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God

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“Greek writers of the fifth century B.C. have a way of speaking of, an attitude towards, religion, as though it were wholly a thing of joyful confidence, a friendly fellowship with the gods, whose service is but a high festival for man. In Homer sacrifice is but, as it were, the signal for a banquet of abundant roast flesh and sweet wine; we hear nothing of fasting, of cleansing, and atonement.”
Jane Ellen Harrison (1850–1928) said by 1928 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Seeing our creation’s name in print made us feel like minor gods; we had summoned into existence a human being, or at least the illusion of one.”
Tim Wirkus wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yes; the gods are asleep for awhile. But noble hearts still walk here, fighting over again the ancient fight. They seek each other, so as to be of mutual help. We will not fail them. To fail would be nothing, but to stop working for Humanity and Brotherhood would be awful. We cannot: we will not. (Vol. I, Letter 7)”
William Quan Judge (1851–1896) said by 1896 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Meet me in the middle of the dayLet me hear you say, "Everything's okay"Bring me southern kisses from your roomMeet me in the middle of the nightLet me hear you say, "Everything's alright"Let me smell the moon in your perfume... Oh, Gods and years will rise and fallAnd there's always something moreLost in talk, I waste my timeAnd it's all been said before...”
Steve Forbert (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All countries are economically and ecologically involved with each other, politically enmeshed. The old gods of isolationism and nationalism are tumbling, artifacts like the stone deities of Easter Island.”
Marilyn Ferguson (1938–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“... what is poetry to us—akin to the folk-lore of water-sprites, naiads, kelpies, river-gods and water-worship in general—was to Tertullian and to the generations of believers who fashioned the baptismal rites, ablutions and beliefs of the church, nothing less than grim reality and unquestionable fact.”
Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare (1856–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That pain you feel,” Master Blint said almost gently, “is the pain of abandoning a delusion. The delusion is meaning, Kylar. There is no higher purpose. There are no gods. No arbiters of right and wrong. I don’t ask you to like reality. I only ask you to be strong enough to face it. There is nothing beyond this.”
Brent Weeks (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Droc was not particularly religious himself. If the gods responded to entreaties, they had never demonstrated it to him. Better his time was spent doing something that might work.”
Steve Perry (author) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“See, the assembly where the gods are and Sumer itself have been dispersed! Father Enlil, whose words prevail, said: "Until the enemy has been expelled from Urim, Icbi-Erra, the man from Mari, will tear out Urim's foundations. He will indeed measure out Sumer like grain." He has spoken just so.”
Ibbi-Sin (born 2051 BC) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[The] foremost of the gods, omniscient [...] Enki, counsellor of holy An. [...] Adviser, whose statements cannot be countermanded. [...] Patient-hearted, who rides upon all the divine powers. [...] Lord imbued with fearsomeness, borne by An and Urac.”
Ishme-Dagan (2001–1935 BC) said by 1935 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What he orders is faithfully executed. [...] Endowed with beauty in the E-kur, [...] among the great gods, the great and august lord.”
Ishme-Dagan (2001–1935 BC) said by 1935 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We are all responsible for our dream of storming the heavens. We cannot turn ourselves into dwarves now, after having dreamed, elbow to elbow, each feeling the others' heartbeats, of attacking and overthrowing the gods. This is the dream that makes power afraid.”
Alfredo M. Bonanno (1937–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[the Mitanni IA language] is attested by a number of OIA loan words in the non-IE Hurrite language of the Mit. realm of northern Iraq/Syria (c.1460-1330 BCE). The loans cover the semantic fields of horses, their colors, horse racing, and chariots, some important ‘Vedic‘ gods, and a large array of personal names adopted by the ruling class.”
Michael Witzel (born 1943) first seen 2005 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: (WITZEL 2005:361).
“I made a commitment a half century ago to make my writing my own tool and weapon to fight injustices as I recognized them, and this continues. I am grateful to the gods for it.”
Ana Castillo (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The sweat of hard work is not to be displayed. It is much more graceful to appear favored by the gods. (p64)”
Maxine Hong Kingston (born 1940) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No matter how much I crave peace, the gods have other plans.”
Tomi Adeyemi (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Deep down, I know the truth. I knew it the moment I saw the maji of Ibadan in chains. The gods died with our magic.”
