Great Throughts Treasury

"THE MESSIAH - Lord, tell me when Shall come to men Messiah blest, When shall Thy care His couch prepare To be my guest, To sleep on my golden bed, in my palace rest. Wake, dear gazelle, Shake off thy spell, Nor slumber still. Dawn like a flag Surmounts the crag Of Tabor’s hill, And its flame it unfurls o’er my Hermon, the hoar and chill. From the wild-ass brood To the grace renewed Of Thy dainty roe, O Lord, return, For behold we yearn Our love to show, And our soul with Thy soul at one as of yore to know. Thrice welcome he Who comes to me Of David’s line, My palace treasure Is at his pleasure With all that’s mine, My pomegranate, cinnamon, spice, and the jars of my old sweet wine." - Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron

"Lord of the world, O hear my psalm, And as sweet incense take my plea. My heart hath set its love on Thee And finds in speech its only balm. This thought forever haunts my mind, Some day to Thee I must return, From Thee I came and backward yearn My very fount and source to find. Not mine the merit that I stand Before Thee thus, since all is Thine, The glorious work of force divine, No product of my heart or hand. My soul to Thee was humbly bent Even before she had her birth, Before upon the sphere of earth Her heav’nly greatness made descent." - Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron

"Lord, what is man but flesh and blood? O weep! His days unconscious stray, like shadows sweep, His stroke comes sudden and he falls on sleep. Lord, what is man? A carcase fouled and trodden, A noxious creature brimming with deceit, A fading flow’r that shrivels in the heat. Wert Thou as stern as he with sin is sodden, How could he face Thy wrath? Ah, see him creep: His stroke comes sudden and he falls on sleep. Lord, what is man? He rolls in mud and lies, Insanely fouls the clean and spoils the fine. Did but Thy justice follow his design, Mown like the grass were he, or herb that dies. In doom’s dark hour be then Thy pity deep, His stroke comes sudden and he falls on sleep. Lord, what is man? Proud, born in sin, defiant, His drink is violence and on wrong he feeds. Sea-tossed and furnace-fierce, if judged by deeds He would be crushed like weakling fighting giant. Thy mercy therefore let his prayer reap, His stroke comes sudden and he falls on sleep. Lord, what is man? A trickster vile, abhorred. If Thou shouldst deal with him in equity, A mouldered robe, a scattered cloud were he. Therefore forgiveness is his best award. His base is dust, his form a clayey heap, His stroke comes sudden and he falls on sleep. Lord, what is man? A tree despoiled, mere stubble Its only fruit. Didst Thou his sin repay, He like a snail or wax would melt away. Therefore forgive, nor press him in his trouble. Moth-like he rots, old joys he can but weep, His stroke comes sudden and he falls on sleep. Lord, what is man? A lonely creature driven Like fallen leaf, bemocked by empty words, As full of guile as basket is of birds. His rottenness would swift as smoke be riven, Didst Thou his measure, not Thy measure keep. His stroke comes sudden and he falls on sleep." - Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron

"Who can approach Thy seat? For beyond the sphere of Intelligence hast Thou established the throne of Thy glory; There standeth the splendour of Thy veiled habitation, And the mystery and the foundation. Thus far reacheth Intelligence, but cometh here to a standstill, For higher still hast Thou mounted, and ascended Thy mighty throne, "And no man may go up with Thee."" - Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron

