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Quote by Steven Erikson

“You are looking upon joy, Mappo Runt. In the face of this, I will not obsess on my own pain, my own suffering. Do you understand? I will not. ~ Spite”

Quote by Steven Erikson

Book:The Bonehunters
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The Bonehunters

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Author

Steven Erikson
Steven Erikson

Steven Erikson (born October 7, 1959) is a renowned Canadian novelist, best known for his epic fantasy series Malazan Book of the Fallen. Born in Toronto, he holds a background in archaeology and anthropology, having worked on archaeological projects in Canada and the UK. Erikson's writing is characterized by complex world-building, multi-perspective narratives, and profound philosophical themes, blending history, mythology, and human nature. The Malazan series is widely regarded as a landmark in modern fantasy literature, influencing countless readers and writers. His works have been nominated for major awards, including the World Fantasy Award and the British Fantasy Award. more

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“Recently she has begun to think, with the dispassion of a scientist observing a specimen, that she no longer knows what joy feels like— that sense of soaring delight in being alive that is more than mere happiness, which she came to define as merely the absence of sadness, so that she could occasionally claim it and keep her life on its tracks. If she had been asked, she would have said she was content, but now she recognizes that featureless condition for what it is: all sensation blurred into the same narcotic fog.”

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“Love is the highest thing in life. Then only condition to become loveis to drop the ego. The ego is a false entity, which only exists because we believe in it. When we withdraw our belief in the ego, the ego disappears. When we withdraw our belief in the ego, we also withdraw our belief that we are separate from existence. We are not separate. We are all one. We are not an isolated island. We are part of an infinite continent. And to feel that we are part of existence brings great joy. Start feeling more and more in tune with the whole. And that will create an explosion of love. The moment the ego disappears, love explodes. It is the ego that hinders love like a rock in ariver. Meditation means to drop the ego, and to move more and more into the whole. And then our worries disappears, because when you are not separate from the whole, there is no question of worrying. You need not worry about death, because when you are not  separate, you cannot die. Death is a result of the separate ego. Then life becomes a joy. So from now on start to live, not as a separate entity, but as part of the whole.”

LoveLifeDeathJoyExistenceMeditationEgoOneness With Life
Book:Man is Part of the Whole: Silence, Love, Joy, Truth, Compassion, Freedom and Grace
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“Man can exist in two ways: the first way is to fight and struggle on the outside for money, power, prestige, position and possessions. The first way is to conquer the world, and to achieve world dominion. The first way is for the ignorant, stupid and mediocre. That is the way that the majority of humanity has chosen for the simple reason that everybody is running after it. And seeing that everybody is running after it, the majority of people also start rushing thinking that there must be something there as so many people are running for it. Everybody is running, without really knowing why they are running. Nobody is really knows why everybody is running for money, power, prestige and possessions, but they are all running. It is a kind of madness and pathology, which feeds the ego. The ego feeds on fight and struggle. And when they die, they have to leave everything that they have conquered. That is why everybody is crying and weeping. It is the insight that I have wasted my whole life, and now my hands are empty. My whole life has passed, and I am going empty-handed. My life has been a wastage, But there is another way to live. One can be an inner warrior, and conquer one's own ignorance and unconsciousness. One can conquer one's ignorance, greed, anger, violence, desire and sexuality. Then one has known the secret of transforming one's own being, which creates great joy. Then you inner being dances with joy, because you know something that death cannot take away from you. You have found the real treasure in life.”

