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Awe Quotes

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Awe Quotes

“Religion begins in story. Yes, it does, because religion is an attempt to make sense of what is incomprehensible to us, what is inexplicable, what is awe-inspiring, what is frightening, what moves us to great wonder, and so on. That is the religious impulse, and it is part of our psychological makeup -- of everyone's psychological makeup.”

DoeStoriesMovingReligiousWonderPsychologicalImpulseMake SenseAweMakeupFrighteningInexplicableAwe Inspiring
Author:Philip Pullman
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“Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe, the more often and steadily we reflect upon them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me. I do not seek or conjecture either of them as if they were veiled obscurities or extravagances beyond the horizon of my vision; I see them before me and connect them immediately with the consciousness of my existence.”

IfsMindTwoLawHeavenExistenceConsciousnessMoralVisionTwo ThingsAweAdmirationHorizonObscurityExtravaganceMoral LawConjectureBeyond The Horizon
Author:Immanuel Kant
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“If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength.”

IfsWorldShouldYearsChildrenLastsAsksNatureWonderInfluenceSourceBoredomFairyAweArtificialAlienationAntidotePreoccupationSense Of WonderIndestructibleSilent SpringDisenchantmentAwe And WonderWonder Of The WorldWonder Of LifeWonder And MysteryChristening
Book:The Sense of Wonder
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“This is the awe-inspiring universe of magic: There are no atoms, only waves and motions all around. Here, you discard all belief in barriers to understanding. You put aside understanding itself. This universe cannot be seen, cannot be heard, cannot be detected in any way by fixed perceptions. It is the ultimate void where no preordained screens occur upon which forms may be projected. You have only one awareness here—the screen of the magi: Imagination! Here, you learn what it is to be human. You are a creator of order, of beautiful shapes and systems, an organizer of chaos.”

WayHumansMayBeautifulFormOrderUniverseBeliefUnderstandingImaginationMagicHeardAwarenessShapesPerceptionUltimateChaosWaveCreatorScreensFixedAweBarriersAtomsVoidOrganizerAwe InspiringUnderstanding You
Author:Frank Herbert
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“The quality of mercy is not strain'd, It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: 'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown; His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthroned in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God's When mercy seasons justice.”

GivingHeartShowsForceHeavenJusticeQualityKingsRainMercySeasonsGentleAweAttributesDreadCrownsStrainMajestyVeniceMerchantsMonarchsMerchant Of VeniceMercy Of GodJustice And MercyShylockMerchant Of Venice FamousMercy And ForgivenessGentle Rain
Author:William Shakespeare
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“The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction.”

RealityEarthUniverseNatureAttentionWonderEnvironmentFocusSeaTasteOceanDestructionEnvironmentalAweSustainabilityEcologyConservationOur EnvironmentWildlifeSustainable DevelopmentZoosEnvironmentalistEnvironmental ProtectionNature And EnvironmentEarth And NatureNature ConservationGreen LivingSave The EnvironmentSilent SpringPanaceaWildlife ConservationSave NatureAnimals In NatureNature And AnimalsWonder Of The WorldEnvironmental HistoryWonder Of NatureEnvironmental SustainabilityWildlife AnimalsAnimal ConservationWildlife And NatureSaving AnimalsDeep EcologyDestruction Of NatureEnvironmental Destruction
Book:Silent Spring
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“Felicity ignores us. She walks out to them, an apparition in white and blue velvet, her head held high as they stare in awe at her, the goddess. I don't know yet what power feels like. But this is surely what it looks like, and I think I'm beginning to understand why those ancient women had to hide in caves. Why our parents and suitors want us to behave properly and predictably. It's not that they want to protect us; it's that they fear us.”

ThinkingKnowsWantFeelsLooksParentWhiteWalksProtectBlueAncientStaringBehaveAweGoddessCavesVelvetFelicityApparitionsSuitorsBlue Velvet
Book:A Great and Terrible Beauty
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“How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, “This is better than we thought! The Universe is much bigger than our prophets said, grander, more subtle, more elegant?” Instead they say, “No, no, no! My god is a little god, and I want him to stay that way.” A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the Universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths.”

WayWantLittlesSaidGodMightAbleScienceReligionUniverseModernMajorsDrawsBiggerProphetAweSubtleReverenceConventionalReservesElegantStressedCosmologyWant HimModern ScienceOrganized ReligionMagnificencePale Blue DotSubtle AtheistAstronomy And Universe
Author:Carl Sagan
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“She knew this music--knew it down to the very core of her being--but she had never heard it before. Unfamiliar, it had still always been there inside her, waiting to be woken. It grew from the core of mystery that gives a secret its special delight, religion its awe. It demanded to be accepted by simple faith, not dissected or questioned, and at the same time, it begged to be doubted and probed.”

GivingStillsWaitingSimpleSecretHeardMysterySpecialGrewDelightAcceptedCoreAweUnfamiliarDoubtedSimple Faith
Author:Charles de Lint
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“Yet, when these facts are seen side by side with other facts in the case, it is difficult not to become lost in superstitious awe. Their very absurdity seems to prohibit the use of the words 'chance' and 'coincidence.' For the sceptic there remains only one consolation: if there should be such a thing as superhuman Law, it is administered with sub-human inefficiency.”

IfsShouldHumansFactsUseSeemsLawLostDifficultSidesChanceCasesRemainsAweCoincidenceAbsurdityConsolationSuperstitiousSuperhumanInefficiencySceptic
Book:A Coffin for Dimitrios/Judgement on Deltchev/Passage of Arms: Three Complete Novels in One Volume
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“I may chance have some odd quirks and remnants of wit broken on me, because I have railed so long against marriage: but doth not the appetite alter? a man loves the meat in his youth that he cannot endure in his age. Shall quips and sentences and these paper bullets of the brain awe a man from the career of his humour? No, the world must be peopled. When I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I were married.”

