goodness and love. The idea of God that man has in his being is the wonder of all wonders.
— The turn of the century · Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, III — The Problem of Evil, 1913 ↗
What in the name of reason does this nation expect of a people, poorly trained and hard pressed in severe economic competition, without political rights, and with ludicrously inadequate common-school facilities? What can it expect but crime and listlessness, offset here and there by the dogged struggles of the fortunate and more determined who are themselves buoyed by the hope that in due time the country will come to its senses?
— The turn of the century · W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk, Of the Black Belt, 1903 ↗
Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; and adversity is not without comforts and hopes.
— Renaissance humanism · Francis Bacon, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral, Of Adversity, 1625 ↗
In all sad sincerity I think we must conclude that the attempt to demonstrate by purely intellectual processes the truth of the deliverances of direct religious experience is absolutely hopeless.
— The turn of the century · William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience, Lecture (third section), 1902 ↗
Truth is everywhere, therefore everything is the object of our knowledge. Beauty is omnipresent, therefore everything is capable of giving us joy.
— The turn of the century · Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, VII (early), 1913 ↗
The meaning of our self is not to be found in its separateness from God and others, but in the ceaseless realisation of yoga, of union; not on the side of the canvas where it is blank, but on the side where the picture is being painted.
— The turn of the century · Rabindranath Tagore, Sadhana: The Realisation of Life, Chapter 4 (The Problem of Self), 1913 ↗
Part with the food. From of old, death has been the lot of all men; but if the people have no faith in their rulers, there is no standing for the state.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 12.7, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
Modern philosophy, as epistemological skepticism, is secretly or openly ANTI-CHRISTIAN, although (for keener ears, be it said) by no means anti-religious.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, 54, tr. Helen Zimmern, 1907 ↗
It is nothing more than a moral prejudice that truth is worth more than semblance; it is, in fact, the worst proved supposition in the world. So much must be conceded: there could have been no life at all except upon the basis of perspective estimates and semblances.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, 34, tr. Helen Zimmern, 1907 ↗
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, 1 John 1:8, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, 1 John 4:20, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
While you are not able to serve men, how can you serve their spirits? … While you do not know life, how can you know about death?
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 11.11, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, James 1:8, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
There is an innocence in lying which is the sign of good faith in a cause.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, 180, tr. Helen Zimmern, 1907 ↗
What is the use of platted hair, O fool! what of the raiment of goat-skins? Within thee there is ravening, but the outside thou makest clean.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 26.v.394, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
No doubt, had Master Thomas been asked, by some pious northern brother, why he continued to sustain the relation of a slaveholder, to those whom he retained, his answer would have been precisely the same as many other religious slaveholders have returned to that inquiry, viz: "I hold my slaves for their own good."
— Transcendentalism · Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom, Chapter on Master Thomas's conversion, 1855 ↗
IT WERE better to have no opinion of God at all, than such an opinion, as is unworthy of him. For the one is unbelief, the other is contumely; and certainly superstition is the reproach of the Deity.
— Renaissance humanism · Francis Bacon, The Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral, Of Superstition, 1625 ↗
"I am affected, not because you have deceived me, but because I can no longer believe in you."
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, 183, tr. Helen Zimmern, 1907 ↗
Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 1.3, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
Our deepest insights must--and should--appear as follies, and under certain circumstances as crimes, when they come unauthorizedly to the ears of those who are not disposed and predestined for them.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, 30, tr. Helen Zimmern, 1907 ↗
His religion, therefore, neither made him emancipate his slaves, nor caused him to treat them with greater humanity. If religion had any effect on his character at all, it made him more cruel and hateful in all his ways. The natural wickedness of his heart had not been removed, but only reinforced, by the profession of religion.
— Transcendentalism · Frederick Douglass, My Bondage and My Freedom, Chapter on Master Thomas's conversion, 1855 ↗
Ambition, avarice, cruelty, and revenge have not sufficient natural impetuosity of their own; let us bait them with the glorious titles of justice and devotion.
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, later section, on civil and religious war, tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
Though the religious instinct is in vigorous growth,--it rejects the theistic satisfaction with profound distrust.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, 53, tr. Helen Zimmern, 1907 ↗
The laws of thy parish occupy and bind thee: those of God and the world concern thee not.
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Book II, On Some Verses of Virgil, tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
The Christian faith from the beginning, is sacrifice the sacrifice of all freedom, all pride, all self-confidence of spirit, it is at the same time subjection, self-derision, and self-mutilation.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, 46, tr. Helen Zimmern, 1907 ↗
For every Stoic was a Stoic; but in Christendom where is the Christian?
— Transcendentalism · Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, Self-Reliance, §4, 1844 ↗
Aye, but ye love the transitory, And ye neglect the life to come.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 78-75.75:20-21, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
If it be so that a strong and lively faith draws along with it actions of the same kind, certainly this faith we so much brag of, is very light in this age of ours.
