Quotes by Philosophers - Page 119

The importance of Man, which is the one indispensable dogma of the theologians, receives no support from a scientific view of the future of the solar system.
Bertrand Russell
Science tells us what we can know, but what we can know is little, and if we forget how much we cannot know we become insensitive to many things of very great importance. Theology, on the other hand, induces a dogmatic belief that we have knowledge where in fact we have ignorance, and by doing so generates a kind of impertinent insolence towards the universe. Uncertainty, in the presence of vivid hopes and fears, is painful, but must be endured if we wish to live without the support of comforting fairy tales.
Bertrand Russell
Why shouldn't a mystical theology be possible? 'I want to touch God or become God,' I declared in my journal. All through that year I abandoned myself intermittently to these deliriums.
Simone de Beauvoir
To merely blank the page and vaguely assume that 'religion' is the cause of all the world's problems is, on the contrary, an allegation brought about by nothing more than cognitive lethargy; it is when unburied, unpacked, and exposed but a stale conclusion and a misdirection for the one overwhelmed by centuries of sound theology, scholarly thought, and spiritual development.
Criss Jami
You cannot end a theology class without hearing these recurrent words "maybe", "it seems to me", "perhaps", "the unique reason may be that", "my belief on this subject is that", "there are many interpretations to how", etc. All of which indicate a lack of certainty. It's not surprising in a class with the task to study the invisible god
Bangambiki Habyarimana
A heretic is a man who sees with his own eyes.
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
I might be tempted to make to Christendom a proposal different from that of the Bible society. Let us collect all the New Testaments we have, let us bring them out to an open square or up to the summit of a mountain, and while we all kneel let one man speak to God thus: 'Take this book back again; we men, such as we now are, are not fit to go in for this sort of thing, it only makes us unhappy,' This is my proposal, that like those inhabitants in Gerasa we beseech Christ to depart from our borders. This would be an honest and human way of talking -- rather different from the disgusting hypocritical priestly fudge...
Søren Kierkegaard
If you do not love, you will not be alive; if you love effectively, you will be killed.
Herbert McCabe
In contrast, the a/theistic approach can be seen as a form of disbelieving what one believes, or rather, believing in God while remaining dubious concerning what one believes about God (a distinction that fundamentalism is unable to maintain).
Peter Rollins
Narrow is the mansion of my soul; enlarge Thou it, that Thou mayest enter in. It is ruinous; repair Thou it. It has that within which must offend Thine eyes; I confess and know it. But who shall cleanse it? or to whom should I cry, save Thee? Lord, cleanse me from my secret faults, and spare Thy servant from the power of the enemy. I believe, and therefore do I speak.
Augustine of Hippo
We know God by cultivating a relationship, not by understanding a concept.The relation constitutes the very subjectivity of of our existence. We participate in existence consciously and rationally, with subjective self-knowledge and identity, because the erotic drive of our nature is transformed into a personal relation when there arises in the space of the Other the first signifier of desire: the maternal presence. The subject is born with love's first leap of joy.
Christos Yannaras
He is not just nice, he is brilliant. He is the smartest man who ever lived. He is now supervising the entire course of world history (Rev. 1:5) while simultaneously preparing the rest of the universe for our future role in it (John 14:2). He always has the best information on everything and certainly also on the things that matter most in human life. Let us now hear his teachings on who has the good life, on who is among the truly blessed.
Dallas Willard
How ought we to love God, Father?" he asked in a whisper."By loving men, my son""And how ought we to love men?" "By trying to guide them along the right path""And what is the right path?""The one that rises"- Nikos Kazanzakis, Christ Recrucified
Nikos Kazantzakis
The true Christian was intended by Christ to prove all things by the Word of God: all churches, all ministers, all teaching, all preaching, all doctrines, all sermons, all writings, all opinions, all practices. These are his marching orders. Prove all by the Word of God; measure all by the measure of the Bible; compare all with the standard of the Bible; weigh all in the balances of the Bible; examine all by the light of the Bible; test all in the crucible of the Bible. That which cannot abide the fire of the Bible, reject, refuse, repudiate, and cast away. This is the flag which he nailed to the mast. May it never be lowered!
John Wycliffe
While the founder [of any religious or spiritual system] was still walking among his followers and disciples, the latter did not distinguish between the person of their leader and his teaching; for the teaching was realized in the person and the person was livingly explained in the teaching. To embrace the teaching was to follow his steps - that is, to believe in him. His presence among them was enough to inspire them and convince them of the truth of his teaching... So long as he lived among them and spoke to them his teaching and his person appealed to them as an individual unity.But things went differently when his stately and inspiring personality was no more seen in the flesh... The similarities that were, either consciously or unconsciously, recognized as existing in various forms between leader and disciple gradually vanished, and as they vanished, the other side - that is, that which made him so distinctly different from his followers - came to assert itself all the more emphatically and irresistibly. The result was the conviction that he must have come from quite a unique spiritual source.The process of deification thus constantly went on until, some centuries after the death of the Master, he became a direct manifestation of the Supreme Being himself - in fact, he was the Highest One in the flesh, in him there was a divine humanity in perfect realization... Indeed, the teaching is to be interpreted in the light of the teacher's divine personality. The latter now predominates over the whole system; he is the centre whence radiate the rays of Enlightenment, salvation is only possible in believing in him as saviour.
