April 9

Love of goodness and faith in immortality are inseparable.

Nobody can say that he knows what the afterlife will be. Our beliefs are based not on logical proofs but on moral ones and therefore I cannot say that God exists and I am immortal, but I can say that God exists and that my "self" is immortal. This means that my faith in God is so closely connected with my nature that this faith cannot be separated from me.

— Immanuel Kant

The animal beginning disappears, the veil is taken from the future, the darkness disperses. It is then that we feel our immortality.

— After Saint Martin

We live in this world like a child who enters a room where a clever person is speaking. The child did not hear the beginning of the speech, and he leaves before the end; and there are certain things which he hears but does not understand. In the same way, the great speech of God started many, many centuries before we started learning, and it will continue for many centuries after we turn to dust. We hear only part of it, and we do not understand the biggest part of what we hear, but nevertheless, a bit vaguely, we understand something great, something important.

If you truly love goodness (God), then you cannot have doubts in your immortality. 

April 2

The only real life is one lived close to God. This does not happen by itself; you must make an effort to make this happen, and this effort will bring you joy.

A habit is never good, even a habit of doing good deeds. Good deeds, after they become habits, are no longer acts of virtue. Real good is only achieved with effort.

— Immanuel Kant

When you carry your burden, you should know that it is good for you to have it. Make the best of this burden and take from it everything which is necessary for your intellectual life, as your stomach takes from food everything necessary for your flesh, or as fire burns brighter after you put some wood on it.

— Marcus Aurelius

Be attentive to what you do; never consider anything unworthy of your attention.

— Confucius

Spiritual effort and the joy that comes from understanding life go hand in hand like physical exertion and rest. Without physical exertion, there is no joy in rest; without spiritual effort, there can be no joyful understanding of life. 

April 1

Science can be divided into an infinite number of disciplines, and the amount of knowledge that can be pursued in each discipline is limitless. The most critical piece of knowledge, then, is the knowledge of what is essential to learn and what isn't.

A huge amount of knowledge is accumulated at present. Soon our abilities will be too weak, and our lives too short to study this knowledge. We have vast treasures of knowledge at our disposal but after we study them, we often do not use them at all. It would be better not to have this burden, this unnecessary knowledge, which we do not really need.

— Immanuel Kant

Too voracious reading, begun at too early an age, fill our minds with undigested material. Our memory can become the master of our feelings and our fate; and when it does, an intellectual effort is required to reinforce our feelings with primeval innocence, to find ourselves amidst the dusty heaps of foreign thoughts and viewpoints, in order to start feeling by ourselves, and I am ready to say in order to live on our own.

— George Lightenberg

Beware of false knowledge. All evil comes from it.

Knowledge is limitless. Therefore, there is a minuscule difference between those who know a lot and those who know very little. 

February 28 and February 29

February 28

Art is a means of unifying people.

If beautiful art does not express moral ideas which unite people, then it is not art, but only entertainment. People need to be entertained in order to distance themselves from disappointment in their lives.

— Immanuel Kant

It is possible to imagine that art could die, but it is not possible to imagine that real art could live if it became a slave of wealth that laughed at the poor.

Art is one of the most powerful means of convincing people of anything, both good and bad; therefore, you must be very careful in its use.

An artist is one of two things: he is either a high priest, or a more or less smart entertainer.

— Giuseppi Mazzini

Meditations or discussions about art are the most useless pastimes known. Those who really know art know that art can speak well with its own language, and that to speak about art with words is useless. Most people who speak about art do not understand or feel real art.

February 29

To move, you must know where to go, in terms both of everyday motion and of your whole life. In order to live a good life, you must know where life leads.

Perfection is of God. To wish for perfection is of man.

— Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Life is not given to us that we might live idly without work. No, our life is a struggle and a journey. Good should struggle with evil; truth should struggle with falsehood; freedom should struggle with slavery; love should struggle with hatred. Life is movement, a walk along the way of life to the fulfillment of those ideas which illuminate us, both in our intellect and in our hearts, with divine light.

