Great Throughts Treasury

"Perhaps the most important thing we bring to another person is the silence in us, not the sort of silence that is filled with unspoken criticism or hard withdrawal. The sort of silence that is a place of refuge, of rest, of acceptance of someone as they are. We are all hungry for this other silence. It is hard to find. In its presence we can remember something beyond the moment, a strength on which to build a life. Silence is a place of great power and healing." - Rachel Naomi Remen

"The healing of our present woundedness may lie in recognizing and reclaiming the capacity we have to heal each other, the enormous power in the simplest of human relationships: the strength of a touch, the blessing of forgiveness, the grace of someone else taking you just as you are and finding in you an unsuspected goodness. Everyone alive has suffered. It is the wisdom gained from our wounds and from our own experiences of suffering that makes us able to heal. Becoming expert has turned out to be less important than remembering and trusting the wholeness in myself and everyone else. Expertise cures, but wounded people can best be healed by other wounded people. Only other wounded people can understand what is needed, for the healing of suffering is compassion, not expertise." - Rachel Naomi Remen

"And those who come together in the night and are entwined in rocking delight do an earnest work and gather sweetnesses, gather depth and strength for the song of some coming poet, who will arise to speak of ecstasies beyond telling." - Rainer Maria Rilke, full name René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke

"Believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside it." - Rainer Maria Rilke, full name René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke

"His gaze has from the passing of the bars grown so tired, that it holds nothing anymore. It seems to him there are a thousand bars and behind a thousand bars no world. The supple pace of powerful soft strides, turning in the very smallest circle, is like a dance of strength around a center in which a great will stands numbed. Only sometimes the curtain of the pupils soundlessly slides up --. Then an image enters, glides through the limbs' taut stillness, dives into the heart and dies." - Rainer Maria Rilke, full name René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke

"Therefore, dear Sir, love your solitude and try to sing out with the pain it causes you. For those who are near you are far away... and this shows that the space around you is beginning to grow vast.... be happy about your growth, in which of course you can't take anyone with you, and be gentle with those who stay behind; be confident and calm in front of them and don't torment them with your doubts and don't frighten them with your faith or joy, which they wouldn't be able to comprehend. Seek out some simple and true feeling of what you have in common with them, which doesn't necessarily have to alter when you yourself change again and again; when you see them, love life in a form that is not your own and be indulgent toward those who are growing old, who are afraid of the aloneness that you trust.... and don't expect any understanding; but believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside it." - Rainer Maria Rilke, full name René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke

"This is the miracle that happens every time to those who really love; the more they give, the more they possess of that precious nourishing love from which flowers and children have their strength and which could help all human beings if they would take it without doubting." - Rainer Maria Rilke, full name René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke

"If you feel proud, let it be in the thought that you are the servant of God, the son of God. Great men have the nature of a child. They are always a child before Him; so they are free from pride. All their strength is of God and not their own. It belongs to Him and comes from Him." - Ramakrishna, aka Ramakrishna Paramhamsa or Sri Ramakrishna, born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay NULL

"Suppose a man becomes pure by chanting the holy name of God, but immediately afterwards commits many sins. He has no strength of mind. He doesn't take a vow not to repeat his sins." - Ramakrishna, aka Ramakrishna Paramhamsa or Sri Ramakrishna, born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay NULL

"The millions of human beings who were shot, tortured, starved, treated like animals and made the object of a conspiracy of ridicule, can sleep in peace in their communal graves, for at least the struggle in which they died has enabled their descendants, isolated in their air-conditioned apartments, to believe, on the strength of their daily dose of television, that they are happy and free. The Communards went down, fighting to the last, so that you too could qualify for a Caribbean cruise." - Raoul Vaneigem

"Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle will never know." - Charles Kingsley

"It is essential that in a society, divine thoughts and power should co-exist. Simple Faith, not backed by material forces, is weak and Strength without touch of Divinity is monstrous." - Pandurang Shastri Athavale, fully Pandurang Vaijnath Shastri Athavale

"The strength of Truth lies in Love and the strength of Love lies in Truth." - Pandurang Shastri Athavale, fully Pandurang Vaijnath Shastri Athavale

"Faith makes all evil good to us, and all good better; unbelief makes all good evil, and all evil worse. Faith laughs at the shaking of the spear; unbelief trembles at the shaking of a leaf, unbelief starves the soul; faith finds food in famine, and a table in the wilderness. In the greatest danger, faith says, "I have a great God." When outward strength is broken, faith rests on the promises. In the midst of sorrow, faith draws the sting out of every trouble, and takes out the bitterness from every affliction." - Richard Cecil

