It always strikes me, and it is very peculiar,
that when we see the image of indescribable and
unutterable desolation - of loneliness, of poverty and misery,
the end of all things, or their extreme - then rises in our mind the thought of God.
If a man would follow, today, the teachings of the Old Testament, he would be a criminal. If he would follow strictly the teachings of the New, he would be insane.
-Robert Green Ingersoll
"A religious man is a person who holds
God and man in one thought at one time,
at all times, who suffers harm done to others,
whose greatest passion is compassion,
who is greatest strength is love and defiance of despair."
Some people think that prayer just means asking for things, and
if they fail to receive exactly what they asked for,
they think the whole thing is a fraud.
I could not say I believe. I know!
I have had the experience of being gripped
by something that is stronger than myself,
something that people call God.
There come times when I have nothing more to tell God.
If I were to continue to pray in words,
I would have to repeat what I have already said.
At such times it is wonderful to say to God,
May I be in Thy presence, Lord?
I have nothing more to say to Thee, but
do love to be in Thy presence."
"We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and
restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees,
flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun,
how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls."
"One of the things that really interested me about
this script was the whole idea of personal demons
versus religious demons, and how differently things can be perceived."