Worldly Quotes
More Worldly Quotes
That discipline which corrects the baseness of worldly passion, fortifies the heart with virtuous principles, enlightens the mind with useful knowledge, and furnishes it with enjoyment from within itself, is of more consequence to real felicity, than all the provision we can make of the goods of fortune.
blair hugh— P. 109. (Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895))
There is nothing more pitiable than a soulless, sapless, shriveled church, seeking to thrive in a worldly atmosphere, rooted in barren professions, bearing no fruit, and maintaining only the semblance of existence; such a church cannot long survive.
george c. lorimer— P. 147. (Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895))
Wise men never grow up; indeed, they grow younger, for they lose the appalling worldly wisdom of youth.
john buchan— Ch. XI, pp. 313–4
Be wisely worldly, but not worldly wise.
Francis Quarles— Emblems, Book II. Em. 2.
"It is not money my aunt thinks about. She knows better than to value worldly wealth above its price."
anne brontë— Helen to Arthur (Ch. XX : Persistence)
The science, which teaches arts and handicraftsIs merely science for the gaining of a living;But the science which teaches deliverance from worldly existence,Is not that the true science?"
nagarjuna— Prajñadanda (The Staff of Wisdom) attributed to Nagarjuna
I look upon prayer-meetings as the most profitable exercises (excepting the public preaching) in which Christians can engage. They have a direct tendency to kill a worldly, trifling spirit, and to draw down a Divine blessing upon all our concerns, compose differences, and enkindle (at least maintain) the flames of Divine love amongst brethren.
john newton— Amazing Grace (p. 475)
With this ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow.
— Solemnization of Marriage, Wedding.
Lat no man booste of conning nor vertu, Of tresour, richesse, nor of sapience, Of worldly support, for all cometh of Jesu.
john lydgate— c.1450 'Lat no man booste', l.1-3.
How shall we celebrate the day,When God appeared in mortal clay,The mark of worldly scorn;When the Archangel's heavenly Lays,Attempted the Redeemer's Praise,And hail'd Salvation's Morn!
thomas chatterton— "A Hymn for Christmas Day", line 13
A person may have no relatives anywhere, but Mahamaya may make him keep a cat and thus make him worldly. This is how She plays!
sarada devi— Swami Nikhilananda. Holy Mother. p. 218.
Intend to live in continual mortification, and never to expect or desire any worldly ease or pleasure.
jonathan edwards— Diary (1723)
If we could offer to the ungodly a worldly plan which would ensure their prospering in all that they undertake, how eagerly they would embrace it! And yet when GOD Himself reveals an effectual plan to His people how few avail themselves of it!.
james hudson taylor— (J. Hudson Taylor. A Ribband of Blue and Other Bible Studies. London: China Inland Mission, n.d., 41.)
Nothing of that which is conducive to help man, collectively or individually, to live not "happily" but less unhappily in this world, ought to be indifferent to the Theosophist-Occultist. It is no concern of his whether his help benefits a man in his worldly or spiritual progress; his first duty is to be ever ready to help if he can, without stopping to philosophize.
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky— Collected Writings, vol. XI, p. 465 (October 1889)
Nothing too long imagined can be perfect in a worldly way.
anaïs nin— June 1932 Henry and June
God reveals Himself to a devotee who feels drawn to Him by the combined force of these three attractions: the attraction of worldly possessions for the worldly man, the child's attraction for its mother, and the husband's attraction for the chaste wife. If one feels drawn to Him by the combined force of these three attractions, then through it one can attain Him.
ramakrishna— p. 83 (The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna (1942))
As a boy holding to a post or a pillar whirls about it with headlong speed without any fear or falling, so perform your worldly duties, fixing your hold firmly upon God, and you will be free from danger.
ramakrishna— p. 283 (Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna (1960))
The merry lark he soars on high, No worldly thought o'ertakes him. He sings aloud to the clear blue sky, And the daylight that awakes him.
hartley coleridge— Hartley Coleridge, Song.
Tao Yuanming represents the most perfectly harmonious and well-rounded character in the entire Chinese literary tradition. There is a simplicity in his life, as well as in his style, which is awe-inspiring and a constant reproach to more brilliant and more sophisticated natures. And he stands, today, as a perfect example of the true lover of life, because in him the rebellion against worldly desires did not lead him to attempt a total escape, but has reached a harmony with the life of the senses.
— Lin Yutang, in The Importance Of Living (1937), p. 116
The G?t? was not preached either as a pastime for persons tired out after living a worldly life in the pursuit of selfish motives nor as a preparatory lesson for living such worldly life; but in order to give philosophical advice as to how one should live his worldly life with an eye to Release ( mok?a ) and as to the true duty of human beings in worldly life.
— Bal Gangadhar Tilak, "Gita Rahasya", Tilak Brothers, translator: Bhalchandra Sitaram Sukthankar, 13th edition, Author's Preface. (The original quote is in Marathi.)
The lyrics of Tyagaraja are often in the form of a “dialogue”, where he converses with God and solicits divine response. Some of them are also in the form of “exercise” in self-introspection, “discourses” on God’s glories , and “philosophical expositions” highlighting the impermanence of human existence and of worldly possessions.
— Venugopal, in "I Want To Be In The Creative Field", 3E (1 November 2009), P.xxxii
"The dunyâ distracts and preoccupies the heart and body, but al-zuhd (asceticism, not giving importance to worldly things) gives rest to the heart and body. Verily, Allâh will ask us about the halâl things we enjoyed, so what about the harâm!"
— Quoted in Al-Bayhaqi, Al-Zuhd Al-Kabîr
The paths of virtue, though seldom those of worldly greatness, are always those of pleasantness and peace.
— Sir Walter Scott, p. 612. (Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895))
Freedom from the world is, in principle, not asceticism, but rather a distance from the world for which all participation in things worldly takes place in the attitude of “as if not.” (1 Cor. 7:29-31)
rudolf bultmann— Rudolf Bultmann, New Testament and Mythology and Other Basic Writings (1984), p. 18
In peace and honour rest you here, my sons; Rome's readiest champions, repose you here in rest, Secure from worldly chances and mishaps! Here lurks no treason, here no envy swells, Here grow no damned drugs, here are no storms, No noise, but silence and eternal sleep: In peace and honour rest you here, my sons!
— Titus Andronicus, scene i
— Variant line: Here grow no damned grudges, here are no storms,
I give my soul to God, my body to the earth, and my worldly possessions to my nearest of kin, charging them to remember the sufferings of Jesus Christ.
— Who: Michelangelo
Devotion ( bhakti ) effectively spans and reconciles the seemingly disparate aims of obtaining aid in solving worldly problems and locating one’s soul in relation to divinity . The term bhakti is derived from a root that literally means “having a share”; devotion unites without totally merging the identities of worshipers and deities .
— Encyclopædia Britannica, in Devotion
