Great Throughts Treasury

"The sin of smiling whilst Louise was weeping, the sin of shedding my own tears and not hers. The sin of being another being." - Simone de Beauvoir, fully Simone-Ernestine-Lucie-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir

"Why one man rather than another? It was odd. You find yourself involved with a fellow for life just because he was the one that you met when you were nineteen." - Simone de Beauvoir, fully Simone-Ernestine-Lucie-Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir

"If anyone has put his trust in him as a man without a human mind, he is wholly bereft of mind, and quite unworthy of salvation. For that which he has not assumed he has not healed; but that which is united to his Godhead is also saved." - Gregory Nazianzen, aka Saint Gregory of Nazianzus or Gregory the Theologian

"Evolving life must experience a vast range of possibilities, based on environmental histories so unpredictable that no realized route - the pathway to consciousness in the form of Homo sapiens or Little Green Men, for example - can be construed as a highway to heaven, but must be viewed as a tortuous track rutted with uncountable obstacles and festooned with innumerable alternative branches. Any reasonably precise repetition of our earthly route on another planet therefore becomes wildly improbable even in a trillion cases." - Stephan Jay Gould

"Iconography becomes even more revealing when processes or concepts, rather than objects, must be depicted—for the constraint of a definite thing cedes directly to the imagination. How can we draw evolution or social organization, not to mention the more mundane digestion or self-interest, without portraying more of a mental structure than a physical reality? If we wish to trace the history of ideas, iconography becomes a candid camera trained upon the scholar's mind." - Stephan Jay Gould

"Since the universe must contain millions of appropriate planets, consciousness in some form - but not with the paired eyes and limbs, and the brain built of neurons in the only example we know - may evolve frequently. But if only one origin of life in a million ever leads to consciousness, then Martian bacteria most emphatically do not imply Little Green Men.)" - Stephan Jay Gould

"Can he explained that certain individuals, who do not even know how to swim, try to jump from the top of a bridge to save someone who is drowning? These individuals simply move to a magical force pulses, a force impels them before they have time to realize is foolishly reckless, and just like that, without thinking, without conscious thought, I kept to that unfortunate from the living Casino game lobby and from the lobby to the terrace." - Stefan Zweig

"Only thought which does violence to itself is hard enough to shatter myth." - Theodor W. Adorno, born Theodor Ludwig Wiesengrund

"Our country has been populated by pioneers, and therefore it has in it more energy, more enterprise, more expansive power than any other in the wide world... They have shown the qualities of daring, endurance, and far-sightedness, of eager desire for victory and stubborn refusal to accept defeat, which go to make up the essential manliness of the American character. Above all, they have recognized in practical form the fundamental law of success in American life—the law of worthy work, the law of high, resolute endeavor. We have but little room among our people for the timid, the irresolute, and the idle; and it is no less true that there is scant room in the world at large for the nation with mighty thews that dares not to be great." - Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

"The people of the United States suffer from periodical financial panics to a degree substantially unknown to the other nations, which approach us in financial strength. There is no reason why we should suffer what they escape. It is of profound importance that our financial system should be promptly investigated, and so thoroughly and effectively revised as to make it certain that hereafter our currency will no longer fail at critical times to meet our needs." - Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt

"The universe must be experienced as the Great Self. Each is fulfilled in the other: the Great Self is fulfilled in the individual self, the individual self is fulfilled in the Great Self. Alienation is overcome as soon as we experience this surge of energy from the source that has brought the universe through the centuries. New fields of energy become available to support the human venture. These new energies find expression and support in celebration. For in the end the universe can only be explained in terms of celebration. It is all an exuberant expression of existence itself." - Thomas Berry

"I have four good reasons for being an abstainer—my head is clearer, my health is better, my heart is lighter, and my purse is heavier." - Thomas Guthrie

"There can be no safer deposit on earth than the Treasury of the United States." - Thomas Jefferson

