This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
Ramakrishna, aka Ramakrishna Paramhamsa or Sri Ramakrishna, born Gadadhar Chattopadhyay NULL
What will one gain by merely quoting or hearing the scriptures? One must assimilate them. The almanac makes a forecast of the rainfall for the year, but you won't get a drop by squeezing its pages.
Will |
Richard Feynman, fully Richard Phillips Feynman
Is no one inspired by our present picture of the universe? Our poets do not write about it; our artists do not try to portray this remarkable thing. The value of science remains unsung by singers: you are reduced to hearing not a song or poem, but an evening lecture about it. This is not yet a scientific age.
Our fate lies in your hands, to you we pray For an indulgent hearing of our play; Laugh if you can, or failing that, give vent In hissing fury to your discontent; Applause we crave, from scorn we take defense But have no armor 'gainst indifference.
It is in this matter that I fall foul of so many American writers on writing; they seem to think that writing is a confidence game by means of which the author cajoles a restless, dull-witted, shallow audience into hearing his point of view. Such an attitude is base, and can only beget base prose.
Confidence | Means | Writing | Think |
Robert Bellah, fully Robert Neelly Bellah
We could talk further about the importance of finding an occupation that both gives you a sense of self-respect and provides the resources to live an autonomous life. We talk in Habits of the Heart, about these issues-how for many Americans, at various levels in the occupational hierarchy, the job somehow doesn't prove adequate in fulfilling one's autonomous self and often becomes a means-an instrument-to the acquisition of those resources which will allow one to live in a private lifestyle that will somehow fulfill this expectation that we will find this unique person-who we really are-and attain self-realization, self-fulfillment, happiness. The terms are several but they all point in the same direction. But when we press the question, "What are the criteria that tell us what happiness is or that define the wants that when they are satisfied will lead to self-realization?", then the confident tones that we have been hearing begin to falter. And instead of any clear notion of any content there is simply the reassertion of "Whatever for you that fulfillment or happiness may be." It is not surprising that Americans turn to psychology as the place that is focused on that inner self.
Expectation | Fulfillment | Occupation | Psychology | Self | Sense | Unique | Wants | Will | Expectation | Happiness |
Many men are melancholy by hearing music, but it is a pleasing melancholy that it causeth; and therefore to such as are discontent, in woe, fear, sorrow, or dejected, it is a most present remedy.
Melancholy | Men | Present |
Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron
Thou livest, but not from any restricted season nor from any known period. Thou livest, but not through breath and soul, for Thou art soul of the soul. Thou livest, but not with the life of man, which is like unto vanity and its end the moth and the worm. Thou livest, and he who layeth hold of Thy secret shall find eternal delight: "He shall eat and live for ever."
When we’re dancing, the struggle is gone.
Ronald Reagan, fully Ronald Wilson Reagan
So in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride -- the temptation blithely to declare yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong, good and evil.
Better |
Fish which always live in the depths of the ocean lose some of their faculties, like the Tibetan hermits who always live in the dark. The ostrich loses his power of flying because he does not use his wings. Therefore do not bury the gifts and talents which have been given to you, but use them, that you may enter into the joy of your Lord.
Children | Joy | Knowing | Little | Love | Mother | Pleasure | Talking | Wants | Trouble | Child | Happiness |
Saint Basil, aka Basil of Caesarea, Saint Basil the Great NULL
A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.
Wants |
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux NULL
Your actions in passing, pass not away, for every good work is a grain of seed for eternal life.
John Chrysostom, fully Saint John Chrysostom
If then we have angels, let us be sober, as though we were in the presence of tutors; for there is a demon present also.
Acquaintance | Attention | Earnestness | God | Hurry | Man | Reading | Space | Tomorrow | Will | God |
John Chrysostom, fully Saint John Chrysostom
Feeding the hungry is a greater work than raising the dead.
Abstinence | Beauty | Body | Change | Friend | Sacrifice | Woman | Beauty |
You should not open your mouth except to express gratitude for benefits you have received, and never to mention your discontent.
Sammy Davis, Jr., born Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr.
There's nothing that can match Broadway for stature and dignity.
Samuel Johnson, aka Doctor Johnson
I have, all my life long, been lying till noon; yet I tell all young men, and tell them with great sincerity, that nobody who does not rise early will ever do any good.
Shrimad Bhagavatam, or the Bhâgavata Purâna, Śrīmad Bhāgavatam, or Bhāgavata NULL
Therefore, steadfastly devoted to me, gain control over speech, mind, and Pr4a. To him who is endowed with love for me, 0 Uddhava, belongs the fullness of We.
Will |
Commit a child to the care of a worthless, ignorant woman, and no culture in after-life will remedy the evil you have done.