Quotessence
Home / Quotes / P Quotes

P Quotes

Browse famous quotes beginning with P. This page is a child index of the full Popular Quotes A-Z directory.

All P Quotes

“Prayer is not a way to get what we want to happen, like the remote control that comes with the television set. I think that prayer may be less about asking for the things we are attached to than it is about relinquishing our attachments in some way. It can take us beyond fear, which is an attachment, and beyond hope, which is another form of attachment. It can help us remember the nature of the world and the nature of life, not on an intellectual level but in a deep and experiential way. When we pray, we don't change the world, we change ourselves. We change our consciousness.”

“Prayer is not about the accuracy of the ritual, but about offering up one’s heart. It is not that God, or the world, needs one’s heart, but that we need to be able to offer… Prayer is the moment when we agree not to hide... Sometimes I am surprised at what wells up inside me [when I pray]. I ask for things I did not know I wanted. I pray in words I am surprised are mine. I feel embarrassed, and then ask myself, before whom am I embarrassed? Myself? Surely not before God to whom I am saying nothing unknown.”

“Prayer is not an old woman's idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument of action. . . . . . . Prayer is the first and the last lesson in learning the noble and brave art of sacrificing self in the various walks of life culminating in the defence of one's nation's liberty and honour.”

“Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one's weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”

“Prayer is not escape from but escape to, and the difference is important. When you take human form, you are not choosing to live in a prison, even one of Heaven’s design. Rather, you are choosing for a time to breathe the air of conflict, and taste the bitter herbs of higher learning. Prayer is an escape back to God’s own bosom, where the soul retreats not for pity but for rest.”