"O my God, If my iniquity is too great to be borne, What wilt Thou do for Thy great name’s sake? And if I do not wait on Thy mercies, Who will have pity on me but Thee? Therefore though Thou shouldst slay me, yet will I trust in Thee. For if Thou shouldst pursue my iniquity, I will flee from Thee to Thyself, And I will shelter myself from Thy wrath in Thy shadow, And to the skirts of Thy mercies I will lay hold until Thou hast had mercy on me, And I will not let Thee go till Thou hast blessed me. Remember, I pray Thee, that of slime Thou hast made me, And by all these hardships tried me, Therefore visit me not according to my wanton dealings, Nor feed me on the fruit of my deeds, But prolong Thy patience, nor bring near my day, Until I shall have prepared provision for returning to my eternal home, Nor rage against me to send me hastily from the earth, With my sins bound up in the kneading-trough on my shoulder. And when Thou placest my sins in the balance Place Thou in the other scale my sorrows, And while recalling my depravity and frowardness, Remember my affliction and my harrying, And place these against the others. And remember, I pray Thee, O my God, That Thou hast driven me rolling and wandering like Cain, And in the furnace of exile hast tried me, And from the mass of my wickedness refined me, And I know ’tis for my good Thou hast proved me, And in faithfulness afflicted me, And that it is to profit me at my latter end That Thou hast brought me through this testing by troubles. Therefore, O God, let Thy mercies be moved toward me, And do not exhaust Thy wrath upon me, Nor reward me according to my works, But cry to the Destroying Angel: Enough! For what height or advantage have I attained That Thou shouldst pursue me for my iniquity, And shouldst post a watch over me, And trap me like an antelope in a snare? Is not the bulk of my days past and vanished? Shall the rest consume in their iniquity? And if I am here to-day before Thee, "To-morrow Thine eyes are upon me and I am not." "And now wherefore should I die And this Thy great fire devour me?" O my God, turn Thine eyes favourably upon me For the remainder of my brief days, Pursue not their escaping survivors, Nor let the remnant of the crops that the hail hath spared Be finished off by the locust for my sins. For am I not the creation of Thy hands, And what shall it avail Thee That the worm shall take me for its meal And feed on the product of Thy hands?" - Salomon ibn Gabirol, aka Solomon ben Judah or Avicebron

"Because poetry is the language of felt thought and utterance… of admissions and oaths as sacred as life itself, it is evident in an economy by its absence. As long as people are perceived in economic terms alone, poetry (and all the other arts, for that matter) will be regarded as ornamental or irrelevant or simply dispensable… the disregard of poetry will be as fatal to their spiritual lives as the deprivation of oxygen would be to their physical lives. Why? Because poetry tells us who we are, what our surroundings mean to us, and what waits to be discovered beneath the apparent.…It is the language of the heart…It is at the same time the language of the senses." - Samuel J. Hazo, fully Samuel John Hazo

"Methinks that life is more than creed, Is more than dust or craving lust. Are hopes but dreams that fail in need, That fly away like mist and dust? " - Samuel Ullman

"Hence, it is true to say that the citizens of earth and heaven are united in the celebration of this Council. The role of the saints in heaven is to supervise our labors; the role of the faithful on earth, to offer concerted prayer to God; your role, to show prompt obedience to the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit and to do your utmost to answer the needs and expectations of every nation on earth. To do this you will need serenity of mind, a spirit of brotherly concord, moderation in your proposals, dignity in discussion, and wisdom in deliberation. God grant that your zeal and your labors may abundantly fulfill these aspirations. The eyes of the world are upon you; and all its hopes. " - Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, aka Vatican II

"God created one human being, who was male and female. That means ultimately all of us are interconnected. That there is one God means we are all connected. Individual well-being depends on the greater well-being of everyone. There is no separation. This is a call for inclusion. Jews see it as including the weaker, the marginal, the orphans, the stranger. We were slaves in Egypt. Our task is not to replicate Egyptian power. We are free so we can operate differently, and not replicate slavery. Judaism is a complex, ongoing civilization, in which there is more than one view. Judaism is a religion of interpretation. We believe interpretation is part of the unfolding of creation and Divine creativity. Our interpretive tradition draws a connection between spirituality and social justice." - Sheila Peltz Weinberg

"Reflection on what we seek to remember in practice, developing the capacity to see which stories serve to develop wholesome qualities and reduce suffering. The center of the talk is a tour through the Jewish year, interpreting each holiday as a form of retreat practice and the opportunity to awaken and develop heart qualities." - Sheila Peltz Weinberg

