Many / One

A database of 11,000+ illuminated guiding quotations in 40 categories from 600+ inspired books by our most brilliant and influential authors.
Compiled by JoAnn Kite

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Ethics
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1 "The virtuous man or woman attracts other people of virtue. The virtuous always seek out those who have attained this morally vibrant consciousness, for this company stimulates and reinforces their own commitment." The Mystic Hours, A Daybook of Interspiritual Wisdom & Devotion (Wayne Teasdale)

2 "Labour to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire – conscience." George Washington One Thousand Inspirational Things (Audrey Stone Morris, Compiler)

3 "Codes of law and morality do not exist independently of human beings, to be restrictively imposed upon us. We ourselves create the codes." Intuitive Thinking As A Spiritual Path: A Philosophy of Freedom (Rudolf Steiner)

4 "Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment….For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God….His conscience is man's most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths." Catechism of the Catholic Church (Various)

5 "The supreme value in human life should be seen in the achievement of an ethical and spiritual personality for the individual, and the fellowship of such individuals with each other and with God." The Nature and Truth of the Great Religions (August Karl Reischauer)

6 "Compassion knows that the One is the Many, that the One is expressed equally in each and every being, and so each is to be treated with compassion and care…because each being, exactly as it is, is a perfect manifestation of Spirit. Thus compassion sees that the One is the Many." Ken Wilber, 'Sex, Ecology and Spirituality' Shadows of the Sacred: Seeing Through Spiritual Illusions (Frances Vaughan, Ph.D.)

7 "When we treat others as we would like to be treated, we are creating a basis for living together in peace. From that very solid beginning, we can agree to cooperate, adapt, compromise and share." Born For Love: Reflections on Loving (Leo F. Buscaglia, Ph.D.)

8 "Mutual help is the law of nature." French proverb Living Quotations for Christians (Sherwood Eliot Wirt and Kersten Beckstrom, editors)

9 "Harmlessness is the expression of the life of the man who realizes himself to be everywhere." A Treatise on White Magic (Alice A. Bailey)

10 "We are spinning our own fates, good or evil, and never to be undone. Every smallest stroke of virtue or of vice leaves its never so little scar….Nothing we ever do is, in strict scientific literalness, wiped out." William James (1842-1910), 'The Principles of Psychology' Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 16th edition (John Bartlett)

11 "We as individuals can undertake to cultivate our intuitive nature and so develop moral insight." Gertrude Reif Hughes, Introduction Intuitive Thinking As A Spiritual Path: A Philosophy of Freedom (Rudolf Steiner)

12 "Though we may differ greatly in how, who and what we worship, the basic code of behavior is common to all. It is this common denominator which binds us together in humanity and has helped us to continue to grow and survive." Personhood: The Art of Being Fully Human (Leo F. Buscaglia, Ph.D.)

13 "God can be seen as infinite generosity, ever and always giving him- or herself away like the sun gives away light – or, to use biblical imagery, like a burning bush that is not consumed by its flame. As manifestations of the sacred, created so to speak in the image and likeness of God, our very nature is generosity. The more access we have to the inexhaustible source of love and goodness at the center of our being, the easier and more natural it is to give some of it away." Making Peace With God, A Practical Guide (Harold Bloomfield, M.D. & Philip Goldberg, Ph.D.)

14 "Man's art offers the gift of music out of mere sound, of wisdom out of awareness, of love out of indifference. These are difficult transmutations. They are accomplished by the alchemy of only the purest motivation." Creative Vision for Art and for Life (Richard Guggenheimer)

15 "A man obtains a proper rule of action by looking at his neighbor as himself." The Mahabharata Personhood: The Art of Being Fully Human (Leo F. Buscaglia, Ph.D.)

16 "We are still young and growing is not easy. But there seems to be a prevailing virtue in us, a conscience, which recalls us from our vagrancies and draws us toward the light." Creative Vision for Art and for Life (Richard Guggenheimer)

17 "The ethic of relation of man to man is not something apart by itself: it is only a particular relation which results from the universal one." Albert Schweitzer The Lion Christian Quotation Collection (Hannah Ward & Jennifer Wild, compilers)

18 "The urge for service to others is very much on the upswing, in terms of people's general orientation to life. Many people…are finding an inner void that can only be filled through creating some focus of contribution to the greater whole of humanity. This urge to serve – this need to help heal the planet and its people – will require the implementation of the Law of Right Human Relations." Soul Centered Astrology, A Key to Your Expanding Self (Alan Oken)

19 "Nature has established laws for the government of all its creations, and it has endowed man with faculties by which he can understand these laws and live in harmony with them." Buddhism and Psychotherapy, The Healing of Heart Doctrine (Manly P. Hall)

20 "Wherever we are, whoever we are, the responsibility for the integrity and beauty of our personalities cannot be shirked. I must get up each morning, take life into my own hands, and put my own distinct, unique, and unrepeatable stamp on it. I must freely decide to create the mood of the day rather than let the circumstances and conditions of the day rule my life. With my spirit (the breath of God in me) I will transform the raw matter of my life and make it beautiful. That is my human vocation and my moral duty." The Human Adventure, Contemplation for Everyman (William McNamara, O.C.D.)

21 "Every time we get in touch with the truth source we carry within, there is a net moral gain for all concerned." A Hidden Wholeness, The Journey Toward An Undivided Life (Parker J. Palmer)

22 "The precepts of the law are these: to live honestly, to injure no one, and to give every man his due." Justinian I (483-565 ad), Byzantine emperor, 'The Institutes of Justinian', Title I, bk. 1 The Great Thoughts (George Seldes, compiler)

23 "St. Augustine taught that once the soul is noble, harmonious, and ordered, it is capable of seeing the source from which all truth flows." Antoine Faivre Modern Esoteric Spirituality (Antoine Faivre and Jacob Needleman, editors)

24 "Those needing our help are there for us to see….the world hunger, the millions of homeless, desolate and lost friends – all beings who are a part of us – are giving us the opportunity to view a need and do something about fulfilling that need." Spirit Guides (Iris Belhayes)

25 "Once a person truly awakens to the hidden holiness that underlies and unifies creation, his or her inevitable behavioral response is goodness, or treating others as the 'self' that all share." Spiritual Genius, The Mastery of Life's Meaning (Winifred Gallagher)

This body of quotes compiled by JoAnn Kite