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Purpose Quotes

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Purpose Quotes

“Our Constitution... has not left the religion of its citizens under the power of its public functionaries, were it possible that any of these should consider a conquest over the conscience of men either attainable or applicable to any desirable purpose.”

MenShouldPurposeLeftAtheismCitizensConscienceConstitutionPositive AtheismDesirableConquest
Book:The writings of Thomas Jefferson: being his autobiography, correspondence, reports, messages, addresses, and other writings, official and private
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“Lower the Law and you dim the light by which man perceives his guilt; this is a very serious loss to the sinner rather than a gain; for it lessens the likelihood of his conviction and conversion. I say you have deprived the gospel of its ablest auxiliary [its most powerful weapon] when you have set aside the Law. You have taken away from it the schoolmaster that is to bring men to Christ . . . They will never accept grace till they tremble before a just and holy Law. Therefore the Law serves a most necessary purpose, and it must not be removed from its place.”

MenLightLawPurposeChristLossPowerfulAcceptingTakenGraceSeriousHolyWeaponsGainsGuiltConvictionConversionPerceiveSinnerMost PowerfulDeprivedLikelihoodPowerful Weapons
Author:Charles Spurgeon
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“It is the political task of the social scientist — as of any liberal educator — continually to translate personal troubles into public issues, and public issues into the terms of their human meaning for a variety of individuals. It is his task to display in his work — and, as an educator, in his life as well — this kind of sociological imagination. And it is his purpose to cultivate such habits of mind among the men and women who are publicly exposed to him. To secure these ends is to secure reason and individuality, and to make these the predominant values of a democratic society.”

MenMindHumansWellsKindEndsReasonPoliticalPurposeValuesIndividualSocialTermImaginationIssuesTroubleHe ManHabitMen And WomenTasksScientistDemocraticIndividualitySecureVarietyExposedDisplayTranslateEducatorDemocratic SocietySociologicalHabits Of Mind
Book:The Sociological Imagination
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“There is a marvelous story of a man who once stood before God, his heart breaking from the pain and injustice in the world. "Dear God." he cried out, "look at all the suffering, the anguish and distress in your world. Why don't you send help?" God responded,"I did send help. I sent you." When we tell our children that story, we must tell them that each one of them was sent to help repair the broken world-and that it is not the task of an instant or of a year, but of a lifetime.”

MenWorldInspirationalYearsLooksHeartChildrenGodHelpingStoriesChristianPainPurposeSufferingBrokenTasksOur ChildrenLifetimeInjusticeDearChristian InspirationalInstantMeaning Of LifeCriedDistressMarvelousAnguishHeart BreakDear GodGod Has A PlanHeart BreakingBroken WorldInjustice In The World
Author:David Wolpe
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“The search for truth is, as it always has been, the noblest expression of the human spirit. Man's insatiable desire for knowledge about himself, about his environment and the forces by which he is surrounded, gives life its meaning and purpose, and clothes it with final dignity.... And yet we know, deep in our hearts, that knowledge is not enough.... Unless we can anchor our knowledge to moral purposes, the ultimate result will be dust and ashes- dust and ashes that will bury the hopes and monuments of men beyond recovery.”

KnowsMenLifeGivingHumansHeartHas BeensEnoughSpiritDesirePurposeForceResultsMoralEnvironmentExpressionTruth IsClothesDignityUltimateFinalsRecoveryDustAshesHuman SpiritMonumentAnchorsInsatiableSearch For TruthDesire For Knowledge
Author:Raymond B. Fosdick
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“I would warn against too much of a radical devotion to rationality. Rationality is an illusion, an invented concept, a construct from the mind of man. It is not a property of the universe. Rationality may be a useful tool when it suits our purposes, however, it is merely a measuring stick, calibrated against what we know of the nature of the universe - all of which may or may not be completely inaccurate.”

KnowsMenLifeMindMayPurposeUniverseToo MuchIllusionConceptsToolsPropertySticksDevotionSuitsRadicalRationalityConstructsMeasuring
Author:Derek R. Audette
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“We have created new idols. The worship of the ancient golden calf (cf. Ex 32:1-35) has returned in a new and ruthless guise in the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose. The worldwide crisis affecting finance and the economy lays bare their imbalances and, above all, their lack of real concern for human beings; man is reduced to one of his needs alone: consumption.”

MenNeedsHumansRealPurposeHuman BeingsEconomyWorshipConcernCrisisLaysAncientGoldenFinanceIdolsDictatorshipConsumptionConsumerismLackingExesRuthlessIdolatryOverconsumptionGuiseImbalanceCfsCalves
Author:Pope Francis
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“When watching men of power in action it must be always kept in mind that, whether they know it or not, their main purpose is the elimination or neutralization of the independent individual- the independent voter, consumer, worker, owner, thinker- and that every device they employ aims at turning men into a manipulable animated instrument which is Aristotle's definition of a slave.”

