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Parables Quotes

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Parables Quotes

“To the scientist Nature is a storehouse of facts, laws, processes; to the artist she is a storehouse of pictures; to the poet she is a storehouse of images, fancies, a source of inspiration; to the moralist she is a storehouse of precepts and parables; to all she may be a source of knowledge and joy.”

MayFactsInspirationLawJoyArtistProcessNaturePoetSourceScientistFancyParablesMoralistSource Of Inspiration
Book:The Art of Seeing Things: Essays
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“And there's a wonderful parable in the New Testament: The sower scatters seeds. Some seeds fall in the pathway and get stamped on, and they don't grow. Some fall on the rocks, and they don't grow. But some seeds fall on fallow ground, and they grow and multiply a thousandfold. Who knows where some good little thing that you've done may bring results years later that you never dreamed of?”

KnowsYearsMayLittlesDoneFallGrowsResultsWonderfulRocksSeedsLittle ThingsTestamentNew TestamentPathwaysParables
Author:Pete Seeger
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“The mistake made by all previous systems of ethics has been the failure to recognize that life as such is the mysterious value with which they have to deal. All spiritual life meets us within natural life. Reverence for life, therefore, is applied to natural life and spiritual life alike. In the parable of Jesus, the shepherd saves not merely the soul of the lost sheep but the whole animal. The stronger the reverence for natural life, the stronger grows also that for spiritual life.”

LifeHas BeensMadeSoulWholeSpiritualValuesJesusLostStrongGrowsNaturalAnimalDealsMistakeStrengthEthicsStrongerMysteriousReverenceSpiritual LifeSheepShepherdsParablesReverence For LifeNatural Life
Book:Albert Schweitzer: An Anthology
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“Where possible Paul avoids quoting the teaching of Jesus, in fact even mentioning it. If we had to rely on Paul, we should not know that Jesus taught in parables, had delivered the sermon on the mount, and had taught His disciples the 'Our Father.' Even where they are specially relevant, Paul passes over the words of the Lord.”

IfsKnowsShouldFactsFatherJesusLordTeachingTaughtHistoricalRelyRelevantDiscipleSermonsOur FatherParablesQuotingSermon On The Mount
Author:Albert Schweitzer
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“Most literary critics agree that fiction cannot be reduced to mere falsehood. Well-crafted protagonists come to life, pornography causes orgasms, and the pretense that life is what we want it to be may conceivably bring about the desired condition. Hence religious parables, socialist realism, Nazi propaganda. And if this story likewise crawls with reactionary supernaturalism, that might be because its author longs to see letters scuttling across ceilings, cautiously beginning to reify themselves into angels. For if they could only do that, then why not us?”

IfsWantWellsMayStoriesMightLife IsCausesReligiousFictionConditionsAngelLettersAgreeMereCriticsPropagandaWhy NotFalsehoodRealismSocialistNaziPornographyCeilingsPretenseReactionariesProtagonistsParablesNazi Propaganda
Book:Europe Central
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“These are the days when men of all social disciplines and all political faiths seek the comfortable and the accepted; when the man of controversy is looked upon as a disturbing influence; when originality is taken to be a mark of instability; and when, in minor modification of the original parable, the bland lead the bland.”

MenPoliticalSocialTakenInfluenceHe ManDisciplineComfortableEmpathyMarkOriginalsAcceptedApathyOriginalityMinorsControversyDisturbingInstabilityParablesBlandModification
Author:John Kenneth Galbraith
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“Jesus of Nazareth could have chosen simply to express Himself in moral precepts; but like a great poet He chose the form of the parable, wonderful short stories that entertained and clothed the moral precept in an eternal form. It is not sufficient to catch man's mind, you must also catch the imaginative faculties of his mind.”

MenMindStoriesFormJesusMoralWonderfulPoetEternalChosenSufficientFacultyShort StoryImaginativeParablesGreat PoetNazareth
Author:Dudley Nichols
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“A master was once unmoved by the complaints of his disciples that, though they listened with pleasure to his parables and stories, they were also frustrated for they longed for something deeper. To all their objections he would simply reply: 'You have yet to understand, my friends, that the shortest distance between a human being and truth is a story.'”

HumansStoriesHuman BeingsPleasureMastersTruth IsMy FriendsDistanceDeeperFrustratedDiscipleComplaintsObjectionsParables
Book:Anthony De Mello: Writings
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“Sometimes, because of its immediacy, television produces a kind of electronic parable. Berlin, for instance, on the day the Wall was opened. Rostropovich was playing his cello by the Wall that no longer cast a shadow, and a million East Berliners were thronging to the West to shop with an allowance given them by West German banks! At that moment the whole world saw how materialism had lost its awesome historic power and become a shopping list.”

