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A Quotes

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All A Quotes

“A man who has made up his mind on a given subject twenty-five years ago and continues to hold his political opinions after he has been proved to be wrong is a man of principle; while he who from time to time adapts his opinions to the changing circumstances of life is an opportunist.”

“A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education, he may steal the whole railroad.”

“A man who has not known meditation lives in the dark night of the soul. He has not experienced the inner light. And if you are full of darkness inside your life is bound to remain miserable, because your actions will come out of your darkness. Your actions are bound to be wrong. Your life will be that of stumbling from one error to another error. People carry mountains of misery, because they have not tried to bring any light into their inner source. And it is easy to do that, but people have just never been told to go into themselves. The society, the establishment and the vested interests are against it, because they don't want people who are full of inner light. The politicians, the people in power and the rich are all against it, because a man who has his own inner light cannot be manipulated, controlled and exploited. He will always do the right things. He has his own intelligence, and he is ready to live according to his own inner light. Even a single moment of freedom is more valuable than to sacrifice his whole life, because in that single moment he comes to know God.”

“A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has never overcome them. As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being. Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”

“A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has never overcome them. They then dwell in the house next door, and at any moment a flame may dart out and set fire to his own house. Whenever we give up, leave behind, and forget too much, there is always the danger that the things we have neglected will return with added force.”

“A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.”

“A man who has once looked with the archaeological eye will never see quite normally. He will be wounded by what other men call trifles. It is possible to refine the sense of time until an old shoe in the bunch grass or a pile of nineteenth century beer bottles in an abandoned mining town tolls in one's head like a hall clock.”

“A man who has once perceived, however temporarily and however briefly, what makes greatness of soul, can no longer be happy if he allows himself to be petty, self-seeking, troubled by trivial misfortunes, dreading what fate may have in store for him. The man capable of greatness of soul will open wide the windows of his mind, letting the winds blow freely upon it from every portion of the universe.”

“A man who has the courage of his platitudes is always a successful man. The instructed man is ashamed to pronounce in an orphic manner what everybody knows, and because he is silent people think he is making fun of them. They like a man who expresses their own superficial thoughts in a manner that appears to be profound. This enables them to feel that they are themselves profound.”

“A man who hates the passion cuts off their causes. But a man who remains among their causes experiences even against his will the conflict from the passions. It is not possible to be mentally inclined toward a passion if one does not love its cause. For who, disdaining shame, is given to vainglory? Or who, loving lowliness, is bothered by dishonor? Who, having a broken and humble heart, accepts fleshly sweetness? Or who, believing in Christ, is concerned about temporal things, or argues about them?”