Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

Related Quotes

Dizzy Gillespie, born John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie

The idea of life is to give and receive, and if you didn’t have anybody on earth to give to or receive from, then you’d have a very sad life... One of the reasons we’re here is to be part of this process of exchange.

Character | Earth | Life | Life | Receive |

John Haynes Holmes

As the very atoms of the earth and the stars of the sky seek harmony with the system which binds them in a cosmic unity, so the souls of men seek harmony with the Spirit which makes them one.

Character | Earth | Harmony | Men | Spirit | System | Unity | Wisdom |

Saint Jerome, aka Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymous, Hierom or Jerom NULL

Let us learn upon earth those things which can call us to heaven.

Character | Earth | Heaven | Learn |

Juvenal, fully Decimus Junius Juvenalis NULL

Everything on earth is praised by somebody, criticized by somebody else - but loyalty and truthfulness are praised by all.

Character | Earth | Loyalty | Loyalty |

László Kardos

Every man is an island. Each person radiates feelings to others, but ultimately we are alone. For me, the essence of life is how we handle our loneliness. There are moments when we manage to resolve this loneliness through personal relationships, especially through love. But there are also certain situations in which you feel truly alone, when even words and affection cannot ease your fears.

Character | Feelings | Life | Life | Loneliness | Love | Man | Words |

Katherine Mansfield, pseudonymn of Kathleen Beauchamp, Mrs. J. M. Murry

Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinion of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.

Care | Character | Earth | Opinion | Risk | Truth |

Chief Luther Standing Bear

The old Indian still sits upon the earth instead of propping himself up and away from its life-giving forces. For him, to sit or lie upon the ground is to be able to think more deeply and to feel more keenly; he can see more clearly into the mysteries of life and come closer in kinship to other lives about him.

Character | Earth | Giving | Life | Life | Old | Think |

Thomas Merton

Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul.

Character | Earth | Life | Life | Man | Soul | Wisdom |

Jianzhi Sengcan, Third Patriarch of Zen, Third Patriarch of Ch'an

The Perfect Way knows no difficulties, except that it refuses to make preferences. Only when freed from hate and love does it reveal itself fully and without disguise. A tenth of an inch’s difference, and heaven and earth are set apart. If you wish to see it before your own eyes have no fixed thoughts either for or against it. To set up what you like against what you dislike - this is the disease of the mind. When the deep meaning of the Way is not understood. Peace of mind is disturbed to no purpose... Pursue not the outer entanglements, dwell not in the inner void; be serene in the oneness of things, and dualism vanishes of itself... Transformations going on in the empty world that confronts us appear to be real because of Ignorance. Do not strive to seek after the True, only cease to cherish opinions... One in all, All in One - if only this is realized, no more worry about not being perfect. When the mind and each believing mind and Mind, this is where words fail, for it is not of the past, present or future.

Character | Disease | Disguise | Earth | Future | Hate | Heaven | Ignorance | Love | Meaning | Mind | Oneness | Past | Peace | Present | Purpose | Purpose | Words | World | Worry |

Bachya Ibn Pekudah

The earth we live on is so small that even if someone was honored by everyone on our planet it is still insignificant. Also, a person’s lifetime is so short that even if he received honor and approval his entire life, it is so short in comparison with eternity. This is the ultimate success an approval-seeker can hope for, but the reality is that even if you spend you entire life trying to win the approval of others, only a small number of people will know and approve of you. The approval you do gain lasts a very short time and is soon forgotten as if it never was.

Character | Earth | Eternity | Honor | Hope | Life | Life | People | Reality | Success | Time | Will | Approval |

Alden C. Palmer

We are not put here on earth to play around. There is work to be done. There are responsibilities to be met. Humanity needs the abilities of every man and woman.

Character | Earth | Humanity | Man | Play | Woman | Work |

Rosa Parks

I believe we are here on earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place... Life is to be lived to its fullest so that death is just another chapter. Memories of our lives, our works and our deeds will continue in others.

Better | Character | Death | Deeds | Earth | Life | Life | Will | World | Deeds |

Mary Lou Retton

We are each put on this earth to make a particular contribution to humanity... Although God, the Almighty, has a plan for every one of us, He gives us choices. It is our responsibility to make the best of those choices in order to achieve our ultimate purpose.

Character | Earth | God | Humanity | Order | Plan | Purpose | Purpose | Responsibility |

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

To serve God is not to pass our lives on our knees in prayer; it is to discharge on earth those obligations which our duty requires.

Character | Duty | Earth | God | Prayer | God |