D.T. Suzuki
Happiness is a hard master - particularly other people's happiness.
Aldous Huxley
Some people sit at life’ banquet table while others serve them
Bangambiki Habyarimana
Constant effort and frequent mistakes are the stepping stones to genius.
Elbert Hubbard
Computer mistake in grade-giving resulted in academic failure of several brilliant students. After some years the mistake was discovered. Letter was sent to each student inviting him to resume his studies. Each replied he was getting along very well without education.
John Cage
Most people, if they know they have done wrong, foolishly suppose they can conceal their error by defending it, and finding a justification for it; but in my belief there is only one medicine for an evil deed, and that is for the guilty man to admit his guilt and show that he is sorry for it. Such an admission will make the consequences easier for the victim to bear, and the guilty man himself, by plainly showing his distress at former transgressions, will find good grounds of hope for avoiding similar transgressions in the future.
Arrian
The first reaction is surely the most natural one, but not always the most correct one; thereupon, the invention of apologies.
Criss Jami
Politicians are not afraid of their mistakes, they are afraid their mistakes will not succeed
Bangambiki Habyarimana
Naturally, in the course of my life I have made lots of mistakes, large and small, for one reason or another, but at the heart of it all, every time I made a mistake it was because I was not radical enough.
Jean-Paul Sartre
Sometimes you feel as though you've slandered yourself, but the joke's on them.
Criss Jami
Divinity for the sake of the simple-minded is beautiful. Those theological assertions you write, say, or live by that you later feel foolish about, it means God still lives in you enough to tell you that they were indeed foolish. By mistakes you know you are alive.
Criss Jami
There is no greater sorrowthan thinking back upon a happy timein misery--
Dante Alighieri
Things refuse to be mismanaged for long.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The man who finds that in the course of his life he has done a lot of wrong often wakes up at night in terror, like a child with a nightmare, and his life is full of foreboding: but the man who is conscious of no wrongdoing is filled with cheerfulness and with the comfort of old age.
Plato
It is only those who do nothing who makes no mistake.
Pyotr Kropotkin
The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.
Elbert Hubbard
Happiness cannot be bought by money,cannot be acquired by degrees,cannot be realized by power,and cannot be earned by honor;but can be won by kindness,gained by charity,attained by goodness,and achieved by love.
Matshona Dhliwayo
An ounce of joy is the equivalent of a ton of happiness.
Matshona Dhliwayo
Prosperity is good,happiness is better,and health is the best.
Matshona Dhliwayo
The better the wife,the happier the man.The happier the man,the happier the wife.
Matshona Dhliwayo
Life is a sea of sorrow in the midst of islands of happiness.
Matshona Dhliwayo
You can be happy even if your bones are broken,but no man is happy when his heart is heavy.
Matshona Dhliwayo
Tears of joy are better than smiles of sorrow.
Matshona Dhliwayo
A step towards love is a mile towards joy.
Matshona Dhliwayo
A smile is the most affordable way of giving someone an expensive gift.
Matshona Dhliwayo
Tears of joy are lighter than smiles of sorrow.
Matshona Dhliwayo
Love's key unlocks joy's door.
Matshona Dhliwayo
Happiness is like a butterfly; the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulders...
Henry David Thoreau
The most perfect happiness, surely, must arise from the contemplation of the most perfect object.
David Hume
Happiness does not come from having much, but from being content, even when you have little.
Matshona Dhliwayo
Faith and optimism are cousins.
Matshona Dhliwayo
The grass is always green if God is watering it.
Matshona Dhliwayo
One who has great faith has great power.
Matshona Dhliwayo
Faith is the best ingredient for miracles.
Matshona Dhliwayo
Hardship is a legitimate test of character, resilience a legitimate sign of strength and patience a legitimate mark of faith.
Matshona Dhliwayo
You can put all your eggs in one basket if God has told you to.
Matshona Dhliwayo
True faith is when you see the harvest before you plant the seed.
Matshona Dhliwayo
God is good only when everything is good. When everything is bad, the devil takes control; god reappears when everything is in order once again. That's what my pastor taught me.
Bangambiki Habyarimana
Religion teaches us to fight against our natural instincts but it thrives on them
Bangambiki Habyarimana
The greatest rewards lie in the unknown.
Matshona Dhliwayo
Unlocking your potential requires the key of faith.
Matshona Dhliwayo
The distance you walk on water depends on how great your faith is.
Matshona Dhliwayo
Fear makes the possible look impossible;faith makes the impossible, possible.
Matshona Dhliwayo
If God is your pilot, do not fear any turbulence.
Matshona Dhliwayo
Isn’t time the only one true god? It makes and breaks
Bangambiki Habyarimana
Apologetics is reason flying to the rescue of faith
Bangambiki Habyarimana