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Chapter XXIX, tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
There is a great ladder of religious cruelty, with many rounds; but three of these are the most important. Once on a time men sacrificed human beings to their God, and perhaps just those they loved the best... Then, during the moral epoch of mankind, they sacrificed to their God the strongest instincts they possessed, their "nature"... Finally, what still remained to be sacrificed? Was it not necessary in the end for men to sacrifice everything comforting, holy, healing, all hope, all faith in hidden harmonies, in future blessedness and justice?
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, 55, tr. Helen Zimmern, 1907 ↗
fear is the mother of morals.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, 201, tr. Helen Zimmern, 1907 ↗
When we bestow favours on man, he withdraweth and goeth aside; but when evil toucheth him, he is despairing.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 17:83, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
It is not in our power to obtain a nobler reputation than to be favoured of God and nature.
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Apology for Raymond Sebond (Book II), tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
keep a distance from an evil neighbor, do not become attached to the wicked, and do not abandon faith in [divine] retribution.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 1:7, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
This world is like a vestibule before the world to come; prepare yourself in the vestibule, so that you may enter the banqueting-hall.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 4:16, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
Against your will were you formed, against your will were you born, against your will you live, against your will you will die, and against your will you will give an account and reckoning before the King of the kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 4:22, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
More precious is one hour in repentance and good deeds in this world, than all the life of the world to come; And more precious is one hour of the tranquility of the world to come, than all the life of this world.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 4:17, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
And every man's fate have we fastened about his neck: and on the day of resurrection will we bring forth to him a book which shall be proffered to him wide open: 'Read thy Book: there needeth none but thyself to make out an account against thee this day.'
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 17:13-14, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
'Tis the first punishment of sin that no man absolves himself.
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Chapter V, tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, Proverbs 28:13, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, 1 John 1:9, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
Shall the reward of good be aught but good?
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 55:60, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
So wonderful is the power of conscience. It makes us betray, accuse, and fight against ourselves, and for want of other witnesses, to give evidence against ourselves.
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Chapter V, tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
An evil deed is better left undone, for a man repents of it afterwards; a good deed is better done, for having done it, one does not repent.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 22.v.314, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
I am sure that there is greater anxiety, commonly, to have fashionable, or at least clean and unpatched clothes, than to have a sound conscience.
— Transcendentalism · Henry David Thoreau, Walden, and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, Economy, 1854 ↗
I could, and do, with great facility, rely upon the faith of another; but I should very unwillingly do it in such a case, as it should thereby be judged that it was rather an effect of my despair and want of courage than voluntarily and out of confidence and security in the faith of him with whom I had to do.
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Chapter V (opening), tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
These natural pangs of an affrighted conscience are the dæmons, the avenging furies, which, in this life, haunt the guilty, which allow them neither quiet nor repose, which often drive them to despair and distraction, from which no assurance of secrecy can protect them, from which no principles of irreligion can entirely deliver them, and from which nothing can free them but the vilest and most abject of all states, a complete insensibility to honour and infamy, to vice and virtue.
— The Enlightenment · Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, Part III (p. 107), 1759 ↗
And when he saw it set before him, he said, 'This is of the favour of my Lord, to try me whether I will be thankful or unthankful. And he who is thankful is thankful to his own behoof; and as for him who is unthankful—truly my Lord is self-sufficient, bounteous!'
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 27:40, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
The day when neither wealth nor children shall avail, Save to him who shall come to God with a sound heart.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 26:88-89, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
By oneself the evil is done, by oneself one suffers; by oneself evil is left undone, by oneself one is purified. Purity and impurity belong to oneself, no one can purify another.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 12.v.165, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
mark well three things and you will not come into the power of sin: know from where you come, and where you are going, and before whom you are destined to give an account and reckoning. From where do you come? From a putrid drop. Where are you going? To a place of dust, of worm and of maggot. Before whom you are destined to give an account and reckoning? Before the King of the kings of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 3:1, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
Just balances will we set up for the day of the resurrection, neither shall any soul be wronged in aught; though, were a work but the weight of a grain of mustard seed, we would bring it forth to be weighed: and our reckoning will suffice.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 21:47, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
For his own good only shall the guided yield to guidance, and to his own loss only shall the erring err; and the heavy laden shall not be laden with another's load.
— Qur’an · Qur'an, 17:15, tr. J. M. Rodwell, 1861 ↗
As an ill conscience fills us with fear, so a good one gives us greater confidence and assurance; and I can truly say that I have gone through several hazards with a more steady pace in consideration of the secret knowledge I had of my own will and the innocence of my intentions.
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Chapter V, tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
— Hebrew & Christian Bible · Bible, Matthew 6:19-21, tr. King James Version (1611/1769) ↗
— Transcendentalism · Henry David Thoreau, Walden, and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, Civil Disobedience, 1854 ↗
Therefore, one ought to follow the wise, the intelligent, the learned, the much enduring, the dutiful, the elect; one ought to follow a good and wise man, as the moon follows the path of the stars.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 15.v.208, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
They who know the truth are not equal to those who love it, and they who love it are not equal to those who delight in it.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 6.18, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
He was of an active nature and yet fond of learning, and he was not ashamed to ask and learn of his inferiors!
