A perennial need of mankind is avoiding vice and embracing virtue. This thread is open for short quotes & comments on the subject.
QuoteWhatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
'Tis substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule indeed extends with more or less force to every species of free Government. Who that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric.
George Washington - Farewell Address
QuoteAre there men and women in America today possessed of virtue sufficient to withstand and repel the forces of disorder? Or have we, as a people, grown too fond of creature-comforts and a fancied security to venture our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor in any cause at all? "The superior man thinks always of virtue," Confucius told his disciples; "the common man thinks of comfort." Such considerations in recent years have raised up again that old word "virtue," which in the first half of this century had sunk almost out of sight.
In this essay I shall venture first to offer you a renewed apprehension of what "virtue" means; and then to suggest how far it may be possible to restore an active virtue in our public and our private life. If we lack virtue, we will not long continue to enjoy comfort – not in an age when Giant Ideology and Giant Envy swagger balefully about the world.
The concept of virtue, like most other concepts that have endured and remain worthy of praise, has come down to us from the Greeks and the Hebrews. In its classical signification, "virtue" means the power of anything to accomplish its specific function; a property capable of producing certain effects; strength, force, potency. Thus one refers to the "deadly virtue" of the hemlock. Thus also the word "virtue" implies a mysterious energetic power, as in the Gospel According to Saint Mark: "Jesus, immediately knowing that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?" Was it, we may ask, that virtue of Jesus which scorched the Shroud of Turin?
Virtue, then, meant in the beginning some extraordinary power. The word was applied to the sort of person we might now call "the charismatic leader." By extension, "virtue" came to imply the qualities of full humanity: strength, courage, capacity, worth, manliness, moral excellence. And presently "virtue" came to signify, as well, moral goodness: the practice of moral duties and the conformity of lie to the moral law; uprightness; rectitude.
From the essay by Russell Kirk,
Virtue: Can It be Taught?https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2012/02/russell-kirk-virtue-can-it-be-taught.html (https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2012/02/russell-kirk-virtue-can-it-be-taught.html)
QuoteThe idea of the good is the greatest discipline.
Plato,
The Republic
QuoteAll great men and sages attained success through their self-effort. Reliance on destiny or God is an
expression of ignorance and this is the main cause of failure.
Self-effort must be sustained from a very early age in order that it may be powerful. But self-effort
devoid of wisdom leads to negative developments. A self-effort that has been adopted in a sporadic
manner will be unable to gather enough strength to overthrow past karmas.
The lazy man is worse than a donkey. One should never yield to laziness but strive to attain liberation,
seeing that life is ebbing away every moment. Every day one must think of the impermanent body and
struggle to conquer the animal nature. He must take recourse to association with good and virtuous
people. One should not revel in the filth known as sense-pleasures, even as a worm revels in pus. By
good deeds, good will return to you; by bad deeds, bad will return. Nowhere is there any God, fortune
or fate. One who ignores his present ability for self-effort for fear of his past bad actions, might as well
fear his own two arms, thinking them dangling vipers.
Yoga Vasistha II 5 - an ancient Hindu scripture.
Why is this in the Library? It belongs in religion.
Just a bunch of quotes from books - why not Library? Would be useful if Library post boundaries are given. Did not know certain topics are forbidden here.
Quote from: Skull on September 09, 2020, 02:42:56 PM
Just a bunch of quotes from books - why not Library? Would be useful if Library post boundaries are given. Did not know certain topics are forbidden here.
The library is mostly reserved for historical issues, things we, as a forum want to retain.
QuoteWhen a noble disciple contemplates upon the Enlightened
One, at that time his mind is not enwrapped in lust, nor in
hatred, nor in delusion. At such a time his mind is rightly
directed towards the Perfect One (Tathāgata). And with a
rightly directed mind the noble disciple gains enthusiasm
for the goal, enthusiasm for the Dhamma, gains the delight
derived from the Dhamma. In him thus delighted, joy arises;
to one who is joyful, body and mind become calm; calmed in
body and mind, he feels at ease; and if at ease, the mind fi nds
concentration. Such a one is called a noble disciple who among
humanity gone wrong, has attained to what is right; who
among a humanity beset by troubles, dwells free of troubles.
Buddha in AN 6:10 - Dhamma is truth as known by Buddha.
QuoteOf all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.
C. S. Lewis
In chapter 16 of the
Bhagavad Gita a sacred text among Hindus, there is a list of godly virtues needed. Here is Swami Yogananda commenting on Fearlessness:
Quote1. Fearlessness (abhayam) is mentioned first because it is the impregnable rock on which the house of spiritual life must be erected. Fearlessness means faith in God: faith in His protection, His justice, His wisdom, His mercy, His love, His omnipresence.