— After Giuseppe Mazzini

The ideal is within you, and the obstacle to reaching this ideal is also within you. You already possess all the material from which to create your ideal self.

— Thomas Caryle

We should believe that the goodness which exists in us and in this world will be fulfilled. This is the major condition to make it happen.

February 19

It is a sin not to be engaged in work, even if it is not necessary for you to make your living with everyday work.

One of the best and purest joys is having a rest after labor.

— Immanuel Kant

Work all the time. Do not think that work is a disaster for you, and do not seek praise or reward for your work.

— Marcus Aurelius

The  most outstanding gifts  can be  destroyed by idleness.

— Michel De Montaigne

Nothing can make a person feel more noble than work. Without work, a person cannot have human dignity. It is because of this that idle people are so much concerned by the superficial, outer expression of their importance; they know that without this, other people would despise them.

When we accept truth and repent our sins, we understand that nobody can have special rights, advantages, or privileges in this life. There is no end is to fight with nature for our life and for the lives of other people.

February 13

Religion is a philosophy which can be understood by anyone.

A person can please God only with the godliness of his life. If an outwardly faithful person is not good, clear, and humble in his life, then he presents a big lie, he serves God falsely.

— After Immanuel Kant

Religion is simple wisdom which is directed to the heart and understood by the intellect.

Religion can enlighten philosophical meditations; philosophical meditations can strength religion. Therefore, try to communicate both with truly religious people and truly good philosophers, alive and dead.

February 11

A person’s life is good only to the extent that it fulfills the expectations of the will of God.

Evil, in the form of suffering and death, is everywhere apparent to a person who accepts the law of his material, animal existence as the major law of his life. Only when a man lowers himself to the state of an animal does death and suffering scare him. The only road open for him to escape that fear is the road of fulfillment of the law of God, the law which is expressed in love. There is no death and no suffering for a man who lives according to the law of God.

Be as you are, as you have to be, and the rest is God’s business.

— Henri Amiei

The fulfillment of our duties and the satisfaction of our personal pleasures are two different things. Duties have their own laws, and even if we try to mix our duties with our pleasures, they will separate themselves.

— After Immanuel Kant

We know the law of God, both as it is presented to us by the different religions of the world and as our own conscience, when it is not obscured by passion and prejudice, and we can easily understand the applications of this law to our life, for all real good stems from its requirements.

January 15

The greatest truth of the teachings of Christ is the direct connection between a man (God's son) and God (His Father).

You ask me, what the most important feature of Christ's character was. I will answer you: it was his confidence in the greatness of the human soul. He saw in a person the reflection of God's image, and, therefore, he loved everyone, whoever a person was, without regard to his life or character.

— After William Ellery Channing

Both people and nations must get rid of prejudices. Feel yourself talking directly to God: don't read the Book, read your soul; then a small chapel will become as big as the heavenly dome itself.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are two ways of understanding God: either intellectually or spiritually, based on faith and morality. The intellectual understanding of God is not resolute enough and can be subjected to dangerous mistakes; spiritual understanding of God requires moral actions. This faith is both natural and supernatural.

— After Immanuel Kant

Beware of everything which puts an obstacle between you and God.

January 10

The basis of all education is the establishment of our relationship to the beginning of all things, and the conclusions about our behavior which may be drawn from this.

 

But whosoever shall offend one of these little ones who believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.

— Matthew 18:6-7

 

As we bring up our children, we have to remember that we are caretakers of the future. By improving their education, we improve the future of mankind, the future of this world.

— After Immanuel Kant

 

I think that the major obligation of parents and educators is to give children an understanding of the divine beginning that exists within them.

— William Ellery Channing

 

Religious upbringing is the basis of all education.

December 26

Childhood is the period in which underlying convictions are formed. Therefore, the most important part of education is the selection of the things of which a child should be convinced.

