Only passions, great passions can elevate the soul to great things.
We fear to know the fearsome and unsavory aspects of ourselves, but we fear even more to know the godlike in ourselves.
We swallow greedily any lie that flatters us, but we sip only little by little at a truth we find bitter.
If I were dropped out of a plane into the ocean and told the nearest land was a thousand miles away, I'd still swim. And I'd despise the one who gave up.
Good psychology should include all the methodological techniques, without having loyalty to one method, one idea, or one person.
There is only one passion, the passion for happiness.
Dispassionate objectivity is itself a passion, for the real and for the truth.
To attempt the destruction of our passions is the height of folly. What a noble aim is that of the zealot who tortures himself like a madman in order to desire nothing, love nothing, feel nothing, and who, if he succeeded, would end up a complete monster!
The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.
A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself.
It is said that desire is a product of the will, but the converse is in fact true: will is a product of desire.
What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself.
If you plan on being anything less than you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life.
People praise virtue, but they hate it, they run away from it. It freezes you to death, and in this world you've got to keep your feet warm.
Unity can only be manifested by the Binary. Unity itself and the idea of Unity are already two.
What is the appropriate behavior for a man or a woman in the midst of this world, where each person is clinging to his piece of debris? What's the proper salutation between people as they pass each other in this flood?
Although a man may wear fine clothing, if he lives peacefully; and is good, self-possessed, has faith and is pure; and if he does not hurt any living being, he is a holy man.
The foolish man conceives the idea of 'self.' The wise man sees there is no ground on which to build the idea of 'self;' thus, he has a right conception of the world and well concludes that all compounds amassed by sorrow will be dissolved again, but the truth will remain.
He who gives away shall have real gain. He who subdues himself shall be free; he shall cease to be a slave of passions. The righteous man casts off evil, and by rooting out lust, bitterness, and illusion do we reach Nirvana.
There are three principal means of acquiring knowledge... observation of nature, reflection, and experimentation. Observation collects facts; reflection combines them; experimentation verifies the result of that combination.
To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.
If you want me to believe in God, you must make me touch him.
To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one's own in the midst of abundance.
Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.