The burning conviction that we have a holy duty towards others is often a way of attaching our drowning selves to a passing raft. What looks like a giving hand is often a holding on for dear life. Take away our holy duties and you leave our lives puny and meaningless. There is no doubt that in exchanging a self-centered for a selfless life we gain enormously in self-esteem. The vanity of the selfless, even those who practice utmost humility, is boundless.
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A man's soul is pierced as it were with holes, and as his longings flow through each they are transmuted read more
A man's soul is pierced as it were with holes, and as his longings flow through each they are transmuted into something specific.
Nothing is as real as a dream. The world can change around you, but your dream will not. Responsibilities need read more
Nothing is as real as a dream. The world can change around you, but your dream will not. Responsibilities need not erase it. Duties need not obscure it. Because the dream is within you, no one can take it away.
There is probably an element of malice in the readiness to overestimate people: we are laying up for ourselves the read more
There is probably an element of malice in the readiness to overestimate people: we are laying up for ourselves the pleasure of later cutting them down to size.
Conscience is the inner voice which warns us that someone may be looking.
Conscience is the inner voice which warns us that someone may be looking.
Yield to temptation; it may not pass your way again.
Yield to temptation; it may not pass your way again.
A mind that is fast is sick. A mind that is slow is sound. A mind that is still is read more
A mind that is fast is sick. A mind that is slow is sound. A mind that is still is divine.
There is no other way to judge the work of a mind except through its words.
There is no other way to judge the work of a mind except through its words.
The impression somehow prevails that the true believer, particularly the religious individual, is a humble person. The truth is that read more
The impression somehow prevails that the true believer, particularly the religious individual, is a humble person. The truth is that the surrendering and humbling of the self breeds pride and arrogance.
Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.
Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.
