This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron
Open the gate my beloved— arise, and open the gate: my spirit is shaken and I’m afraid. My mother’s maid has been mocking me and her heart is raised against me, so the Lord would hear her child’s cry. From the middle of midnight’s blackness, a wild ass pursues me, as the forest boar has crushed me; and the end which has long been sealed only deepens my wound, and no one guides me—and I am blind.
Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron
At the dawn I seek Thee, Refuge and rock sublime,— Set my prayer before Thee in the morning, And my prayer at eventime. I before Thy greatness Stand, and am afraid:— All my secret thoughts Thine eye beholdeth Deep within my bosom laid. And withal what is it Heart and tongue can do? What is this my strength, and what is even This the spirit in me too? But verily man’s singing May seem good to Thee; So will I thank Thee, praising, while there dwelleth Yet the breath of God in me.
Afraid |
Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron
The breath of the remnant of Jacob shall praise Thee, For with testimony confirmed Thou hast made him Thy witness And keepest Thy covenant with him and Thy kindness; Therefore shall he thank Thee on the day Thou hast appointed judgment. The breath of the company of Israel shall ravish Thy heart, Daily proclaiming Thy Unity. To be judged of Thee and by Thy hand inscribed In the book of life, They stand this day according to Thy ordinance, For all things are Thy servants. The breath of the nation set apart from the seventy And weighing true in the scales of righteousness, Shall hail Thee as King, A monarch of justice and righteousness, Who sits on the Throne of righteousness, A righteous judge. The breath of the congregations chosen of Thee shall thank Thee, And their bannered tribes, O Thou who stretchest Thy hand to receive the transgressors of Thy judgments, That Thou mayest be justified when Thou speakest And be in the right when Thou judgest. The breath of those conserved in Israel, Thy servants who fear Thee, Shall hail Thee as mighty. Thou art near to all that call upon Thee, Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Thy throne. The breath of the holy ones hallowing Thee, Responding in all their passion of desire, Acclaims Thee as holy. Holy God, King living forever, they cry, And would that our mouths were as full as the sea With song!
Angels | Greatness | Heart | Man | Men | Prayer | Soul | Spirit |
Live for the gifts the fragrant-breasted Muses send, for the clear, the singing, lyre, my children. Old age freezes my body, once so lithe, rinses the darkness from my hair, now white. My heart’s heavy, my knees no longer keep me up through the dance they used to prance like fawns in. Oh, I grumble about it, but for what? Nothing can stop a person’s growing old. They say that Tithonus was swept away in Dawn’s passionate, rose-flushed arms to live forever, but he lost his looks, his youth, failing husband of an immortal bride.
Girls, be good to these spirits of music and poetry that breast your threshold with their scented gifts. Lift the lyre, clear and sweet, they leave with you. As for me, this body is now so arthritic I cannot play, hardly even hold the instrument. Can you believe my white hair was once black? And oh, the soul grows heavy with the body. Complaining knee-joints creak at every move. To think I danced as delicate as a deer! Some gloomy poems came from these thoughts: useless: we are all born to lose life, and what is worse, girls, to lose youth. The legend of the goddess of the dawn I’m sure you know: how rosy Eos madly in love with gorgeous young Tithonus swept him like booty to her hiding-place but then forgot he would grow old and grey while she in despair pursued her immortal way.
Heart |
Sara Teasdale, born Sara Trevor Teasdale, aka Sara Teasdale Filsinger
Life has loveliness to sell, All beautiful and splendid things, Blue waves whitened on a cliff, Soaring fire that sways and sings, And children's faces looking up, Holding wonder like a cup. Life has loveliness to sell, Music like a curve of gold, Scent of pine trees in the rain, Eyes that love you, arms that hold, And for your spirit's still delight, Holy thoughts that star the night. Spend all you have for loveliness, Buy it and never count the cost; For one white singing hour of peace Count many a year of strife well lost, And for a breath of ecstasy Give all you have been, or could be.
Samuel ha-Nagid, born Samuel ibn Naghrela or Naghrillah
She said: “Be happy that God has helped you reach The age of fifty in this world,” not knowing That to me there is no difference between my life’s Past and that of Noah about whom I heard. For me there is only the hour in which I am present in this world: It stays for a moment and then like a cloud moves on.
I've a head like a concertina, I've a tongue like a button-stick, / I've a mouth like an old potato, and I'm more than a little sick.
I've taken my fun where I've found it; I've rogued an' I've ranged in my time… An' I learned about women from 'er… I've taken my fun where I've found it, An' now I must pay for my fun, For the more you 'ave known o' the others The less will you settle to one. For the colonel's lady an' Judy O'Grady, Are sisters under their skins.
Rumi, fully Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rumi NULL
Knowing that conscious decisions and personal memory are much too small a place to live, every human being streams at night into the loving nowhere, or during the day, in some absorbing work.
Rumi, fully Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rumi NULL
O you who've gone on pilgrimage - where are you, where, oh where? Here, here is the Beloved! Oh come now, come, oh come! Your friend, he is your neighbor, he is next to your wall - You, erring in the desert - what air of love is this? If you'd see the Beloved's form without any form - You are the house, the master, are the Kaaba, you! . . . Where is a bunch of roses, if you would be this garden? Where, one soul's pearly essence when you're the Sea of God? That's true - and yet your troubles may turn to treasures rich - How sad that you yourself veil the treasure that is yours!
Ruth Benedict, born Ruth Fulton
A man's indebtedness is not virtue; his repayment is. Virtue begins when he dedicates himself actively to the job of gratitude.
Will |
Once burned by milk you will blow on cold water. (After some bitter or painful experience you will be on your guard against similar troubles our sufferings)
Heart |
Saint Isaac of Nineveh, also Isaac the Syrian, Isaac of Qatar and Isaac Syrus NULL
The only way that a man who wishes to be wise in the eyes of God can do so is to become a fool to the world and a despiser of human glory.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux NULL
In order to merit, it is enough to know that our merits do not suffice for us.
Abstinence | Appetite | Freedom | Soul |
Saint Isaac of Nineveh, also Isaac the Syrian, Isaac of Qatar and Isaac Syrus NULL
He who despises the sick will not see light, and the day of him who turns his face from a man grieved by affliction will become darkness. The sons of the man who scorns the voice of one suffering hardship will grope their way, being struck with blindness.
Saint Isaac of Nineveh, also Isaac the Syrian, Isaac of Qatar and Isaac Syrus NULL
Mercy and justice (just judgment) in one soul is like a man who worships God and the idols in one house. Mercy is opposed to justice. Justice is the equality of the even scale, for it gives to each as he deserves; and when it makes recompense, it does not incline to one side or show respect of persons. Mercy, on the other hand, is a sorrow and pity stirred up by goodness, and it compassionately inclines a man in the direction of all; it[, mercy,] does not requite [or give equal retribution, an eye for an eye, to] a man who is deserving of evil, and to him who is deserving of good it gives a double portion.
Beginning | Body | Dawn | Experience | Force | God | Heart | Light | Love | Man | Practice | Silence | Truth | Will | God |
Obedience unites us so closely to God that it in a way transforms us into Him, so that we have no other will but His. If obedience is lacking, even prayer cannot be pleasing to God.
John Chrysostom, fully Saint John Chrysostom
Enter into the Church and wash away your sins. For here there is a hospital and not a court of law. Do not be ashamed again to enter the Church, be ashamed when you sin, but not when you repent.
Absence | Absurd | Age | Business | Children | Deeds | Father | Folly | Man | Need | Reading | Reason | Rhetoric | Study | Will | World | Deeds | Business | Afraid | Blessed | Child |