The spiritually intrepid devotee is mightily armed against any foe that obstructs advancement. Disbelief and doubt, delusion's first line of attack, are summarily routed by undaunted faith, as are desires and all of their enticements that bluff with threats of unhappiness if not embraced.
Fear robs man of the indomitability of his soul. Disrupting Nature's harmonious workings emanating from the source of divine power within, fear causes physical, mental, and spiritual disturbances. Extreme fright can even stop the heart and bring sudden death. Long-continued anxieties give rise to psychological complexes and chronic nervousness.
Fear ties the mind and heart (feeling) to the external man, causing the consciousness to be identified with mental or physical nervousness, thus keeping the soul concentrated on the ego, the body, and the objects of fear. The devotee should discard all misgivings, realizing them to be stumbling blocks that hinder his concentration on the imperturbable peace of the soul.
QuoteTo see a man fearless in dangers, untainted with lusts, happy in adversity, composed in a tumult, and laughing at all those things which are generally either coveted or feared, all men must acknowledge that this can be from nothing else but a beam of divinity that influences a mortal body.
Seneca.
The Blessed Lord said:
1 Fearlessness, purity of heart, perseverance in acquiring wisdom and in practicing yoga, charity, subjugation of the senses, performance of holy rites, study of the scriptures, self-discipline, straightforwardness;
2 Noninjury, truthfulness, freedom from wrath, renunciation, peacefulness, nonslanderousness, compassion for all creatures, absence of greed, gentleness, modesty, lack of restlessness;
3 Radiance of character, forgiveness, patience, cleanness, freedom from hate, absence of conceit—these qualities are the wealth of a divinely inclined person.
Excerpt From: Paramahansa Yogananda. The Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita, chapter 16.
QuoteWe will begin from those things which for our instruction are primary. These are perspicuous and evident to all, and though they do not apprehend the power and essence of virtue, yet according to common conceptions about virtue they awaken our desire for good through certain aphorisms, familiar to many, expressed in accordance with the visible images of real beings. These are thus set forth:
(1) As we live through the soul, it must be said that by the virtue of this we live well; just as, since we see through the eyes, it is by the virtue of these that we see well.
(2) It must not be thought that gold can be injured by rust, or virtue tainted by baseness.
(3) We should betake ourselves to virtue as to an inviolable temple, in order that we may not be exposed to any ignoble insolence of the irrational element of the soul.
(4) We should confide in virtue as in a chaste wife, but trust fortune as we would a fickle mistress.
(5) It is better that virtue should be received with poverty, than wealth with vice; and frugality with health, than abundance with disease.
(6) As much food is injurious to the body, so is much wealth pernicious to the soul evilly inclined or disposed.
(7) It is equally dangerous to give a sword to a madman, and power to a depraved man.
(8) Just as it is better for a purulent part of the body to be burned than to remain diseased, so it is also better for a depraved man to die than to live.
(9) The theorems of philosophy are to be enjoyed as much as possible, as if they were ambrosia and nectar; for the pleasure arising from them is genuine, incorruptible and divine. Magnanimity they are also able to produce, and though they cannot make us eternal beings, yet they enable us to obtain a scientific knowledge of eternal natures.
(10) If vigour of the senses is desirable, much more should prudence be sought; for it is as it were the sensitive vigour of our practical intellect. And as by the former we are protected from deception in sensations, so through the latter we avoid false reasoning in practical affairs.
(11) We shall worship the deity rightly, if we render our intellect pure from all vice, as from a certain stain or disgrace.
(12) We should adorn a temple with gifts, but the soul with disciplines.
(13) As prior to the greater mysteries the lesser are delivered, so a disciplinary training must precede the study and acquisition of philosophy.
(14) The fruits of the earth are indeed annually imparted, but the fruits of philosophy at every part of the year.
(15) Just as land must be specially cultivated by him who wishes to obtain from it the best fruit, so the soul should be most carefully and attentively cultivated, in order that it may produce fruit worthy of its nature.
Iamblichus,
Exhortation to Philosophy
QuoteIt is more important to want to do good than to know the truth.
Petrarch, "On His Own Ignorance and That of Many Others"
QuoteHe who in the present state
Vanquishes as much as possible
A corporeal life, through the exercise of
The cathartic virtues,
Passes in reality into
The fortunate islands of the soul,
And lives surrounded with
The bright splendours of truth
And wisdom proceeding from
The sun of good.
Thomas Taylor,
Essay on the Eleusian and Bacchic Mysteries
In the present stages of spiritual experience, the believer's interior comfort, and his exterior lustre, greatly depend on the position of his heart toward the uncreated sun of righteousness. How obscure and benighted are our views, and how languid our exercise of grace, when an unbelieving, a worldly, or a careless spirit, interrupts our walk with God! But, if the out-goings of our souls are to him, and if the in-pourings of his blessed influence be felt, we glow, we kindle, we burn, we shine.
