| SHASKESPEARE, WILLIAM |
| "In the name of God, I William
Shakespeare,...God be praised, do make and ordain this, my last will and testament in
manner and form following. That is to say, first I commend my soul into the hands of God
my Creator, hoping and assuredly believing, through the only merits of Jesus Christ, my
saviour, to be made partaker of eternal life, and my body to the earth whereof it is
made" (Rowe, 1985, 182). |
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ALEXANDER SOLZHENITSYN
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| A PRAYER | "How easy it is for me to live
with thee Lord! How easy to believe in Thee! When my thoughts pull back in puzzlement or go soft, when the brightest people see no further than this evening and know not what to do tomorrow, Thou sendest down to me clear confidence that Thou art, and will make sure that not all the ways of the good are closed. On this ridge of earthly
fame, I look back in wonder at the road which I would never have been able to divine
alone-that wonderous path through hopelessness to this ridge from which I too have been
able to radiate among men a reflection of Thy rays. And Thou will grant me to continue
reflecting them as long as need be. And that which I cannot complete will mean that Thou
hast allotted it to others. |
HENRY D. THOREAU
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| "Why ask God for a respite when
he has not given it. Has he not done his work and made man equal to his occasions, but he
must needs have recourse to Him again? God cannot give us any other than self help." (Thoreau’s Journal, 1981, 188) "God is not our ally when we shrink and neuter when we are bold. If by trusting in God you lose any particle of your vigour-trust in Him no longer. When you trust do not lay aside your armour but put it on, and buckle it tighter... I do not want countenance but help.- And there is more of God, and divine help, in my little finger than in idle prayer and trust." (Ibid, 235-236) |
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| THOREAU |
"The great God is very calm
withall. How superfluous is any excitement in His creatures! He listens equally to the
prayers of the believer and the unbeliever." (Ibid, 360) "God does not
sympathize with the popular movements." "If nature is our mother is not God much
more? God should come into our thought with no more parade than the zephyr into our
ears-only strangers approach Him with ceremony. How rarely in our English tongue do we
find expressed any affection for God. No sentiment is so rare as love of God-universal
love." "We can only live healthily the life the gods
assign us. I must receive my life as passively as the willow leaf that flutters over the
brook. I must not be for myself, but God's work and that is always good. I will wait the
breezes patiently-and grow as nature shall determine - My fate cannot but be grand so. We
may live the life of a plant or an animal-without living an animal life. This constant and
universal content of the animal-comes of resting quietly in God's palm." "Why God did you include me in your great
scheme? Will you not make me a partner at last?" |
| THOREAU | "What if you or I
be dead- God is alive still." (Ibid, 373) "When God made man,
He reserved some parts and some rights to Himself- The eye has many qualities which belong
to God more than man- It is His lightning which flashes in them- When I think into my
companion's eye, I think it is God's private mine. It is noble feature-it cannot be
degraded. For God can look on all things undefiled." "I thank God for sorrow- It is hard to be
abused- Is not He kind still-who lets this south wind blow-this warm shine on me?" |
LEO TOLSTOY
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| "God and the soul are known by
me in the same way I know infinity: not by means of definitions but in quite another
way...Just as I know assuredly that there is an infinity of numbers so do I know that
there is a God...For me this knowledge is indubitable, simply because I am led to it
unavoidably. To the certainty of the infinity of numbers I am led by addition. To the certainty of the knowledge of God I am led by the question `Whence come I?' I was born of my mother, and she of my grand-mother, but the very first of whom? And I inevitably arrive at God. From whatever side I approach God it will always be the same. The origin of my thoughts, my reason is God. The origin of my love also is He. The origin of matter is He too. (Tolstoy, 1937, 498) |
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| "The only reasonable conception
of life is the accomplishment of the will of him who sent us into the world-that is the
will of God. For life is life, only when it is the carrying out of God's purpose. But, by opposing Him, people deprive themselves of life, and at the same time, neither for one year, nor one hour, can they delay the accomplishment of God's purpose." (Crowell, 1927, 165) |
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| LEO TOLSTOY PRAYER |
"Oh God, God inconceivable, but
who art, God by whose will I live. Thou has put in me this aspiration to know Thee, and to
know myself. I have erred, I have sought out an infallible truth. I knew that I was going
astray. I gave myself up to evil passions while knowing that they were evil but I never
forgot Thee. I always felt Thy presence even in the very moment of my sins. I all but lost
Thee, but Thou hast stretched forth a hand which I seized and all my life is filled with
light. Thou hast saved me! I know that I am following the good that I love, or want to
love, everyone, that I want to love the truth. Draw nearer, Thou God of love and truth,
reveal to me all that I can understand of Thee and me." (Tolstoy, 1899, 315) |
| LEO TOLSTOY Fundamental Creeds |
1. Man is the son of the Infinite
Source of Being; he is the son of the Father, not by the flesh but by the Spirit. 2. And therefore, man must serve the Source of his being in the Spirit. 3. The life of all men has Divine origin. The origin only is sacred. 4. And therefore, man must serve the Source of all human life. This is the will of the Father. 5. Service of the will of the Father is lifegiving. (Ibid, 282) |