“Desire nothing for yourself, which you do not desire for others.”

Emotion, which is suffering, ceases to be suffering as soon as we form a clear and precise picture of it.

Sadness diminishes a man’s powers.

Freedom is self-determination.

The most tyrannical of governments are those which make crimes of opinions, for everyone has an inalienable right to his thoughts.

In so far as the mind sees things in their eternal aspect, it participates in eternity.

A free man thinks of nothing less than of death, and his wisdom is a meditation, not on death, but on life.

Minds, however, are conquered not by arms, but by love and nobility.

Nothing in Nature is random. A thing appears random only through the incompleteness of our knowledge.

The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free.

The mind of God is all the mentality that is scattered over space and time, the diffused consciousness that animates the world.

I call him free who is led solely by reason.

No matter how thin you slice it, there will always be two sides.

He alone is free who lives with free consent under the entire guidance of reason.

When a man is prey to his emotions, he is not his own master.

Reason is no match for passion.

Philosophy has no end in view save truth; faith looks for nothing but obedience and piety.

The soul’s first adventure is the fight between two ideas: the wish to return to earth in a human form, and the desire to feel the freedom of having no form.

I’m a slave to my emotions, to my likes, to my hatred of boredom, to most of my desires.

Standing in our power demands that we be vulnerable, listen to our own voice, and take risks outside the comfort of what we know.

Ambition. An overmastering desire to be vilified by enemies while living and made ridiculous by friends when dead.

The shadow is not a problem to be solved or an enemy to be conquered, but a fertile field to be cultivated. When we dig our hands into its rich soil we will discover the potent seeds of the people we most desire to be.

He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sakes is my one desire.

The deepest desire of our hearts is for union for God. God created us for union with himself. This is the original purpose of our lives.

Our destiny changes with our thought; we shall become what we wish to become, do what we wish to do, when our habitual thought corresponds with our desire.