Abou Ben Adhem
Context: Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An Angel writing in a book of gold: Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the Presence in the room he said,
"What writest thou?" The Vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord
Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord." "And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"
Replied the Angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerily still; and said, "I pray thee, then,
Write me as one who loves his fellow men." The Angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blessed,
And, lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest!
“I pray thee let me and my fellow have
A haire of the dog that bit us last night.”
John Heywood (1497–1580) English writer known for plays, poems and a collection of proverbs
Part I, chapter 11.
Proverbs (1546), Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919)
Variant: A heare of the dog that bote vs last night.
Abraham (-1813–-1638 BC) Biblical patriarch
To his nephew Lot, as quoted in Genesis 13:8 (KJV)
Bible
Context: Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.
Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.
“When men feel happy, they think of men who love; when they feel sad they think and pray to God.”
Menotti Lerro (1980) Italian poet
Gli uomini quando si sentono felici pensano agli uomini che amano, quando si sentono tristi pensano e pregano Dio.
Sarada Devi (1853–1920) Hindu religious figure, spiritual consort of Ramakrishna
[Swami Tapasyananda, Swami Nikhilananda, Sri Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother; Life and Conversations, 363]
Thomas Malory book Le Morte d'Arthur
Book XXI, ch. 9
Le Morte d'Arthur (c. 1469) (first known edition 1485)
Nicholas of Cusa (1401–1464) German philosopher, theologian, jurist, and astronomer
De visione Dei (On The Vision of God) (1453)
Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) Union United States Army officer
Source: The Liberty of Man, Woman and Child (1877)
Context: Only a few years ago there was a great awakening of the human mind. Men began to inquire by what right a crowned robber made them work for him? The man who asked this question was called a traitor. Others asked by what right does a robed hypocrite rule my thought? Such men were called infidels. The priest said, and the king said, where is this spirit of investigation to stop? They said then and they say now, that it is dangerous for man to be free. I deny it. Out on the intellectual sea there is room enough for every sail. In the intellectual air there is space enough for every wing.
The man who does not do his own thinking is a slave, and is a traitor to himself and to his fellow-men.
Pope Pius II book The Tale of Two Lovers
Source: The Tale of Two Lovers, 1444, p. xvii, preface (in 1933 edition)
