“There comes a time, not too long into the journey to God, when the realization that the world could work beautifully if we would give it the chance, begins to excite us. It becomes our new motivation.”
Source: A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of "A Course in Miracles" (1992), Ch. 7 : Work, §9 : Sales to Service
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Marianne Williamson94
American writer 1952Related quotes
“Freedom gives us a chance to realize our human and individual uniqueness.”
Eric Hoffer (1898–1983) American philosopher
Journal entry (28 March 1959)
Working and Thinking on the Waterfront (1969)
Context: The significant point is that people unfit for freedom — who cannot do much with it — are hungry for power. The desire for freedom is an attribute of a "have" type of self. It says: leave me alone and I shall grow, learn, and realize my capacities. The desire for power is basically an attribute of a "have-not" type of self. If Hitler had had the talents and the temperament of a genuine artist, if Stalin had had the capacity to become a first-rate theoretician, if Napoleon had had the makings of a great poet or philosopher they would hardly have developed the all-consuming lust for absolute power.
Freedom gives us a chance to realize our human and individual uniqueness. Absolute power can also bestow uniqueness: to have absolute power is to have the power to reduce all the people around us to puppets, robots, toys, or animals, and be the only man in sight. Absolute power achieves uniqueness by dehumanizing others.
To sum up: Those who lack the capacity to achieve much in an atmosphere of freedom will clamor for power.
Emma Goldman (1868–1940) anarchist known for her political activism, writing, and speeches
What is Patriotism? (1908)
Theodore L. Cuyler (1822–1909) American minister
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 264.
Sean Russell (1952) author
Source: World Without End (1995), Chapter 11 (p. 158)
Pope Francis (1936) 266th Pope of the Catholic Church
2010s, 2015, Announcement of the Jubilee of Mercy
Martin Buber (1878–1965) German Jewish Existentialist philosopher and theologian
Between Man and Man (1965), p. 15
Between Man and Man (1965)
William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English writer
"On the Fear of Death" <br class="br"> Table Talk: Essays On Men And Manners http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Essays/TableHazIV.htm (1821-1822)