• Thank you to Carol and Steve Bowman, the forum owners, for our new upgrade!

Share your favorite quotes here

thephilosopher

Senior Registered
I know you all have some great ones!

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders even if I said it. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
Buddha
 
Some of my faves

For those who believe, no explanation is necessary.
For those who do not, no explanation is enough.

"What would you attempt if you knew you could not fail?"

Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.
- Helen Keller

Do not entertain hopes for realization, but practice all your life
- Milarepa

As one lamp serves to dispel a thousand years of darkness, so one flash of wisdom destroys ten thousand years of ignorance
- Hui-Neng

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than exposure
- Helen Keller

All conditioned things are impermanent. Work out your own salvation with diligence.
- Buddha's last words

I do not cut my life up into days but my days into lives, each day, each hour, an entire life.
- Juan Ramon Jimenez

A flower falls, even though we love it; and a weed grows, even though we do not love it
- Dogen Zenji

If your eye is pure, there will be sunshine in your soul. But if your eye is clouded with evil thoughts and desires, you are in deep spiritual darkness. And oh, how deep that darkness can be !
- Jesus

To get rid of your passions is not Nirvana; to look upon them as no matter of yours, that is nirvana.
- Anonymous

The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there
- Yasutani Roshi

If you cannot find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?
- Dogen Zenji

Beyond, beyond, totally beyond, perfectly beyond: Awakening ..Yes!
- Heart Sutra

Have good trust in yourself -- not in the One that you think you should be, but in the One that you are
- Maezumi Roshi

Ten thousand years are one moment, one moment is ten thousand years. If you want to become acquainted with direct perception, it is before mention is made.
- Blue Cliff Record

In your hopelessness is the only hope, and in your desirelessness is your only fulfillment, and in your tremendous helplessness suddenly the whole existence starts helping you.
- Osho

One who conquers himself is greater than another who conquers a thousand times a thousand on the battlefield.
- The Buddha


Just live that life. It doesn't matter whether it is life or hell, life of the hungry ghost, life of the animal, it's okay; just live that life, see. And as a matter of fact no other way. Where you stand, where you are, that's what your life is right there, regardless of how painful it is or how enjoyable it is. That's what it is.
- Taizan Maezumi
 
"Don't slam the door when you go out to set the world on fire. You might have to come back for the matches." ~ My dad
 
Shiftkitty said:
"Don't slam the door when you go out to set the world on fire. You might have to come back for the matches." ~ My dad
LOL, very true! :laugh:


I have a lot of favourite quotes but I'll list my top 5:


"You never really knew a man until you stood in his shoes and walked around in them." -Atticus Finch


“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.” -Helen Keller


“I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” -Thomas Edison


"A day without laughter is a day wasted." -Charlie Chaplin


"Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself." -Charlie Chaplin
 
"If I am my foot, I am the sun."


- Alan Watts -


"But at any rate, the point is that God is what nobody admits to being, and everybody really is."


- Alan Watts -


"I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is."


- Alan Watts -


"Life is too serious to be taken seriously."


- Unknown -


"I do not know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone."


- Bill Cosby -
 
Me & my mom's favorite:


"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined."


Henry David Thoreau
 
"Nonviolence is the greatest of all religions."


~Swami Sahajanand



"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living; the world owes you nothing; it was here first."



~Mark Twain



"The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time."



~Mark Twain



“All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me... You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”



~Walt Disney



"A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. "



~Oscar Wilde



"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened."



~Dr. Seuss



"Freedom is the oxygen of the soul."



~Moshe Dayan



I also like the one from Mark Twain about how no one prays for the sinner most in need of prayers. But I can't seem to find it now >.>
 
Below is mine, I have had it as a sig line on all the forums I use for about a decade. It really sums up my beliefs.


For those who believe, no explanation is necessary.


For those who do not, no explanation is enough.
 
"It is never as good as you hoped or as bad as you feared" John Lennon


"I always keep a stimulant around in case of snakes...I also keep a snake..." W.C. Fields
 
Two readily come to mind for now, hopefully someone will recognize the authors:


(1) "You can catch more bee's with honey rather than vinegar".


Taught to me as a young boy that good behavior can open doors for you and help grease the wheels.


I was a real charmer as a child, my Mother said I could talk the birds out of the trees!!!


(2) "If you can't say something good about a person, then just don't say anything at all".


It’s sometimes hard to follow, but biting your tongue, when you want to say something, is an attribute in itself.
 
