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The master never let a statement about God go unchallenged. All God statements were poetic or symbolic expressions of the Unknowable; people, however, foolishly took them as literal descriptions of the divine.

— Anthony de Mello One Minute Nonsense (1992)

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More quotes by Anthony de Mello

The genius of a composer is found in the notes of his music; but analyzing the notes will not reveal his genius.

Awakening : Conversations with the Masters (2003)

One always treads with a joyful step when one has dropped the burden called the ego.

One Minute Nonsense (1992)

"Can one talk about the ocean to a frog in a well or about the divine to people who are restricted by their concepts?"

One Minute Wisdom (1989)

The Master would frequently assert that holiness was less a matter of what one did than of what one allowed to happen.

One Minute Wisdom (1989)

No one is exempt from talking nonsense. The great misfortune is to do it solemnly.

One Minute Nonsense (1992)

All Anthony de Mello quotes →

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Most intellectual people do not believe in God, but they fear him just the same.

Wilhelm Reich Philosophy : An Introduction to the Art of Wondering (2005)

When the mind is not dissipated upon extraneous things, nor diffused over the world about us through the senses, it withdraws within itself, and of its own accord ascends to the contemplation of God.

Basil of Caesarea

Once you accept the existence of God — however you define him, however you explain your relationship to him — then you are caught forever with his presence in the center of all things.

Morris West The Clowns of God (1981)

God seeks comrades and claims love,
the Devil seeks slaves and claims obedience.

Rabindranath Tagore Fireflies (1928)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Anthony de Mello (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.