
Sources of Chinese Tradition (1999), vol. 1, p. 181
Human nature is evil
i.e. still, vegetative, and animate
Introduction to the Book of Zohar, in Introduction to the Book of Zohar: Volume Two, Michael Laitman, ed., Laitman Kabbalah Publishers, 2005, p. 94.
Introduction to the Book of Zohar
Sources of Chinese Tradition (1999), vol. 1, p. 181
Human nature is evil
“Only passions can raise a man above the level of the animal.”
The Art of Writing
“All this is not a pleasant prospective picture for the aspirant for the honors of the magician.”
As quoted in Cosmopolitan (December 1892).
Context: A so-called magician, more than a poet, must be born with a peculiar aptitude for the calling. He must first of all possess a mind of contrarieties, quick to grasp the possibilities of seemingly producing the most opposite effects from the most natural causes. He must be original and quick-witted, never to be taken unawares. He must possess, in no small degree, a knowledge of the exact sciences, and he must spend a lifetime in practice, for in the profession its emoluments come very slowly. All this is discouraging enough, but this is not all. The magician must expect the exposure of his tricks sooner or later, and see what it has required long months of study and time to perfect dissolved in an hour. The very best illusions of the best magicians of a few years ago are now the common property of traveling showmen at country fairs. I might instance the mirror illusions of Houdin; the cabinet trick of the Davenport Brothers, and the second sight of Heller — all the baffling puzzles of the days in which the respective magicians mentioned lived. All this is not a pleasant prospective picture for the aspirant for the honors of the magician.
“A big part of willpower is having something to aspire to, something to live for.”
Mark Shuttleworth Answers At Length, Slashdot, Collaborative interview, 2005-04-04, 2011-09-11, Timothy, Lord http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/04/1859255&source=wikipedia,
“P!nk Tells Circus, ‘Pack Your Trunks!’”, interview with PETA (18 July 2011) https://www.peta2.com/news/pink-tells-circus-pack-your-trunks/.
Sādhanā : The Realisation of Life http://www.spiritualbee.com/spiritual-book-by-tagore/ (1916)
Context: Man is not entirely an animal. He aspires to a spiritual vision, which is the vision of the whole truth. This gives him the highest delight, because it reveals to him the deepest harmony that exists between him and his surroundings. It is our desires that limit the scope of our self-realisation, hinder our extension of consciousness, and give rise to sin, which is the innermost barrier that keeps us apart from our God, setting up disunion and the arrogance of exclusiveness. For sin is not one mere action, but it is an attitude of life which takes for granted that our goal is finite, that our self is the ultimate truth, and that we are not all essentially one but exist each for his own separate individual existence.
“Live morally, do not aspire for other's Wealth, Women and God.”
Basavanna's Preachings
Books, Spiritual Warrior, Volume III: Solace for the Heart in Difficult Times (Hari-Nama Press, 2000)
“Normal is not something to aspire to, it is something to get away from.”
As quoted in Diamonds, Pearls & Stones : Jewels of Wisdom for Young Women from Extraordinary Women of the World (2004) edited by Jennifer Read Hawthorne and Barbara Warren Holden, p. 6