A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler they consider god-fearing and pious.
I never write when I’m drunk. Why should one need aids? The Muse is a high-spirited girl who doesn’t like to be brutally or coarsely wooed. And she doesn’t like slavish devotion — then she lies.
True devotion must not get dispirited; nor elated or satisfied with lesser gains; it must fight against failure, loss, calumny, calamity, ridicule and against egoism and pride, impatience and cowardice.
They convey a certain reverence for the higher, a respect for the contemplative life, understood as contemplation of God and the peak of devotion, and a cleaving to eternal beings that mitigates absorption in the merely pressing or current.
Devotion (bhakti) effectively spans and reconciles the seemingly disparate aims of obtaining aid in solving worldly problems and locating one’s soul in relation to divinity. The term bhakti is derived from a root that literally means “having a share”; devotion unites without totally merging the identities of worshipers and deities.
To my thinking, a woman's religion ought not to lessen her devotion to her earthly lord. She should have enough to purify and etherealise her soul, but not enough to refine away her heart, and raise her above all human sympathies.
I have been told by an eminent bookseller, that in no branch of his business, after tracts of popular devotion, were so many books as those on the law exported to the Plantations.
But take this with thee: if I was not form'd To prize a love like thine, a mind like thine, Nor dote even on thy beauty — as I've doted On lesser charms, for no cause save that such Devotion was a duty, and I hated All that look'd like a chain for me or others (This even rebellion must avouch); yet hear These words, perhaps among my last — that none E'er valued more thy virtues, though he knew not To profit by them...
...a caring that gains only when losing; an obsessed desire to be bound, for love, in jail; a capitulation to the one you've conquered yourself; a devotion to your own assassin every single day.
...there is a gulf of difference between the lower-love (Sneha) and the higher-love (Prema). The highest love is when you seek, discover and experience, our essential oneness with the very substance of truth, the Lord. It is called devotion (Prema-Bhakthi).
Devotion to Sri Narayana also is the means to cultivate love within. To “hear” of his glories, to “sing” about His beauties, to “reflect” upon His love, to “meditate” upon His Presence within us, are the ways by which a devotee grows in his love for Him.
He took his time strapping on his customized armor and loading his weapon magazines, rifle, pistol, and assorted knives. For him, preparing for battle was a divine ritual, a blessing and sacrifice to the Holy Ones. He intended to show his devotion by expunging as many of the enemy as he could..
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love, generosity and devotion exist. And you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.
...throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of world war by their prowess and their devotion.
It is nearly impossible to give an adequate idea of the higher feelings which are excited; wonder astonishment, and sublime devotion fill and elevate the mind.
Thus with most careful devotion Thus with precise attention To detail, interfering preparation Of that which is already prepared Men lighten the knot of confusion Into perfect misunderstanding, Reflecting a pocket-torch of observation...
What they do not see is that their reverence for economic activity and industry and what is called business is also fetishworship, and that in their devotion to that idol they torture themselves as needlessly and indulge in the same meaningless
St. Orberosia is forgotten by the Penguins, her devotion abandoned, and her sanctuary deserted. On her shrine, bereft of its gold and precious stones, the spider silently weaves her web.
Instead of man to love, we have a man-god to worship. From being the example of devotion, he is its object; the religion of Christ ended with his life, and left us instead but the Christian religion.
The devotion of such titans of spirit as Lenin to an Ideal must bear fruit. The nobility of his selflessness will be an example through centuries to come, and his Ideal will reach perfection.
With unquestioning devotion to the Union, with a patience and gentleness not born of fear, they have 'followed the light as God gave them to see the light.
But they for whom I am the supreme goal, who do all work renouncing self for me and meditate on me with single-hearted devotion, these I will swiftly rescue from death's vast sea, for their consciousness has entered into me.
But you must love with a sublime, genuine, profoundsympathy, with devotion, with intelligence, and you must try all the time to understand Him more, better and yet more. That will lead to God, that will lead to an unshakeable faith.
Do you know the kind of skill it demands, and the years of passionate, merciless, excruciating devotion that go to acquire that skill? That was what I would not place at the disposal of men whose sole qualification to rule me was their capacity to spout the fraudulent generalities that got them elected to the privilege of enforcing their wishes at the point of a gun. .
If I was told to sacrifice something to prove my devotion to God, if I was told to do what all monotheists are told to do and admire the man who said 'Yes I'll gut my kid to show my love of God.
And in these four things, opinion of ghosts, ignorance of second causes, devotion towards what men fear, and taking of things casual for prognostics, consisteth the naturalseed of religion; which by reason of the different fancies, judgments and passions of several men, has grown up into ceremonies so different, that those which are used by one man, are for the most part ridiculous to another.
All forms of dedication, devotion, loyalty and self-surrender are in essence a desperate clinging to something which might give worth and meaning to our futile, spoiled lives.
When his devotion to the unfortunate, the hungry, and the needy became known to Tolstoy, it had a profound influence upon his thought and eventually worked an entire transformation in his manner of living.
In a word, the almighty dollar, that great object of universal devotion throughout our land, seems to have no genuine devotees in these peculiar villages.
To myself grant for the fruit of my devotion to thee — Truth in belief concerning the gods, the attainment of perfection in religiousrites, and in all the undertakings which we attempt as regards warlike or military measures....
The territorial state is such an ancient form of society - here in Europe it dates back thousands of years - that it is now protected by the sanctity of age and the glory of tradition. A strong religious feeling mingles with the respect and the devotion to the fatherland.