"The Bahá’ís, in spite of their self-sacrificing desire to give the last drop of their strength to serving the Cause, must guard against utterly depleting their forces and having breakdowns. For this can sometimes do more harm than good." - Shoghí Effendi, fully Shoghí Effendí Rabbání

"All is change in the world of the senses, But changeless is the supreme Lord of Love. Meditate on him, be absorbed by him, Wake up from this dream of separateness." - Shvetashvatara Upanishad

"I was drivin' my two-mule waggin, With a lot o' truck for sale, Towards Macon, to git some baggin' (Which my cotton was ready to bale), And I come to a place on the side o' the pike Whar a peert little winter branch jest had throw'd The sand in a kind of a sand-bar like, And I seed, a leetle ways up the road, A man squattin' down, like a big bull-toad, On the ground, a-figgerin' thar in the sand With his finger, and motionin' with his hand, And he looked like Ellick Garry. And as I driv up, I heerd him bleat To hisself, like a lamb: "Hauh? nine from eight Leaves nuthin' -- and none to carry?" And Ellick's bull-cart was standin' A cross-wise of the way, And the little bull was a-expandin', Hisself on a wisp of hay. But Ellick he sat with his head bent down, A-studyin' and musin' powerfully, And his forrud was creased with a turrible frown, And he was a-wurken' appearently A 'rethmetic sum that wouldn't gee, Fur he kep' on figgerin' away in the sand With his finger, and motionin' with his hand, And I seed it WAS Ellick Garry. And agin I heard him softly bleat To hisself, like a lamb: "Hauh? nine from eight Leaves nuthin' -- and none to carry!" I woa'd my mules mighty easy (Ellick's back was towards the road And the wind hit was sorter breezy) And I got down off'n my load, And I crep' up close to Ellick's back, And I heerd him a-talkin' softly, thus: "Them figgers is got me under the hack. I caint see how to git out'n the muss, Except to jest nat'ally fail and bus'! My crap-leen calls for nine hundred and more. My counts o' sales is eight hundred and four, Of cotton for Ellick Garry. Thar's eight, ought, four, jest like on a slate: Here's nine and two oughts -- Hauh? nine from eight Leaves nuthin' -- and none to carry. "Them crap-leens, oh, them crap-leens! I giv one to Pardman and Sharks. Hit gobbled me up like snap-beans In a patch full o' old fiel'-larks. But I thought I could fool the crap-leen nice, And I hauled my cotton to Jammel and Cones. But shuh! 'fore I even had settled my price They tuck affidavy without no bones And levelled upon me fur all ther loans To the 'mount of sum nine hundred dollars or more, And sold me out clean for eight hundred and four, As sure as I'm Ellick Garry! And thar it is down all squar and straight, But I can't make it gee, fur nine from eight Leaves nuthin' -- and none to carry." Then I says "Hello, here, Garry! However you star' and frown Thare's somethin' fur YOU to carry, Fur you've worked it upside down!" Then he riz and walked to his little bull-cart, And made like he neither had seen nor heerd Nor knowed that I knowed of his raskilly part, And he tried to look as if HE wa'nt feared, And gathered his lines like he never keered, And he driv down the road 'bout a quarter or so, And then looked around, and I hollered "Hello, Look here, Mister Ellick Garry! You may git up soon and lie down late, But you'll always find that nine from eight Leaves nuthin' -- and none to carry." - Sidney Lanier

"Banking was conceived in iniquity and was born in sin. The Bankers own the earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create deposits, and with the flick of the pen they will create enough deposits to buy it back again. However, take it away from them, and all the great fortunes like mine will disappear and they ought to disappear, for this would be a happier and better world to live in. But, if you wish to remain the slaves of Bankers and pay the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create deposits." - Josiah Stamp, fully Sir Josiah Stamp, 1st Baron Stamp of Shortlands

