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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1 "Just as the self of the human being is the centerpoint of the plurality of manifestations of his life of soul, so is the ONE God, transcending the self, the centerpoint of the world." Covenant of the Heart, Meditations of a Christian Hermeticist on the Mysteries of Tradition (Valentin Tomberg)

2 "The circular sea with no outlet, which perpetually replenishes itself by means of a spring bubbling up in its centre, is to be found in [the writings of] Nicholas of Cusa as an allegory of God." Collected Works (Carl Jung)

3 "The center of unity is not material nor visible. It is an internal principle which dwells in all its parts, and binds them altogether in one harmonious whole." A Dictionary of Freemasonry (Robert Macoy)

4 "A great many ritual acts have the sole purpose of finding out the spiritual 'Centre' of a locality, which then becomes the site, either in itself or by virtue of the temple built upon it, an 'image of the world'." A Dictionary of Symbols (J. E. Cirlot)

5 "The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize at the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us." As Above, So Below: Paths to Spiritual Renewal in Daily Life (Ronald S. Miller and the editors of New Age Journal)

6 "The personal center of the individual is essentially the Self (atman), which is beyond the particularities of physical-psychic-mental life or of any changeable things or of change as such." The Unity of Reality (Michael vonBruck)

7 "You might think of the mandala as reflecting back to us the harmony and beauty of our nonmaterial reality." Mandala, Luminous Symbols for Healing (Judith Cornell, Ph.D.)

8 "We enclose you in the sacred circle of life. We ask you all to join in the circle. We put all creation in the circle, especially what is broken and needs healing. We put all of you in the circle because we love all of you." Burton Pretty On Top, Crow (Native American) spiritual leader, to the Parliament of World Religions, 1993 The Quest (various)

9 "The source and center of all existence is pure spirit existing in all created things simultaneously." John Redtail Freesoul, 'The Native American Prayer Pipe: Ceremonial Object and Tool of Self-Realization' Shamanism: An Expanded View of Reality (Shirley Nicholson, Compiler)

10 "The centre is omnipresent; everything is contained in it; it is connected with the release of the whole process of creation." The Secret of the Golden Flower (Richard Wilhelm, translator)

11 "Every point is equally the center of a circle whose radius is infinite." The Inner Life (Charles W. Leadbeater)

12 "However vast the divine milieu may be, it is in reality a centre. It therefore has the properties of a centre, and above all the absolute and final power to unite (and consequently to complete) all beings within its breast." The Divine Milieu (Pierre Teilhard deChardin)

13 "Through finding himself and understanding his own nature, man arrives at that centre within himself which is one with all that is." From Intellect to Intuition (Alice A. Bailey)

14 "Man remains forever free at the centre." The Ancient Wisdom (Annie Besant)

15 "The mandala embraces both directions, which is why it is the consummate archetype of East and West alike. As the 'alpha and omega', the center is a union of opposites – a reflection of the true higher Self." ." Michael Flanagin, Ph.D., 'The Mandala in Jungian Psychotherapy' Mandala, Luminous Symbols for Healing (Judith Cornell, Ph.D.)

16 "The life of the Logos abiding in each form is its central, controlling, and directing energy." The Ancient Wisdom (Annie Besant)

17 "The point signifies unity, the Origin and the Centre. It also represents the principles of manifestation and emanation, and hence in some mandalas the centre is not actually shown but must be imagined….There are two kinds of point to be considered: that which has no magnitude and is symbolic of creative virtue, and that which – as suggested by Raymond Lull in his 'Nova Geometria' – has the smallest conceivable or practicable magnitude and is a symbol of the principle of manifestation." A Dictionary of Symbols (J. E. Cirlot)

18 "The centre is the indivisible monad of the self, the unity and wholeness of the experiencing subject." C. G. Jung: Letters, 1951-1961 (Gerhard Adler and Aniela Jaffe, editors)

19 "Precisely because there exists in all beings a common centre, scattered and separable though they are in appearance, they meet together at a deeper level. The more they perfect themselves naturally and sanctify themselves in grace, the more they come together and fuse into one, within the single, unifying Centre to which they aspire: and we may call that Centre equally well the point upon which they converge, or the ambiance in which they float. All these reachings-out that draw beings together and unify them constitute the axis of all individual and collective life." Writings in Time of War (Pierre Teilhard deChardin)

20 "When each man, by virtue of a conception of the world that demands only a minimum of metaphysics, and that is supported, moreover, by the greatest number of arguments from experience, will admit that his true being is not limited to the narrow boundaries of his limbs and his historical existence but that he forms part, body and soul, of the process that drives the universe, then he will understand that, in order to remain faithful to himself he must devote himself to the task demanded of him by life as to a personal and sacred duty. Then he will regain belief in the world, in a world whose totality cannot perish, and also faith in a supreme centre of personalization, concentration and cohesion, the only point at which the salvation of the universe can be conceived to take place." The Vision of the Past (Pierre Teilhard deChardin)

21 "To pray is to move to the center of all life and all love. The closer I come to the hub of life, the closer I come to all that receives its strength and energy from there….What does the hub represent? I think of it as my own heart, the heart of God, and the heart of the world. When I pray, I enter into the depth of my own heart and find there the heart of God, who speaks to me of love. And I recognize, right there, the place where all of my sisters and brothers are in communion with one another." Henri J. M. Nouwen, Catholic author, 'Here and Now' Spiritual Literacy, Reading the Sacred in Everyday Life (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)

22 "The circle with the point in the centre is symbolic of the perfected man. He is rounded out; he is inclusive both vertically (soul contact) and horizontally (human relationship)." The Rays and The Initiations (Alice A. Bailey)

23 "At the centre of ourselves, deeper than any dissecting knife can reach or than any physical investigation can fathom, lies buried the vital and immortal principle, the glimmering ray that affiliates us to the Divine Centre of all life, and that is never wholly extinguished however…imperfect our lives may be." The Meaning of Masonry (W. L. Wilmshurst)

24 "The sphere is a whole, and hence it underlies the symbolic significance of all those images which partake of this wholeness, from the idea of the mystic 'Centre' to that of the world and eternity, or , more particularly, of the world-soul. In neo-platonic philosophy, the soul is explicitly related to the shape of the sphere, and the substance of the soul is deposited as quintessence around the concentric spheres of the four Elements. The same is true of the primordial man of Plato's Timaeus….Another important association is that of perfection and felicity. The absence of corners and edges is analogous to the absence of inconveniences, difficulties, and obstacles." A Dictionary of Symbols (J. E. Cirlot)

25 "Philosophically viewed, the whirling wheel and its ever motionless center can be a potent symbol of the human struggle toward insight and harmony…..Only in the still center of the imperishable Self is true perspective apparently achieved." Reincarnation: The Phoenix Fire Mystery (Cranston/Head, editors)

This body of quotes compiled by JoAnn Kite