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I am no Hindu; but I hold the doctrine of the Hindus concerning a future state to be incomparably more rational, more pious, and more likely to deter men from vice, than the horrid opinions, inculcated on punishments without end.

— William Jones Letter to Earl Spencer (1787)

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Spirituality

More quotes by William Jones

Seven hours to law, to soothing slumber seven,
Ten to the world allot, and all to heaven.

Some intelligent and virtuous persons are inclined to doubt the authenticity of the accounts delivered by Moses.

Fierce as they seem, some bold Plebeian spear
May pierce their shield, or stop their full career.

Caïssa: or, The Game at Chess (1763)

Go boldly forth, my simple lay,
Whose accents flow with artless ease,
Like orient pearls at random strung.

My opinion is, that power should always be distrusted, in whatever hands it is placed.

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Reason is Life's sole arbiter, the magic Laby'rinth's single clue:
Worlds lie above, beyond its ken; what crosses it can ne'er be true.

Richard Francis Burton The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî (1870)

In imitating the exemplary acts of a god or of a mythic hero, or simply by recounting their adventures, the man of an archaic society detaches himself from profane time and magically re-enters the Great Time, the sacred time.

Mircea Eliade Myths, Dreams and Mysteries (1967)

Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of day.

Thomas Jefferson

The superior man loves his soul; the inferior man loves his property.

Confucius

Attribution

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