"This is a choice that makes overwhelming sense." - Thomas Mann, fully Paul Thomas Mann

"Yes, they are carnal, both of them, love and death, and therein lies their terror and their great magic!" - Thomas Mann, fully Paul Thomas Mann

"Everything in modern city life is calculated to keep man from entering into himself and thinking about spiritual things. Even with the best of intentions a spiritual man finds himself exhausted and deadened and debased by the constant noise of machines and loudspeakers, the dead air and the glaring lights of offices and shops, the everlasting suggestion of advertising and propaganda. The whole mechanism of modern life is geared for a flight from God and from the spirit into the wilderness of neurosis." - Thomas Merton

"No writing on the solitary, meditative dimensions of life can say anything that has not already been said better by the wind in the pine trees." - Thomas Merton

"There exists in man a mass of sense lying in a dormant state, and which, unless something excites it to action, will descend with him, in that condition, to the grave." - Thomas Paine

"To believe that God created a plurality of worlds, at least as numerous as what we call stars, renders the Christian faith at once little and ridiculous; and scatters it in the mind like feathers in the air." - Thomas Paine

"G-d is not Nature...but Nature is G-dly." - Tzvi Freeman

"A knave is one who disobeys the imperatives of conscience; a fool is one who cannot hear or understand them." - W. H. Auden, fully Wystan Hugh Auden

"Some of you will perhaps say that surely we can get on with the business of political structures, of economic planning, of technical advance, of strategic defense, without raising "extraneous" issues of religious faith or cultural convictions: issues that may be interesting in themselves, but are irrelevant to secular concerns. This division of life into two spheres, religious and secular, is a characteristically Western pattern. We tend to assume that everyone else will share it . . . that the problem of building a new world order is that of imposing Western civilization on the world. . . Fortunately there has been some recognition, though belated and partial, that the nineteenth-century solution of Western domination by force must be abandoned . . . and along with it] the arrogance of cultural superiority. . . The new world that is waiting to be born is a world of cultural pluralism, of diverse faith. . . Let no one imagine that building the new world community will be easy. . . Is this possible? . . . I do not know, [but it is] the fundamental challenge facing humanity today; whether we shall rise to it or not remains to be seen. My own faith is that it can be achieved." - Wilfred Cantwell Smith

"We explain the fact that the Milky Way is there by the doctrine of creation, but how do we explain the fact that the Bhagavad Gita is there?" - Wilfred Cantwell Smith

