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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How To Know Higher Worlds: A Modern Path of Initiation
Rudolf Steiner

1 "Every insight that you seek only to enrich your own store of learning and to accumulate treasure for yourself alone leads you from your path, but every insight that you seek in order to become more mature on the path of the ennoblement of humanity and world evolution brings you one step forward."

2 "Even the smallest acts and the least chores have a significance in the great household of the cosmos."

3 "Everything in the universe is related to everything else."

4 "We will always find ways and means of discovering more and more of human nature….As we do so, we gradually progress to the point of glimpsing the mysterious kinship between human nature and all else that exists in the universe."

5 "Fear of a thing prevents us from seeing it properly."

6 "Every sound spiritual practice begins with moral development. This is as true of Buddhism and the mystical traditions of Christianity as it is of Anthroposophy…Esoteric schooling never has as its goal the accumulation of spiritual treasures for personal gain. If one seeks for oneself, one actually achieves nothing. Every striving, every accomplishment is properly placed only when it is placed at the service of others." Christopher Bamford, Afterword

7 "Only if I love something can it reveal itself to me."

8 "Our task is to harvest from the mortal world fruits for the immortal. When we contemplate our being, which we ourselves have built up in the past, we must say to ourselves: 'We bear within ourselves the elements of a dying world. These elements work within us. Yet gradually, with the help of the new immortal elements awakening within us, we are able to break their power.' In this way, our path takes us from death to life."

9 "The capacities by which we can gain insights into higher worlds lie dormant within each one of us."

10 "The sources of strength in the world that we can draw from are inexhaustible."

11 "In every evil we must seek out the elements that allow us to transform it into good."

12 "Self-knowledge, of course, is difficult. The temptation to deceive oneself is enormous. But if we make a habit of being honest with ourselves, the doors to greater insight open for us."

13 "Our will life is based upon the fact that human nature is embedded in the cosmic whole so that what happens in us through our will is also simultaneously a part of the whole cosmic process."

14 "The world around us is filled everywhere with the glory of God."

15 "We shall not allow ourselves to think of our fellow human beings in any way that is incompatible with the profound respect due their dignity and freedom."

16 "As a member of humanity as a whole, I am jointly responsible, with all human beings, for everything that happens."

17 "Something within us is eternal and unlimited by birth and death."

18 "The cognitive insights of a person who has [spiritual] vision can provide healthy food for all. All of us can apply these insights to our lives; and if we do so, we shall soon realize the possibilities of life in every area."

19 "All now appears as one great connected and interrelated whole."

20 "All the philosophies that acknowledge the existence of a spiritual world…did not bequeath these instructions to humanity on the basis of some vague feeling….They formed their moral precepts on the basis of their cognition. They knew that these precepts would affect humanity's finer and nobler nature, and they wanted their disciples gradually to train this nature. To live by such world views and philosophies means to work on perfecting ourselves spiritually. Only when we do this do we serve the cosmos as a whole."

21 "Every observation of human nature must be accompanied by self-education in the ability to appreciate unreservedly the full individual value of every person."

22 "Whatever we do, even the smallest task, can benefit the whole of humanity."

23 "Experienced spiritual researchers know what strength they gain by always looking for the good in everything and withholding their critical judgment. This practice should not remain simply an outer rule of life, but must take hold of the innermost part of the soul."

24 "We ourselves must give birth to a new, higher being within us."

25 "Cultivate an unshakable trust in the good powers of existence."

This body of quotes compiled by JoAnn Kite