This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
People who lead fulfilling lives generally have found a sense of “home” in what they do. They have a philosophy of life that connects them to a larger vision. They accept that life is a continuing challenge. More often than not, they are able to live according to their own schedules, choosing work that is interesting and complex enough to keep them engaged. They get excited about being effective and about being stretched to learn new things. They have a few good friends who understand their vision and perhaps even share common aspirations. They are not driven by urgency, competition, or the demands of the ego.
Challenge | Competition | Ego | Enough | Good | Life | Life | People | Philosophy | Sense | Vision | Work | Friends | Learn | Understand |
The mystic vision of God, or ecstasy of felt union with Him, is, to those who attain it, an affair of ravishing emotional intensity, of vivid intellectual illumination, and on both of these counts of supreme value.
People in general are equally horrified at hearing the Christian religion doubted, and at seeing it practiced.
There is no one in the world who cannot arrive without difficulty at the most eminent perfection by fulfilling with love obscure and common duties.
Difficulty | Love | Perfection | World |
Marquis de Condorcet, Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat
The moral goodness of man, the necessary consequence of his constitution, is capable of indefinite perfection like all his other faculties, and nature has linked together in an unbreakable chain truth, happiness and virtue.
Man | Nature | Perfection | Truth | Virtue | Virtue | Happiness |
Like an ability or a muscle, hearing your inner wisdom is strengthened by doing it.
Mahatma Gandhi, fully Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, aka Bapu
Man’s ultimate aim is the realization of God, and all his activities, - social, religious – have to be guided by the ultimate aim of the vision of God. The immediate service of all human beings becomes a necessary part of the endeavor simply because the only way to god is to see Him in His creation and be one with it.
Mahatma Gandhi, fully Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, aka Bapu
If we had attained the full vision of Truth, we would no longer be mere seekers, would have become one with God, for Truth is God. But being only seekers we prosecute our quest and are conscious of our imperfection.
God | Imperfection | Truth | Vision |