There is nothing we should be quite so grateful for as the last line of the poem that goes, “When your own heart asks.” “I do not know how to defeat others. All I know is the path to defeat myself.“ “Singlemindedness is all-powerful.“ “There is surely nothing […]
“No one is free who has not obtained the empire of himself. No man is free who cannot command himself.“ “The most momentous thing in human life is the art of winning the soul to good or evil.“ “Be silent or let thy words be worth more than […]
“Soli Deo Gloria“ “Where there is devotional music, God is always at hand with His gracious presence.“ “Music is an agreeable harmony for the honor of God and the permissible delights of the soul. Harmony is next to Godliness. It is the special province of music to move […]
Life is after all a form of affirmation. However insistently the blind may deny the existence of the sun, they cannot annihilate it. Life as it is lived suffices. It is only when the disquieting intellect steps in and tries to murder it that we stop to […]
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.“ “Walking is man’s best medicine.” “The greatest medicine of all is teaching people how not to need it.“ “A wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings, and learn how by his own thought […]
“The kingdom of heaven is not a place but a state of mind.” “Every walk to the woods is a religious rite, every bath in the stream is a saving ordinance. Communion service is at all hours, and the bread and wine are from the heart and […]
“Independence is my happiness, and I view things as they are, without regard to place or person; my country is the world, and my religion is to do good.“ “Give me liberty, or give me death.“ “When it can be said by any country in the world, my […]
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” “Be courageous. I have seen many depressions in business.Always America has emerged from these stronger and more prosperous.Be brave as your fathers before you.Have faith!Go forward!“ “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize […]
“I thought I was learning to live; I was only learning to die.” “He who does not value life does not deserve it.” “Life without love, is no life at all.” “One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself. The height of a man’s […]
“Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom.” “Without books, I would certainly die.“ “The art of life is the art of avoiding pain.” Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask. Act! Action will delineate and define you. Nothing can stop the man […]
“The true work of artis but a shadow of the divine perfection.” “With few words I shall make thee understand my soul.” “To touch is to give life…” “Your gifts lie in the place where your values, passions and strengths meet. Discovering that place is the first step […]
“I believe in the supreme worth of the individualand in his right to life, libertyand the pursuit of happiness.” “God gave me my money.” “Singleness of purpose is one of the chief essentials for success in life, no matter what may be one’s aim. The road to happiness […]
“The madness of love is the greatest of heaven’s blessings.“ “The first and greatest victory is to conquer yourself;to be conquered by yourself is of all things most shameful and vile.” “Every heart sings a song, incomplete, until another heart whispers back. Those who wish to sing always […]
“Men are developed the same way gold is mined. When gold is mined, several tons of dirt must be moved to get an ounce of gold; but one doesn’t go into the mine looking for dirt—one goes in looking for the gold.“ “If you want to be happy, […]
“Life is hard but so very beautiful.” “Whatever you are, be a good one.” “When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That’s my religion. I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound […]
“Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. Music is the electrical soil in which the spirit lives, thinks and invents.” “Don’t only practice your art, but force your way into its secrets, for it and knowledge can raise men to the divine. Music is the […]
“Bach is an astronomer, discovering the most marvellous stars. Beethoven challenges the universe. I only try to express the soul and the heart of man.“ “Nothing is more odious than music without hidden meaning. Simplicity is the highest goal, achievable when you have overcome all difficulties. How strange! […]
“I am in the world only for the purpose of composing. There is no such thing as happy music. My compositions spring from my sorrows. Those that give the world the greatest delight were born of my deepest griefs. Those who are born of grief give greatest delight […]
“The unexamined life is not worth living.“ “Know thyself.“ “We cannot live better than in seeking to become better. The really important thing is not to live, but to live well. And to live well meant, along with more enjoyable things in life, to live according to your […]
“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.“ “Man is a goal-seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals. Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence. And happiness depends […]
Believe you can and you’re halfway there. Be practical as well as generous in your ideals. Keep your eyes on the stars, but remember to keep your feet on the ground. The joy in life is his who has the heart to demand it. There can be no […]
“When love has fused and mingled two beings in a sacred and angelic unity, the secret of life has been discovered so far as they are concerned; they are no longer anything more than the two boundaries of the same destiny; they are no longer anything but the […]
“The supreme harmony of the cosmos is selected in the harmony of the spirit.“ “Life is only a long and bitter suicide, and faith alone can transform this suicide into a sacrifice. In life one must decide whether to conjugate the verb to have or the verb […]
“The animal knows everything, but cannot say it. Man can say a lot, but knows nothing.” “Joy and happiness are the children of love, but love itself, as the moving force, is patience and compassion. Love is the root of life. But she does not come just […]
“Art has always been a weapon in the struggle of man against matter, threatening to swallow his spirit…” “Man is interesting to me for his willingness to serve something higher than oneself, and even for his inability to perceive the ordinary and the philistine moral life. I’m […]
