Searching for 'existence' quotes


Ralph Waldo Emerson:Fate is nothing but the


Fate is nothing but the deeds committed in a prior state of existence.
by Ralph Waldo Emerson


Samuel Butler:God cannot alter the past, that is


God cannot alter the past, that is why he is obliged to connive at the existence of historians.
by Samuel Butler


Gurdjieff:Man has the possibility of existence


Man has the possibility of existence after death. But possibility is one thing and the realization of the possibility is quite a different thing.
by Gurdjieff


Jean La Bruyere:The very impossibility in which


The very impossibility in which I find myself to prove that God is not, discovers to me his existence.
by Jean La Bruyere


H.L. Mencken:The basic fact about human


The basic fact about human existence is not that it is a tragedy, but that it is a bore. It is not so much a war as an endless standing in line.
by H.L. Mencken


Reginald Withers Payne:The difficulty about a


The difficulty about a gentlemen’s agreement is that it depends on the continued existence of the gentlemen
by Reginald Withers Payne


Albert Pike:A Human Thought is an actual


A Human Thought is an actual EXISTENCE, and a Force and Power, capable of acting upon and controlling matter as well as mind.
by Albert Pike


Charles Darwin:In the survival of favoured


In the survival of favoured individuals and races, during the constantly-recurring struggle for existence, we see a powerful and ever-acting form of selection.
by Charles Darwin


Thomas Jefferson:Question with boldness even the


Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear.
by Thomas Jefferson


Nagarjuna:The science which teacheth arts and


The science which teacheth arts and handicrafts is merely science for the gaining of a living; but the science which teacheth deliverance from worldly existence, is not that the true science?
by Nagarjuna


Donald Allen Wollheim:The tendency to believe


The tendency to believe that things never change, the inertia of daily existence, is a staple of living. It has always been a delusion.
by Donald Allen Wollheim


Rig Veda:There was neither non-existence nor


There was neither non-existence nor existence then; there was neither the realm of space nor the sky beyond. There was no distinguishing sign of night nor of day. That One breathed, windless, by its own impulse. Other than that there was nothing beyond. Darkness was hidden by darkness in the beginning; with no distinguishing sign, all this was water. The life force that was, was covered with emptiness, that one arose through the power of heat. Desire came upon that one in the beginning; that was the first seed of mind.
by Rig Veda


Lao-Tzu:From of old the things that have


From of old the things that have acquired unity are these: Heaven by unity has become clear; Earth by unity has become steady; The Spirit by unity has become spiritual; The Valley by unity has become full; All things by unity have come into existence.
by Lao-Tzu


Donatien Alphonse Francois de Sade:My manner of


My manner of thinking, so you say, cannot be approved. Do you suppose I care? A poor fool indeed is he who adopts a manner of thinking for others! My manner of thinking stems straight from my considered reflections; it holds with my existence, with the way I am made. It is not in my power to alter it; and were it, I'd not do so.
by Donatien Alphonse Francois de Sade


Arthur Coleman Danto:This is perhaps the most


This is perhaps the most distinctive Buddhist teaching, that suffering is the product of 'the craving of the passions, the craving for existence, the craving fornonexistence.' It is, however, far from an obvious truth. Certain cases of suffering areplainly due to craving, namely, those that are due to frustrated desires. Desires may be eased by satisfaction or extirpation; and one may allow that if one stopped desiring, itwould amount to preventing all the suffering due to frustration. But this does not provethe general case.... Body, feelings, perception, mentality, and consciousness are separate sets of graspings. There is nothing that -does- the grasping. -We- are the aggregate ofthe graspings, not something, apart from them, that does the grasping. This is an interesting and startling thought.
by Arthur Coleman Danto


Phillip Slater:Change can take place only when


Change can take place only when liberal and radical pressures are both strong. Intelligent liberals have always recognized the debt they owe to radicals, whose existence permits liberals to push further than they would otherwise have dared, all the while posing as compromisers and mediators. Radicals, however, have been somewhat less sensible of their debt to liberals, partly because of the rather single-minded discipline radicals are almost forced to maintain, plagued as they always are by liberal backsliding and timidity on the one hand and various forms of self-destructiveness and romantic posing on the other.... Liberal reforms and radical change are thus complementary rather than antagonistic. Together they make it possible continually to test the limits of what can be done. Liberals never know whether the door is unlocked because they are afraid to try it. Radicals, on the other hand, miss many opportunities for small advances because they are unwilling to settle for so little.
by Phillip Slater


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