"All great discoveries are made by men whose feelings run ahead of their thinking." ~ C.H. Parkhurst
 
I think that Herman Melville puts it beautifully when he says:*


"We cannot live for ourselves alone.* Our lives are connected by a thousand invisible threads, and along these sympathetic fibers, our actions run as causes and return to us as results."
 
These are the words I live by:


"To Thine Own Self Be True"


"Bide the Wiccan Rede ye must,


In perfect love, in perfect trust.


These eight words ye must fulfill:


"An harm ye none, do as ye will."


And ever mind the Rule of Three:


"What thou sends forth returns to thee."


Follow these with mind and heart,


For merry ye meet, and merry ye part."


"Ever mind the Rule of Three. Three times what thou gives returns to thee. This lesson well, thou must learn, thy only gets what thou dost earn."
 
Sometimes not getting what you thought you wanted can be a wonderful thing.


I don't know who it is from, I saw it on an outdoor sign once and realized how it had rung true for me. :D
 
I love a good quote. :thumbsup:


One of these days I'll have to round up some of my favorites when I have some time. In the meantime I'll refer you to my signature below. I chose it for two reasons. One, I have a personal connection with Marie Antoinette, and two, I feel the quote is relevant not only to past lives but life in general.
 
I have quite a few, mainly maritime related, so I will skip them and go with ones that are more 'spiritually' related:


From Eckhart Tolle:


“Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on.”


“Give up defining yourself - to yourself or to others. You won't die. You will come to life. And don't be concerned with how others define you. When they define you, they are limiting themselves, so it's their problem. Whenever you interact with people, don't be there primarily as a function or a role, but as the field of conscious Presence. You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.”


“You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.”


“Death is a stripping away of all that is not you. The secret of life is to "die before you die" --- and find that there is no death.”


“Time isn’t precious at all, because it is an illusion. What you perceive as precious is not time but the one point that is out of time: the Now. That is precious indeed. The more you are focused on time—past and future—the more you miss the Now, the most precious thing there is.”


“Always say “yes” to the present moment. What could be more futile, more insane, than to create inner resistance to what already is? what could be more insane than to oppose life itself, which is now and always now? Surrender to what is. Say “yes” to life — and see how life suddenly starts working for you rather than against you.”


“If you get the inside right, the outside will fall into place. Primary reality is within; secondary reality without.”


“Any action is often better than no action, especially if you have been stuck in an unhappy situation for a long time. If it is a mistake, at least you learn something, in which case it's no longer a mistake. If you remain stuck, you learn nothing.”


“Knowing yourself is to be rooted in Being, instead of lost in your mind.”


“Once you have had a glimpse of awareness or Presence, you know it firsthand. It is no longer just a concept in your mind.”


“The greatest achievement of humanity is not its works of art, science, or technology, but the recognition of its own dysfunction.”


“Only the truth of who you are, if realized, will set you free.”


From Eugene O'Neill:


“It was a great mistake, my being born a man, I would have been much more successful as a seagull or a fish. As it is, I will always be a stranger who never feels at home, who does not really want and is not really wanted, who can never belong, who must be a little in love with death!”


From William Butler Yeats:


A sea captain when he stands upon the bridge, or looks out from his deck-house, thinks much about God and about the world. Away in the valley yonder among the corn and the poppies men may well forget all things except the warmth of the sun upon the face, and the kind shadow under the hedge; but he who journeys through storm and darkness must needs think and think. One July a couple of years ago I took my supper with a Captain Moran on board the s.s. Margaret, that had put into a western river from I know not where. I found him a man of many notions all flavoured with his personality, as is the way with sailors. He talked in his queer sea manner of God and the world, and up through all his words broke the hard energy of his calling.


From Kptlt. Kaden:


"In the eyes of the sea and of death, everything that is false, petty, ungenuine and untrue passes away; all empty phrases, all ringing words are extinguished; every human vanity, every human covetousness sinks away. In the face of the sea and of death only the simple, the unpretentious and the true is of value - and ultimately only the deed!"


From Alan Villiers:


"At sea, like that, you see the utmost 'innards' of a man - what he is made of. No subterfuges, no pretense of city life, no masking of real intents and real character, will pass here; you see all."


From Steve Jobs:


Almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.


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 ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.
 
My favorite was circling facebook not too long ago. It is not the exact quote, but the gist of it.


I don't know why everyone is making a big deal about the death of Steve Jobs. It is not like he did anything great in life.


... sent from iPhone


LOL
 
:laugh:


I find it peculiar that people don't think about the irony of such things before they act and do things like that. :laugh:
 
God pours life into death and death into life without a drop being spilled. ~Author Unknown


This kind of sums it up for me...
 