WorldKindSometimesWholeMomentsLostGivenMillionsSawsProduceTelevisionWallShadowWestCastsEastListsWhole WorldInstanceShopsMaterialismThat MomentShoppingHistoricBerlinParablesAllowanceImmediacy
Book:Selected Essays of John Berger
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“The growth of all the plants of the garden from seeds and roots keep us mindful, in accordance with of the Parable of the Sower, of the need for our loving, mortified reception and cultivation in our hearts and souls of the seeds and roots of the supernatural gifts and virtues necessary for progress in the ascetical/mystical ascent of our souls toward union with God and with the divine will for Creation and Kingdom”

NeedsHeartSoulSpiritReligionSpiritualityGrowthVirtueProgressCreationDivineGardenRootsUnionsPlantSeedsKingdomsMysticalHeart And SoulCultivationParablesReceptionAscentDivine Will
Author:John Stokes
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“Humble patience, tirelessness and persistence in prayer conquer the unconquerable God and incline Him to mercy. According to the Lord's parable, the importunity of the widow inclined a wicked and unjust judge to grant her petition (cf. Lk. 18:1 ff.). The Lord gave this parable for a special purpose ? to teach us not to faint, but to pray patiently. If an unjust judge was persuaded to grant the petition of the widow, how can God fail to incline His ear to our prayers, if we persist in imploring Him since He is the essence of lovingkindness?”

IfsChristianPurposePrayerLordTeachFailingSpecialJudgingPrayingMercyEssenceEarsHumbleConquerPersistenceWickedOrthodoxGrantsPersistUnjustOur PrayersOrthodox ChristianWidowsParablesPetitionsCfsInclineUnconquerableLovingkindness
Author:Lorenzo Scupoli
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“If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It's the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you. On one level, we all know this stuff already. It's been codified as myths, proverbs, clichés, epigrams, parables; the skeleton of every great story. The whole trick is keeping the truth up front in daily consciousness.”

IfsKnowsFeelsRealEnoughWholeStoriesBodyAgeDiesStuffLevelsConsciousnessMillionsFrontsWorshipUglyMythYour BodyTricksGrievingIdolatrySkeletonsParablesEpigramsMeaning LifeAllureWorship YouReal Worship
Author:David Foster Wallace
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“Religions, of course, have their own demanding intellectual traditions, as Jesuits and Talmudic scholars might attest.... But, in its less rigorous, popular forms, religion is about as intellectually challenging as the average self-help book. (Like personal development literature, mass market books about spirituality and religion celebrate emotionalism and denigrate reason. They elevate the "truths" of myths and parables over empiricism.) In its more authoritarian forms, religion punishes questioning and rewards gullibility. Faith is not a function of stupidity but a frequent cause of it.”

BookSelfReasonHelpingMightFormSpiritualityCoursesLiteratureCausesChallengesSelf HelpDevelopmentMassIntellectualTraditionFunctionRewardsAveragePositive AtheismStupidityMythPersonal DevelopmentPunishmentCelebrateScholarQuestioningParablesEmpiricismGullibilityJesuitSelf Help BooksHelp Book
Author:Wendy Kaminer
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“Jesus was short on sermons, long on conversations; short on answers, long on questions; short on abstraction and propositions, long on stories and parables; short on telling you what to think, long on challenging you to think for yourself.”

ThinkingLongStoriesJesusChallengesAnswersConversationPropositionsAbstractionSermonsParablesThink For Yourself
Book:More Ready Than You Realize: The Power of Everyday Conversations
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“The parable of the talents is a good analogy of what happens when we give. When we merely try to hold on to what is given or entrusted to us, life may seem to take away even that. But when we choose to use what life has given us, the return of abundance can include friendship, companionship, financial blessings, homes, transportation, and security in wonderful ways. The universe holds nothing back from the one who lovingly and sincerely gives.”

WayGivingTryingMayUseHomeSeemsHappensUniverseGivenWonderfulTalentSecurityReturnBlessingFinancialAbundanceCompanionshipSincerelyTransportationAnalogiesParables
Author:John Templeton
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“Wherever a story comes from, whether it is a familiar myth or a private memory, the retelling exemplifies the making of a connection from one pattern to another: a potential translation in which narrative becomes parable and the once upon a time comes to stand for some renascent truth. This approach applies to all the incidents of everyday life: the phrase in the newspaper, the endearing or infuriating game of a toddler, the misunderstanding at the office. Our species thinks in metaphors and learns through stories.”

ThinkingStoriesGamesMemoriesOfficeApproachConnectionsSpeciesEverydayMetaphorPatternsMythNewspapersFamiliarStorytellingNarrativePhrasesEveryday LifeStorytellerMisunderstandingTranslationsIncidentsOnce Upon A TimeParablesToddlerRetellingEndearingInfuriating
Author:Mary Catherine Bateson
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“A parable: A man was examining the construction of a cathedral. He asked a stone mason what he was doing chipping the stones, and the mason replied, "I am making stones." He asked a stone carver what he was doing. "I am carving a gargoyle." And so it went, each person said in detail what they were doing. Finally he came to an old woman who was sweeping the ground. She said. "I am helping build a cathedral." ...Most of the time each person is immersed in the details of one special part of the whole and does not think of how what they are doing relates to the larger picture.”

ThinkingMenPersonsDoeSaidWholeHelpingScienceSpecialEvidenceStonesDetailsRelateConstructionOld WomanCathedralsExaminingSweepingParablesMasonsCarvingGargoylesCarver
Author:Richard Hamming
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