ThinkingMenWorldShouldMayLongSaidAgeDiesChanceBrainCareersYouthHumourBrokenPaperMarriedEndureSentencesWitOddMeatAweAppetiteBulletsBachelorsRemnantsQuirksQuip
Author:William Shakespeare
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“The feeling of awed wonder that science can give us is one of the highest experiences of which the human psyche is capable. It is a deep aesthetic passion to rank with the finest that music and poetry can deliver. It is truly one of the things that make life worth living and it does so, if anything, more effectively if it convinces us that the time we have for living is quite finite.”

IfsGivingHumansDoeFeelingsPassionWonderHighestCapableAweConvinceAestheticFinestFiniteWorth LivingLife Worth LivingGod DelusionHuman PsycheAwe And WonderConvince Us
Book:Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder
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“God was gone; it was the silence of his departure. It was a rainy night. It was the myth of the rainy night. Dean was popeyed with awe. This madness would lead nowhere. I didn't know what was happening to me, and I suddenly realized it was only the tea that we were smoking; Dean had bought some in New York. It made me think that everything was about to arrive - the moment when you know all and everything is decided forever.”

ThinkingKnowsMadeMomentsNightSilenceGoneForeverNew YorkHappeningsDecidedMadnessMythTeaSmokingAweDepartureDeanRainyRainy Night
Book:Road Novels 1957-1960
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“Those afraid of the universe as it really is, those who pretend to nonexistent knowledge and envision a Cosmos centered on human beings will prefer the fleeting comforts of superstition. They avoid rather than confront the world. But those with the courage to explore the weave and structure of the Cosmos, even where it differs profoundly from their wishes and prejudices, will penetrate its deepest mysteries.”

WorldHumansScienceUniverseWishHuman BeingsWonderKnowledgeMysteryComfortAspectPrejudiceStructureAweCosmosSuperstitionsSkepticismFleetingPenetrateSense Of WonderPale Blue Dot
Author:Carl Sagan
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“Let’s think of reverence as awe, as presence in and openness to the world…Try walking around with a child who’s going, ‘Wow, wow! Look at that dirty dog! Look at that burned-down house! Look at that red sky!’ And the child points, and you look, and you see, and you start going, ‘Wow! Look at that huge crazy hedge! Look at that teeny little baby! Look at the scary dark cloud!’ I think this is how we are supposed to be in the world – present and in awe.”

ThinkingWorldTryingLooksChildrenLittlesHouseDarkSkyCrazyDogHugeBabyWalkingRedCloudsScarySupposed To BeDirtyAweOpennessWowReverenceBurnedDark Clouds
Author:Anne Lamott
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“Do you see the consequences of the way we have chosen to think about success? Because we so profoundly personalize success, we miss opportunities to lift others onto the top rung...We are too much in awe of those who succeed and far too dismissive of those who fail. And most of all, we become much too passive. We overlook just how large a role we all play—and by “we” I mean society—in determining who makes it and who doesn’t.”

ThinkingWayMeanPlayOpportunityRolesToo MuchFailingMissingSucceedConsequenceChosenLiftsAwePassiveAbout SuccessOutliersMissing Opportunity
Author:Malcolm Gladwell
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“I'm so alive. As I stand facing the beauty of the never-ending Pacific Ocean, a late afternoon breeze blows down from the hills behind. As always, it is a beautiful day. The sun is making its final descent. The magic is about to begin. The skies are ready to burn with brilliance, as it turns from a soft blue to a bright orange. Looking towards the West, I stare in awe at the hypnotic power of the waves. A giant curl begins to take form, then breaks with a thundering clap as it crashes on the shore.”

BeautifulFormTurnsBehindsBreakSunAliveMagicSkyReadyOceanLateBlueWestFinalsWaveBlowHillsStaringGiantsAweShoreAfternoonCrashOrangeBreezeBrilliancePacificNever EndingDescentCurlsHypnoticBeautiful DayPacific OceanLate Afternoon
Book:A Child Called It
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“Isn't it a riddle . . . and awe-inspiring, that everything is so beautiful? Despite the horror. Lately I've noticed something grand and mysterious peering through my sheer joy in all that is beautiful, a sense of its creator . . . Only man can be truly ugly, because he has the free will to estrange himself from this song of praise. It often seems that he'll manage to drown out this hymn with his cannon thunder, curses and blasphemy. But during this past spring it has dawned upon me that he won't be able to do this. And so I want to try and throw myself on the side of the victor.”

MenWantTryingSeemsAblePastBeautifulJoySongSidesHorrorSpringPraiseCreatorUglyDespiteManageMysteriousCurseAweFree WillSheerThunderRiddleHymnsBlasphemyCannonsAwe InspiringSheer Joy
Author:Sophie Scholl
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“Throughout his life, Albert Einstein would retain the intuition and the awe of a child. He never lost his sense of wonder at the magic of nature's phenomena-magnetic fields, gravity, inertia, acceleration, light beams-which grown-ups find so commonplace. He retained the ability to hold two thoughts in his mind simultaneously, to be puzzled when they conflicted, and to marvel when he could smell an underlying unity. "People like you and me never grow old," he wrote a friend later in life. "We never cease to stand like curious children before the great mystery into which we were born.”

PeopleMindChildrenTwoLightLostGrowsBornAbilityWonderMagicMysteryFieldsLike YouUnityIntuitionSmellCeaseCuriousAweGravityCommonplaceBeamInertiaMagneticPuzzledSense Of WonderLater In LifeAccelerationChildlike WonderMagnetic Fields
Book:Einstein: His Life and Universe
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