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When the sage points at the moon, all that the idiot sees is the finger.

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
Fingers
Moon
Pointers
Sage
Finger
Points
Idiot
Sees

More quotes by Anthony de Mello

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Isn't there such a thing as social liberation? Of course there is, said the Master. How would you describe it? Liberation from the need to belong to the herd.
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You're so ashamed of your past drop it! You're so proud of your past drop it!
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Doesn't everyone see Reality as it is?
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The butterfly in a caterpillar: the eagle in an egg the saint in a selfish human being.
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If you don't look at things through your concepts, you'll never be bored. Every single thing is unique.
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Loneliness is not cured by human company. Loneliness is cured by contact with reality.
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When the eye is unobstructed, the result is sight. When the ear is unobstructed, the result is hearing. When the mind is unobstructed the result is truth. When the heart is unobstructed, the result is joy and love.
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People who want a cure, provided they can have it without pain, are like those who favour progress, provided they can have it without change.
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God in heaven holds each person by a string. When you sin, you cut the string. Then God ties it up again. Making a knot, bringing you a little closer to Him. Again and again your sins cut the string and with each knot God keeps drawing you closer and closer.
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Before enlightenment, I used to be depressed after enlightenment, I continue to be depressed.
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The Master made it his task to destroy systematically every doctrine, every belief, every concept of the divine, for these things, which were originally intended as pointers, were now being taken as descriptions. He loved to quote the Eastern saying When the sage points to the moon, all that the idiot sees is the finger.
Anthony de Mello
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The day you are happy for no reason whatsoever, the day you find yourself taking delight in everything and in nothing, you will know that you have found the land of unending joy called the kingdom.
Anthony de Mello
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Wisdom can be learned. But it cannot be taught.
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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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The only way someone can be of help to you is in challenging your ideas.
Anthony de Mello
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What is the secret of your serenity? Said the master: Wholehearted cooperation with the inevitable.
Anthony de Mello
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There's nothing you can do to see — it is a gift.
Anthony de Mello
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What is a loving heart? A loving heart is sensitive to the whole of life, to all persons a loving heart doesn't harden itself to any persons or things.
Anthony de Mello
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These things will destroy the human race: politics without principle, progress without compassion, wealth without work, learning without silence, religion without fearlessness and worship without awareness.
Anthony de Mello
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The present moment is never intolerable. What's intolerable is what's going to happen in the next four hours. To have your body here at 8 pm and your mind at 10:30 pm, that's what causes us suffering.
Anthony de Mello