(10) "Be eager for the word. The first aspect of the word is faith, the second is love, the third is works, and from these comes life.

(9) Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith.

(30) My dear Reader, if you be able, break open all, and look into the Pith, yet you shall not find it, though you should seek in the Deep, in the Stars, in the Elements, in all living Creatures, in Stones, Plants, Trees, and in Metals; also in Heaven and Earth, you Shall not find it. Now you will say, Where then shall I find it? Dear Reader, I cannot so much as lend you the Key that will lead you to it. But I will direct you where you shall find it; it lies in the third Chapter of the Evangelist St. John, in these Words; You must be born anew by Water, and by the Holy Ghost. This Spirit is the Key: When you attain it, receive it, and go before the first Principle, out of which this World and all Creatures are created, and open the first Root, from which such visible and sensible Things did spring.

(4) Parmenides, too, in his poem, alluding to hope, speaks thus: "Yet look with the mind certainly on what is absent as present, For it will not sever that which is from the grasp it has of that which is Not, even if scattered in every direction over the world or combined."

(22) Though fallen away from him who has reached the goal, things seen have not alto fallen away, since they still exist for others.

(2) Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All."

(4) Then behold the Spirit and know where he is. He gave himself to men that they may receive life from him every day, since he has his life within him; he gives to them all.

A lover was once admitted to the presence of his mistress, but, instead of embracing her, he pulled out a paper of sonnets and read them to her, describing her perfections and charms and his own love towards her at length. His mistress said to him, "You are now in my presence, and these lover's sighs and invocations are a waste of time. It is not the part of a true lover to waste his time in this way. It shows that I am not the real object of your affection, but that what you really love is your own effusions and ecstatic raptures. I see, as it were, the water which I have longed for before me, and yet you withhold it. I am, as it were, in Bulgaria, and the object of your love is in Cathay. One who is really loved is the single object of her lover, the Alpha and Omega of his desires. As for you, you are wrapped up in your own amorous raptures, depending on the varying states of your own feelings, instead of being wrapped up in me." The true mystic must not stop at mere subjective religious emotions, but seek absolute union with God.

(1) 'These true desires, however, are hidden by what is false; though the desires be true, they have a covering which is false. Thus, whoever belonging to us has departed this life, him we cannot gain back, so that we should see him with our eyes.

(105) Be hopeful; for aforetime ye were put to shame through ill and affliction; but now ye shall shine as the lights of heaven, ye shall shine and ye shall be seen, and the portals of heaven shall be opened to you.

(174) Let the immortal depth of your Soul lead you, but earnestly raise your eyes upwards.

(25) For him who discerns between the Mind and the Spiritual Man, there comes perfect fruition of the longing after the real being of the Self.

(12) Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

(1) 'Hope (âsâ) is better than memory. Fired by hope does memory read the sacred hymns, perform sacrifices, desire sons and cattle, desire this world and the other. Meditate on hope.

(11) Through love the dead rise to life, Even when an evil befalls you, have due regard; The sight which regards the ebb and flow of good and ill Thence you see the one state moves you into the other, So long as you experience not fears after joys, How can you look for pleasures after disgusts? While ye fear the doom of the angel on the left hand, May you gain two wings! A fowl with only one wing Is impotent to fly, O well-intentioned one!

(2) 'He who meditates on hope as Brahman, all his desires are fulfilled by hope, his prayers are not in vain; he is, as it were, lord and master as far as hope reaches--he who meditates on hope as Brahman.' 'Sir, is there something better than hope?' 'Yes, there is something better than hope.' 'Sir, tell it me.'

(45) I have read the writings of very high masters, hoping to find therein the ground and true depth; but I have found nothing, but a half dead spirit, which in anxiety travaileth and laboureth for health, and yet, because of its great weakness, cannot attain perfect power.

(75) Listen, my son, and do not be slow with your ears. Raise yourself up when you have left your old man behind like an eagle. Fear God in all your acts, and glorify him through good work. You know that every man who is not pleasing to God is the son of perdition. He will go down to the Abyss of the Underworld.

(105) Be hopeful, and cast not away your hopes for ye shall have great joy as the angels of heaven.

(13) You are going too fast. You see your egg, and expect to hear it crow. You look at your cross-bow, and expect to have broiled duck before you. I will say a few words to you at random, and do you listen at random. "How does the Sage seat himself by the sun and moon, and hold the universe in his grasp? He blends everything into one harmonious whole, rejecting the confusion of this and that. Rank and precedence, which the vulgar prize, the Sage stolidly ignores. The revolutions of ten thousand years leave his Unity unscathed. The universe itself may pass away, but he will flourish still. "How do I know that love of life is not a delusion after all? How do I know but that he who dreads to die is not as a child who has lost the way and cannot find his home? "The lady Li Chi was the daughter of Ai Fêng. When the Duke of Chin first got her, she wept until the bosom of her dress was drenched with tears. But when she came to the royal residence, and lived with the Duke, and ate rich food, she repented of having wept. How then do I know but that the dead repent of having previously clung to life?