"Song of the Sinless Soul - ‘Come forth, O Vala! from the grass and from the silent dew; Rise from the dews of death, for the Eternal Man is risen!’ She rises among flowers and looks toward the eastern clearness; She walks, yea runs—her feet are wing’d—on the tops of the bending grass; Her garments rejoice in the vocal wind, and her hair glistens with dew. She answer’d thus: ‘Whose voice is this in the voice of the nourishing air, In the spirit of the morning, awaking the Soul from its grassy bed? Where dost thou dwell? for it is thee I seek, and but for thee I must have slept eternally, nor have felt the dew of thy morning. Look how the opening dawn advances with vocal harmony! Look how the beams foreshow the rising of some glorious power! The Sun is thine; he goeth forth in his majestic brightness. O thou creating voice that callest! and who shall answer thee? ‘Where dost thou flee, O Fair One! where dost thou seek thy happy place? To yonder brightness? There I haste, for sure I came from thence; Or I must have slept eternally, nor have felt the dew of morning.’ ‘Eternally thou must have slept, nor have felt the morning dew, But for yon nourishing Sun: ’tis that by which thou art arisen. The birds adore the Sun; the beasts rise up and play in his beams, And every flower and every leaf rejoices in his light. Then, O thou Fair One, sit thee down, for thou art as the grass, Thou risest in the dew of morning, and at night art folded up.’ ‘Alas! am I but as a flower? Then will I sit me down; Then will I weep; then I’ll complain, and sigh for immortality, And chide my maker, thee O Sun, that raisedst me to fall.’ So saying she sat down and wept beneath the apple-trees. ‘O! be thou blotted out, thou Sun, that raisedst me to trouble, That gavest me a heart to crave, and raisedst me, thy phantom, To feel thy heart, and see thy light, and wander here alone, Hopeless, if I am like the grass, and so shall pass away.’ ‘Rise, sluggish Soul! Why sitt’st thou here? why dost thou sit and weep? Yon Sun shall wax old and decay, but thou shalt ever flourish. The fruit shall ripen and fall down, and the flowers consume away, But thou shalt still survive. Arise! O dry thy dewy tears!’ ‘Ha! shall I still survive? Whence came that sweet and comforting voice, And whence that voice of sorrow? O Sun! thou art nothing now to me: Go on thy course rejoicing, and let us both rejoice together! I walk among His flocks and hear the bleating of His lambs. O! that I could behold His face and follow His pure feet! I walk by the footsteps of His flocks. Come hither, tender flocks! Can you converse with a pure Soul that seeketh for her Maker? You answer not: then am I set your mistress in this garden. I’ll watch you and attend your footsteps. You are not like the birds That sing and fly in the bright air; but you do lick my feet, And let me touch your woolly backs: follow me as I sing; For in my bosom a new Song arises to my Lord: ‘Rise up, O Sun! most glorious minister and light of day! Flow on, ye gentle airs, and bear the voice of my rejoicing! Wave freshly, clear waters, flowing around the tender grass; And thou, sweet-smelling ground, put forth thy life in fruit and flowers! Follow me, O my flocks, and hear me sing my rapturous song! I will cause my voice to be heard on the clouds that glitter in the sun. I will call, and who shall answer me? I shall sing; who shall reply? For, from my pleasant hills, behold the living, living springs, Running among my green pastures, delighting among my trees! I am not here alone: my flocks, you are my brethren; And you birds, that sing and adorn the sky, you are my sisters. I sing, and you reply to my song; I rejoice, and you are glad. Follow me, O my flocks! we will now descend into the valley. O, how delicious are the grapes, flourishing in the sun! How clear the spring of the rock, running among the golden sand! How cool the breezes of the valley! And the arms of the branching trees Cover us from the sun: come and let us sit in the shade. My Luvah here hath plac’d me in a sweet and pleasant land, And given me fruits and pleasant waters, and warm hills and cool valleys. Here will I build myself a house, and here I’ll call on His name; Here I’ll return, when I am weary, and take my pleasant rest.’" - William Blake

"Each man must create his own system or else he is a slave to another mans." - William Blake

"Disenchantment, whether it is a minor disappointment or a major shock, is the signal that things are moving into transition in our lives." - William Bridges, fully Sir William Throsby Bridges

"The house to which Phelim and his father directed themselves was, like their own, of the humblest description. The floor of it was about sixteen feet by twelve; its furniture rude and scanty. To the right of the fire was a bed, the four posts of [xii] which ran up to the low roof; it was curtained by straw mats, with the exception of an opening about a foot and a half wide on the side next the fire, through which those who slept in it passed. A little below the foot of the bed were ranged a few shelves of deal, supported by pins of wood driven into the wall. These constituted the dresser. In the lower end of the house stood a potato-bin, made up of stakes driven into the floor, and wrought with strong wicker-work. Tied to another stake beside this bin stood a cow, whose hinder part projected so close to the door, that those who entered the cabin were compelled to push her over out of their way. This, indeed, was effected without much difficulty, for the animal became so habituated to the necessity of moving aside that it was only necessary to lay a hand upon her. Above the door in the inside, almost touching the roof, was the hen-roost, made also of wickerwork; and opposite the bed, on the other side of the fire, stood a meal chest, its lid on a level with the little pane of glass which served as a window. An old straw chair, a few stools, a couple of pots, some wooden vessels and crockery, completed the furniture of the house. The pig to which Sheelah alluded was not kept within the cabin, that filthy custom being now less common than formerly." - William Carleton

