This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
Mahatma Gandhi, fully Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, aka Bapu
The lower animals are our brethren. I include among them the lion and the tiger. We do not know how to live with these carnivorous beasts and poisonous reptiles because of our ignorance. When man learns better, he will learn to befriend even these. Today he does not even know how to befriend a man of a different religion or from a different country.
W. R. Forrester, fully William Roxburgh Forrester
Apocalyptic religion has its merits, but tolerance is not one of them.
Religion |
Erich Fromm, fully Erich Seligmann Fromm
In our effort to escape from aloneness and powerlessness, we are ready to get rid of our individual self either by submission to new forms of authority or by a compulsive conforming to accepted patterns.
Authority | Effort | Individual | Self | Submission |
Erich Fromm, fully Erich Seligmann Fromm
There is no meaning in life except the meaning man gives his life by the unfolding of his power, by living productively… Only constant vigilance, activity, and effort can keep us from failing in the one task that matters – the full development of our powers within the limitations set up by the laws of our existence.
Effort | Existence | Life | Life | Man | Meaning | Power | Vigilance |
Erich Fromm, fully Erich Seligmann Fromm
Man's main task in life is to give birth to himself, to become what he potentially is. The most important product of his effort is his own personality.
Birth | Effort | Important | Life | Life | Man | Personality |
Ronald Garet, fully Ronald Reed Garet
It seems to me that religion is part of life. To strike down laws because they are partially religiously motivated would be to strike down most laws.
Mahatma Gandhi, fully Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, aka Bapu
We do not know whether it is good to live or to die. Therefore, we should not take delight in living, nor should we tremble at the thought of death. We should be equiminded towards death. This is the ideal. It may be long before we reach it, and only a few of us can attain it. Even then, we must keep it constantly in view, and the more difficult it seems of attainment, the greater should be the effort we put forth.
Mahatma Gandhi, fully Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, aka Bapu
Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment. Full effort is full victory.
Attainment | Effort |
Eric Gill, fully Arthur Eric Rowton Gill
Without philosophy man cannot know what he makes; without religion he cannot know why.
Man | Philosophy | Religion |
Whatever else religion may be, it is also anthropology - in the sense that it fosters conceptions of human authenticity on whose basis moral codes can be drawn up and the actual behavior of individuals and societies assessed, challenged, and altered. Religion speaks not only of the divine but of the divine intention for the human.
Authenticity | Behavior | Intention | Moral codes | Religion | Sense | Moral codes |
The school system can’t make up for family failure. The total education of our children is a cooperative effort requiring community solidarity. Apathetic parents who foster a permissive home atmosphere create a problem for everyone.
Children | Education | Effort | Failure | Family | Parents | System |