"We kneel, how weak; we rise, how full of power! Why, therefore, should we do ourselves this wrong, Or others--that we are not always strong, That we are ever overborne with care, That we should ever weak or heartless be, Anxious or troubled, when with us is prayer, And joy and strength and courage are with Thee?" - Richard Chenevix, fully Richard Chenevix Trench, Archbishop of Dublin

"The whole point of religious faith, its strength and chief glory, is that it does not depend on rational justification. The rest of us are expected to defend our prejudices. But ask a religious person to justify their faith and you infringe 'religious liberty'." - Richard Dawkins

"I cannot leave it; I must stay under the old tree in the midst of the long grass, the luxury of the leaves, and the song in the very air. I seem as if I could feel all the glowing life the sunshine gives and the south wind calls to being. The endless grass, the endless leaves, the immense strength of the oak expanding, the unalloyed joy of finch and blackbird; from them all I receive a little. Each gives me something of the pure joy they gather for themselves... The exceeding beauty of the earth, in her splendor of life, yields a new thought with every petal. The hours when the mind is absorbed by beauty are the only hours when we really live... These are the only hours that are not wasted -- these hours that absorb the soul and fill it with beauty. This is real life, and all else is illusion, or mere endurance. Does this reverie of flowers and waterfall and song form an ideal, a human ideal, in the mind? It does; much the same ideal that Phidias sculptured of man and woman filled with a godlike sense of the violet fields of Greece, beautiful beyond thought, calm as my turtle-dove before the lurid lightning of the unknown. To be beautiful and to be calm, without mental fear, is the ideal of nature. If I cannot achieve it, at least I can think it." - Richard Jefferies, fully John Richard Jefferies

"The strength of opening manhood is never so well employed as in practicing subserviency to God's revealed will; it lends a grace and a beauty to religion, and produces an abundant harvest." - Richard Mant

"Poverty of spirit should accompany us all our life long to let us see that we have no righteousness nor strength of our own for sanctification; that all the grace we have is out of ourselves, even for the performance of every holy duty; for though we have grace, yet we cannot bring that grace into act without new grace, even as there is a fitness in trees to bear fruit, but without the influence of heaven they cannot be fruitful. That which oftentimes makes us miscarry in the duties of our callings is this, we think we have strength and wisdom sufficient, and then what is begun in self-confidence is ended in shame. We set about duties in our own pride and strength of parts, and find no better success; therefore it is always a good sign that God will bless our endeavors, when out of a deep sense of our own weakness, we in prayers and supplications like our Lord also water our business with strong crying and tears" - Richard Sibbes (or Sibbs)

"Weakness with watchfulness will stand, when strength with too much confidence fails. Weakness, with acknowledgement of it, is the fittest seat and subject for God to perfect his strength in; for consciousness of our infirmities drives us out of ourselves to him in whom our strength lies." - Richard Sibbes (or Sibbs)

"Few men during their lifetime come anywhere near exhausting the resources dwelling within them. There are deep wells of strength that are never used." - Richard E. Byrd, fully Richard Evelyn Byrd, Jr.

"Economic power is not the same as strength of national character. Our country may be rich in goods, but we are poor in spirit." - Richard Nixon, fully Richard Milhous Nixon

"Isn't it better to talk about the relative merits of washing machines than the relative strength of rockets? Isn't this the kind of competition you want?" - Richard Nixon, fully Richard Milhous Nixon

"Testimony is like an arrow shot from a long bow; its force depends on the strength of the hand that draws it. " - Robert Boyle

"I count life just a stuff to try the soul's strength on." - Robert Browning

"The fineness and strength essential to our best being, and to make us do our work, come by the hammer and the fire, by the thorn in the flesh, the trouble and pain in our life, which may act in us as the fire acts in the iron, welding the fiber afresh." - Robert Collyer