Tomi Adeyemi (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Growing up, Father led me to believe that those who clung to the myth of the gods were weak. They relied on beings they could never see, dedicating their lives to faceless entities.”
Tomi Adeyemi (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The children of Orïsha dance like there’s no tomorrow, each step praising the gods. Their mouths glorify the rapture of liberation, their hearts sing the Yoruba songs of freedom. My ears dance at the words of my language, words I once thought I’d never hear outside my head. They seem to light up the air with their delight. It’s like the whole world can breathe again.”
Tomi Adeyemi (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don’t want to be alone. Not when tonight could be my last night. Blind faith in the gods may have taken me this far, but if I’m going to get on that island tomorrow, I need more.”
Tomi Adeyemi (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“On earth, Sky Mother created humans, her children of blood and bone. In the heavens she gave birth to the gods and goddesses. Each would come to embody a different fragment of her soul.”
Tomi Adeyemi (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“For so long we’ve been defenseless against the havoc the maji wreak, but now the gods have blessed us as well. We’re powerful enough to annihilate them, Inan. The only way to achieve lasting peace is to cleanse the maggots from this land.”
Tomi Adeyemi (born 1993) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The urge behind evolution, and the objective which this urge is impelling us toward, is simply the divine hunger in the universe to grow greater. It is innate in the universe. Why this is so, no one can say. Perhaps the gods do not know. All we men can aver is that it is so. (Chapter 6)”
Gottfried de Purucker (1874–1942) said by 1942 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“With each step forwards we become ever more aware that we are not alone on this pathway to the gods. Others have been over the path before us: a long procession of the greatest spirits and minds of the past ages; yet they are still our companions, because joined to us by interior spiritual bonds. They are watching over us even now. (Chapter 22)”
Gottfried de Purucker (1874–1942) said by 1942 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Her wrath is a devastating flood which no one can withstand. A great watercourse, she abases those whom she despises. The mistress, a hurin bird who lets no one escape. Inana, a falcon preying on the gods.”
Enheduanna (2301–2301 BC) said by 2301 BC at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is something deeply troubling about a culture which makes humans into gods, and which puts people on pedestals to be worshipped. For, it glosses over all blemishes in its quest for the godly.”
Nissim Mannathukkaren first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The God of a hundred things (April 07, 2012), . Quoted in
“Words meaning white light are widely used in reference to the world of the Aryans or their gods, and so are terms meaning broad, wide (note the combination of broad and light in the uru jyotih broad light of [RV 7.5.3 - 6]).”
Hans Henrich Hock (born 1938) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is by books that mind speaks to mind, by books the world’s intelligence grows, books are the tree of knowledge, which has grown into and twined its branches with those of the tree of life, and of their common fruit men eat and become as gods knowing good and evil.”
Charles Kegan Paul (1828–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Quoted as epigraph in Stanley Unwin, The Truth about Publishing (1926), title page
“No night is so dark, no situation so dire, but the intervention of the gods cannot make it worse.”
Jim C. Hines (born 1974) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Maybe this was why gods stayed on another plane of existence. If they stayed here in the mortal world, their followers would be too tempted to punch them in the face.”
Jim C. Hines (born 1974) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Full of gods means full of meaning, full of narration. The world becomes readable, like a picture.”
Byung-Chul Han (born 1959) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The first phase of the Muslim conquest of North India was a splendid ghazi adventure of looting, shooting, and smashing up the gods of Hindu idolators. The new kings of Dehli, however, imposed civil order on the conquered areas and created a structure of despotism designed to tax rather than slaughter the native peasantry.”
Ross E. Dunn (born 1941) first seen 2012 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ross E. Dunn - The Adventures of Ibn Battuta_ A Muslim Traveler of the Fourteenth Century (2012, University of California Press) Chapter 9
“People could do without religions and Gods who died for the sins of the world and thereby left men without any feeling of self-responsibility for the crimes they committed. ... It meant that a white man could forever go on slaughtering black men simply because Jesus Christ would save him from his sins. Africa could do without a religion a like that.”