As leader and man Lenin possessed a selfless devotion to communistideals and to the cause of the party and of the working class and a supreme conviction of the righteousness and justice of that cause.
It is rather for us here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion.
The number, the industry, and the morality of the priesthood, and the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the church from the state.
Devotion to your goal makes you live a clean and orderly life, given to search for truthand to helping people, and realization makes noble virtue easy and spontaneous, by removing for good the obstacles in the shape of desires and fears and wrongideas.
The true test of our devotion to freedom is just beginning. I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way.
The more important Puranas or ancient tales...were written somewhere between 300 AD and 1200 AD and rank next to the epics in their influence on the masses as they seek to evoke religious devotion through myths, stories, and legends.
Pontus, instituted among all people, as an addition or corollary of devotion towards God, that festival days and assemblies should be celebrated to them who had contended for the faith (that is, to lie martyrs).
Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation, as any painter's or sculptor's work; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared with having to do with the living body..., the temple of God's spirit? It is one of the Fine Arts: I had almost said, the finest of Fine Arts.
By 'patriotism' I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force on other people.
Paul Pathickal, in "Christ and the Hindu Diaspora", p. 49
...that 38.4% of the Hindus surveyed [in the US] admired the religious devotion of Christians. Hindus see Christians of all denominations going to worship services on Sundays, some going to prayer meetings and Bible studies on Saturdays and other days, and Christian children going to Sunday school during the school year and Vocation Bible School during the summer.
Paul Pathickal, in "Christ and the Hindu Diaspora", P.78
Bhakthi movement became prominent in later Hinduism. In the Bhakti Marga (Way of Devotion), devotion to god is a specific religiousattitude and sentiment, the essential features of which are faith, love, and trust in god...Quite often, native Christian songs, hymns, and lyrics express these very same emotions of faith, love, and trust in Jesus Christ. Hindus identify with these emotions, with the difference that the object of their devotion would be Rama, Krishna and some other god.
Paul Pathickal, in "Christ and the Hindu Diaspora", P.78
The impurity of ignorance is in none so manifest as in the devout; for they act on their ignorance, and fill themselves and others with miserable scruples and hard thoughts of God, and are as apt to call good evil as other men are to call evil good.
Coventry Patmore, The Rod, the Root, and the Flower (London: George Bell and Sons, 1895), Knowledge and Science XVI, p. 70
Even this miraculous event, which ought to have excited the wonder, the curiosity, or the devotion, of mankind, passed without notice in an age of science and history.
If God is watching us, as some believers suggest, as though we were a television show and God had a lot of free time, the deity would surely be bemused by how dumbed-down devotion has sometimes become in this so-called modern era. How might an omnipotent being with the long view of history respond to those who visit the traveling exhibit of a grilled-cheese sandwich, sold on eBay, that is said to bear the image of the Virgin Mary? It certainly argues against intelligentdesign, or at least intelligent design in humans.
But the challenge is always the same — whether each generation facing its own circumstances can summon the practical devotion to attain and retain that greatest good for the greatest number which this government of the people was created to ensure.
I doubt, however, if it is good for us to feel assured of this without the accompanying obligation of having to justify this devotion by our behaviour.
...unity and inwardness; and makes the heart grow and bring forth the leaves of inward love, the flowers of ardent devotion, and the fruits of thanksgiving and praise, and makes these fruits to endure eternally, in humble grief, because of our shortcomings.
He shuddered as he thought of it, for if this should be the case, they had spent their centuries of devotion to but little purpose, pursuing a will-o'-the-wisp.
...a knowledge not gained by words but by touch, sight, sound, victories, failures, sleeplessness, devotion, love—the human experiences and emotions of this earth and of oneself and of other men; and perhaps, too....reverence for things you can not see.
The time you spend alone with God will transform your character and increase your devotion. Then your integrity and godly behavior in an unbelieving world will make others long to know the Lord.
There is always the danger that we may just do the work for the sake of the work. This is where the respect and the love and the devotion come in - that we do it to God, to Christ, and that's why we try to do it as beautifully as possible.
But men are now united in states; that work is done; why now maintain exclusive devotion to one's own state, when this produces terrible evils for all.
If my love is without sacrifice, it is selfish. Such a love is barter, for there is exchange of love and devotion in return for something. It is conditional love.
The idea of a Personal God has obtained in almost every religion, except a very few. With the exception of the Buddhist and the Jain, perhaps all the religions of the world have the idea of a Personal God, and with it comes the idea of devotion and worship.
This idea of devotion and worship to some higher being who can reflect back the love to man is universal. In various religions this love and devotion is manifested in various degrees, at different stages.
Swami Vivekananda, in "The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 2/Bhakti or Devotion".
So we find that in almost every religion these are the three primary things which we have in the worship of God — forms or symbols, names, God-men. All religions have these, but you find that they want to fight with each other...These are the external forms of devotion, through which man has to pass; but if he is sincere, if he really wants to reach the truth, he goes higher than these, to a plane where forms are as nothing.
Swami Vivekananda, in "The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 2/Bhakti or Devotion".
These are the seasons of emotion And like the winds, they rise and fall This is the wonder of devotion I seek the torch, we all must hold This is the mystery of the quotient upon us all, upon us all, a little rain must fall.
I know that Zerthimon's devotion to the People was such that he was willing to protect them from themselves. He knew the “illithids” had come not to “know” themselves in their obsession with control and domination. So he chose to stop Gith before she carried the People to their deaths. There must be balance in all things, or else the self will not hold.