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Book:Man is Part of the Whole: Silence, Love, Joy, Truth, Compassion, Freedom and Grace
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“Love is the most mysterious experience in life. Love is something that you never fully learn; love is something that you ontinuously go deeper and deeper into. The mystery of love deepens more and more. Love cannot be explained. Love cannot be defined. Love can only be lived, but it can never be understood. Love is so vast, so infinite. If you allow love to happen to, you you are allowing the mystery of life to happen to you. And it is through the mysterious that one comes close to God. Love is the beginning of God. God is so far away, so we need something more human and concrete to approach him. That is what love is. Love is the possibility of reaching God. God is love in its unmanifest state. So never try to make a philosophy of love. There is not other way to know love except existential experience. Unless you experience love you don't know it. Existence needs experience. You have the capacity to know, to see, to feel and to be love. Become a friend to all that is. Become a friend to human beings, to animals, to trees, to birds and to rocks. Create the quality of friendliness. Let it flow towards everyone irrespective of nation, race, caste and creed. And then slowly your consciousness will start becoming universal. Friendship is a way to drop the ego and become egoless. The ego exists by creating enemies, because the ego exists through fight and conflict. The moment the ego disappears, all your boundaries disappears, and you become one with the universe.”

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Book:Man is Part of the Whole: Silence, Love, Joy, Truth, Compassion, Freedom and Grace
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“We are not aware of who we are. We are not aware of the inner being, the authentic self, the source from which we come. We are not aware why we have come here. We are not aware of what our purpose is. There must be come purpose, some meaning and there must be some message to be delivered. There must be some work to be done, and something has to happen through us. Nobody is here accidental and everybody is on a mission, which we are unaware of. We are not aware of who we are, and we are not aware of why we are here, but that does not make any difference to the truth. Whether the truth is known or not, it still remains the truth. Not knowing it makes no difference. Everybody is here to fulfill a certain purpose, a certain meaning. Unless you have not done that for which you have come here, you will not feel a deep sense of joy and meaning. That is the basic cause why there is so much misery. The basic cause of misery is that we are doing something for which we are not meant. Everybody is trying to be somebody else. You can never be somebody else, you can only be your own self. Without meditation you will never know who you really are, and what your purpose here is. With meditation you will become more silent, joyful and a clarity will arise. You can see clearly what your purpose here is. You can see clearly what will create a deep sense of joy and meaning in you. Then your whole life goes through a radical change. Then you start doing that for which you are meant. Meditation is the method of discovery of who you really are, your purpose, your goal, your meaning, and once you start doing it, your life will become a joy.”

LifeTruthJoyCreativityMeditationMiseryMeaning Of LifePurpose Of LifeMission
Book:Man is Part of the Whole: Silence, Love, Joy, Truth, Compassion, Freedom and Grace
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“The soft, smooth substance filled her mouth. Chocolate cream, she thought. The flavor grew richer, rounder, louder with each passing second. It was like music, the notes lingering in her mind long after the sound itself had vanished. He was openly staring at her. "You eat with such concentration and intensity. And, dare I say it, joy?" Joy? The word was so foreign, especially in relation to food. It embarrassed her; she took a sip of the wine and concentrated on the way the flavors changed. She thought of music again. The sweet wine was like the trill of a flute, and suddenly the foie gras, which had reminded her more of pastry than meat, became robust, substantial.”

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Book:The Paris Novel
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“One reason might be that if I hadn't tripped, I'd have been hamburger. When this sort of thing occurs, people often say that there was some power greater than themselves at work. This sounds reasonable. I am just suggesting that it is not necessary to equate "greater than ourselves" with "stretched across the heavenly vault." It could mean "just slightly greater." A cocoon of energy that we carry with us, that is capable, under some conditions, of affecting physicality. Furthermore, I conjecture that the totality of all these souls is what constitutes the Godhead. I mean this in the same sense as the "Leviathan" of Thomas Hobbes, whereby man, that is everyone together, creates "that great Leviathan called a Commonwealth or State, which is but an artificial man, though of greater statute and strength than the natural, for whose protection and defense it was created." And that leads me to my Insight: God was not there at the beginning of evolution; God is what lies at the end of it.”

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Book:The Boy on the Back of the Turtle: Seeking God, Quince Marmalade, and the Fabled Albatross on Darwin's Islands
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