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

SHOW detailed search and navigation | Quotes | References | JoAnn

1		"Virtue means nothing but acting according to the laws of our own nature." Baruch Spinoza, 'Foundations of the Moral Life' Man and Spirit, The Speculative Philosophers (Saxe Commins and Robert N. Linscott, editors)

2		"We all have a duty of care towards our fellow beings within the Divine Unity, especially those who are less well off than ourselves." The Essence of Sufism (John Baldock)

3		"Veracity is the heart of morality." Thomas H. Huxley (1825-1895), 'Universities, Actual and Ideal' Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 16th edition (John Bartlett)

4		"Do not do anything you hate to another." Saying of the Desert Fathers and Mothers (monks and nuns of the Egyptian desert) The Lion Christian Quotation Collection (Hannah Ward & Jennifer Wild, compilers)

5		"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)

6		"The moral law inscribed in the human soul – Kant's categorical imperative – signifies the reality of the presence in the human being of what the Bible calls the 'image and likeness of God', that is, the principal archetype of Man." Covenant of the Heart, Meditations of a Christian Hermeticist on the Mysteries of Tradition (Valentin Tomberg)

7		"Every human being, simply by virtue of his or her humanity, is a child of God and therefore in possession of rights that even kings must respect." The World's Religions (Huston Smith)

8		"Morality is the observance of the rights of others." Dagobert D. Runes (1902-1982), American philosopher, 'Treasury of World Literature' The Great Thoughts (George Seldes, compiler)

9		"The coming Lord is kindness, and when this gracious power directs our conduct, the wounds caused by cruelty will be naturally healed." Buddhism and Psychotherapy, The Healing of Heart Doctrine (Manly P. Hall)

10		"A wise test of right action is this: What is the effect of this action on people seven generations from today?" A New Reformation: Creation Spirituality and the Transformation of Christianity (Matthew Fox)

11		"Tsze-kung asked, saying, 'Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life? The Master said, 'Is not Reciprocity such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others." Confucius (551-479 bce), Chinese sage, 'Analects' The Great Thoughts (George Seldes, compiler)

12		"Throughout it all the great themes of righteousness or duty, of love or devotion, of truth in word, thought, and deed, of reward and punishment or cause and effect or action and reaction, of self-sacrifice, generosity, hospitality, remain the basic seeds of all civilizations, are present in all religions and are as fundamental and vital today as ever before." Jeanine Miller, 'The Relevance of the Vedas to Modern Man' The American Theosophist (various)

13		"By his reason, man recognizes the voice of God which urges him to do what is good and avoid what is evil. Everyone is obliged to follow this law, which makes itself heard in conscience and is fulfilled in the love of God and of neighbor. Living a moral life bears witness to the dignity of the person." Catechism of the Catholic Church (Various)

14		"Our acts of lovingkindness not only matter, they are the medium through which we can bring the world together in a new era of human relationship." God Is A Verb, Kabbalah and the Practice of Mystical Judaism (Rabbi David A. Cooper)

15		"We are only really happy in the long run if we are committed to virtue, allowing our character to be schooled and formed by its precious wisdom. When we are truly in harmony with the Divine, others, nature, and ourselves, we are naturally virtuous and other will know it!" The Mystic Hours, A Daybook of Interspiritual Wisdom & Devotion (Wayne Teasdale)

16		"Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest….whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are of good report….think on these things, these things do, and the God of peace shall be with you." Elizabeth Clinton (1574-1630?), English author, Letters The Quotable Spirit (Peter Lorie and Manuela D Mascetti, editors)

17		"God gives us a realm of responsibility and moral freedom. We must make our choices and live with the consequences. That's how God teaches." Azizah Y. al-Hibri, Founder of Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights Genesis: A Living Conversation (Bill Moyers)

18		"The call to be of service to one another, the intuition that prompts us to use our power to help others, is wired into our physical and spiritual nature." Invisible Acts of Power: Personal Choices That Create Miracles (Caroline Myss)

19		"Confucius and Mencius maintained that the very core of the truly good life is a life lived in obedience to the moral law and in the awareness that the moral law is grounded in the Eternal." The Nature and Truth of the Great Religions (August Karl Reischauer)

20		"He [Black Elk] related that Buffalo Calf Woman said:…'You must always remember that the two-leggeds and all the other peoples who stand upon this earth are sacred and should be treated as such.'" One Spirit, Many Peoples, A Manifesto for Earth Spirituality (Stephen Harrod Buhner)

21		"We have a responsibility to give back the cherished blessing of our lives with grace and gratitude. We must return blessing for blessing. Generativity and creativity have been built into the universe from the start." The Coming of the Cosmic Christ (Matthew Fox)

22		"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)

23		"We're in good hands and in gratitude for that fact it would be good if we bore one another's burdens." The Way Things Are (Huston Smith, edited by Phil Cousineau)

24		"Acts of lovingkindness, over the long run, will bring a higher level of consciousness to everyone in the world." God Is A Verb, Kabbalah and the Practice of Mystical Judaism (Rabbi David A. Cooper)

25		"My own inner being actually exists in every living creature as truly and immediately as known to my consciousness only in myself. This realization, for which the standard formula in Sanskrit is 'tat tvam asi', is the ground of that compassion upon which all true, that is to say unselfish, virtue rests and whose expression is in every good deed." Arthur Schopenhauer, 'On The Foundation of Morality' The Inner Reaches of Outer Space, Metaphor as Myth and as Religion (Joseph Campbell)