Quotes About Wisdom

But why must man suffer and sacrifice for God? At the end of his suffering and sacrifice he will find that though he began to do so for God, it has proved to be for himself. It is the foolishly selfish who is selfish, and the wisely selfish proves to be selfless.

Wisdom is like the horizon: the nearer you approach it, the further it recedes.

Be sparing of your words if you wish them to be powerful.

Indifference and independence are the two wings which enable the soul to fly.

If one wants to torture oneself for the sake of torture one may do so, but not for spiritual perfection.

Our ego is the lion of lions, and if this is conquered, then these external lions – the different egos around us – are conquered also, and wherever we go, with anyone, whether foolish or wise, good or bad, we now have peace.

Es gibt nichts auf der Welt, was für kontemplative Menschen nicht erreichbar wäre, wenn sie nur wissen, wie man kontempliert. (S 162)

So he went into the wilderness and lived on fruits and nuts. After a long time he returned to his old school, and when he saw the teacher he said to him, 'I think I have learned it. See if I have. Shall I write on this wall? And when he made his sign the wall split in two.

There is a perfect wisdom working continually day and night. The mystic sees it in everything with open eyes; and that is the great miracle.

SUFISM has never had a first exponent or a historical origin. It existed from the beginning, because man has always possessed the light which is his second nature; and light in its higher aspect may be called the knowledge of God, the divine wisdom – in fact, Sufism. Sufism has always been practiced and its messengers have been people of the heart; thus it belonged to the masters as well as to others.

for to know reality is to know all that is to be known.

Vom Standpunkt des Weisen aus betrachtet, ist die menschliche Natur kindisch. Befindet man sich in einer Menschenmenge und betrachtet diese wie ein/e Zuschauer/in, wird man viele Kinder miteinander spielen sehen. Sie spielen und kämpfen, sie nehmen sich gegenseitig etwas weg, und sie ärgern sich über sehr unwichtige Dinge. (S. 119)

Für die erleuchtete Seele wird das Leben selbst zur Heiligen Schrift.

Alle Schätze der Welt sind ein zu geringer Preis für ein einziges Wort, das die Seele erleuchtet.

Das Ego des Menschen ist das falsche Ego; Gottes Ego ist das wahre Ego. Doch was ist das Ego? Das Ego ist Teil einer Linie: an einem Ende der Linie befindet sich Gottes Ego, am anderen das Ego des Menschen. Letzteres ist falsch, weil der Mensch sein Ego mit seinen Illusionen überdeckt hat, die er Ich-selbst nennt. Daher, wenn das Ego durch Liebe, Weisheit oder Meditation aufgelöst wird verfliegen die Wolken, die es bedeckten und das wahre Ego, Gottes Ego tritt in Erscheinung. (S. 176)

God's Word is the place to start when you are faced with any trial, struggle, or frustration.

Getting staked had been a hard lesson in choosing one's friends wisely.

Kid, not everything in life can be summed up neatly in a paragraph. No book has all of the answers. Not even the really good ones. You have to find the answers yourself sometimes.

I am a damn good high priestess of the intellect,

In times of stability, when inherited wisdom allows individuals to prosper and spread across relatively homogeneous landscapes: Culture reigns. But in times of expansion into new frontiers, when innovation and interpretation, and communication of new ideas, are critical: Consciousness reigns.

The wisdom of elders is ancient and necessary in human history, and there is deep value in being skeptical of the wisdom of elders, when that wisdom is out of place, or of the wrong time.

Take heed, Miss Mackay, you're too young to be practicing such a talent for flirtation. Someday, some poor soul may fight back.

You have the ability to find all the answers--if you let yourself do so.

Contrary to popular wisdom, growing older does not make you less conflicted. In fact, you become more and more conflicted by the second. You can see all sides of any given thing. It's all stupid bullshit and you want all of it, everything, and you also want none of it,