Quotes from Mircea Eliade

Cred c? cel mai mare p?cat contra umanit??ii este triste?ea disperat? ridicat? ca valoare suprem? a spiritualit??ii

Istoria e o voluptate foarte înÈ™el?toare È™i o disciplin? care nu-È™i salveaz? niciodat? pe cei mai riguroÈ™i adepÈ›i. Istoria nu ajut? s? supravieÈ›uiasc? decât pe acei care o fac, nu È™i pe cei care o cerceteaz? obiectiv. Cu cât eÈ™ti mai obiectiv, cu atât eÈ™ti mai trec?tor, mai muritor. Subiectivitatea, voinÈ›a personal?, elanul temperamental – numai acestea sunt p?strate în istorie.

Arta de a divaga – È™i a r?mâne totuÈ™i în veÈ™nicie – mi se pare un secret pe care majoritatea modernilor l-au uitat

Numai cineva care este cu adev?rat ocupat È™i responsabil în munca lui poate experimenta acea beatitudine È™i acel instrument de cunoaÈ™tere, pierderea timpului

Az álmokban, az álmodozásokban rejlÅ' nosztalgia, vágy, lelkesedés stb. képei olyan erÅ'k, amelyek a történelmileg meghatározott emberi lényt saját "történelmi pillanatába" zárt világánál százszorta gazdagabb szellemi világba röpítik át.

Deci mutatia a avut loc în epoca — mitica sau nu, putin îmi pasa, eu, ca om de stiinta, nu ma las impresionat de cuvinte — a avut loc în epoca imediat urmatoare izgonirii din Paradis. Pedeapsa de care vorbeste capitolul III din cartea Genezei aceasta a fost: amnezia. Corpul omenesc a uitat pur si simplu ca fusese înzestrat cu o functiune capitala: autoregenerarea celulelor...

And since a more convincing argument could not be found—aside from a fatal accident or suicide—this way was chosen: a process of galloping senescence.

Am uitat de mult gustul atâtor trupuri pe care le-am cunoscut. Asta se întâmpl? aproape tuturor b?rbaÅ£ilor : s? n-aib? amintiri calde, s? nu mai p?streze nimic din toat? magia aceea a dragostei fizice

Consciousness of a real and meaningful world is intimately connected with the discovery of the sacred.

ÅŸi v?zui un zbârc roÅŸ, Voia sângele s? i-l beie, Zilele s? i le ieie, Nici sângele n-ai s? i-l bei, C? eu cu acul oi descânta Cu m?tura oi m?tura, În trestie l-oi b?ga, Åži-n Dun?re l-oi arunca Åži Sanda de-acum o r?mânea Curat?!...

pentru societ??ile moderne -lumea- înseamn? tot mai puÈ›in Cosmos È™i tot mai mult? Istorie

La simple contemplación de la bóveda celeste basta para desencadenar una experiencia religiosa.

The art of creating tools is essentially superhuman-either divine or demoniac (for the smith also forges murderous weapons).

The country of the souls is underneath us, toward the sunset; the trail leads through a dim twilight. Tracks of the people who last went over it and of their dogs are visible.

De tot ce se intampla in lume sunt si eu vinovat. Pentru ca nu sunt un om intreg, nu sunt o unitate armonioasa, sunt un ins dezaxat, fara centru. Probabil ca mai sunt si altii, zeci de milioane, ca mine. Si cum pentru societatile moderne lumea inseamna tot mai putin Cosmos si tot mai multa Istorie, iti dai seama ce repercusiuni poate avea dezechilibrul acesta interior in afara de noi. Cum am putea fi creatori in Istorie noi, cateva zeci de milioane de dezechilibrati?

Without us, the harvest would not ripen in the fields; without our millstones the corn would not turn to flour; nor the flour to bread by stirring and baking. Let us then cooperate with nature in its mineral as well as in its agricultural labours, and treasures will be opened to all. Alchemy, we shall see, takes its place in the same spiritual category: the Alchemist takes up and perfects the work of Nature, while at the same time working to 'make' himself.

Y es que el signo portador de significación religiosa introduce un elemento absoluto y pone fin a la relatividad y a la confusión. Algo que no pertenece a este mundo se manifiesta de manera apodíctica y, al hacerlo así, señala una orientación o decide una conducta.

From the point of view of the history of religions, the Incarnation represents the last and most perfect hierophany ... To accept the possibility of the Absolute becoming incarnate in a historical person ... is to recognize that the countless pre-Christian generations were not victims of an illusion when they proclaimed the presence of the sacred, i.e., of the divine, in the objects and rhythms of the cosmos.

There are eras in which you can only move forward by going in the opposite direction.

Symbolic thinking is not the exclusive privilege of the child, of the poet or of the unbalanced mind: it is consubstantial with human existence, it comes before language and discursive reason. The symbol reveals certain aspects of reality – the deepest aspects – which defy any other means of knowledge. Images, symbols and myths are not irresponsible creations of the psyche; they respond to a need and fulfil a function, that of bringing to light the hidden modalities of being.

All that essential and indescribable part of man that is called imagination dwells in realms of symbolism and still lives upon archaic myths and theologies.

The fact is that in most cases an author does not understand all the meaning of his work. Archaic symbolisms re-appear spontaneously...

The more a consciousness is awakened, the more it transcends its own historicity...

life cannot be repaired, it can only be recreated through symbolic repetition of the cosmogony