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The butterfly in a caterpillar: the eagle in an egg the saint in a selfish human being.

Anthony de Mello

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Anthony de Mello
Age: 55 †
Born: 1931
Born: September 4
Died: 1987
Died: June 2
Philosopher
Priest
Psychologist
Theologian
Writer
Bombay
Butterfly
Eggs
Selfish
Saint
Human
Caterpillar
Humans
Caterpillars
Eagle
Eagles

More quotes by Anthony de Mello

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What is love? The total absence of fear, said the Master What is it we fear? Love, said the Master.
Anthony de Mello
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When someone offends you, you can raise your spirits to heights where offenses cannot reach.
Anthony de Mello
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You can read books without ever stepping into a library and practice spirituality without ever going to a temple.
Anthony de Mello
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It is a great mystery that though the human heart longs for Truth, in which alone it finds liberation and delight, the first reaction of human beings to Truth is one of hostility and fear!
Anthony de Mello
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A Jesuit once wrote a note to Father Arrupe, his superior general, asking him about the relative value of communism, socialism and capitalism. Father Arrupe gave him a lovely reply. He said, A system is about as good or as bad as the people who use it. People with golden hearts would make capitalism or communism or socialism work beautifully.
Anthony de Mello
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A disciple said to him, I am ready, in the quest for God , to give up anything: wealth, friends, family, country, life itself. What else can a person give up? The Master calmly replied, One's beliefs about God.
Anthony de Mello
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If you look carefully you will see that there is one thing and only one thing that causes unhappiness. The name of that thing is attachment. What is an attachment? An emotional state of clinging caused by the belief that without some particular thing or some person you cannot be happy.
Anthony de Mello
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the tragedy of an attachment is that if its object is not attained it causes unhappiness. But if it is attained, it does not cause happiness – it merely causes a flash of pleasure followed by weariness, and it is always accompanied, of course, by the anxiety that you may lose the object of your attachment.
Anthony de Mello
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The only way to change is by changing your understanding.
Anthony de Mello
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A thought is a screen, not a mirror that is why you live in a thought envelope, untouched by Reality.
Anthony de Mello
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You're not living until it doesn't matter a tinker's damn to you whether you live or die. At that point you live. When you're ready to lose your life, you live it.
Anthony de Mello
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That of the person who sees other human beings as sinners, said the Master.
Anthony de Mello
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You are never in love with anyone. You're only in love with your prejudiced and hopeful idea of that person.
Anthony de Mello
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Before enlightenment, I used to be depressed after enlightenment, I continue to be depressed.
Anthony de Mello
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Perfect love casts out fear. Where there is love there are no demands, no expectations, no dependency. I do not demand that you make me happy my happiness does not lie in you. If you were to leave me, I will not feel sorry for myself I enjoy your company immensely, but I do not cling.
Anthony de Mello
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The disciples were absorbed in a discussion of Lao-Tzu's dictum: Those who know, do not say Those who say, do not know. When the master entered, they asked him what the words meant. Said the master, Which of you knows the fragrance of a rose? All of them indicated that they knew. Then he said, Put it into words. All of them were silent
Anthony de Mello
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I'm going to write a book someday and the title will be I'm an Ass, You're an Ass. That's the most liberating, wonderful thing in the world, when you openly admit you're an ass. It's wonderful. When people tell me, You're wrong I say, What can you expect of an ass?
Anthony de Mello
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You sanctify whatever you are grateful for.
Anthony de Mello
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As the Japanese Zen masters say, “Don't seek the truth just drop your opinions”. Drop your theories don't seek the truth.
Anthony de Mello
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Step by step, let whatever happens happen. Real change will come when it is brought about, not by your ego, but by reality. Awareness releases reality to change you.
Anthony de Mello