“The Buddhists say there are 121 states of consciousness. Of these, only three involve misery or suffering. Most of us spend our time moving back and forth between these three.”

Source: Dept. of Speculation

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The Buddhists say there are 121 states of consciousness. Of these, only three involve misery or suffering. Most of us s…" by Jenny Offill?
Jenny Offill photo
Jenny Offill 13
American writer 1968

Related quotes

André Malraux photo

“Chanel, General De Gaulle and Picasso are the three most important figures of our time.”

André Malraux (1901–1976) French novelist, art theorist and politician

As quoted in Paris, Paris : Journey Into the City of Light‎ (2005) by David Downie, p. 87

Malcolm Gladwell photo
Brian Andreas photo
Alyson Nöel photo
Aldous Huxley photo
Ann Brashares photo
T.S. Eliot photo

“This is the time of tension between dying and birth
The place of solitude where three dreams cross
Between blue rocks”

T.S. Eliot (1888–1965) 20th century English author

Ash-Wednesday (1930)
Context: And the lost heart stiffens and rejoices
In the lost lilac and the lost sea voices
And the weak spirit quickens to rebel
For the bent golden-rod and the lost sea smell
Quickens to recover
The cry of quail and the whirling plover
And the blind eye creates
The empty forms between the ivory gates
And smell renews the salt savour of the sandy earth
This is the time of tension between dying and birth
The place of solitude where three dreams cross
Between blue rocks
But when the voices shaken from the yew-tree drift away
Let the other yew be shaken and reply.

Paul Tillich photo

“Theology moves back and forth between two poles, the eternal truth of its foundation and the temporal situation in which the eternal truth must be received.”

Paul Tillich (1886–1965) German-American theologian and philosopher

Systematic Theology (1951–63)
Context: A theological system is supposed to satisfy two basic needs: the statement of the truth of the Christian message and the interpretation of this truth for every new generation. Theology moves back and forth between two poles, the eternal truth of its foundation and the temporal situation in which the eternal truth must be received. Not many theological systems have been able to balance these two demands perfectly.

Czeslaw Milosz photo

“There was a time when only wise books were read
helping us to bear our pain and misery.”

Czeslaw Milosz (1911–2004) Polish, poet, diplomat, prosaist, writer, and translator

"Ars Poetica?"
Context: There was a time when only wise books were read
helping us to bear our pain and misery.
This, after all, is not quite the same
as leafing through a thousand works fresh from psychiatric clinics. And yet the world is different from what it seems to be
and we are other than how we see ourselves in our ravings.

Related topics