Criss Jami Quotes

The worst evil is that most subtle evil. It is the evil that is merely 'base' which is more evil than evil itself. For it is the one closest to righteousness, the one indistinguishable and doused in virtue.

~ Criss Jami

They call good evil and evil good. There are those who are so easily offended that they lose their ability to ever discern any truth, and this is often derived from a sort of frenzy by way of their own masked prejudice.

~ Criss Jami

Perhaps it is true that, by some definitions, Satan is more religious than God. Many of the particularly proud sinners are deceived into thinking that Satan is anti-religious, that he likes seeing people do immoral things simply because he likes immoral things. Doubtful; Satan likes for people to do immoral things so that he can blame them for doing immoral things. The Father of Lies laughs not with his teammates, but at them.

~ Criss Jami

The pride of man hopes but to blame God for the evils of the world, and to praise himself for the good.

~ Criss Jami

Misguided good men are more dangerous than honest bad men. It is because they are seen as good that, in and by good conscience, the mob will always, stubbornly back them without question.

~ Criss Jami

Goodness is sparked by a caution for the sake of what is good, not a fear of what is bad.

~ Criss Jami

As time moves on the line will blur. It will no longer seem to be the simplicity of good versus evil, but good versus fools who think they are good.

~ Criss Jami

Everything at some point has been declared the root of all evil.

~ Criss Jami

Simplicity is a bliss that makes one comprehend.

~ Criss Jami

I would say that introverts make some of the best international philosophers. The less common attribute of the introverted lifestyle - a close societal connection, as such a connection disappears or changes in relevance as the currents of the winds change - leaves too much room for one's own cultural bias. Instead, introverts tend to turn inward, the laboratory of being and all its forms. This is the most accurate study of the individual human being, which is in turn, rather than those affected by cultural limitations, the most universal reflection of human understanding and human behavior.

~ Criss Jami

It helps to not confuse theological philosophers with evangelists. There is a difference but objectively neither better than the other: an evangelist's mission is to convert, a theological philosopher's mission is to build an understanding of a position.

~ Criss Jami

Self-awareness - the commendable ability to be yourself without being a nuisance to someone else.

~ Criss Jami

One of the bigger mistakes of our time, I suppose, was preaching the demonization of all judgment without teaching how to judge righteously. We now live in an age where, apart from the inability to bear even good judgment when it so passes by, still everyone, inevitably, has a viral opinion (judgment) about everything and everyone, but little skill in good judgment as its verification or harness.

~ Criss Jami

A distaste for the new is not always fear of the unknown, but sometimes ambition. Some people don't like the new way simply because they never got a chance to master the old way.

~ Criss Jami

The artist is often misunderstood because, stepping outside himself and holding most details in great tension, he's about as complex as a shape-shifter; or a head with faces on all sides, but not necessarily in the negative connotation as one being two-faced usually implies. For instance, to be misunderstood can mean to be improperly deemed a troublemaker when that is not one's true intent: you see, to troublemakers, the artist knows that the peacemaker may seem like a troublemaker; therefore he may, whether in honesty or in jest, at times, present himself as a troublemaker for perceptual, artistic flair. But then to the artless peacemakers, because of this they will interpret him as a troublemaker. This is why the artist has so few allies. To the troublemakers he's a troublemaker, yet still the peacemakers a troublemaker.

~ Criss Jami

On the inside, the copycats of the ruffians are more delicate than the copycats of prudes.

~ Criss Jami

It can be a good thing if deeper theology, or philosophy, only makes one more uncertain. It may lead to a healthy doubt; he may throw his hands up saying, 'God, I just don't know anymore. If you're out there, I'm giving it all to you.' From there, after the surrender, he is allowing God himself, rather than theories, books, and documents, to take over and lead him into all truth.

~ Criss Jami

Philosophy may serve as the bridge between theology and science. All atheism is a philosophy, but not all philosophy is atheism. Philosophy ('love of wisdom') is simply a tool depending on how one uses it, and in some cases, logically understanding the nature of God and existence.

~ Criss Jami

Tolerance never exists without negative judgment. It is the sentiment of having a negative opinion about something yet still putting up with it.

~ Criss Jami

Feel what it's like to truly starve, and I guarantee that you'll forever think twice before wasting food.

~ Criss Jami

Speculation, movements having abandoned rational thought, echo chambers, projection, hypocrisy by little to no self-awareness, bewildering minds brainwashed and manipulative hearts manipulated - one is sure to find these à la people cock-sure in their biased and fanatical, immovable despising of persons. We would all do well to humbly re-think from time to time: 'Whom do I really hate? For what purpose?

~ Criss Jami

The young are often savvy in the cultural world but not so much the intellectual, the old the intellectual but not so much the cultural. But I tell you those who do the most damage during an era are very much aware of both.

~ Criss Jami

Great philosophers become immortal - they make undeniable impacts on culture.

~ Criss Jami

Nothing frustrates people more than a cocky guy who's still winning.

~ Criss Jami

Sure, some of us humans might be angry at a sovereign God about Hell, but know that that is about as meaningful as a few germs being angry at humans about bleach.

~ Criss Jami

Whatever thing a man gets quickly enraged about is his idol, and whatever thing he makes his idol becomes his religion.

~ Criss Jami

When making a point, there are 2 types of people who may disagree with you: those who can support their reasons, and the childish ones who are too worried about being told what to do.

~ Criss Jami

What man ever openly apologizes for slander? It is not so much a feeling of slander as it is that of a massive lie, a misdeed not only to the slandered but also to those manipulated in the process. He has made them all, every one, his enemies, thereupon he is so overwhelmed with guilt that he will deny it until his grave.

~ Criss Jami

An assumption is the joke, truth the punchline.

~ Criss Jami

Intelligent people, as some say, in their openness, are indeed slow to criticize, but conversely, in their openness to the concerns of others, the genuine are slow to fret about being criticized.

~ Criss Jami

The hated man is the result of his hater's pride rather than his hater's conscience.

~ Criss Jami

For what religion has never had sects? Rest assured, Extremism is always the derrière.

~ Criss Jami

It's fallacious reasoning for the atheist to hate all religion due to men who manipulate religion to fit their own agendas. They are counterparts, therefore, if Truth is true, partners in crime. To believers, the atheist and the religiously corrupt boil down to the same person, the self-righteous: one denies Truth to fit his own agenda; the other manipulates Truth to fit his own agenda.

~ Criss Jami

They say that people fall in and out of love, but do they, too, fall in hate? Or fall into indifference? It has hindered men for ages the notion that one falls in love rather than decides to truly love, the notion that his lack of control, on the B-side, can also make him fall in hate or indifference without the responsibility to help it or control it.

~ Criss Jami

Everyone judges constantly: positively judging one person is the same as negatively judging everyone else, it is to say that that person is superior in some sense.

~ Criss Jami

The eye of danger and the face of fear are what really pull off a person's mask.

~ Criss Jami

What good is there in being blind, you ask? Well, maybe it's to see the beauty on the inside without being vainly distracted, or superficially blinded, by the ugly on the outside.

~ Criss Jami

The most mesmerizing of artists is always like one who was merely drawing in the sand and people came to watch.

~ Criss Jami

To be truly positive in the eyes of some, you have to risk appearing negative in the eyes of others.

~ Criss Jami

Being nice merely to be liked in return nullifies the point.

~ Criss Jami