 

Talking and reasoning does not even have one thousandth the influence a true example has. All lessons about how to behave are worthless when children see the opposite in real life.

 

What use is it for children when people only speak about goodness, but perform bad deeds in reality.

— Gustav Struve

 

The strong desire for a pleasant and ideal life is a child's worst misfortune. It is crucial that children should know how to work from an early age.

— Immanuel Kant

 

It is important to teach children kindness and simplicity in life and work. All of children's moral and spiritual education should be supported by your own good example. You should live virtuously, or at least try to do so; the success of your good life will educate your children.

December 5

The longer mankind exists, the more liberated it becomes from prejudice and the more clearly it perceives the law of life.

Ours is the age of criticism. Religion and law try to escape from criticism, religion by saying that it is divine and law by showing that it is powerful. But some suspicions arise from this escape, because we can respect only those things which stand up in free and public trial.

— Immanuel Kant

Study everything, and put intellect first.

— Pythagoras

Do not be afraid of the way your intellect calls into question old stories and legends. The pure intellect cannot destroy anything without replacing it with the truth: this is one of its essential qualities. 

November 16

Faith answers those questions to which the intellect cannot find answers, but which must be asked.

There is only one true religion, though there are many different faiths.

— Immanuel Kant

It is only faith which creates the powerful convictions, the energy, and the unity which can cure society.

Giuseppi Mazzini

We have only one sinless guide, a universal spirit which gets into all of us though we are all individuals, and which gives us all the urge to do all that is necessary. The same spirit which exists in a tree and pushes it to grow straight and to produce seeds exists in us, urges us to be closer to God, and brings us closer to each other.

When a person is alive, he believes; the closer his faith is to the truth, the happier his life. The further from the truth his faith is, the more unhappy he is. Without faith he does not live; he dies a premature death or else kills himself. 

November 13

Self-perfection should be one's primary motivation. If you are truthful to yourself, you will never be satisfied with yourself.

A person should always develop his ability to do goodness. Make yourself better; this should be every person's goal.

— Immanuel Kant

The first rule of achieving goodness is this: think only about self-perfection, and do so without thought to being praised by others.

— Chinese Wisdom

He who moves from doing bad deeds to doing good deeds enlightens this world like the moon coming out from behind the clouds. This is the best thing in the world; this is the first step toward divinity.

— Dhammapada, a book of Buddhist Wisdom

Those who live life in perfection look only forward; those who have stopped moving forward look back on their achievements.

Dissatisfaction is a necessary condition of intellectual life. It is only this dissatisfaction that pushes you to work.

November 12

The land is the general and equal possession of all humanity, and therefore property of individuals.

My intellect teaches me that land cannot be sold.

— Black Hawk

The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me.

— Leviticus 25:23

To be honest, the earth has two masters: the first is almighty God and the second are his sons; all the people who have worked and will work on it.

— Thomas Carlyle

All people, from the first, and without any judicial act, should possess the earth. They should be able to live where nature and chance have brought them.

— Immanuel Kant

The possession of land as property is one of the most unnatural crimes there is. We cannot see the horror of this crime because in our world this crime is accepted as law. 

September 28

Most people act, not according to their meditations, and not according to their feelings, but as if hypnotized, based on some senseless repetition of patterns.

 

You should be brave enough to use your own intellect, in life and in your education.

— Immanuel Kant

 

If, among the many voices which speak in my soul, I could only recognize my soul's true voice, then I would never make mistakes, and never do evil. This is why it is necessary to know yourself.

 

If you see that you are not behaving according to your inner desires, but because of some outer influence, stop and consider whether what drives you is good or bad.

September 26

All true wisdom and all true faith are clearly expressed in the same moral law.

 

All the world is subject to one law, and all thinking beings have the same basic intellect. Therefore, all wise men share the same idea of perfection.

— Marcus Aurelius

 

The more I dedicate my time to two things, the more they fill my life with ever-increasing pleasure. The first is the sky above me, and the second is the moral law within me.