To wisely live your life, you don’t need to know much. Just remember two main rules for the beginning: • You better starve, than eat whatever; • And better be alone, than with whoever. Scholars really have nothing to teach you. But from the soft touch of the […]
“Love begets courage, moderation creates abundance and humility generates power.” “Life means to be living. Problems will always be there. When they arise navigate through them with yoga — don’t take a break. Yoga is like music: the rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind, […]
“The good God does not need years to accomplish His work of love in a soul; one ray from His Heart can, in an instant, make His flower bloom for eternity.” “Every flower created by God is beautiful. That the brilliance of the rose and the whiteness […]
“No synonym for God is so perfect as Beauty.” “Beauty beyond thought everywhere, beneath, above, made and being made forever.” “The sun shines not on us but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us. Thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance […]
“The more you know, the less you need.” “The hardest thing in the world is to simplify your life. It’s so easy to make it complex. What’s important is leading an examined life. Mastery… is to work toward simplicity; replace complex technology with knowledge, hard work, and […]
“Today the most civilized countries of the world spend a maximum of their income on war and a minimum on education. The twenty-first century will reverse this order. It will be more glorious to fight against ignorance than to die on the field of battle. The discovery of […]
“The minute you choose to do what you really want to do, it’s a different kind of life.” “Dare to be naive Dare to think Dare to go with the truth And dare to really love completely.” “The purpose of our lives is to add value to the […]
“You have everything needed for the extravagant journey that is your life. Life in itself is sufficient, self-explanatory and complete. Therefore, one may say without being presumptuous that the experience of experiences is being alive. In a world where death is the hunter, my friend, there is no time […]
“Tear your heart away from everything else; then seek God and you will surely find Him.” “It is foolish to think that we will enter heaven without entering into ourselves.” “It is love alone that gives worth to all things. The important thing is not to think […]
For life makes no mistakes and always gives man that which man first gives himself. “The drama of life is a psychological one which we bring to pass by our attitudes rather than by our acts. There is no escape from our present predicament except by a […]
“Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy.” “The true meaning of existence is disclosed in moments of living in the presence of God.” “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. …get up in the morning and look at the world […]
“We focus too much on things and not enough on the intangibles that make this worthwhile; too much on success and not enough on character, without which success is meaningless. I tell you that virtue is not given by money, but that from virtue comes money and every […]
“And with truth comes beauty and with this beauty a freedom before God.” “To be really Bible-Believing Christians we need to practice, simultaneously, at each step of the way, two biblical principles. One principle is that of the purity of the visible church. Scripture commands that we […]
You are — your life, and nothing else. “Life has no meaning, the moment you lose the illusion of being eternal. Life has no meaning a priori… It is up to you to give it a meaning, and value is nothing but the meaning that you choose. […]
“The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between…” “We live in this world in order always to learn industriously and to enlighten each other by means of discussion and to strive vigorously to promote the progress of science and the fine arts. As death, […]
As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being. The acceptance of oneself is the essence of the whole moral problem and the epitome of a whole outlook on life. The most […]
Dad?” “What?” A small bird rises from a tree in front of us. “What should I be when I grow up?” The bird disappears over a far ridge. I don’t know what to say. “Honest,” I finally say. “One of the most moral acts is to […]
Do not forget that the value and interest of life is not so much to do conspicuous things… as to do ordinary things with the perception of their enormous value. “Our duty, as men and women, is to proceed as if limits to our ability did not […]
“Do we in our time have an answer to the question of what we really mean by the word ‘being’? Not at all. So it is fitting that we should raise anew the question of the meaning of Being. But are we nowadays even perplexed at our inability […]
“The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others. Only then have we ourselves become true human beings. I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be […]
“If anyone were to ask me what I want out of life I would say: the opportunity for doing something useful, for in no other way, I am convinced, can true happiness be attained. To leave the world richer—that is the ultimate success.” “The purpose of life […]
“The scientist does not study nature because it is useful to do so. He studies it because he takes pleasure in it, and he takes pleasure in it because it is beautiful. If nature were not beautiful it would not be worth knowing, and life would not be […]
“My question was the simplest of questions, lying in the soul of every man from the foolish child to the wisest elder: it was a question without an answer to which one cannot live, as I had found by experience. It was: “What will come of what I […]
“As soon as you look at the world through an ideology you are finished. No reality fits an ideology. Life is beyond that. That is why people are always searching for a meaning to life… Meaning is only found when you go beyond meaning. Life only makes sense […]
“We are in such a haste to be doing, to be writing, to be gathering gear, to make our voices audible a moment in the derisive silence of eternity, that we forget that one thing, of which these are but parts – namely to live!” (“Walking Tours”, in The […]
