“And when it is suggested that the inward feelings of power or inward monitions or losses of judgement are the germs out of which the divine machinery developed, I return that truth is just the reverse, that the presence of voices which had to be obeyed were the absolute prerequisite to the conscious stage of mind in which it is the self that is responsible and can debate within itself, can order and direct, and that the creation of such a self is the product of culture. In a sense, we have become our own gods.” MindSelfFeelingsOrderCultureVoiceLossStageCreationDivineProductsReturnTruth IsConsciousDirectAbsolutesResponsibleDebateJudgementReverseInwardMachineryGermsPrerequisites Author:Julian Jaynes
“God -- if he really exist -- is good, alive, self-conscious, and governs all things according to his benevolent and holy providence; but the world shows no indications of such a benevolent and holy Providence. This earth appears to be a hell, or at best a planet condemned -- a sort of purgatory: it is filled with violence, tyranny and injustice, and yet God, if he exist, is absolute sovereign, and has willed that things should be as they are! -- Therefore there is no God.” IfsWorldShouldSelfGodShowsEarthHellAliveViolencePlanetsHolyConsciousAll ThingsAbsolutesFilledInjusticeTyrannyProvidenceSovereignSelf ConsciousIndicationThere Is No GodBenevolentPurgatory Author:William Batchelder Greene
“Dostoevsky's underground man ... observes his contemporaries striving to establish false goals where there are no naturally generated ones. ... He argues they should be conscious and honest enough to recognize that the goal itself is not an absolute, and probably not even important. A strong attachment to the telos indicates that the spontaneous enjoyment the child once took in road-building has waned.” MenShouldChildrenImportantEnoughStrongGoalHonestBuildingConsciousAbsolutesStriveArguingEnjoymentAttachmentSpontaneous Author:John Carroll
“So the dream is continually reminding us of the part which our conscious is forgetting. It does not speak with any absolute authority; it simply gives a true picture of a situation which exists in the unconscious. It speaks truth; but not, as some persons believe, the truth. It shows the other side.” GivingBelievePersonsDoeShowsDreamSpeakSidesForgetSituationAuthorityConsciousAbsolutesUnconsciousSpeak The TruthReminding Author:Frances G. Wickes
“Adolescents' immature thinking makes it difficult for them to process the divorce. They tend to see things in black-and-white terms and have trouble putting events into perspective. They are absolute in their judgments and expect perfection in parents. They are likely to be self-conscious about their parent's failures and critical of their every move. They have the expectations that parents will keep them safe and happy and are shocked by the broken covenant. Adolescents are unforgiving.” ThinkingSelfMovingProcessParentDifficultBlackTermWhiteTroubleEventsBrokenPerspectiveSafeJudgmentExpectationsConsciousPerfectionAbsolutesDivorceCriticalBlack And WhiteShockedSelf ConsciousCovenantImmatureUnforgiving Book:Reviving Ophelia Source: Reviving Ophelia
“Fundamentalists believe that we don't believe in anything. In their view of the world, they are in possession of absolute certainties, while we are descending into decadence. We will be able to triumph over terrorism not by waging war on it, but through a conscious, fearless way of life.” WorldWayBelieveWarAbleViewsConsciousAbsolutesDon't BelievePossessionTerrorismCertaintyFearlessTriumphDecadenceDescendingAbsolute CertaintyWaging War Author:Salman Rushdie
“The word "people" is unpleasant to me. The phrase "Soviet people" was drummed into us from childhood on. I love concrete people, enlightened people who live conscious lives and do not simply sit there and vegetate. To love the people you have to be the general secretary of the Communist Party or an absolute dictator.” PeoplePartyChildhoodConsciousAbsolutesPhrasesEnlightenedCommunistSovietConcreteDictatorSecretaryCommunist Party Author:Vladimir Sorokin
“What we're calling 'presencing' is possible because of this womb, where the absolute and the manifest interact. I think a buddhist would say that presencing can arise to the extent that we develop the capacity, individually and collectively, to extend our conscious awareness in both domains.” ThinkingAwarenessCallingConsciousCapacityAbsolutesAriseBuddhistManifestDomainWombConscious Awareness Book:Presence: An Exploration of Profound Change in People, Organizations, and Society Source: Presence: An Exploration of Profound Change in People, Organizations, and Society
“Trust is faith that has become absolute, approved, and accomplished. When all is said and done, there is a sort of risk in faith and its exercise. But trust is firm belief; it is faith in full bloom. Trust is a conscious act, a fact of which we are aware.” SaidDoneFactsBeliefRiskExerciseConsciousAbsolutesFirmAccomplishedApprovedSaid And DoneFirm Beliefs Author:Edward McKendree Bounds
“Meditation is the only way to overcome fear. There is no other way. Why does meditation help us overcome fear? In meditation we identify ourselves with the vast, with the Absolute. When we are afraid of someone or something, it is because we do not feel that particular person or thing is a part of us. When we have established conscious oneness with the Absolute, with the Infinite Vast, the everything there is part of us. And how can we be afraid of ourselves?” WayFeelsPersonsDoeHelpingFearMeditationParticularConsciousOvercomingAbsolutesInfiniteOnenessOvercoming Fear Author:Sri Chinmoy