#steadfastness

Thus it is said: The path into the light seems dark, the path forward seems to go back, the direct path seems long, true power seems weak, true purity seems tarnished, true steadfastness seems changeable, true clarity seems obscure, the greatest are seems unsophisticated, the greatest love seems indifferent, the greatest wisdom seems childish. The Tao is nowhere to be found. Yet it nourishes and completes all things. ↗

— Lao Tzu

#light #love #path #power #purity

Since then your sere Majesty and your Lordships seek a simple answer, I will give it in this manner, neither horned nor toothed. Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen." (Reply to the Diet of Worms, April 18, 1521) ↗

— Martin Luther

#christian #conscience #freedom-of-religion #freedom-of-thought #organized-religion

My writing practice taught me the important thing is steadfastness. It's not necessarily discipline. Discipline can become a prison. When your spiritual practices become another thing for you to be anxious about, they've lost their usefulness. ↗

— Elizabeth Gilbert

#another #anxious #become #discipline #important

This is the mark of a really admirable man: steadfastness in the face of trouble. ↗

— Ludwig van Beethoven

#admirable #face #man #mark #really

It's a hard life if you don't weaken. ↗

— Stephen King

#hard-life #hardships #life #life-lessons #steadfastness

The quality I most admire in a man is steadfastness. ↗

— David Mamet

#i #man #most #quality #steadfastness

Overcoming the Cold War required courage from the people of Central and Eastern Europe and what was then the German Democratic Republic, but it also required the steadfastness of Western partner over many decades when many had long lost hope of integration of the two Germanys and Europe. ↗

— Angela Merkel

#central #cold #cold war #courage #decades

Long before morning I knew that what I was seeking to discover was a thing I'd always known. That all courage was a form of constancy. That it is always himself that the coward abandoned first. After this all other betrayals come easily. ↗

— Cormac McCarthy

#constancy #courage #cowardice #steadfastness #truthfulness

The foolish rush to end their lives. Only the steadfast soul survives. ↗

— Christine de Pizan

#death #endurance #life #steadfastness #strength