"In order to bring about the transition from the condition of the present to another newly resolved on, every reform should be allowed to proceed as much as possible from men's minds and thoughts." - Wilhelm von Humboldt, fully Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand von Humboldt

"The finest fruit earth holds up to its Maker is a finished man." - Wilhelm von Humboldt, fully Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand von Humboldt

"Trees have about them something beautiful and attractive even to the fancy, since they cannot change their places, are witnesses of all the changes that take place around them; and as some reach a great age, they become, as it were, historical monuments, and like ourselves they have a life, growing and passing away,--not being inanimate and unvarying like the fields and rivers. One sees them passing through various stages, and at last step by step approaching death, which makes them look still more like ourselves." - Wilhelm von Humboldt, fully Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand von Humboldt

"Anyhow good luck to all my lawyer friends, and to you, too, Mr. Whatever-your-real-name is. You have to fill your column, and me mine, so we are even. And I bet you are a good guy at that, and good luck to you." - Will Rogers, fully William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers

"See what will happen if you don’t stop biting your fingernails?" - Will Rogers, fully William Penn Adair "Will" Rogers

"Because we are intelligent creatures-meaning that we are freed from instinctive and patterned behavior to a degree unparalleled in the animal kingdom-we are capable of, and dependent on, using rational choice to decide our futures." - Willard Gaylen

"Government is a necessary evil, like other go-carts and crutches. Our need of it shows exactly how far we are still children. All governing over much kills the self-help and energy of the governed." - Wendell Phillips

"Law is nothing unless close behind it stands a warm, living public opinion." - Wendell Phillips

"Ecosystem agriculturalists will take advantage of huge chunks of what works. They will be taking advantage of the natural integrities of ecosystems worked out over the millennia." - Wes Jackson

"Every seemingly arbitrary destructive action is a reaction of the organism to the frustration of a gratification of a vital need, especially of a sexual need." - Wilhelm Reich

"The kindly individual believes that all people are kindly and act accordingly. The plague individual believes that all people lie, swindle, steal and crave power. Clearly, then, the living is at a disadvantage and in danger." - Wilhelm Reich

"With this the [genuine] leader will cause many to turn against him. He will have robbed these many of an object to hold on to, like a bean stalk would feel robbed of comfort if you took away the supporting stick of wood." - Wilhelm Reich

"To me, today, at age sixty-one, all prayer, by the humble or highly placed, has one thing in common: supplication for strength and inspiration to carry on the best human impulses which should bind us together for a better world. Without such inspiration, we would rapidly deteriorate and finally perish. But in our troubled time, the right of men to think and worship as their conscience dictates is being sorely pressed. We can retain these privileges only by being constantly on guard and fighting off any encroachment on these precepts. To retreat from any of the principles handed down by our forefathers, who shed their blood for the ideals we still embrace, would be a complete victory for those who would destroy liberty and justice for the individual." - Walt Disney, fully Walter Elias "Walt" Disney

"I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong, the carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam, the mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work, the boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck, the shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands, the wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, or at noon intermission or at sundown, the delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing, each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else, the day what belongs to the day — at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly, singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs." - Walt Whitman, fully Walter "Walt" Whitman

"There is an ascendant feeling among the people that all achievement should be measured in human happiness." - Walter Lippmann

"This is the way of greatness, In the supreme moments of history, terms like duty, truth, justice, and mercy - which in our torpid hours are tried words - become a measure of decision. . . ." - Walter Lippmann