“There is not one big cosmic meaning for all; there is only the meaning we each give to our life, an individual meaning, an individual plot, like an individual novel, a book for each person.” (Anaïs Nin, The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol. 1: 1931-1934) “The secret of […]
Nobody needs to ask the question: “what is my purpose?” It will always be found in service. If you can just, for one day, put your attention on making life better for someone else. If you can focus on thinking like that, that’s how God thinks. It’s an […]
The meaning of life is that it is to be lived, and it is not to be traded and conceptualized and squeezed into a patter of systems. You can never step in the same water twice, my friend. Like flowing water, life is perpetual movement. There is nothing […]
“I came here to say that I do not recognize anyone’s right to one minute of my life.” There must be only three supreme values which govern a person’s life: Reason, Purpose, and Self-esteem. Reason, as his only tool of knowledge–Purpose, as his choice of the happiness […]
“Don’t aim at success—the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s dedication to a cause greater […]
In 1924, Nikola Tesla was asked why he never married? His answer was this: “I had always thought of woman as possessing those delicate qualities of mind and soul that made her in her respects far superior to man. I had put her on a lofty pedestal, figuratively […]
“The purpose of life is to be defeated by greater and greater things.” If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it; blame yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches; for the Creator, there is no poverty. The deepest experience of […]
Devote yourself to spiritual practice and go forward. Through practice you will advance more and more in the path of God. At last you will come to know that God alone is real and all else is illusory, and that the goal of life is the attainment of […]
“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently; they’re not fond of rules. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is […]
“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” “The progressive development of man is vitally dependent on invention. It is the most important product of his creative brain. Its ultimate purpose is the complete mastery of mind over […]
“My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.” Joy is the goal of existence, and joy is not […]
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Life, as I see it, is not a location, but a journey. Even the man who most feels himself “settled” is not settled—he is probably sagging back. Everything is in flux, and was […]
“The pure mind is itself Brahman; it therefore follows that Brahman is not other than the mind of the sage.” Your own Self-Realization is the greatest service you can render the world. Happiness is your nature. It is not wrong to desire it. What is wrong is seeking […]
If someone smells a flower and says he does not understand, … what does it all mean? Then one has to make it more abstruse by saying: the scent is the shape which the universal joy takes in the flower. Let your life lightly dance on the edges […]
“The man who regards his own life and that of his fellow creatures as meaningless is not merely unfortunate but almost disqualified for life.” A human being is a part of the whole, called by us the “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He […]
Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy – by one, or more, or all of these – and be free. This is the whole of […]
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all. Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood. A happy life consists not in the absence, but in the mastery of hardships. When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we […]
We are but visitors on this planet. We are here for ninety or one hundred years at the very most. During that period, we must try to do something good, something useful with our lives. If you contribute to other people’s happiness, you will find the true goal, […]
I will tell you one thing that will make you rich for life. There are two struggles: an Inner-world struggle and an Outer-world struggle… You must make an intentional contact between these two worlds; then you can crystallize data for the Third World, the World of the Soul. […]
The whole life of the individual is nothing but the process of giving birth to himself; indeed, we should be fully born when we die — although it is the tragic fate of most individuals to die before they are born. There is no meaning to life except […]
When asked to sum up the meaning of life in three words or less, Gandhi responded cheerfully, “That’s easy: Renounce and enjoy.” The main purpose of life is to live rightly, think rightly, act rightly. Truth is one, paths are many. The meaning of life is […]
Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult –once we truly understand and accept it — then life is no […]
“However mean your life is, meet and live it; do not shun it and call it hard names. It is not so bad as you are. It looks poorest when you are richest. The fault-finder will find faults even in paradise. Love your life, poor as it is. […]
To redeem life from insignificance, culture and refinement all alone are not enough. Ideal aspirations are not enough, when uncombined with pluck and will. There must be some sort of fusion, some chemical combination among these principles, for a life objectively and thoroughly significant to result. Ideal visions […]
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. It is not the length of life, but the depth [that matters]. We are always getting […]
The wisdom of long-livers is invaluable for those who want to live a long life. Behind every thought is a personal experience, every conclusion is time-tested. Excerpts from the book “Many Years. Blessed years. Commandments of the 104-year-old sage Andrey Vorona for a long and joyful life.” by Myroslav Dochynets (Original […]
“To seek to know the significance of life is itself the result of good karma in past births. Those who do not seek such knowledge are simply wasting their lives.” “Your own Self-Realization is the greatest service you can render the world. Happiness is your nature. It […]
“Let’s not pretend that things will change if we keep doing the same things. A crisis can be a real blessing to any person, to any nation. For all crises bring progress. Creativity is born from anguish, just like the day is born form the dark night. It’s […]
