Browse the Living Book

Emulate your forefathers, your ancestors... You see, their words remain in their writings open, that you may read and copy their wisdom. Ptah-hotep (2350 B.C.E.)

Speech is mightier than all fighting. Ptah-hotep (2350 B.C.E.)

I love them that love me;
and those that seek me
early shall find me.
Proverbs 8.17 (1011 B.C.E.)

By prayer I mean not that which is only in the mouth, but that which springs up from the bottom of the heart. In fact, just as trees with deep roots are not shattered or uprooted by storms... in the same way prayers that come from the bottom of the heart, having their roots there, rise to heaven with complete assurance and are not knocked off course by the assault of any thought. That is why the Psalm says, "Out of the deep have I called unto thee, O Lord." Psalm 130.I (999 B.C.E.)

He alone knows himself in the best way possible who thinks of himself as being nothing. Psalm 130.I (999 B.C.E.)

Marvel at your Lord not only because He has made heaven and the sun, but also because He has made the ant... Consider how prudent the ant is, and consider how God has implanted in so small a body such an increasing desire for work. Psalm 130.I (999 B.C.E.)

Justice not only saves those who possess it but also leads many others to desire it, and always transports them from death to eternal immortality. Psalm 130.I (999 B.C.E.)

For in our searchings are found all our desires, and we gain victory over our worlds. Upanishads (800 B.C.E.)

The Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes. Isaiah 29:10 (800 B.C.E.)

Thou dost keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee. Isaiah 26:3 (800 B.C.E.)

He who knows the Bliss of Brahman does not distress himself with the thought, "Why did I not do what is good? Why did I do what is evil?" Whoever knows this (bliss) regards both of these as Atman (self, soul), indeed he cherishes both as Atman. Upanishads (800 B.C.E.)

That thou art. Upanishads (800 B.C.E.)

Whoever sees all beings in the soul and the soul in all beings...
What delusion or sorrow is there for one who sees unity?
It has filled all. It is radiant, incorporeal, invulnerable...
Wise, intelligent, encompassing, self-existent,
It organizes objects throughout eternity.
Upanishads (800 B.C.E.)

God (Brahman) is unknown to those who know him... and is known to those who do not know him at all. Kena Upanishad (800 B.C.E.)

He who knows the Bliss of Brahman does not distress himself with the thought "why did I not do what is good? why did I do what is evil?" Whoever knows this (bliss) regards both of these as Atman (self, soul), indeed he cherishes both as Atman. Upanishads (800 B.C.E.)

That thou art. Upanishads (800 B.C.E.)

Then he realized, I indeed, I am this creation, for I have poured it forth from myself. In that way he became this creation. Verily, he who knows this becomes in this creation a creator. Upanishads (800 B.C.E.)

With broad understanding profound wisdom comes. Esarhadden - Akkadian Text (690 B.C.E.)

If you persist in trying to attain what is never attained (It is Tao's Gift!), If you persist in making effort to obtain what effort cannot get, If you persist in reasoning about what cannot be understood, You will be destroyed by the very thing you seek.

To know when to stop, To know when you can get no further by your own action, This is the right beginning!
Lao Tse (604 B.C.E.)

He who knows how glory shines, Yet loves disgrace and is not poled by it, He becomes like a spacious valley to which all men come from beneath the sky. Lao Tse (604 B.C.E.)