Share your favorite quote from a holy text or other source that has inspired you spiritually.?

Question

It doesn't even have to have a religious flavor - it just has to have inspired you in some way.

This week mine is:

"Man is a marvel
due honor and reverence
he takes on the attributes of gods
as if he were one of their number
He is familiar with the gods
because he knows he springs
from the same source"

The Hermetica, Lost Wisdom of the Pharoahs
Translated by Freke & Gandy

Whoever is thumbs downing everyone - that's so retarded. Just because you don't like the quote...

I swear, what the heck is wrong with people?

Answer 1

For me, it is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, no matter how satisfying and reassuring.

Answer 2

Mine is not actually one quote, but the whole chapter.

Ecclesiastes 12

1 Remember your Creator
in the days of your youth,
before the days of trouble come
and the years approach when you will say,
"I find no pleasure in them"-

2 before the sun and the light
and the moon and the stars grow dark,
and the clouds return after the rain;

3 when the keepers of the house tremble,
and the strong men stoop,
when the grinders cease because they are few,
and those looking through the windows grow dim;

4 when the doors to the street are closed
and the sound of grinding fades;
when men rise up at the sound of birds,
but all their songs grow faint;

5 when men are afraid of heights
and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
and the grasshopper drags himself along
and desire no longer is stirred.
Then man goes to his eternal home
and mourners go about the streets.

6 Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,
or the golden bowl is broken;
before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
or the wheel broken at the well,

7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

8 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher.
"Everything is meaningless!"

The Conclusion of the Matter

9 Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true.

11 The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one Shepherd. 12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.
Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.

13 Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man.

14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.

Answer 3

The Universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice. The language is not Narn, or Human, or Centauri, or Gaim or Minbari.
It speaks in the language of hope; It speaks in the language of trust; It speaks in the language of strength, and the language of compassion. It is the language of the heart and the language of the soul. But always, it is the same voice. It is the voice of our ancestors, speaking through us, And the voice of our inheritors, waiting to be born. It is the small, still voice that says: We are one. No matter the blood; No matter the skin; No matter the world; No matter the star; We are one. No matter the pain; No matter the darkness; No matter the loss; No matter the fear; We are one. Here, gathered together in common cause. we agree to recognise this singular truth, and this singular rule: That we must be kind to one another, because each voice enriches us and ennobles us, and each voice lost diminishes us. We are the voice of the Universe, the soul of creation, the fire that will light the way to a better future. We are one.

G'Kar's Declaration of Principles. Babylon 5

Answer 4

i have two, both from isaiah. the first because its pretty, the second because of its moral message.

"No longer shall you need the sun for light by day, nor the shining of the moon for radiance by night; for the Lord shall be your light everlasting, your God shall be your glory. Your sun shall set no more, your moon no more withdraw; for the Lord shall be a light to you forever, and your days of mourning shall be ended."
Isaiah 60:19-20

"Is such the fast I have chosen? A day for man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a fishhook, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is this not rather the fast that I have chosen? To loose the chains of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke? Is it not to share thy bread with the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out into your house? When you see the naked that you cover him; and that you do not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the morning, and your health shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall gather you in. Then you shall call, and the Lord shall answer; you shall cry and He shall say, Here I am. If you take away from your midst the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and the speaking of iniquity; and if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light arise in darkness, and your gloom be as the noonday."
Isaiah 58:5-10

Answer 5

1 Corinthians13:10-13

10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

I love reading this it makes sense to me

Answer 6

Mat 6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
Mat 6:26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
Mat 6:27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
Mat 6:28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,
Mat 6:29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Mat 6:30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Mat 6:31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'
Mat 6:32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
Mat 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Mat 6:34 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Answer 7

“Love is the foundation of a happy life. Knowingly or unknowingly we are forgetting this truth” she says. Amma on several occasions has said that it is important not only to feel love but also to express it. “ After all, love is our true nature. When we do not express love in our words and actions it is like honey hidden in a rock. “ she says, “ It is of no use to anyone. This mutual sharing and expressing of love should begin at home between married couples and between parents and children. Only then will there be peace and harmony at home and in the society.”
-Amma
www.amma.org

Answer 8

I don't have one favorite verse. I love them all, the entire Bible! I read the Bible every day and also every day a verse or chapter just hits me in a way that I begin to cry or smile. God definitely gives me a kick in the rear just the time I need one. :) He knows exactly what I need and when I need it. And when my ears and heart will be open so I can receive it. The Holy Bible is my favorite quote.

Answer 9

Albert Einstein:

A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.


Thich Nhat Hanh:

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle.

Answer 10

Isaiah 55:12

You shall go out with joy, and be led forth in peace, the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing and the trees of the field shall clap their hands

Very lovely words in the eyes of this atheist pagan.

Answer 11

I like John 3:16
6"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Nehemiah 8:10:

10 Nehemiah said, "Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength."

Notice this one does not say my own Joy, it is the joy of the Lord. So in doing things that bring Joy to the lord we are strengthen in Christ.