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 5.14, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
Where there is no Torah, there is no right conduct; where there is no right conduct, there is no Torah. Where there is no wisdom, there is no fear of God; where there is no fear of God, there is no wisdom. Where there is no bread, there is no Torah; where there is no Torah, there is no bread.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 3:17, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
The more Torah, the more life; The more sitting [in the company of scholars], the more wisdom; The more counsel, the more understanding; The more charity, the more peace. If one acquires a good name, he has acquired something for himself; If one acquires for himself knowledge of Torah, he has acquired life in the world to come.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 2:7, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
If a man in the morning hear the right way, he may die in the evening without regret.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 4.8, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
Follow your genius closely enough, and it will not fail to show you a fresh prospect every hour.
— Transcendentalism · Henry David Thoreau, Walden, and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, Sounds, 1854 ↗
Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness, but must explore if it be goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind.
— Transcendentalism · Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, Self-Reliance, 1844 ↗
Every dispute that is for the sake of Heaven, will in the end endure; But one that is not for the sake of Heaven, will not endure.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 5:17, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
Turn it over, and [again] turn it over, for all is therein. And look into it; And become gray and old therein; And do not move away from it, for you have no better portion than it.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 5:22, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
The lawyer's truth is not Truth, but consistency or a consistent expediency. Truth is always in harmony with herself, and is not concerned chiefly to reveal the justice that may consist with wrong-doing.
— Transcendentalism · Henry David Thoreau, Walden, and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, Civil Disobedience, 1854 ↗
No face which we can give to a matter will stead us so well at last as the truth. This alone wears well. For the most part, we are not where we are, but in a false position. Through an infirmity of our natures, we suppose a case, and put ourselves into it, and hence are in two cases at the same time, and it is doubly difficult to get out. In sane moments we regard only the facts, the case that is. Say what you have to say, not what you ought. Any truth is better than make-believe.
— Transcendentalism · Henry David Thoreau, Walden, and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience, Conclusion, 1854 ↗
Whoever occupies himself with the Torah for its own sake, merits many things; not only that but he is worth the whole world. He is called beloved friend; one that loves God; one that loves humankind; one that gladdens God; one that gladdens humankind. And the Torah clothes him in humility and reverence, and equips him to be righteous, pious, upright and trustworthy; it keeps him far from sin, and brings him near to merit.
— Rabbinic Judaism · Pirkei Avot, 6:1, tr. Joshua Kulp, Mishnah Yomit (Sefaria, CC-BY) ↗
Trust often obliges fidelity.
— Renaissance humanism · Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Essay II (quoting Livy, xxii. 22), tr. Charles Cotton, ed. W. C. Hazlitt, 1877 ↗
There is no virtue which is final; all are initial. The virtues of society are vices of the saint. The terror of reform is the discovery that we must cast away our virtues, or what we have always esteemed such, into the same pit that has consumed our grosser vices.
— Transcendentalism · Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, Circles, 1844 ↗
Well-makers lead the water (wherever they like); fletchers bend the arrow; carpenters bend a log of wood; good people fashion themselves.
— Buddhism · Dhammapada, 10.v.145, tr. F. Max Müller, 1881 ↗
When you know a thing, to hold that you know it; and when you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it;-- this is knowledge.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 2.17, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
Is there anything finer than to SEARCH for one's own virtues? Is it not almost to BELIEVE in one's own virtues? But this 'believing in one's own virtues'--is it not practically the same as what was formerly called one's 'good conscience'?
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, 214, tr. Helen Zimmern, 1907 ↗
Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles, and be moving continually to what is right;-- this is the way to exalt one's virtue.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 12.10, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
Occasionally we find certain solutions of problems which make strong beliefs for us; perhaps they are henceforth called 'convictions.' Later on--one sees in them only footsteps to self-knowledge, guide-posts to the problem which we ourselves ARE.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, 231, tr. Helen Zimmern, 1907 ↗
Every man has certain innate concrete principles--a part, as it were, of the very blood that flows in his veins, the sum or result, in fact, of all his thoughts, feelings and volitions. Usually he has no knowledge of them in any abstract form; it is only when he looks back upon the course his life has taken, that he becomes aware of having been always led on by them--as though they formed an invisible clue which he had followed unawares.
— Nineteenth-century philosophy · Arthur Schopenhauer, Counsels and Maxims, Section 48 (before Section 49), tr. T. Bailey Saunders, 1890 ↗
If you think the senses final, obey their law. If you believe in the soul, do not clutch at sensual sweetness before it is ripe on the slow tree of cause and effect.
— Transcendentalism · Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, Prudence, 1844 ↗
In ancient times, men learned with a view to their own improvement. Now-a-days, men learn with a view to the approbation of others.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 14.25, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
Is virtue a thing remote? I wish to be virtuous, and lo! virtue is at hand.
— Confucianism · Confucius, Analects, 7.29, tr. James Legge, 1893 ↗
He that hath not one and the self-same general end always as long as he liveth, cannot possibly be one and the self-same man always.
— Stoicism · Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 11.XIX, tr. Meric Casaubon (1634/1635) ↗