Never did eye see the sun unless it had first become sun-like, and never can the soul have vision of the First Beauty unless itself be beautiful.
PLOTINUSPleasure and distress, fear and courage, desire and aversion, where have these affections and experiences their seat?
More Plotinus Quotes
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As the eye waits on the rising of the Sun which in its own time appears above the horizon and gives itself to our sight.
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Each one of us is part of the soul of the universe
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Wherever it lies, under earth or over earth, the body will always rot.
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And this is the life of the Gods, and of Godlike men, a life without love of the world, a flight of the Alone to the Alone.
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God is not external to anyone, but is present with all things, though they are ignorant that He is so.
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Mankind is poised midway between the gods and the beasts.
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Cut away all that is excessive, straighten all that is crooked, bring light to all that is overcast, labour to make all one glow of beauty and never cease chiselling your statue.
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In actions, in character, in the pursuits of the intellect; and there is the beauty of the virtues.
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Fear must be entirely banished. The purified soul will fear nothing.
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There is one and the same soul in many bodies.
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One principle must make the universe a single complex living creature, one from all.
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If someone with the right conduct tries to attain to something that lies outside of it, is his goal not the right conduct.
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All things are filled full of signs, and it is a wise man who can learn about one thing from another.
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The sculptor cuts away here, smoothes there, makes this line lighter, this other purer, until he or she has shown a beautiful face upon the statue.
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When we look outside of that on which we depend we ignore our unity; looking outward we see many faces; look inward and all is one head.
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