Bessie Head (1937–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“TELL THEM HOW NATURAL, SENSIBLE, NORMAL IS HUMAN KINDNESS. TELL THEM, THOSE WHO JUDGE MY COUNTRY, AFRICA, BY GAIN AND GREED, THAT THE GODS WALK ABOUT HER BAREFOOT WITH NO ERMINE AND GOLD-STUDDED CLOAKS”
Bessie Head (1937–1986) said by 1986 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In the later nineteenth century, the tops of skycrapers often took the shape of domes, surmounted by jaunty gilded lanterns; later came ziggurats, mausoleums, Alexandrian lighthouses, miniatures Parthenons. These charming follies contained neither royal corpses nor effigies of gods and goddesses; rather they contained large wooden tanks filled with water.”
Brendan Gill (1914–1997) first seen 1982 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 1982, quoted in Laura Rosen Top of the City: New York's hidden rooftop world (1990) foreword, also quoted in Dictionary of Quotations, p. 355 (2005)
“And now I salute thee with awe, with veneration, and wonder, ancient India, of whom I am the adept, the India of the highest splendor of art and philosophy. May thy awakening astonish the Occident, decadent, mean, daily dwindling, slayer of nations, slayer of Gods, slayer of souls, which yet bows down still, ancient India, before the prodigies of thy primordial conceptions!”
Pierre Loti (1850–1923) said by 1923 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: attributed and quoted in Josyer, G R. Sanskrit Civilization, International Academy of Sanskrit Research. Mysore 1966 p. 1 also quoted in Londhe, S. (2008). A tribute to Hinduism: Thoughts and wisdom spanning continents …
“The priests of Agon saw in wizardry what the priests of all the cults of the gods saw: a body of men and women who did not need to petition the deities for assistance, a challenge to their authority, and a living question about the way they said the world worked.”
Barbara Hambly (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“That’s the trouble with gods. They don’t care much how poorly they treat their toys.”
Seanan McGuire (born 1978) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The film has to tell the composer what it need, then it's in the lap of the gods, isn't it, as to whether others think it works or not.”
Laurie Johnson (1927–2024) first seen 2018 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Laurie Johnson interview (14 August 2018)
“Now, cut your arm a little and swear by all your gods that you will adhere faithfully to me and be my friend, helper, and defender, sharing in need and standing fast in danger, until our quest be done or until death part us!” “If you like; though it’s the man who makes us believe the oath, not the oath the man.”
L. Sprague de Camp (1907–2000) said by 2000 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If the gods made man, which I doubt, they should have made him so he sometimes enjoyed what he has instead of forever yearning for what he has not.”
L. Sprague de Camp (1907–2000) said by 2000 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Human beings worked constantly to make their gods unnecessary. He was an individual who made scientific measurements: one day time and perhaps also space would be measured and controlled by scales of measurements hitherto unknown. The supernatural was shadows dancing in the remains of a childhood fear of the dead.”
Henning Mankell (1948–2015) said by 2015 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Neither gods nor men can forsee when an evil deed will bear its fruit.”
Bodhidharma (440–540) said by 540 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But I should have known—when the gods seem to smile, they may in fact be laughing.”
Kenn Kaufman (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We don’t believe in your wars, we don’t believe in your customs, and we don’t believe in your Gods.” “Your lives are empty, then.” “The money sort of fills that up—at least that’s what Sergeant Khalor told us.”
David Eddings (1931–2009) said by 2009 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Children, the gods call us when they choose, but not even the priests are eager to answer.”
Esther Friesner (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Gods do not explain their cruelties.”
Esther Friesner (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yes, the gods knew what they were doing. They always joined together in marriage people of opposing qualities and thus ensured harmony.”
Catherine Obianuju Acholonu (1951–2014) first seen 1993 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Catherine Obianuju Acholonu, "Mother Was a Great Man," in Charlotte H. Bruner, ed., African Women's Writing (1993)
“And they may think that they're going to become gods. That's what they tell us...You know, the ones who want us eating insects, cockroaches and that while they dine on the blood of children? Those are the people, right? They’re not going to win. They’re not going to win.”
Lara Logan (born 1971) first seen 2022 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview with Eric Bolling on Newsmax (October 20, 2022), as reported by The Hill and The Guardian (October 21, 2022)
“The gods award the crown to those who, by their training in peacetime, are victorious even before they go into battle.”
Tōgō Heihachirō (1848–1934) said by 1934 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Excerpt from farewell speech, "Togo Ignites The Rising Sun: How The Japanese Admiral Turned Defeat Into Victory" in History Net (20 April 2018)