“We can think of Lent as a time to eradicate evil or cultivate virtue, a time to pull up weeds or to plant good seeds. Which is better is clear, for the Christian ideal is always positive rather than negative. A person is great not by the ferocity of his hatred of evil, but by the intensity of his love for God. Asceticism and mortification are not the ends of a Christian life; they are only the means. The end is charity. Penance merely makes an opening in our ego in which the Light of God can pour. As we deflate ourselves, God fills us. And it is God’s arrival that is the important event.” ThinkingMeanPersonsImportantEndsLightChristianEvilVirtueClearEventsEgoNegativeIdealsHatredPlantCharitySeedsOpeningChristian LifeGod LoveWeedIntensityHis LoveArrivalsAsceticismPenanceMortificationPull UpsFerocityImportant Events Author:Fulton J. Sheen
“When Nietzsche praises egoism it is always in an aggressive or polemical way, against the virtues, against the virtue of disinterestedness (Z III "Of the three evil things"). But in fact egoism is a bad interpretation of the will, just as atomism is a bad interpretation of force. In order for there to be egoism it is necessary for there to be an ego.” WayFactsOrderThreeEvilForceVirtueEgoPraiseInterpretationAggressiveEgoismEvil Things Book:Nietzsche and Philosophy Source: Nietzsche and Philosophy
“The two Virtues of Equanimity and Compassion become more available to the person whose ego-shell has been smashed-either by great suffering or by great love-or by both.” PersonsHas BeensTwoSufferingCompassionVirtueEgoAvailableShellsGreat LoveEquanimity Author:Richard Rohr
“It's easy to run to others. It's so hard to stand on one's own record. You can fake virtue for an audience. You can't fake it in your own eyes. Your ego is your strictest judge. They run from it. They spend their lives running. It's easier to donate a few thousand to charity and think oneself noble than to base self-respect on personal standards of personal achievement. It's simple to seek substitutes for competence--such easy substitutes: love, charm, kindness, charity. But there is no substitute for competence.” ThinkingSelfHardEyeRunningEasySimpleKindnessAudienceVirtueRecordsJudgingEasierThousandEgoAchievementStandardsCharityOneselfNobleFakeCharmSelf RespectSubstitutesCompetenceDonatePersonal Achievement Book:Ayn Rand Novel Collection Source: Ayn Rand Novel Collection
“I cannot say to you what is right or wrong. I can say only one thing to you: be conscious - that is right. Don't be unconscious because that is wrong. And then whatsoever you do in consciousness is right. But people are living in unconsciousness. And let me tell you: in unconsciousness you may think you are doing something right, but it can't be right. Out of unconsciousness, virtue cannot flower; it may appear virtuous but it can't be. Deep down it will still be something wrong. If you are unconscious and you give money to a poor man, watch: your ego is strengthened. This is sin.” PeopleIfsThinkingMenGivingMayStillsI CanSinPoorConsciousnessWatchesVirtueOne ThingFlowerEgoConsciousLet MeUnconsciousVirtuousDeep DownPoor ManUnconsciousness Author:Rajneesh
“To be ordinary is the greatest virtue - because when you are just ordinary, nothing to claim, of this world or that, the ego disappears. The ego feeds on imbalance, the ego feeds on extremes. The ego lives on the polarities - in the middle it disappears. And in every area, in every direction of life, remember this: just stop in the middle and soon you will find the mind has stopped, the ego has stopped. Nothing to claim, it disappears. And when it disappears you have become virtuous. Now the door is open for the divine. In the middle you meet him; at the extremes you miss.” WorldMindRememberVirtueDoorsMiddleMissingThis WorldDivineEgoOrdinaryAreasClaimsExtremesDisappearVirtuousImbalancePolarity Author:Rajneesh
“On the much revered family of North American mythology - and a metaphor for the Ruling Alliance: Sacred family! .... The supposed home of all the virtues, where innocent children are tortured into their first falsehoods, where wills are broken by parental tyranny, and self-respect smothered by crowded, jostling egos.” FirstsChildrenSelfHomeVirtueDemocracyBrokenEgoElectionSacredMetaphorMythologyTyrannyInnocentSelf RespectCynicalFalsehoodRulingCrowdedAlliancesParentalInnocent Children Author:August Strindberg
“To all those whose progress remains hampered by ego-related distractions, let humility - the spiritual cornerstone upon which Karate rests - serve to remind one to place virtue before vice, values before vanity and principles before personalities.” ArtSpiritualValuesPrinciplesVirtueProgressHumilityPersonalityEgoRemainsVicesVanityRelatedMartial ArtsDistractionKarateCornerstones Author:Matsumura Sokon
“The new life created by the final integration is self-aware yet without ego, capable of inhabiting a body yet not attached to it, and guided by wisdom rather than emotion. Whole and virtuous, it can never die.” LifeSelfWholeBodyDiesEmotionVirtueEgoCapableFinalsVirtuousIntegrationNew Life Book:Hua Hu Ching: Teachings of Lao Tzu Source: Hua Hu Ching: Teachings of Lao Tzu