Quotes About Philosophy

Ancient Hindus believed, wisdom must never be given. It has to be taken.

Arjuna, that which is born will die and that which will die will be born. So it is pointless to cling and mourn. —Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 2, Verse 27 (paraphrased).

All the things that we value—justice, equality, free speech, human rights—are actually concepts churned out of imagination, just like ideas such as God, heaven, hell, rebirth and immortality. We may classify these ideas as secular or religious, rational or supernatural, value one over the other, but they are essentially creations of humans, by humans, for humans. They are artificial constructions, not natural phenomena. They have no independent existence outside humans.

While Devas,Asuras, Nagas,Yaskhas and Devatas satisfied mundane, everyday needs, they did not answer more primal issues:Why does the world exist? Do we exist? Who are we? There was a need for God who was greater than the gods. There was need for Ishwara, the supreme lord, Mahadeva, the great god who is God, and Bhagavan, the container of all things.

Fate. Free will. God. Three frames of reference that have sustained cultures for centuries. Three frames of reference that can never be proved or disproved.

There are two kinds of victory in this world,' said the storyteller-sage, 'Vijaya and Jaya. Vijaya is material victory, where there is a loser. Jaya is spiritual victory, where there are no losers. In Kuru-kshetra there was Vijaya but not Jaya. But when Yudhishtira overcame his rage and forgave the Kauravas unconditionally, there was Jaya. That

In Vyasa's tale, that which seeks is visualised as male; that which is sought is female. The feeder is male; the food is female. The male creates life outside itself; the female creates life within itself. The being was the feeder, hence male, and the world around was food, hence female.

both mythology and philosophy present the same idea: the former communicates through a story, along with symbols and rituals, while the latter uses precise language. Mythology creates a more visceral experience, and so appeals to everyone, not just the intellectual.

The word 'darshan' has a double meaning: view as well as worldview, sight as well as insight.

Those who believe in karma do not blame. They do not judge. They accept that humans live in a sea of consequences, over which there is limited control. So they accept every moment as it is supposed to be. They act without expectation. This is nishkama karma.

Buddha began to spread his philosophy, which propagated that all sorrows arise from desire; so to end sorrow, one must give up desire. The sanyas tradition, renunciation of material life, took root in a big way.

Overhearing The Gita I

The Gita itself values subjectivity: after concluding his counsel, Krishna tells Arjuna to reflect on what has been said, and then do as he feels (yatha-ichasi-tatha-kuru). Even

Indian philosophy separates what a man is from what he possesses. We are a set of thoughts and we have a set of things. Ram derives his strength from his thoughts, what he is, while Ravana derives his strength from his possessions, what he has. Ravana has knowledge; he may be learned, but he is not wise. Through Ravana, the bards draw attention to the learned brahmin priest who spouts hymns verbatim but fails to appreciate their meaning or transform himself because of them.

Philosophy is just a hobby. You can't open a philosophy factory.

I believe that things should be used, even rare and valuable things, otherwise they lose their essential nature. That's far worse than being broken.

I once heard someone say, "I shall die very young. How young? I don't know. Maybe seventy, maybe eighty, maybe ninety. But I shall be very young.

I hope your bacon burns.

As Auguste Comte observed, "All revolutionary ideas are only social applications of the principle of private interpretation.

Life is meaningless without regrets.

One of his central commands is a commonplace of ancient philosophy, and is a conclusion at which most world religions eventually arrive: 'whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them' – what has come to be known as the Golden Rule.18

Right down to the seventeenth century, Christian debate about faith and the world involved a debate between two Greek ghosts, Plato and Aristotle, who had never heard the name of Jesus Christ.

Question everything, even the question mark, that shepherd's crook floating in the air above that small round rock If you - stubbornly - still wish to be unhappy, maybe you can grasp it.

The first step towards philosophy is incredulity.