
“If you take two steps towards God,' he used to tell me, 'God runs to you!”
Source: Life of Pi
Rolling Stone interview (2005)
“If you take two steps towards God,' he used to tell me, 'God runs to you!”
Source: Life of Pi
“Me and Jesus are cool. I'm cool with all the gods. Gods recognize gods.”
"UFC 197 press conference" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5Mk9-4FLgE (January 2016), Ultimate Fighting Championship, Zuffa, LLC
2010s, 2016
“Devotion to God and service to fellow beings is the pivot of life.”
Source: The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam (2004), p. 270
“To say that God turns away from the evil is like saying that the sun hides himself from the blind.”
XIV. In what sense, though the Gods never change, they are said to be made angry and appeased.
On the Gods and the Cosmos
Context: If any one thinks the doctrine of the unchangeableness of the Gods is reasonable and true, and then wonders how it is that they rejoice in the good and reject the bad, are angry with sinners and become propitious when appeased, the answer is as follows: God does not rejoice — for that which rejoices also grieves; nor is he angered — for to be angered is a passion; nor is he appeased by gifts — if he were, he would be conquered by pleasure.
It is impious to suppose that the divine is affected for good or ill by human things. The Gods are always good and always do good and never harm, being always in the same state and like themselves. The truth simply is that, when we are good, we are joined to the Gods by our likeness to live according to virtue we cling to the Gods, and when we become evil we make the Gods our enemies — not because they are angered against us, but because our sins prevent the light of the Gods from shining upon us, and put us in communion with spirits of punishment. And if by prayers and sacrifices we find forgiveness of sins, we do not appease or change the Gods, but by what we do and by our turning toward the divine we heal our own badness and so enjoy again the goodness of the Gods. To say that God turns away from the evil is like saying that the sun hides himself from the blind.
Epistle to Muhammad Sháh
“When the heart is open, it's easier for the mind to be turned toward God.”
Source: For The Sake of Heaven (1945), p. 44
Source: A Key into the Language of America (1643), Ch. 21 "Of their Religion"
Context: I was persuaded and am, that God's way is first to turn a soul from its idols, both of heart, worship, and conversation, before it is capable of worship to the true and living God... the two first principles and foundations of true religion, or worship of the true God in Christ, are repentance from dead works, and faith towards God, before the doctrine of baptism or washing, and the laying on of hands, which contain the ordinances and practices of worship; the want of which I conceive is the bane of millions of souls in England and all other nations professing to be Christian nations, who are brought by public authority to baptism and fellowship with God in ordinances of worship, before the saving work of repentance and a true turning to God.
“Music is not a way to reach god. Music is god.”
“I honestly don't think it's easy to turn from God if we see Him as He really is.”
Open Letter To Satanists
Context: I've watched closely and I believe most people who turn from God do so for one of two basic reasons. One, they mistake some aspect of religion as God (like Anton LaVey did). Or two, they are unable to overcome their need to understand what can not be understood. I honestly don't think it's easy to turn from God if we see Him as He really is. Every Satanist I've ever encountered has fallen into one of those two categories. They either have a warped, distorted perception of God, based on what they were taught by some idiot, or they don’t believe in the goodness or even the existence of God because of the injustice of the world. The first is a problem of perception. The second is a problem of pride. Both are hard to get past.