— Immanuel Kant

 

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

— Matthew 7:1-2

 

Moral law is so obvious and clear that even people who do not know the law have no excuse for violating. They have only one recourse: to deny their intellect, which they do.

September 23

No matter how big mankind's store of knowledge seems to me in comparison with our previous ignorance, it is only an infinitely small part of all possible knowledge.

 

Socrates did not have the weakness of many scholars, the desire to know about all possible things, to learn the origins and explanations of things - what the Sophists call "the nature of things" - and to uncover the origins of the celestial bodies. Socrates said, "Is it true that people are so concerned with these earthly things? People wrongly think that they should know everything. They think that they can despise the most necessary and important fields of knowledge, and penetrate the mysteries that do not belong to us."

— Xenophon

 

Not only is real science not hostile to religion, in fact real science always supports it.

— John Ruskin

 

Knowledge is limitless, and the most scholarly and educated person is as far from true knowledge as an uneducated peasant.

— John Ruskin

 

We cannot imagine the scope of our ignorance, just as a blind man cannot imagine darkness until he can see.

— Immanuel Kant

 

It is better to know less than necessary than to know more than necessary. Do not fear the lack of knowledge, but truly fear unnecessary knowledge which is acquired only to please vanity.

August 21

A fruitful prayer is the establishment in your conscious mind of the understanding of life’s meaning, and you can experience this state during the best minutes of your life.

Prayer is understood as an inner formal religious service, a service to ask and achieve some compassion for yourself from the higher force; this is a misconception. On the other hand, the desire of our heart to please God with all our actions – this is the spirit of real prayer which should always exist in us.

— Immanuel Kant

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. . . .

— Matthew 6:7-9

One hour of honest, serious thinking is more precious than weeks spent in empty talks.

You should pray every hour. The most necessary and the most difficult form of prayer is to remember — in spite of the numerous distractions of life — your obligations to God, to his law. You become scared, you become upset, you become embarrassed, you become too involved or distracted by something. But you should always remember who you are and what you should do. This is what a real prayer should be about. This is difficult in the beginning, but with time you can work and create this habit.

April 2

The only real life is one lived close to God. This does not happen by itself; you must make an effort to make this happen, and this effort will bring you joy.

A habit is never good, even a habit of doing good deeds. Good deeds, after they become habits, are no longer acts of virtue. Real good is only achieved with effort.

— IMMANUEL KANT

When you carry your burden, you should know that it is good for you to have it. Make the best of this burden and take from it everything which is necessary for your intellectual life, as your stomach takes from food everything necessary for your flesh, or as fire burns brighter after you put some wood on it.

— MARCUS AURELIUS

Be attentive to what you do; never consider anything unworthy of your attention.

— CONFUCIUS

Spiritual effort and the joy that comes from understanding life go hand in hand like physical exertion and rest. Without physical exertion, there is no joy in rest; without spiritual effort, there can be no joyful understanding of life.

April 1

Science can be divided into an infinite number of disciplines, and the amount of knowledge that can be pursued in each discipline is limitless. The most critical piece of knowledge, then, is the knowledge of what is essential to learn and what isn't.

A huge amount of knowledge is accumulated at present. Soon our abilities will be too weak, and our lives too short to study this knowledge. We have vast treasures of knowledge at our disposal but after we study them, we often do not use them at all. It would be better not to have this burden, this unnecessary knowledge, which we do not really need.

— IMMANUEL KANT

Too-voracious reading, begun at too early an age, fill our minds with undigested material. Our memory can become the master of our feelings and our fate; and when it does, an intellectual effort is required to reinforce our feelings with primeval innocence, to find ourselves amidst the dusty heaps of foreign thoughts and viewpoints, in order to start feeling by ourselves, and I am ready lo say in order lo live on our own.

— GEORGE LIGHTENBURG

Beware of false knowledge. All evil comes from it. Knowledge is limitless. Therefore, there is a minuscule difference between those who know a lot and those who know very little.