#compass

John has a narrow mind. For him, neither the beauty nor the prosperity of the city of Ephesus is worth a second glance. Ephesus was situated at the end of the Silk Road from China and the caravan route from India which used to pass through the Parthian Empire en route to the West. But the prophet is quite unaware that this particular world exists at all. Even culture means absolutely nothing to him; for example, in 18:22 he rejoices that not only song but also the sound of the flute have disappeared. The world which he knows is limited to the seven churches whose Christianity corresponded with his own; and that in but a single province of the Roman Empire, namely Asia. As to the rest, he is only familiar with the mother church in Jerusalem and the sister church in Rome. John is utterly obsessed by Rome. The fact that this particular metropolis had bestowed both law and peace upon no less than one-half of the world never got through to him at all. He is also quite oblivious of the fact that Rome oppresses nations and exploits slaves. He could not care less about national or social considerations. He abominates the "whore on the seven hills" simply because Rome is persecuting Christians. This is precisely what the Apocalypse is all about: innocent suffering. ↗

— Gilles Quispel

#compassion #culture #ignorance #obsession #suffering

While meditating we are simply seeing what the mind has been doing all along. ↗

— Allan Lokos

#compassion #education #meditation #art

Certainly it is wrong to be cruel to animals and the destruction of a whole species can be a great evil. The capacity for feelings of pleasure and pain and for the form of life of which animals are capable clearly impose duties of compassion and humanity in their case. ↗

— John Rawls

#capacity #case #certainly #clearly #compassion

To see those babies with no food for three of four days, old people sitting in the hot sun, when you see these poor people, you cannot help but being compassionate or affected. ↗

— Geraldo Rivera

#babies #being #cannot #compassionate #days

They can see the brave silhouette from almost anywhere in the District of Columbia and use it as a compass to locate other monuments and eventually to find their way out of the great, gray federal wilderness. ↗

— Hugh Sidey

#anywhere #brave #columbia #compass #district

The Clinton paradox: How could a president so intelligent, so compassionate, so public-spirited and so conscious of his place in history act in such a stupid, selfish and self-destructive manner? ↗

— George Stephanopoulos

#clinton #compassionate #conscious #could #his

You desire that which exceeds my humble powers, but I trust in the compassion and mercy of the All-powerful God. ↗

— Saint Stephen

#compassion #desire #exceeds #god #humble

The fact that the Prophet cared for every human being and tried his best to ensure their security in the hereafter must be the most telling of his compassionate and merciful characteristics. ↗

— Cat Stevens

#best #cared #characteristics #compassionate #ensure

Some major writers have a huge impact, like Ayn Rand, who to my mind is a lousy fiction writer because her writing has no compassion and virtually no humor. She has a philosophical and economical message that she is passing off as fiction, but it really isn't fiction at all. ↗

— Theodore Sturgeon

#ayn rand #because #compassion #economical #fiction

Wars begin in the minds of men, and in those minds, love and compassion would have built the defenses of peace. ↗

— U Thant

#built #compassion #defenses #love #men