
[2006, Sufism: Veil and Quintessence, World Wisdom, 96, 978-1-933316-28-4]
God, Beauty
Source: Credo, 2004, p. 6
[2006, Sufism: Veil and Quintessence, World Wisdom, 96, 978-1-933316-28-4]
God, Beauty
"Nature Is My God" - interview with Fred Matser in Resurgence No. 184 (September-October 1997) http://www.resurgence.org/resurgence/184/gorbachev.htm
Context: We have retreated from the perennial values. I don't think that we need any new values. The most important thing is to try to revive the universally known values from which we have retreated.
As a young man, I really took to heart the Communist ideals. A young soul certainly cannot reject things like justice and equality. These were the goals proclaimed by the Communists. But in reality that terrible Communist experiment brought about repression of human dignity. Violence was used in order to impose that model on society. In the name of Communism we abandoned basic human values. So when I came to power in Russia I started to restore those values; values of "openness" and freedom.
[2003, Survey of Metaphysics and Esoterism, World Wisdom, 224, 978-0-94153227-3]
Spiritual life, Truth
“It is we who create value and our desires which confer value. In this realm we are kings”
1920s, What I Believe (1925)
Context: We are and irrefutable arbiters of value, and in the world of value Nature is only a part. Thus in this world we are greater than Nature. In the world of values, Nature in itself is neutral, neither good nor bad deserving of neither admiration nor censure. It is we who create value and our desires which confer value. In this realm we are kings, and we debase our kingship if we bow down to Nature. It is for us to determine our good life, not for Nature – not even for Nature personified as God.
Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought Acceptance Speech (2013)