Augustus M. Toplady (d. 1778)
QuoteMost of people's activities are valueless, if not downright destructive. Dominated by desire and fear, ceasing to do evil precedes beginning to do good. Hence the need for stopping all activities for a time, to investigate one's urges and their motives.
Nisargadatta (d. 1981)
QuoteI have known a vast quantity of nonsense talked about bad men not looking you in the face.
Don't trust that idea.
Dishonesty will stare honesty out of countenance any day in the week, if there is anything to be got by it.
Dickens
QuoteThe Voice of Christ
I taught the prophets from the beginning, and even to this day I continue to speak to
all men. But many are hardened. Many are deaf to My voice. Most men listen more willingly
to the world than to God. They are more ready to follow the appetite of their flesh than the
good pleasure of God. The world, which promises small and passing things, is served with
great eagerness: I promise great and eternal things and the hearts of men grow dull. Who
is there that serves and obeys Me in all things with as great care as that with which the world
and its masters are served?
"Be thou ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea speaketh." [Isa. 23:4] And if you ask why, listen to the
cause: for a small gain they travel far; for eternal life many will scarcely lift a foot from the
ground. They seek a petty reward, and sometimes fight shamefully in law courts for a single
piece of money. They are not afraid to work day and night for a trifle or an empty promise.
But, for an unchanging good, for a reward beyond estimate, for the greatest honor and for
glory everlasting, it must be said to their shame that men begrudge even the least fatigue.
Be ashamed, then, lazy and complaining servant, that they should be found more eager for
perdition than you are for life, that they rejoice more in vanity than you in truth.
Sometimes indeed their expectations fail them, but My promise never deceives, nor
does it send away empty-handed him who trusts in Me. What I have promised I will give.
What I have said I will fulfill, if only a man remain faithful in My love to the end. I am the
rewarder of all the good, the strong approver of all who are devoted to Me.
Write My words in your heart and meditate on them earnestly, for in time of temptation
they will be very necessary. What you do not understand when you read, you will learn in
the day of visitation. I am wont to visit My elect in two ways—by temptation and by consolation.
To them I read two lessons daily—one reproving their vices, the other exhorting them
to progress in virtue. He who has My words and despises them has that which shall condemn
him on the last day.
From Book III,
Imitation of Christ
QuoteFor to say "Look to God" is not helpful without some instruction as to what this looking imports: it might very well be said that one can "look" and still sacrifice no pleasure, still be the slave of impulse, repeating the word God but held in the grip of every passion and making no effort to master any. Virtue, advancing towards the Term and, linked with thought, occupying a Soul makes God manifest: God on the lips, without a good conduct of life, is a word.
Plotinus
Enneads 2.9.15
QuoteI would advise all in general, that they would take into serious consideration the true and genuine ends of knowledge; that they seek it not either for pleasure, or contention, or contempt of others, or for profit, or fame, or for honour and promotion, or such-like adulterate or inferior ends; but for merit and emolument of life, that they may regulate and perfect the same in charity.
Francis Bacon
QuoteThat which is primarily good, and which is no other than The Good itself, is superior to all things which in any way whatever participate of good.
Proclus,
Elements 8
Good advice for spiritual living...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j93amygUWM
(https://media.gab.com/system/media_attachments/files/063/936/764/original/c5306b3e972e815b.png)
QuoteMan is unjust, but God is just; and finally justice triumphs.
Longfellow.
QuoteTrue law is right reason in agreement with nature; it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting; it summons to duty by its commands, and averts from wrong-doing by its prohibitions. And it does not lay its commands or prohibitions upon good men in vain, though neither have any effect on the wicked.
It is a sin to try to alter this law, nor is it allowable to attempt to repeal any part of it, and it is impossible to abolish it entirely. We cannot be freed from its obligations by senate or people, and we need not look outside ourselves for an expounder or interpreter of it. And there will not be different laws at Rome and at Athens, or different laws now and in the future, but one eternal and unchangeable law will be valid for all nations and all times, and there will be one master and ruler, that is, God, over us all, for he is the author of this law, its promulgator, and its enforcing judge.
Whoever is disobedient is fleeing from himself and denying his human nature, and by reason of this very fact he will suffer the worst penalties, even if he escapes what is commonly considered punishment.
Cicero
QuoteWhen a wise person has acquired great wealth, he makes himself happy and pleased. He makes his mother and father, spouse and children, servants, workers, staff, friends and relatives happy and pleased. He gives gifts to monks and nuns. He collects merit in order to be reborn in heaven. Because he makes proper use of his wealth, rulers or thieves don't take it, fire doesn't burn it, floods don't sweep it away, and enemies don't take it. Since his wealth is properly utilized, it's used, not wasted.
Buddha,
Aputtaka Sutta
Quote from: Skull on March 02, 2021, 07:51:04 AM
Buddha, Aputtaka Sutta
So what your saying he was not a Dem.