#de

But our lives were not as they seemed, were they, Sophia? No one's life ever is. ↗

— Jean Plaidy

#life #queen-victoria #life

I assert most unhesitatingly, that the religion of the south is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes, - a justifier of the most appalling barbarity, - a sanctifier of the most hateful frauds, - and a dark shelter under, which the darkest, foulest, grossest, and most infernal deeds of the slaveholders find the strongest protection. Were I to be again reduced to the chains of slavery, next to enslavement, I should regard being the slave of a religious master the greatest calamity that could befall me. For of all slaveholders with whom I have ever met, religious slaveholders are the worst. I have ever found them the meanest and basest, the most cruel and cowardly, of all others. ↗

— Frederick Douglass

#frederick-douglass #religion #slavery #life

The happy life does not mean loving what we possess, but possessing what we love." Possession of the beloved, St. Thomas holds, takes place in an act of cognition, in seeing, in intuition, in contemplation. ↗

— Josef Pieper

#bartolome-de-medina #contemplation #happiness #st-thomas #life

Sometimes life hands us a mirror and dares us to take a look. ↗

— L.M. Fields

#life #truth #life

The whole war between the atheist and the theist comes down to this: the atheist believes a 'what' created the universe; the theist believes a 'who' created the universe. ↗

— Criss Jami

#atheism #atheist #beginning #belief #cause

We born alone,we all die alone. ↗

— dalin shu

#life #solitude #life

Одинок полет Светлячка в ночи. Но в небе - звезды. "В чем же смысл интуитивно возникшего во мне трехстишья? Человек - одинокий светлячок в бескрайнем мраке ночи. Свет его так слаб, что освещает лишь крошечный кусочек пространства, а вокруг лишь холод, тьма и страх. Но если отвести испуганный взгляд от находящейся внизу темной земли и посмотреть ввысь (всего-то и надо - повернуть голову!), то увидишь, что небо покрыто звездами. Они сияют ровным, ярким и вечным светом. Звезды - твои друзья, они помогут и не бросят в беде. А чуть позже ты понимаешь другое, не менее важное: светлячок - тоже звезда, такая же, как все остальные. Те, что в небе, тоже видят твой свет, и он помогает им вынести холод и мрак Вселенной. Наверное, моя жизнь не изменится. Я буду такой же, как прежде, - и суетный, и вздорный, и подверженный страстям. Но в глубине моей души будет жить достоверное знание. Оно спасет и поддержит меня в трудную минуту. Я больше не мелкая лужа, которую может расплескать по земле сильный порыв ветра. Я - океан, и буря, прокатившись всесокрушающим цунами по моей поверхности, не затронет сокровенных моих глубин. ↗

— Boris Akunin

#life-lessons #meaning-of-life #self-confidence #life

In a well-functioning democracy, the state constitution is considered more important than God's holy book, whichever holy book that may be, and God matters only in your private life. ↗

— Ayaan Hirsi Ali

#god #government #holy-book #islam #muslim

There are times when wisdom cannot be found in the chambers of parliament or the halls of academia but at the unpretentious setting of the kitchen table. ↗

— E.A. Bucchianeri

#humility #kitchen #kitchen-table #parliament #philosophical

Circenn moved swiftly, intending to catch the tear upon his finger, kiss it away, then kiss away all her pain and fear, and assure her that he would permit no harm to touch her and would spend his life making things up to her; but she dropped the flask onto the table and turned swiftly. "Please, leave me alone," she said and turned away from him. "Let me comfort you, Lisa," he entreated. "Leave me alone." For the first time in his life, Circenn felt utterly helpless. Let her grieve, his heart instructed. She would need to grieve, for discovering that the flask didn't work was tantamount to lowering her mother into a solitary grave. She would grieve her mother as if she'd in truth died that very day. May God forgive me, he prayed. I did not know what I was doing when I cursed that flask. ↗

— Karen Marie Moning

#karen-marie-moning #lisa #the-highlander-s-touch #forgiveness