Merle Shain (1935–1989) Canadian writer
Some Men are More Perfect Than Others (1973)
Beautiful Minds (2010)
Context: I find that quakerism and research science fit together very, very well. In quakerism you're expected to develop your own understanding of god from your experience in the world. There isn't a creed, there isn't a dogma. There's an understanding but nothing as formal as a dogma or creed and this idea that you develop your own understanding also means that you keep redeveloping your understanding as you get more experience, and it seems to me that's very like what goes on in "the scientific method." You have a model, of a star, its an understanding, and you develop that model in the light of experiments and observations, and so in both you're expected to evolve your thinking. Nothing is static, nothing is final, everything is held provisionally.
Merle Shain (1935–1989) Canadian writer
Some Men are More Perfect Than Others (1973)
Voltaire (1694–1778) French writer, historian, and philosopher
The History of the Quakers (1762)
Context: Being of opinion that the doctrine and history of so extraordinary a sect as the Quakers were very well deserving the curiosity of every thinking man, I resolved to make myself acquainted with them, and for that purpose made a visit to one of the most eminent of that sect in England, who, after having been in trade for thirty years, had the wisdom to prescribe limits to his fortune, and to his desires, and withdrew to a small but pleasant retirement in the country, not many miles from London. Here it was that I made him my visit. His house was small, but neatly built, and with no other ornaments but those of decency and convenience.
“Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't.”
Richard Bach (1936) American spiritual writer
Illusions : The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah (1977)
Variant: This is a test to see if your mission in this life is complete, if you are alive, it isn't.
Source: The Bridge Across Forever: A True Love Story
“Lower your expectations of earth. This isn't Heaven, so don't expect it to be.”
Max Lucado (1955) American clergyman and writer
Albrecht Thaer (1752–1828) German agronomist and an avid supporter of the humus theory for plant nutrition
Source: The Principles of Agriculture, 1844, Section I: The fundamental principles, p. 3.
Shahrukh Khan (1965) Indian actor, producer and television personality
From interview with Anshul Chaturvedi
Ram Dass (1931–2019) American contemporary spiritual teacher and the author of the 1971 book Be Here Now
Milton Friedman (1912–2006) American economist, statistician, and writer
Source: An Economist's Protest: Columns in Political Economy (1966), p. 155