"And if you answer all of those questions yes, why then, I think your choice is very obvious as to whom you will vote for. If you don't agree, if you don't think this course that we've been on for the last four years is what you would like to see us follow for the next four, then I could suggest another choice that you have." - Ronald Reagan, fully Ronald Wilson Reagan

"It is the Soviet Union that runs against the tide of human history by denying human freedom and human dignity to its citizens." - Ronald Reagan, fully Ronald Wilson Reagan

"My years in your service will always be very special to me. The inspiration you have given me will burn brightly in my heart long after I have left the lights of the White House behind." - Ronald Reagan, fully Ronald Wilson Reagan

"The more government takes in taxes, the less incentive people have to work. What coal miner or assembly-line worker jumps at the offer of overtime when he knows Uncle Sam is going to take 60 percent or more of his extra pay?" - Ronald Reagan, fully Ronald Wilson Reagan

"The very key to our success has been our ability, foremost among nations, to preserve our lasting values by making change work for us rather than against us." - Ronald Reagan, fully Ronald Wilson Reagan

"The vote on the Peacekeeper is also a vote on Geneva. Rejecting the Peacekeeper will knock the legs out from under the negotiating table. (On importance of the MX missile)" - Ronald Reagan, fully Ronald Wilson Reagan

"We've gone astray from first principles. We've lost sight of the rule that individual freedom and ingenuity are at the very core of everything that we've accomplished. Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives." - Ronald Reagan, fully Ronald Wilson Reagan

"A leader who pushes the authority figure in an attempt to solve important problems should expect the authority figure to strike back, not necessarily from personal motivations but form the community’s pressure on him to maintain equilibrium." - Ronald A. Heifetz

"As we have seen, an adaptive challenge consists of a gap between the shared values people hold and the reality of their lives, or of a conflict among people in a community over values or strategy. 1. What’s causing the distress? 2. What internal contradictions does the distress represent? 3. What are the histories of these contradictions? 4. What perspectives and interests have I and others come to represent to various segments of the community that are now in conflict? 5. In what ways are we in the organization or working group mirroring the problem dynamics in the community?" - Ronald A. Heifetz

"At an extreme, war has been used as a means to mobilize adaptive work. When Abraham Lincoln went to war with the South, he clearly had no authority, formal or informal, in the eyes of seceding Southerners. Indeed, in ten states he won no popular votes in 1860 because he was not even put on the ballot. He led across the newly formed boundary, challenging Southerners to solve rather than flee from the problems of reconciling differences within a union that their recent forebears had played dominant roles in producing." - Ronald A. Heifetz

"In monitoring levels of distress, any leader has to find indicators for knowing both when to promote an unripe issue and whether the stress generated by an intervention falls within the productive range for that social system at that time." - Ronald A. Heifetz

"The loyalty and support of team members must be obtained before the leader attempts to implement his or her vision of the future….people can learn to become successful at inspiring and energizing others. The most important responsibility of a leader is to develop people. The ultimate leader is the one who is willing to develop individuals to the point that they eventually surpass him or her." - Ronald A. Heifetz

"The politics of inclusion are not faint-hearted efforts at making everybody happy enough. Inclusion means more than taking people’s views into account in defining the problem. Inclusion may mean challenging people, hard and steadily, to face new perspectives on familiar problems, to let go of old ideas and ways of life long held sacred." - Ronald A. Heifetz

"The term ‘holding environment’ originated in psychoanalysis to describe the relationship between the therapist and the patient. The therapist ‘holds’ the patient in a process of developmental learning in a way that has some similarities to the way a mother and father hold their newborn and maturing children. For a child, the holding environment serves as a containing vessel for the developmental steps, problems, crises, and stresses of growing up." - Ronald A. Heifetz

"Thus, authoritative action will tend to reduce stress, while inaction will increase it. This may be true regardless of the content of the action." - Ronald A. Heifetz

