Aleister Crowley Famous Quotes
"Existence, as we know it, is full of sorrow. To mention only one minor point every man is a condemned criminal, only he does not know the date of his execution. This is unpleasant for every man. Consequently every man does everything possible to postpone the date, and would sacrifice anything that he has if he could reverse the sentence. Practically all religions and all philosophies have started thus crudely, by promising their adherents some such reward as immortality. No religion has failed hitherto by not promising enough the present breaking up of all religions is due to the fact that people have asked to see the securities. Men have even renounced the important material advantages which a well-organized religion may confer upon a State, rather than acquiesce in fraud or falsehood, or even in any system which, if not proved guilty, is at least unable to demonstrate its innocence. Being more or less bankrupt, the best thing that we can do is to attack the problem afresh without preconceived ideas. Let us begin by doubting every statement. Let us find a way of subjecting every statement to the test of experiment. Is there any truth at all in the claims of various religions Let us examine the question."
To read a newspaper is to refrain from reading something worthwhile. The first discipline of education must therefore be to refuse resolutely to feed the mind with canned chatter.
Aleister Crowley Quotations
"And then I felt sad because I realized that once people are broken in certain ways, they can't ever be fixed, and this is something nobody ever tells you when you are young and it never fails to surprise you as you grow older as you see the people in your life break one by one. You wonder when your turn is going to be, or if it's already happened."
Douglas Couplan
Live well. It is the greatest revenge.
The Talmud
Time as he grows old teaches many lessons.
Aeschylus
"When I am dead, I hope it is said, 'His sins were scarlet, but his books were read'."
Hilaire Belloc
"Avoid having your ego so close to your position that when your position falls, your ego goes with it."
Colin Powell
"Too many of us look upon Americans as dollar chasers. This is a cruel libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly by the Americans themselves."
Albert Einstein
The first question I ask myself when something doesn't seem to be beautiful is why do I think it's not beautiful. And very shortly you discover that there is no reason.
John Cage
"It's not Jerusalem, It's not Baghdad. It's not Bolivia. It's Oklahoma."
V Z Lawton
"Seek not that the things which happen should happen as you wish but wish the things which happen to be as they are, and you will have a tranquil flow of life."
Epictetus
"If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live."
Lin Yutang