"We must assume that the members of a public will not anticipate a problem much before its crisis has become obvious, nor stay with the problem long after its crisis has past. They will not know the antecedent events, will not have seen the issue as it developed, will not have thought out or willed a program, and will not be able to predict the consequences of acting on that program. We must assume as a theoretically fixed premise of popular government that normally men as members of a public will not be well informed, continuously interested, nonpartisan, creative, or executive. We must assume that a public is inexpert in its curiosity, intermittent, and that it discerns only gross distinctions, is slow to be aroused, and quickly diverted; that, since it acts by aligning itself, it personalizes whatever it considers, and is interested only when events have been melodramatized as a conflict." - Walter Lippmann

"How does man become mind? Clear intelligence and clear intelligence alone. We know, then, in all that fills heaven and earth there is but this clear intelligence. It is only because of their physical forms and bodies that men are separated. My clear intelligence is the master of heaven and earth and spiritual beings. If heaven is deprived of my clear intelligence, who is going to look into its height? If earth is deprived of my clear intelligence, who is going to look into its height? If earth is deprived of my clear intelligence, who is going to look into its depth? If spiritual beings are deprived of my clear intelligence, who is going to distinguish their good and evil fortune or the calamities and blessings that they will bring? Separated from my clear intelligence, there will be no heaven, earth, spiritual beings, or myriad things, and separated from these, there will not be my clear intelligence. Thus they are all permeated with one material force. How can they be separated?" - Wang Yang-Ming or Yangming, aka Wang Shouren or Wang Shou-jen, courtesy name Bo'an

"If you're an investor, you're looking on what the asset is going to do, if you're a speculator, you're commonly focusing on what the price of the object is going to do, and that's not our game." - Warren Buffett, fully Warren Edward Buffett, aka Oracle of Omaha

"The ability to say "no" is a tremendous advantage for an investor." - Warren Buffett, fully Warren Edward Buffett, aka Oracle of Omaha

"The activity of worrying keeps you immobilized." - Wayne Dyer, fully Wayne Walter Dyer

"The four sacred arts require the leaving aside of the personal psyche and being taken or vastly influenced by the Transcendent process. Information appears and response patterns appear that you know are not your ordinary dynamics. Patriarchy has brought us to consciousness, discernment, differentiation, and it has appreciated what the Feminine cannot appreciate. It provides meaning, purpose, understanding how things work, it provided technology, it is form, structure – it is not to be resented – it is the law. The law is always resented, but, what is the function of the law? It establishes boundaries, and it sets up a demeanor that actually transforms certain very primitive images and contains them in some way. The shadow content of the Masculine is rigidity, tyranny, alienation, indifference to relationships, extreme impersonality. The Feminine is connection, wholeness, nurturing as a primary process, giving substance of itself to create a life, to be involved in the production of feeling and wisdom. Knowledge is an aspect of the Masculine. It´s very important to know the difference between information/knowledge, and wisdom. No matter how much knowledge you have in your life, it will never lead you to wholeness – that requires wisdom, awareness of rhythms and cycles. The Feminine is involved in the creation of time and space, rhythms and movement. If you want to get in touch with and experience time and space, you don’t go to the Masculine psyche, you go to the Feminine. If you want information about time and space, you go to the Masculine side – information, conceptualizations, distinctions, discernment. The shadow of the Feminine involves chaos, destruction, devouring. When either side is devalued, it indicates a defense at an unconscious level because it has power over you. The whole idea of what is Feminine is really quite an adventure at this point in time. It was mistaken for warrior-like qualities – these are all in defense to what is really one of its most powerful attributes: the vulnerability, the chaos, the non-rational. The Women’s movement failed because it was involved with the Feminine, but in reaction, with a masculine kind of energetic, so they masculinized women. To get vulnerable again and discover what these forces are means to let go of collective images, and rediscover them for ourselves." - W. Brugh Joy, fully William Brugh Joy

"Herein lie buried many things which if read with patience may show the strange meaning of being black here in the dawning of the Twentieth Century. This meaning is not without interest to you, Gentle Reader; for the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line." - W. E. B. Du Bois, fully William Edward Burghardt Du Bois