Mama2HRB said:
My favorite was circling facebook not too long ago. It is not the exact quote, but the gist of it.
"I don't know why everyone is making a big deal about the death of Steve Jobs. It is not like he did anything great in life.


... sent from i phone


LOL
This is so ironic it brings tears to my eyes.
 
It is funny and sad at the same time. Funny they didn't know his achievement while using it, and sad they didn't know his achievement while using it.


And even sadder they don't know all that he accomplished in his lifetime.


Thank you, Steve Jobs. I await your return. May your next lifetime be even more amazing than the one you just left.
 
"Sam, you're really...you're messin' with my Zen thing man." (Sam's father) - Tron: The Legacy
 
I love so many it's hard to choose, but here a couple of my faves:


“I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars.” - Og Mandino


"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair." - Khalil Gibran


"I existed from all eternity and, behold, I am here; and I shall exist till the end of time, for my being has no end." - Khalil Gibran


"People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within." -Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
 
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. - Corinthians


Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.


Where there is hatred, let me sow love.


Where there is injury, pardon.


Where there is doubt, faith.


Where there is despair, hope.


Where there is darkness, light.


Where there is sadness, joy.


O Divine Master,


grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;


to be understood, as to understand;


to be loved, as to love.


For it is in giving that we receive.


It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,


and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.


Amen.


- Prayer of St. Francis


Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear. ~Ambrose Redmoon


23They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;


24These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. - Psalm 107
 
"There's no place like home" - Dorthy in The Wizard of Oz


"There's no point in being grown up, if you can't be childish, sometimes" - The 4th Doctor, from Doctor Who


"yea, well my mom says i'm cool" - Millhouse, The Simpsons


"if you think you saw something you didn't see, that's an optical delusion" - Archie Bunker, All in the Family
 
From Carl Jung:


When we must deal with problems, we instinctively resist trying the way that leads through obscurity and darkness. We wish to hear only of unequivocal results, and completely forget that these results can only be brought about when we have ventured into and emerged again from the darkness. But to penetrate the darkness we must summon all the powers of enlightenment that consciousness can offer.


"The Stages of Life" (1930). In CW 8: The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche. P.752


Filling the conscious mind with ideal conceptions is a characteristic of Western theosophy, but not the confrontation with the shadow and the world of darkness. One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.


"The Philosophical Tree" (1945). In CW 13: Alchemical Studies. P.335


Good does not become better by being exaggerated, but worse, and a small evil becomes a big one through being disregarded and repressed. The shadow is very much a part of human nature, and it is only at night that no shadows exist.


"A Psychological Approach to the Dogma of the Trinity" (1942) In CW 11: Psychology and Religion: West and East. P.286
 
Now here are just a few of my more favorite quotes for whatever it is worth.


From an Old Sign at the end of a road here in Wyoming with author unknown ..... ' At The End of the Road Where the Trails and Life Begin '


From Joseph Campbell ....


" The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are. "


" Participate Joyfully in the sorrows of the world, we cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in Joy. "


" Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there was only walls. "


" We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us. "


From Charlton Heston in the movie, 'The Mountain Men' ....


" Remember the first time we saw the Tetons, standing tall, whole country said new, made a man think he was the first one to set foot on it. He could walk for a year in any direction with just his rifle, live good and easy, never say 'Sir' to nobody. "


From the movie, 'Jeremiah Johnson' ....


" I told my pap and man I was comin' to the mountains to trap and be a mountain man. Acted like they was gut shot! Sez, son make your life go here. Here is where the people is. Them mountains is for animals and savages. I sez, Mother Gue, The Rocky Mountains is the marrow of the world. By God, I was right! I might never seen 'em but my common sense tells me the Andes is foothills and the Alps is for children to climb. This here is God's finest sculpturing. "


" Just where is it I could find bear, beaver, and other critters? Ride due west as the sun sets. Turn left at the Rocky Mountains.


Bear Claw: "You've come far pilgrim"


Jeremiah Johnson "Feels like far"


Bear Claw: "Were it worth the trouble?"


Jeremiah Johnson: "Ha, What Trouble?"
 
A man, very dissatisfied with his lack of masculine qualities, prays every night to God.


Father, I pray to have a deeper voice.


Father, I pray to be taller and thicker.


Father, I pray to be hairier.


And so on. Then, after many years, the man dies. When he gets to Heaven he says to God, "Father, why didn't you ever answer any of my prayers?"


God replied, "Within good time my child, within good time." And then, with a flash of white light, the man is born into his next life. As he's coming out of his mother's womb he hears God say, "Your prayers will now be answered, my daughter."


I came up with that one. :)
 
Back
Top