"A true social revolution requires a spiritual transformation of the masses degraded by centuries of bourgeois class rule and that it is only by extirpating the habits of obedience and servility to the last roots that the working class can acquire the understanding of a new form of self-discipline. [paraphrase by Noam Chomsky]" - Rosa Luxemburg, aka Rosalia Luxemburg, "Bloody Rosa"

"I had no idea that history was being made. I was just tired of giving in." - Rosa Parks

"Why does a man take it for granted that a girl who flirts with him wants him to kiss her - when, nine times out of ten, she only wants him to want to kiss her?" - Helen Rowland

"A child does not notice the greatness and the beauty of nature and the splendor of God in his works." - Rudolf Otto

"If we can simply distinguish between the different successive stages of evolution, it is possible to see primeval events within the earthly events of the present." - Rudolf Steiner, fully Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner

"In order to approach a creation as sublime as the Bhagavad-Gita with full understanding it is necessary to attune our soul to it." - Rudolf Steiner, fully Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner

"The time has come to realize that supersensible knowledge has now to arise from the materialistic grave." - Rudolf Steiner, fully Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner

"To truly know the world, look deeply within your own being; to truly know yourself, take real interest in the world." - Rudolf Steiner, fully Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner

"`We be of one blood, thou and I,' Mowgli answered, `. . . my kill shall be thy kill if ever thou art hungry.'" - Rudyard Kipling

"But, through the shift of mood and mood, Mine ancient humor saves him whole The cynic devil in his blood That bids him mock his hurrying soul; That bids him flout the Law he makes, That bids him make the Law he flouts, Till, dazed by many doubts." - Rudyard Kipling

"Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet, Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God's great Judgment Seat; But there is neither East nor West, border, nor breed, nor birth, When two strong men stand face to face, though they come from the ends of the earth! . . . . But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth when two strong men stand face to face, tho' they come from the ends of the earth." - Rudyard Kipling

"There are nine and sixty ways of constructing tribal lays, / And - every - single - one - of- them - is - right!" - Rudyard Kipling

"Till the Devil whispered behind the leaves, / `It's pretty, but is it Art?'" - Rudyard Kipling

"True. True talk, said Kim solemnly. Fools speak of a cat when a woman is brought to bed, for instance. I have heard them." - Rudyard Kipling

"When first under fire an' you're wishful to duck, Don't look nor take 'eed at the man that is struck, Be thankful you're livin', and trust to your luck And march to your front like a soldier. Front, front, front like a soldier... If your officer's dead and the sergeants look white, Remember it's ruin to run from a fight: So take open order, lie down, and sit tight, And wait for supports like a soldier. Wait, wait, wait like a soldier. When you're wounded and left on Afghanistan's plains, And the women come out to cut up what remains, Jest roll to your rifle and blow out your brains An' go to your Gawd like a soldier. Go, go, go like a soldier, Go, go, go like a soldier, Go, go, go like a soldier, So-oldier of the Queen!" - Rudyard Kipling

"You may write it on his tombstone, You may cut it on his card, That a young man married is a young man marred" - Rudyard Kipling

"And you? When will you begin that long journey into yourself?" - Rumi, fully Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rumi NULL

"Everyone is so afraid of death, but the real sufis just laugh: nothing tyrannizes their hearts. What strikes the oyster shell does not damage the pearl." - Rumi, fully Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rumi NULL

"Love rests on no foundation. It is an endless ocean, with no beginning or end." - Rumi, fully Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rumi NULL

"So man has come into this world for a particular task and that is his purpose. If he does not perform it, then he will have done nothing. If you say, Even if I do not perform that task, yet so many tasks are performed by me, you were not created for those other tasks." - Rumi, fully Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rumi NULL

"The people that make this country work, the people who pay on their mortgages, the people getting up and going to work, striving in this recession to not participate in it, they're not the enemy. They're the people that hire you. They're the people that are going to give you a job." - Rush Limbaugh