Quotes from book
Practical Mysticism

Practical Mysticism

Practical Mysticism is a book written by Evelyn Underhill and first published in 1915. In this book Underhill sets out her belief that spiritual life is part of human nature and as such is available to every human being. Underhill's practical mysticism is secular rather than religious, since "it is a natural human activity."In the following paragraph, Underhill defines the meaning of the phrase "Practical Mysticism":


Evelyn Underhill photo
Evelyn Underhill photo
Evelyn Underhill photo
Evelyn Underhill photo
Evelyn Underhill photo
Evelyn Underhill photo

“As it is not by the methods of the laboratory that we learn to know life, so it is not by the methods of the intellect that we learn to know God.”

Source: Practical Mysticism (1914), Chapter VIII, The Second Form Of Contemplation, p. 140

Evelyn Underhill photo
Evelyn Underhill photo
Evelyn Underhill photo
Evelyn Underhill photo
Evelyn Underhill photo
Evelyn Underhill photo
Evelyn Underhill photo
Evelyn Underhill photo
Evelyn Underhill photo

“True contemplation can only thrive when defended from two opposite exaggerations : quietism on the one hand, and spiritual fuss upon the other.”

Source: Practical Mysticism (1914), Chapter VII, The First Form Of Contemplation, p. 127

Evelyn Underhill photo
Evelyn Underhill photo
Evelyn Underhill photo
Evelyn Underhill photo

“The spiritual life is not a special career, involving abstraction from the world of things.”

Preface, p. 14-15
Practical Mysticism (1914)
Context: The spiritual life is not a special career, involving abstraction from the world of things. It is a part of every man's life; and until he has realised it he is not a complete human being, he has not entered into possession of all his powers.

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