African Spir: Morale

African Spir was Russian philosopher. Explore interesting quotes on morale.
African Spir: 196   quotes 1   like

“The precept to worship God 'in spirit and in truth' recommand to worship him as an inward and moral force, without physical attributes and with no relation to fears and egoist wishes.”

African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 40 The quotation is from the Gospel of John, VII, 24.

God , Truth , Fear

“If we accomplish a good deed, a charity in the hope of (getting…) future rewards, or with a more or less confessed (or admitted) ulterior motive to profit from personal advantages ("d'en retirer quelque avantage personnel", Fr.), we are probably doing a useful thing, but which is devoided of any ("tout", Fr.) truly moral character (or disposition)"”

African Spir

p .39.
Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937)

Hope , Motivation , Future , Personality

“So many really divine individuals humanity has not already produced! Heros in the moral sense, who never got tired to practice renouncement and charity; bright intelligences who opened to the mind new ways and horizons; poets and wonderful artists, who created for him the image of an ideal world, the reflect of perfection. These are as many proofs of the presence of the absolu in the midst of humanity, for him that does not discover the immediate proof of that in himself.”

African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 44.

World , Way , Intelligence , Sense

“We can, following the exemple of Kant, consider the moral development and improvement of men, as the supreme goal of human evolution.”

African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 61.

Men

“If man do not find in himself the required (or wished, or wanted, - "voulue", Fr.) force to accomplish his moral aspirations, he can try to purt himself in the conditions suitable to assist (or promote, or further, -"favoriser", Fr.) his self-control.”

African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 50 [Spir rejected ascetism: for it is "opposed to sound reason to unnaturally impose onself extreme hardships"- Esquisse biographique, p. 32.

“In ancient times, any man rising up above the common people tried to shape his life according to his principles; it is no longer like than now; it is (because) for the ancients, moral was a principle of inner life, whereas in our days, most of the time one is content to adhere to an official moral, that we recognize in theory, but that one does not care to put into practice.”

African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 39.

Life , People , Time

“It is from the education of the new generations that we will especially be able to expect a real moral progress. It is important first of all to develop in it (or 'him', the next generations…) self-control, love of truth and solidarity spirit.”

African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 58.

Love , Truth , Education

“The intellectual development of man, far from having get men away from war, has, rather, on the contrary, bring them to a refinment always more perfected in the art of killing. They even came to raise the methods of slaughter to the rank of "science"… We would not (On ne saurait", Fr.) imagine a more extraordinary moral blindness!”

African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 55.

Men , War , Art , Imagination

“The divine element manifests itself (or show up) in man as well by his aptitude for science, than by his aptitude for virtue. True morality, true philosophy and true art are in their essence ("dans leur essence", Fr.) religious."”

African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 40.

Art , Science

“Only a moral education based on free inner discipline can bring to bear a salutary action and lead to a true morality.”

African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 59.

Education

“There is a radical dualism between the empirical nature of man and its moral nature.”

African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 59.

Nature

“To be effective, morality has to be reasoned (or worked out). To want ("vouloir", Fr.) to repress evil only by coercion, and to obtain morality by a sort of training with the help of constraint, without motivating it from within, is to make it an unnatural result, devoided of lastind value.”

African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 59.

Motivation , Evil , Help , Training

“There are some who esteem that it is a naivety to believe that a moral regeneration may be possible ("soit possible", Fr.); now, if this was not the case, it would not be worth the trouble that humanity continue to vegetate without aim.”

African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 61.

Naivety

“If pity was always equally alive and acting in all individuals and in all circumstances, we could do away with moral. Unfortunately, it is not compassion, but rather it's contrary, selfishness, that act most strongly in us.”

African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 57.

Selfishness

“The distinction between right and wrong ("la distinction du bien et du mal", Fr.), is nothing else than their unyielding (or implacable) opposition; thus the moral consciousness is an innate and intimate revelation of the absolute, which goes beyond (or goes pass, or exceed) every empirical data (or given information). It is only on these principles that we will be able to establish ("pourront être édifiées", Fr.) the real basis of morality.”

African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 60 - Hélène's Claparède-Spir underlined.

“The duty of the State is double; it must strive to perfect its member, by promoting their intellectual and moral progress, et try to keep the right and the justice in their mutual relationships.”

African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 44.

Justice , Perfection

“Moral improvement (or perfecting) require an evolution leading to a higher consciousness, which is the true torch of life; it is what we have failed too much to appreciate, and that which would be fatal to fail to appreciate any longer ("pluslongtemps", Fr.); For if we do not take it upon ourselves to remedy in time to the moral colapse (or bankruptcy) that already threaten, the whole civilisation will risks to disappear.”

African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 60.

Life , Time , Perfection

“If the present civilisation does not acquire some stable moral fondations ("bases morales stables", Fr.), its existence will hardly be more assured than that of the civilisations that have preceeded it, and which have fallen”

African Spir

or collapse, or failed
Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 41.

“Men who have sacrifice their well-being, and even their lives, for the cause of truth or the public good, are, from an empirical point of view - which scorn ("fait fi", Fr.) virtue and altruism - regarded as insane or fools; but, from a moral standpoint, they are heros who do honour ("qui honorent", Fr.) humanity.”

African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 38.

Men , Truth , Fools

“The first principle from which stems the moral of about all people at all time; it is summarized in this precept: Love thy neighbour as thyself, and: do as you would be done by.”

African Spir

Source: Words of a Sage : Selected thoughts of African Spir (1937), p. 38 ["… moral consciousness is an innate and intimate revelation of the absolute, which exceed every empirical data..." - see above].

Love , People , Time