KnowsMenMindActionPurposeIndividualAimIndependentInstrumentsSlaveWorkersDefinitionsConsumersOwnersDevicesVotersThinkerAnimatedEliminationIndependent Voters
Book:Between the Devil and the Dragon: The Best Essays and Aphorisms of Eric Hoffer
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“A man with a half volition goes backwards and forwards, and makes no way on the smoothest road; a man with a whole volition advances on the roughest, and will reach his purpose, if there be even a little worthiness in it. The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder - a waif, a nothing, a no man. Have a purpose in life and having it, throw such strength of mind and muscle into your work as God has given you.”

IfsMenWayMindLittlesWholePurposeGivenHalfAttitudeAchieveHe ManShipsMusclesPurpose Of LifeBackwardsWorthinessStrength Of MindVolitionRudders
Author:Thomas Carlyle
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“The question that faces every man born into this world is not what should be his purpose, which he should set about to achieve, but just what to do with life? The answer, that he should order his life so that he can find the greatest happiness in it, is more a practical question, similar to that of how a man should spend his weekend, then a metaphysical proposition as to what is the mystic purpose of his life in the scheme of the universe.”

MenWorldShouldFacesPurposeOrderUniverseBornAnswersAchieveThis WorldEvery ManPracticalsWeekendSchemesPropositionsMetaphysicalMystic
Book:Lin Yutang - The Importance Of Living
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“The artists of Asia have spiritually realized form, rather than aesthetically invented or imitated form, and from them I have learned that art and nature are mind's Environment within which we can detect the essence of man's Being and Purpose, and from which we can draw clues to guide our journey from partial consciousness to full consciousness.”

MenMindArtFormPurposeArtistConsciousnessEnvironmentJourneyDrawsEssenceGuidesI Have LearnedAsiaClue
Author:Morris Graves
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“We have a right to expect that the best trained, the best educated men on the Pacific slope, the Rocky Mountains, and great plains States will take the lead in the preservation and right use of forests, in securing the right use of waters, and in seeing that our land policy is not twisted from its original purpose, but is perpetuated by amendment, by change when such change is necessary in the life of that purpose, the purpose being to turn the public domain into farms each to be the property of the man who actually tills it and makes his home in it.”

MenStatesUseHomePurposeTurnsWaterSeeingLandPolicyHe ManMountainOriginalsPropertyForestsEducatedFarmsAmendmentsPreservationDomainTwistedDinosaursPacificSlopesLead InEducated ManPublic DomainRocky MountainUses Of Water
Author:Theodore Roosevelt
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“LIFE is that existence that is given to man to live for a purpose, to live to his own satisfaction and pleasure, providing he forgets not the God who created him and who expects a spiritual obedience and observation of the moral laws that He has inspired.”

MenSpiritualLawLife IsPurposeGivenForgetPleasureExistenceMoralInspirational LifeInspiredSatisfactionObservationObedienceProvidingMoral Law
Book:Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey
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“The great purpose is to set aside a reasonable part of the vanishing wilderness, to make certain that generations of Americans yet unborn will know what it is to experience life on undeveloped, unoccupied land in the same form and character as the Creator fashioned it... It is a great spiritual experience. I never knew a man who took a bedroll into an Idaho mountainside and slept there under a star-studded summer sky who felt self-important that next morning. Unless we preserve some opportunity for future generations to have the same experience, we shall have dishonored our trust.”

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Author:Frank Church
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“The plea of good intentions is not one that can be allowed to have much weight in passing historical judgment upon a man whose wrong-headedness and distorted way of looking at things produced, or helped to produce, such incalculable evil; there is a wide political applicability in the remark attributed to a famous Texan, to the effect that he might, in the end, pardon a man who shot him on purpose, but that he would surely never forgive one who did so accidentally.”

MenWayEndsMightPoliticalPurposeEvilEffectsProduceJudgmentShotsWeightForgivingHistoricalIntentionWidePassingPassingsRemarksPardonGood IntentionsTexanNever Forgive
Book:Thomas H. Benton
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“Our principles were revolutionary. We began as a small, weak republic. But we survived. Our example inspired others, imperfectly at times, but it inspired them nevertheless. This constitutional republic, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, prospered and grew strong. To this day, America is still the abiding alternative to tyranny. That is our purpose in the world - nothing more and nothing less.”

MenWorldStillsAmericaPurposeStrongLibertyPrinciplesExampleGrewEqualWeakInspiredTyrannyAlternativesRevolutionaryThis DayRepublicDedicatedNeverthelessSurvivedPropositionsAbiding
Author:Ronald Reagan
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“The meaning and the purpose behind some events are unknowable. This is the ultimate test of our faith. We must trust that everyone in life is here to learn different lessons at different times, that good and bad experiences are only the perceptions of man. After all, some of your worst experiences have truly been your best. They've sculpted you, trained you, developed within you a sensitivity and set you in a direction that reaches out to impact your ultimate destiny.”

MenDifferentMotivationalLife IsPurposeBehindsDestinyWorstEventsTrustLessonsPerceptionTestsUltimateImpactGoodLife LessonReach OutWithin YouSensitivityGood And BadDifferent TimesLive And LearnKeep The FaithBad Experiences
Author:Tony Robbins
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“Hasidism has a tradition that one of man's purposes is to assist God in the work of redemption by "hallowing" the things of creation. By a tremendous heave of his spirit, the devout man frees the divine sparks trapped in the mute things of time; he uplifts the forms and moments of creation, bearing them aloft into that rare air and hallowing fire in which all clays must shatter and burst. Keeping the subsoil world under trees in mind, in intelligence, is the least I can do.”