"A Child My Choice - Let folly praise that fancy loves, I praise and love that Child Whose heart no thought, whose tongue no word, whose hand no deed defiled. I praise Him most, I love Him best, all praise and love is His; While Him I love, in Him I live, and cannot live amiss. Love's sweetest mark, laud's highest theme, man's most desired light, To love Him life, to leave Him death, to live in Him delight. He mine by gift, I His by debt, thus each to other due; First friend He was, best friend He is, all times will try Him true. Though young, yet wise; though small, yet strong; though man, yet God He is: As wise, He knows; as strong, He can; as God, He loves to bless. His knowledge rules, His strength defends, His love doth cherish all; His birth our joy, His life our light, His death our end of thrall. Alas! He weeps, He sighs, He pants, yet do His angels sing; Out of His tears, His sighs and throbs, doth bud a joyful spring. Almighty Babe, whose tender arms can force all foes to fly, Correct my faults, protect my life, direct me when I die!" - Robert Southwell, also Saint Robert Southwell

"This is the grimmest, and surely the holiest task we have faced since D–day. Here before us lie the bodies of comrades and friends. Men who until yesterday or last week laughed with us, joked with us, trained with us. Men who were on the same ships with us, and went over the side with us as we prepared to hit the beaches of this island.It is not easy to do so,” He continued. Some of us have buried our closest friends here. We saw these men killed before our very eyes. Any one of us might have died in their place. Indeed some of us are alive and breathing at this very monent only because men who lie here beneath us had the courage and strength to give their lives for ours. To speak in memory of men such as these is not easy . . . No, our poor power of speech can add nothing to what these men and the other dead of our Division who are not here have already done. All we can even hope to do is follow their example. To show the same selfless courage in peace as they did in war. To swear by the grace of God and the stubborn strength and power of human will, their sons and ours will never suffer these pains again. These men have done their job well. They have paid the ghastly price of freedom. . . . “We dedicate ourselves, first, to live together in peace the way they fought and are buried in this war. Here lie men who loved America because their ancestors generations ago helped in her founding and other men who loved her with equal passion because they themselves or their own fathers escaped from oppression to her blessed shores. Here lie officers and men, Negroes and whites, rich men and poor--- together . . . . Theirs is the highest and purest democracy. Any man among us, the living, who fails to understand that will thereby betray those who lie here dead. Whoever of us lifts his hand in hate against a brother . . . . makes of this ceremony and of the bloody sacrifice it commemorates an empty, hollow mockery. To one thing more do we consecrate ourselves in memory of those who sleep beneath these crosses and stars. We shall not foolishly suppose, as did the last generation of America’s fighting men, that victory on the battlefield will automatically guarantee the triumph of Democracy at home. This war with all its frightful heartache and suffering, is but the beginning of our generations struggle for democracy . . . . Thus do we memorialize those who, have ceased living with us, now live within us. Thus do we consecrate ourselves, the living, to carry on the struggle they began. Too much pain and heartache have fertilized the earth on which we stand. We here solemnly swear: This shall not be in vain! Out of this, and from the suffering and sorrow of those who mourn this, will come—we promise – the birth of a new freedom for the sons of men everywhere." - Roland B. Gittelsohn, fully Roland Bertram Gittelsohn

"Down in adoration falling, Lo! the sacred Host we hail; Lo! o'er ancient forms departing, Newer rites of grace prevail; Faith for all defects supplying, Where the feeble senses fail. " - Saint Thomas Aquinas, aka Thomas of Aquin or Aquino, Doctor Angelicus, Doctor Communis or Doctor Universalis

"Who is like unto Thee to uncover the deeps, And who hath Thy power to raise and cast down? Show Thy marvellous love to the captive who weeps, O Worker of wonders, of awesome renown! Thy children belovèd intoned a new song When Egypt’s proud host found a watery grave, There was praise from the saints in their jubilant throng When the wheels of the chariots clogged in the wave. Thy fondlings storm-tossed were all weeping and tired When the great roaring flood-tides before them arose, But Thy hand led them safe to the haven desired And the waters returned, overwhelming their foes. The chariots of Pharaoh and all that great host God cast in the billows and covered them o’er, But His people trod sea-bottom, coast unto coast, He admonished the sea and it dried like the shore. Thus, Lord, do Thou Zion support and uphold, Arise, for the hour of her grace is at hand, The day long appointed to sing as of old, God reigneth, His Kingdom forever shall stand." - Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron

"Who can grasp Thy wonders? For Thou hast appointed him to furnish light to the stars Of high or low degree, And to the Moon, "If that white bright spot stays in its place" And according as she moves away to stand opposite the Sun, She receiveth his shining Until his light is at the full when she stands before him, And it irradiates her whole face. And when that she draws nigh in the latter half of the month, And declineth from him And is far from standing opposite him And proceedeth to the side of him, In that degree waneth her splendour, Till the end of her month and her circuit, And she declineth to her extreme rim. And when she is in conjunction with him She is hid in secret places For a day and half an hour And some numbered moments, And after that she is renewed and returneth to her prior self And "issueth forth as a bridegroom from his chamber."" - Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron

"Who can know Thy pathways? For Thou hast made palaces for the seven planets In the twelve constellations, And to the Ram and the Bull Thou hast imparted Thy strength in uniting them, And the third is the Twins, like two brothers in their unity And their human likeness. And the fourth is the Crab, And on him, as on the Lion, hast Thou bestowed of Thy splendour, And on his sister the Virgin, who is near unto him, And on the Scales and the Scorpion placed by his side, And on the ninth that was created in the form of a man of might, whose strength runs not dry, For he is the Archer, mighty of the bow. And thus too by Thy great power are created the Goat and the Water-Bearer, While alone is the last constellation, "For the Lord did appoint a great Fish." And these are the constellations high and exalted in their degrees, "Twelve princes according to the nations."" - Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron

"O Lord, who shall search out Thy profundities? For Thou hast set apart above the sphere of the constellations The sphere that is ninth in order, That encompasseth all the spheres and their creatures, Wherein they are closed up, Which driveth all the stars of heaven and their planets From the east to the west in the might of its movement. Once a day it bows down in the west to the King who enthroned it, p. 100 And all the creatures of the universe in its midst are as a grain of mustard in the vast ocean From the mighty vastness of its breadth. Yet all this and its greatness are accounted as nothing and naught By the side of the greatness of its Creator and King, And all its sublimities and grandeur "Are vain and void in comparison with Him."" - Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron

"O Lord, who can unroll Thy mysteries? For Thou hast made in the Height chambers and store-houses, Some of them awesome to tell of, a tale of mighty doings, And some treasuries of life for the pure and the clean. For some are treasures of salvation to those who have returned from iniquity, And some are treasures of fire, And rivers of brimstone For the breakers of the covenant. And there is a provision of deep pits whose fire is never quenched. "He that is abhorred of the Lord shall fall therein." And there are caverns of storm-winds and tempests And congelation and cold, And treasures of hail and ice and snow and drought, Also of heat and flowing channels And of thick smoke and hoar-frost and of clouds and thick cloud, And darkness and gloom. The whole hast Thou prepared in its due season, "Thou hast ordained it for mercy or judgment, And established it, O Rock, for correction!"" - Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron

"I Still Trust in The People. [engraved on his tombstone]" - Samuel Tilden, fully Samuel Jones Tilden

"In Koln, a town of monks and bones, And pavement fang'd with murderous stones, And rags and hags, and hideous wenches, I counted two-and-seventy stenches, All well defined, and several stinks! Ye nymphs that reign o'er sewers and sinks, The River Rhine, it is well known, Doth wash your city of Cologne; But tell me, nymphs! what power divine Shall henceforth whash the river Rhine. " - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

"The hostile multitudes are vast as space What chance is there that all should be subdued? Let but this angry mind be overthrown And every foe is then and there destroyed All the suffering in the world comes from seeking pleasure for oneself. All the happiness in the world comes from seeking pleasure for others. As long as space abides and as long as the world abides, so long may I abide, destroying the sufferings of the world. Where would I possibly find enough leather With which to cover the surface of the earth? But (just) leather on the soles of my shoes Is equivalent to covering the earth with it Likewise it is not possible for me To restrain the external course of things But should I restrain this mind of mine What would be the need to restrain all else? My body, thus, and all my good besides, And all my merits gained and to be gained, I give them all away withholding nothing To bring about the benefit of beings. All those who slight me to my face, Or do me any other evil, Even if they blame or slander me, May they attain the fortune of enlightenment! Take advantage of this human boat; Free yourself from sorrow’s mighty stream! This vessel will be later hard to find. The time that you have now, you fool, is not for sleep! Examine thus yourself from every side. Note harmful thoughts and every futile striving. Thus it is that heroes in the bodhisattva path Apply the remedies to keep a steady mind. Examine thus yourself from every side. Note harmful thoughts and every futile striving. Thus it is that heroes in the bodhisattva path Apply the remedies to keep a steady mind. Those who have no mental vigilance, Though they may hear the teachings, ponder them or meditate, With minds like water seeping from a leaking jug, Their learning will not settle in their memories. Suffering also has its worth. Through sorrow, pride is driven out And pity felt for those who wander in samsara; Evil is avoided, goodness seems delightful. May I be like a guard for those who are protectorless, A guide for those who journey on the road. For those who wish to go across the water, May I be a boat, a raft, a bridge. And so let beings do to me Whatever does not bring them injury. Whenever they catch sight of me, Let this not fail to bring them benefit. For sentient beings, poor and destitute, May I become a treasure ever plentiful, And lie before them closely in their reach, A varied source of all that they might need. As a blind man feels when he finds a pearl in a dustbin, so am I amazed by the miracles of awakening rising in my consciousness. It is the nectar of immortality that delivers us from death, the treasure that lifts us from death, the treasure that lifts us above poverty into the wealth of giving to life, the tree that gives shade to us when we roam about scorched by life, the bridge that takes us across the stormy river of life, the cool moon of compassion that calms our mind when it is agitated, the fun that dispels darkness, the butter made from the milk of kindness by churning it with the dharma. It is a feast of joy to which all are invited. All that I possess and use Is like the fleeting vision of a dream. It fades into the realms of memory; And fading, will be seen no more. Nothing that has passed can be regained. How much suffering and fear, and How many harmful things are in existence? If all arises from clinging to the “I”, What should I do with this great demon? Exchanging Self and Other. " - Shantideva NULL

