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Quote by Karen Armstrong

“You put yourself in the receptive frame of mind with which we approach music or poetry, which you can measure the difference on a neurological scanner.”

Quote by Karen Armstrong

Author

Karen Armstrong

Karen Armstrong, born on November 14, 1944, is a renowned author and religious scholar. Her works cover a range of fields including religious history, philosophy, and ethics, and are praised for their insightful and accessible writing style as well as her respect for religious diversity. more

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“We talk about God as though he was like a somebody. We ask him to bless our nation, or save our Queen, or give us a fine day for the picnic. And we actually expect him to be on our side in an election or war even though our opponents are also God's children.”

Giving Children War Asks Nations Sides Fine Election Queens Opponents Bless Picnics Fine Day

Author:Karen Armstrong

“So, we think about God far to easily and that's because of a lot of social, intellectual, and scientific changes that have taken place in the western world and that has made God very problematic for a lot of people.”

People Thinking World Made Social Taken Intellectual Western Western World

Author:Karen Armstrong

“Religion is a practical discipline and it's one that we have always done, ever since humanity appeared on the scene when Homo sapiens became Homo sapiens. Sapiens became a human being, our minds very naturally segue into transcendence.”

Mind Humans Done Humanity Human Beings Discipline Scene Practicals Transcendence Homo Sapiens

Author:Karen Armstrong

“We constantly have ideas and experiences that go beyond what we can say or know. Most often these are expressed in art, in painting, in music. Music, everyday confronts us with a form of knowing that doesn't depend on words.”

Knows Art Ideas Form Knowing Painting Depends Everyday

Author:Karen Armstrong

“You know how it is in the symphony when you are listening to the symphony, the last notes die away, and there's often a beat of silence in the auditorium before the applause begins. It's a very full and pregnant silence. Now theology should bring us to live into that silence, into that pregnant pause.”

Knows Should Lasts Dies Silence Know How Listening Beats Notes Theology Pregnant Pauses Symphony Applause Auditoriums

Author:Karen Armstrong

“Religion is a practical discipline and in the 17th century in the West, we turned it onto a head trip. But it's like dancing, or swimming, or driving, which you can't learn by texts. You have to get into the car and learn how to manipulate the vehicle.”

Century Car Discipline Dancing West Driving Practicals Swimming Vehicle Manipulate 17th Century

Author:Karen Armstrong

“You have to get into the water and learn against what seems to be the law gravity to float and dancing, or athletics takes you years before you develop a skill. But if you work at it, practicing daily, you can enable your body to do things that are utterly impossible to an untrained physic.”

Ifs Years Body Seems Law Water Impossible Skills Dancing Your Body Gravity Floats Athletics

Author:Karen Armstrong

“Religions have found that if you behave in a certain way, if you sort of perform certain rituals that expand your mind and make you realize that will make you realize and help you to seguey into transcendence and perform certain acts, adopt a certain lifestyle, you develop new capacities of mind and heart, just like the dancer, or the athlete that make you into a whole human being and principle after one of these disciplines right across the board in all of the faiths is compassion, the ability to feel with the other person.”

“A lot of movies are about life, mine are like a slice of cake.”

Mines Movie Gambling Cake

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“Compassion has to become a discipline. It's something that you do. It's no good thinking that you agree with compassion or not, you've just got to do it. Just like it's no good agreeing that it's possible to float, you just have to get into the pool and then you learn that it's possible.”

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Author:Karen Armstrong