“The notion of the free play of the mind upon all subjects being a pleasure in itself, being an object of desire, being an essential provider of elements without which a nation's spirit, whatever compensations it may have for them, must, in the long run, die of inanition, hardly enters into an Englishman's thoughts.”

— Matthew Arnold

The Functions of Criticism at the Present Time (1864)

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Matthew Arnold 166

English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector… 1822–1888

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“Mindfulness should guide all your actions and your spiritual endeavors. Whatever you do, always apply three essential points: undertake the action with the intention of doing so for the good of all beings; execute it with perfect concentration, free of attachment to concepts of subject, object, and action; and, finally, dedicate the merit you have created to the enlightenment of all beings.”

Dilgo Khyentse (1910–1991) Bhutanese Buddhist Lama

Source: The Hundred Verses of Advice: Tibetan Buddhist Teachings on What Matters Most

“As conscious beings advance in mental growth, they come to recognise that this ideal must embrace not merely their own kin or neighbours, not only their tribe or nation, not only the whole race or species, but all conscious beings whatever, no matter how foreign. It is surely probable that this desire for the fulfilment of personality-in-community plays a very large part in the universe. We must remember, of course, that the particular forms which it may take in different kinds of worlds, up and down the universe, may be utterly alien to our comprehension and appreciation. Or rather, not utterly alien; since, if these arguments are correct, there is an essential underlying kinship and identity in all possible kinds of conscious being.”

Olaf Stapledon (1886–1950) British novelist and philosopher

Source: Philosophy and Living (1939), Chapter VII: Ethics

“.. to challenge the objective nature of being. The notion of being is presented here as relative rather than irrefutable: it is merely a projection of our minds, a whim of our thinking. The mind has the right to establish being wherever it cares to and for as long as it likes. There is no intrinsic difference between being and fantasy.”

Jean Dubuffet (1901–1985) sculptor from France

Quote in a letter of Dubuffet to Arnold Glimcher, as cited by Valery Oisteanu, Jean Dubuffet: The Last Two Years http://brooklynrail.org/2012/03/artseen/jean-dubuffet-the-last-two-years. The Brooklyn Rail, March 2012.
posthumous

“Perhaps the rare and simple pleasure of being seen for what one is compensates for the misery of being it.”

Margaret Drabble book A Summer Bird-Cage

A Summer Bird-Cage (1963; New York: William Morrow, 1964) p. 120

“This principle of cosmic subjection has by theists always been realised with reference to God: the natural world, they are always telling us, however full of laws to which other conscious beings are subject, is completely subject to the mind and will of God, and its laws are imposed upon it from his mind in virtue of his creating it. What we now learn, and need to note, is that this is just as true of any other being who can be reckoned free. If men are free, then, they must be taken as being logically prior to Nature; as being its source rather than its outcome; as determining its order instead of being determined by this.”

George Holmes Howison (1834–1916) American philosopher

Source: The Limits of Evolution, and Other Essays, Illustrating the Metaphysical Theory of Personal Ideaalism (1905), The Harmony of Determinism and Freedom, p.325

“So long as there is desire or want, it is a sure sign that there is imperfection. A perfect, free being cannot have any desire.”

Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) Indian Hindu monk and phylosopher

Pearls of Wisdom

“We may have an excellent Ear in Musick, without being able to perform in any kind. We may judg well of Poetry, without being Poets, or possessing the least of a Poetick Vein: But we can have no tolerable Notion of Goodness, without being tolerably good.”

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (1671–1713) English politician and Earl

Vol. 1, p. 26; "A Letter Concerning Enthusiasm".
Characteristicks of Men, Manners, Opinions, Times (1711)

“A person who believes, as she did, that things fit: that there is a whole of which one is a part, and that in being a part one is whole: such a person has no desire whatever, at any time, to play God. Only those who have denied their being yearn to play at it.”

Ursula K. Le Guin book The Lathe of Heaven

Source: The Lathe of Heaven (1971), Chapter 7 (Heather)

“The field of the finite is all that we can see, hear, touch, remember, and describe. This field is basically that which is manifest, or tangible. The essential quality of the infinite, by contrast, is its subtlety, its intangibility. This quality is conveyed in the word spirit, whose root meaning is "wind, or breath." This suggests an invisible but pervasive energy, to which the manifest world of the finite responds. This energy, or spirit, infuses all living beings, and without it any organism must fall apart into its constituent elements. That which is truly alive in the living being is this energy of spirit, and this is never born and never dies.”

David Bohm (1917–1992) American theoretical physicist

As quoted in Infinite Potential: The Life and Times of David Bohm by F. David Peat https://books.google.com/books?id=pobZMUmZbAEC&pg=PA322&dq=The+field+of+the+finite+is+all+that+we+can+see,+hear,+touch,+remember,+and+describe.+This+field+is+basically+that+which+is+manifest,+or+tangible.+The+essential+quality+of+the+infinite,+by+contrast,+is+its+subtlety,+its+intangibility.+This+quality+is+conveyed+in+the+word+spirit,+whose+root+meaning+is+%22wind,+or+breath.%22+This+suggests+an+invisible+but+pervasive+energy,+to+which+the+manifest+world+of+the+finite+responds.+This+energy,+or+spirit,+infuses+all+living+beings,+and+without+it+any+organism+must+fall+apart+into+its+constituent+elements.+That+which+is+truly+alive+in+the+living+being+is+this+energy+of+spirit,+and+this+is+never+born+and+never+dies&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjotZe8m6_TAhWs5oMKHbA4CkMQ6AEIIzAA#v=onepage&q=The%20field%20of%20the%20finite%20is%20all%20that%20we%20can%20see%2C%20hear%2C%20touch%2C%20remember%2C%20and%20describe.%20This%20field%20is%20basically%20that%20which%20is%20manifest%2C%20or%20tangible.%20The%20essential%20quality%20of%20the%20infinite%2C%20by%20contrast%2C%20is%20its%20subtlety%2C%20its%20intangibility.%20This%20quality%20is%20conveyed%20in%20the%20word%20spirit%2C%20whose%20root%20meaning%20is%20%22wind%2C%20or%20breath.%22%20This%20suggests%20an%20invisible%20but%20pervasive%20energy%2C%20to%20which%20the%20manifest%20world%20of%20the%20finite%20responds.%20This%20energy%2C%20or%20spirit%2C%20infuses%20all%20living%20beings%2C%20and%20without%20it%20any%20organism%20must%20fall%20apart%20into%20its%20constituent%20elements.%20That%20which%20is%20truly%20alive%20in%20the%20living%20being%20is%20this%20energy%20of%20spirit%2C%20and%20this%20is%20never%20born%20and%20never%20dies&f=false (1997) page 322, .

“The importance of the culture industry in the spiritual constitution of the masses is no dispensation for reflection on its objective legitimation, its essential being, least of all by a science which thinks itself pragmatic.”

Theodor W. Adorno (1903–1969) German sociologist, philosopher and musicologist known for his critical theory of society

Culture Industry Reconsidered (1963)

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Matthew Arnold 166

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