"When I have ceased to break my wings Against the faultiness of things, And learned that compromises wait Behind each hardly opened gate, When I can look Life in the eyes, Grown calm and very coldly wise, Life will have given me the Truth, And taken in exchange -- my youth. " - Sara Teasdale, born Sara Trevor Teasdale, aka Sara Teasdale Filsinger

"There is no object in over-taxing your will power and strength by forcing yourself to do things for the Cause. You should let your mind rest in the thought of the infinite love, Mercy and Forgiveness of Bahá’u’lláh, and cease to fret about whether you are or are not doing your share until you fully recover your health." - Shoghí Effendi, fully Shoghí Effendí Rabbání

"You should certainly safeguard your nerves and force yourself to take time, and not only for prayer and meditation, but for real rest and relaxation." - Shoghí Effendi, fully Shoghí Effendí Rabbání

"I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer, just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals . . . The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom, and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is." - Ronald Reagan, fully Ronald Wilson Reagan

"In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, even want of the most basic kind -- too little food. Even today, the Soviet Union still cannot feed itself. . . . East and West do not distrust each other because we are armed; we are armed because we distrust each other. And our differences are not about weapons but about liberty. . . . The most fundamental distinction of all between East and West (sic.) [is that] the totalitarian world produces backwardness because it does such violence to the spirit, thwarting the human impulse to create, to enjoy, to worship. The totalitarian world finds even symbols of love and of worship an affront." - Ronald Reagan, fully Ronald Wilson Reagan

"Remember that every government service, every offer of government - financed security, is paid for in the loss of personal freedom... In the days to come, whenever a voice is raised telling you to let the government do it, analyze very carefully to see whether the suggested service is worth the personal freedom which you must forgo in return for such service." - Ronald Reagan, fully Ronald Wilson Reagan

"The masses are in reality their own leaders, dialectically creating their own development process." - Rosa Luxemburg, aka Rosalia Luxemburg, "Bloody Rosa"

"Man does not see reality as it is, but only as he perceives it, and his perception may be mistaken or biased." - Rudolf Driekurs

"If you use a lot of abstractions with children, you will stimulate them to concentrate particularly intensively upon the formation of carbonic acid in the blood and upon the crystallization process in the body, upon dying. If you bring children as many living pictures as possible, if you educate them by speaking in pictures, then you sow the seed for a continuous retention of oxygen, for continuous development, because you direct the children toward the future, toward life after death" - Rudolf Steiner, fully Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner

"The time has come to realize that supersensible knowledge has now to arise from the materialistic grave." - Rudolf Steiner, fully Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner

"For to admire an' for to see, For to be'old this world so wide—It never done no good to me, But I can't drop it if I tried!" - Rudyard Kipling

"The Beloved - One went to the door of the Beloved and knocked. A voice asked: 'Who is there?' He answered: 'It is I.' The voice said: 'There is no room here for me and thee.' The door was shut. After a year of solitude and deprivation this man returned to the door of the Beloved. He knocked. A voice from within asked: 'Who is there?' The man said: 'It is Thou.' The door was opened for him." - Rumi, fully Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rumi NULL

"I have always used the world of make-believe with a certain desperation." - Ruth Benedict, born Ruth Fulton