A library of wisdom
Quotes, every concept, every voice
622 hand-picked quotes from the world's wisdom traditions, each linked to its source concept. Filter by concept below, or scroll through the whole library.
“Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.”
“Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.”
“I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing light of your own being.”
“Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth, "You owe me." Look what happens with a love like that — it lights the whole sky.”
“The small man builds cages for everyone he knows. While the sage, who has to duck his head when the moon is low, keeps dropping keys all night long for the beautiful, rowdy prisoners.”
“A poet is someone who can pour Light into a cup, then raise it to nourish your beautiful parched, holy mouth.”
“When the heart grieves for what it has lost, the spirit rejoices over what it has found.”
“The Seven Valleys of the soul are seven, and the journey through them is the work of a lifetime: Quest, Love, Knowledge, Independence, Unity, Bewilderment, Annihilation.”
“The drop becomes the ocean. The ocean is the drop.”
“They reached the Simorgh — and saw that the Simorgh was themselves.”
“All the prophets begin with the same word: come.”
“Whoever knows himself knows his Lord.”
“The Beloved is in your house, in your sleeve, in the mirror of your own face. The seeking is the not-finding.”
“My heart has opened to every form. It is a pasture for gazelles, a cloister for Christian monks, a temple for idols, a Kaaba for the pilgrim, the tablets of the Torah, the book of the Quran. Love is my religion.”
“There are as many paths to God as there are souls on earth.”
“The whole secret of mysticism is this: that man can understand everything by the help of what he does not understand.”
“I love Thee with two loves — love for my own happiness, and perfect love, to love Thee as is Thy due.”
“O God, if I worship Thee in fear of Hell, burn me in Hell; and if I worship Thee in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise. But if I worship Thee for Thine own sake, withhold not from me Thine eternal beauty.”
“Why are you so enchanted by this world, when a mine of gold lies within you?”
“The Sufi opens his hand to the universe and gives away each instant, free.”
“I am the Truth.”
“When the heart weeps for what it has lost, the spirit laughs for what it has found.”
“The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name.”
“A journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one's feet.”
“When the best leader's work is done, the people say, "We did it ourselves."”
“Nothing in the world is softer than water, yet nothing is better at overcoming the hard and strong.”
“Knowing others is intelligence. Knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power.”
“To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, subtract things every day.”
“Reversal is the movement of the Tao. Weakness is the use of the Tao.”
“Who can wait quietly while the mud settles? Who can remain still until the moment of action?”