“Moral decay first hampers and then strangles honest government, regular commerce, and even the ability to take genuine pleasure in the goods of this world. Compulsion is applied from above as self-discipline relaxes below, and the last liberties expire under the weight of a unitary state.... Since religion has lost its empire over the souls of men, the most prominent boundary that divided good from evil is overthrown; kings and nations are guided by chance and none can say where are the natural limits of despotism and the bound of license.” MenWorldFirstsSoulSelfStatesGovernmentLastsEvilLostNationsNaturalChanceAbilityPleasureLibertyMoralHonestThis WorldKingsDisciplineLimitsWeightBoundsCorruptionBoundariesGenuineRelaxEmpiresGoodsDividedDecayCommerceSelf DisciplineLicenseCompulsionDespotismProminentHamperMoral DecayHonest Government Author:Russell Kirk
“Sufis teach that we first must battle and destroy the evil within ourselves by shining upon it the good within, and then we learn to battle the evil in others by helping their higher selves gain control of their lower selves.” FirstsSelfHelpingEvilTeachHigherBattleGainsShiningSufiHigher SelfEvil Within Author:Feisal Abdul Rauf
“I think it takes a lot of trickery to keep up with the media and its perception of you. I don't know if I have it in me most of the time to care. The music is made first, and the interviews or photos to keep it alive come later as a necessary evil, I suppose.” IfsThinkingKnowsFirstsMadeCareEvilAliveMediaPerceptionMusic IsInterviewsTrickeryNecessary Evil Author:Jack White
“He who devoutly strives to attain wisdom and is on his guard against the invisible powers, should pray that both natural discrimination - whose light is but limited - and the illuminating grace of the Spirit abide in him. The first by means of practice trains the flesh in virtue, the second illuminates the intellect so that it chooses above all else companionship with wisdom; and through wisdom it destroys the strongholds of evil and pulls down 'all the self-esteem that exalts itself against the knowledge of God' (II Cor. 10:5).” ShouldFirstsMeanSelfLightChristianSpiritEvilNaturalPracticeVirtueGraceSelf EsteemPrayingTrainStriveIntellectFleshInvisibleDiscriminationEsteemOrthodoxCompanionshipStrifeOrthodox ChristianIlluminatingKnowledge Of GodStrongholds Author:Maximus the Confessor
“I used to stay up all night playing 'Resident Evil 2,' and it wouldn't stop until the sun came up. Then I'd walk outside at dawn's first light, looking at the empty streets of London, and it was like life imitating art. It felt like I'd stepped into an actual zombie apocalypse.” FirstsArtLightUsedNightEvilFeltWalksSunStreetsEmptyLondonDawnApocalypseZombieAll NightResidentsImitatingZombie ApocalypseUp All NightEmpty StreetsResident Evil Author:Edgar Wright
“Do this and you will be an apostle, a fulfiller of what the Lord chose you for, an accomplisher of your calling as messenger. When at first you succeed in all this, then perhaps the Lord will appoint you as a special ambassador-to save others after you have saved yourself; and to help those who are tempted, after you yourself pass through all temptations, and through all experiences in good and evil.” FirstsHelpingEvilLordSpecialHumilityCallingSucceedSavedTemptationGood And EvilTemptedApostlesMessengersAmbassadors Author:Theophan the Recluse
“One great remedy against all manner of temptation, great or small, is to open the heart and lay bare its suggestion, likings, and dislikings before some spiritual adviser; for, . . . the first condition which the Evil One makes with a soul, when he wants to entrap it, is silence.” WantFirstsHeartSoulSpiritualEvilSilenceConditionsLaysTemptationRemedySuggestionsAdviser Author:Saint Francis de Sales
“No sin is committed merely because a thought enters the mind, provided it is not made welcome. Perhaps we may use the figure that the thought first passes into an anteroom, where it stands before the mind acting as a judge. No matter how sordid or evil, it has not touched the personality with its infamy nor in any way laid guilt upon the soul unless and until the mind acting as judge admits it with a welcome. If the mind decides against it and dismisses it, the personality is not only unsullied but is, on the contrary, by this act of rejection stimulated and strengthened in moral power.” IfsWayMindFirstsMayMadeSoulMatterUseEvilSinActingMoralFiguresJudgingPersonalityGuiltCommittedContraryWelcomeRejectionTouchedInfamyPower Of Thought Author:Norman Vincent Peale
“Temporary deviations from fundamental principles are always more or less dangerous. When the first pretext fails, those who become interested in prolonging the evil will rarely be at a loss for other pretexts.” FirstsEvilLossLibertyPrinciplesFailingDangerousFundamentalsTemporaryPretextFundamental PrinciplesDeviationProlonging Book:Selected Writings of James Madison Source: Selected Writings of James Madison
“Whores, instead of claiming what's rightfully yours. Pierced a hole in my heart from all the pain you caused, with no direction you left your first born lost.” FirstsHeartPainEvilLostLeftBornMy HeartHolesMisogynyEvil WomenHole In My Heart Author:Ja Rule
“Not far from here, by a white sun, behind a green star, lived the Steelypips, illustrious, industrious, and they hadn't a care: no spats in their vats, no rules, no schools, no gloom, no evil influence of the moon, no trouble from matter or antimatter - for they had a machine, a dream of a machine, with springs and gears and perfect in every respect. And they lived with it, and on it, and under it, and inside it, for it was all they had - first they saved up all their atoms, then they put them all together, and if one didn't fit, why they chipped at it a bit, and everything was just fine.” IfsFirstsMatterDreamCareSchoolTogetherEvilStarsBitsWhitePerfectBehindsSunTroubleInfluenceFineFitMoonSpringHumorousMachinesGreenSavedAtomsGearsGloomIndustriousSpatsVatAntimatter Book:The Cyberiad Source: The Cyberiad
“The cause which is blocking all progress today is the subtle scepticism which whispers in a million ears that things are not good enough to be worth improving. If the world is good we are revolutionaries, if the world is evil we must be conservatives. These essays, futile as they are considered as serious literature, are yet ethically sincere, since they seek to remind men that things must be loved first and improved afterwards.” IfsMenWorldFirstsEnoughTodayEvilLiteratureCausesMillionsProgressSeriousEarsBlockRevolutionarySubtleGood EnoughSincereImprovingEssaysNot Good EnoughScepticism Author:Gilbert K. Chesterton