MenWorldMindI CanMomentsFormSpiritPurposeCan DoFireAirTreeLandCreationDivineTraditionRedemptionUpliftingSparksTrappedClayMute
Book:PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK
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“My mother was convinced, and on this head I have retained her firm belief, that to kill animals for the purpose of feeding on their flesh is one of the most deplorable and shameful infirmities of the human state; that it is one of those curses cast upon man either by his fall, or by the obduracy of his own perversity.”

MenHumansStatesMotherPurposeFallBeliefAnimalCastsConvincedFleshFirmCurseFeedingVegetarianismShamefulInfirmityPerversityFirm Beliefs
Author:Alphonse de Lamartine
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“If you choose the liberty and pride and strength of the single soul, and the free fraternization of men, as the purpose which your life is to make manifest then do not sell it for tinsel. Think that your soul is strong and will hold its way; and slowly, through bitter struggle perhaps the strength will grow.”

IfsThinkingMenWaySoulLife IsPurposeStrongGrowsLibertyStrugglePrideSellsBitterYour SoulManifestYou ChooseTinsel
Book:Exquisite Rebel: The Essays of Voltairine de Cleyre -- Anarchist, Feminist, Genius
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“We can roam the bloated stacks of the Library of Alexandria, where all imagination and knowledge are assembled; we can recognize in its destruction the warning that all we gather will be lost, but also that much of it can be collected again; we can learn from its splendid ambition that what was one man's experience can become, through the alchemy of words, the experience of all, and how that experience, distilled once again into words, can serve each singular reader for some secret, singular purpose.”

MenPurposeLostImaginationSecretReaderAmbitionDestructionLibraryOne ManWarningSplendidAlchemyAlexandria
Book:The Library at Night
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“There is something in the character of every man which cannot be broken in--the skeleton of his character; and to try to alter this is like training a sheep for draught purposes. GEORG CHRISTOPH LICHTENBERG, The Reflections of Lichtenberg We become familiar with the outsides of men, as with the outsides of houses, and think we know them, while we are ignorant of so much that is passing within them.”

ThinkingKnowsMenTryingCharacterPurposeHouseBrokenTrainingReflectionEvery ManPassingIgnorantFamiliarPassingsSheepSkeletonsDraught
Author:Christian Nestell Bovee
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“The news today about 'Atomic bombs' is so horrifying one is stunned. The utter folly of these lunatic physicists to consent to do such work for war-purposes: calmly plotting the destruction of the world! Such explosives in men's hands, while their moral and intellectual status is declining, is about as useful as giving out firearms to all inmates of a gaol and then saying that you hope 'this will ensure peace'. But one good thing may arise out of it, I suppose, if the write-ups are not overheated: Japan ought to cave in. Well we're in God's hands. But He does not look kindly on Babel-builders.”

IfsMenWorldGivingWritingWellsLooksMayDoeWarHandsTodayPurposeMoralOughtNewsIntellectualDestructionGood ThingsAriseFollyBombsJapanConsentCavesPhysicistLunaticBuilderFirearmsExplosivesAtomic BombStunnedInmatesBabel
Author:J. R. R. Tolkien
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“No revolution can ever succeed as a factor of liberation unless the MEANS used to further it be identical in spirit and tendency with the PURPOSES to be achieved. Revolution is the negation of the existing, a violent protest against man's inhumanity to man with all the thousand and one slaveries it involves. It is the destroyer of dominant values upon which a complex system of injustice, oppression, and wrong has been built up by ignorance and brutality. It is the herald of NEW VALUES, ushering in a transformation of the basic relations of man to man, and of man to society.”

MenMeanHas BeensUsedSpiritPurposeValuesIgnoranceRevolutionThousandSucceedBuiltRelationTransformationSlaveryComplexesInjusticeViolentTendenciesFactorsOppressionLiberationProtestDominantIdenticalBrutalityDestroyersInhumanityNegationComplex SystemsInhumanity To Man
Author:Emma Goldman
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“There are two races of people -- men and women -- no matter what women's libbers would have you pretend. The male is motivated by toys and science because men are born with no purpose in the universe except to procreate. There is lots of time to kill beyond that. They've got to find work. Men have no inherent center to themselves beyond procreating. Women, however, are born with a center. They can create the universe, mother it, teach it, nurture it. Men read science fiction to build the future. Women don't need to read it. They are the future.”

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Author:Ray Bradbury
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“Many people who are going through the early stages of the awakening process are no longer certain what their outer purpose is. What drives the world no longer drives them. Seeing the madness of our civilization so clearly, they feel somewhat alienated from the culture around them. Some feel that they inhabit a no-man's-land between two worlds. They are no longer run by the ego, yet the arising awareness has not yet become fully integrated into their lives. Inner and outer purpose have not merged.”

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Book:A New Earth (Oprah #61): Awakening to Your Life's Purpose
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