Paradise Quotes

You deal with mythological stuff for a few years, you learn that paradises are usually places where you get killed.

~ Rick Riordan

Why can't these American women stay in their own country? They are always telling us that it is the paradise for women.It is. That is the reason why, like Eve, they are so excessively anxious to get out of it.

~ Oscar Wilde

wherever you find the greatest good, you will find the greatest evil, because evil loves paradise as much as good.

~ Wallace Stegner

I ran across an excerpt today (in English translation) of some dialogue/narration from the modern popular writer, Paulo Coelho in his book: Aleph.(Note: bracketed text is mine.)... 'I spoke to three scholars,' [the character says 'at last.'] ...two of them said that, after death, the [sic (misprint, fault of the publisher)] just go to Paradise. The third one, though, told me to consult some verses from the Koran. [end quote]' ...I can see that he's excited. [narrator]' ...Now I have many positive things to say about Coelho: He is respectable, inspiring as a man, a truth-seeker, and an appealing writer; but one should hesitate to call him a 'literary' writer based on this quote. A 'literary' author knows that a character's excitement should be 'shown' in his or her dialogue and not in the narrator's commentary on it. Advice for Coelho: Remove the 'I can see that he's excited' sentence and show his excitement in the phrasing of his quote.(Now, in defense of Coelho, I am firmly of the opinion, having myself written plenty of prose that is flawed, that a novelist should be forgiven for slipping here and there.)Lastly, it appears that a belief in reincarnation is of great interest to Mr. Coelho ... Just think! He is a man who has achieved, (as Leonard Cohen would call it), 'a remote human possibility.' He has won lots of fame and tons of money. And yet, how his preoccupation with reincarnation—none other than an interest in being born again as somebody else—suggests that he is not happy!

~ Roman Payne

In monasteries, seminaries, retreats and synagogues, they fear hell and seek paradise. Those who know the mysteries of God never let that seed be planted in their souls.

~ Omar Khayyám

God hides the fires of hell within paradise.

~ Paulo Coelho

A fool's paradise is a wise man's hell.

~ Thomas Fuller

The paradise of prayers is like a palace full of precious things.

~ Lailah Gifty Akita

Spread kindness, caring, and compassion and create your own paradise. Infuse it with joy and you’ve created heaven on earth.

~ Amy Leigh Mercree

Paradise was always over there, a day’s sail away. But it’s a funny thing, escapism. You can go far and wide and you can keep moving on and on through places and years, but you never escape your own life. I, finally, knew where my life belonged. Home.

~ J. Maarten Troost

I continuously see myself on an airplane that has unlimited fuel. I go here and there but can't stop. Always flying over my destination. I've come to realize I must jump off with my parachute on of course. That is how I'm viewing my life right now.Once I find that loophole than I've reached my destination to success.

~ Hyrum Yeakley

I don’t know why everyoneis still trying to find out whether heaven and hell exist.Why do we need more evidence?They exist here on this very Earth.Heaven is standing atop Mount Qasiounoverlooking the Damascene sightswith the wind carrying Qabbani’sdulcet words all around you.And hell is only four hours away in Aleppo where children’s cries drown out the explosions of mortar bombsuntil they lose their voice,their families, and their limbs.Yes, hell certainly does existright now, at this moment,as I pen this poem. And all we’re doingto extinguish this hellfireis sighing, shrugging, liking, and sharing.Tell me: what exactly does that makeus? Are we any better than the gatekeepers of hell?

~ Kamand Kojouri

O, weary angels, don’t look at me with those eyes.If that is your state then what of our cries?What can I tell you of goodness that you don’t already know?What can I tell you of faith,of hope and lovethat you yourselves bestow?O, angels, don’t pluck another feather,this isn’t the sky, it’s just the weather.Please, angels, try.We are one all together.Look up and listen, I’ll say it once and then put down my pen:We are sorry for our ignoranceand even though we are worldly,it might happen again.We are sorry for your wearinessand even though you aren’t worldly,we are no more than human.

~ Kamand Kojouri

Feathers! spluttered Sargatanas. Feathers are for the birds, my boy. Flaking, peeling, scale-ridden wings, now that's what real beings wear. I'll tell you a secret. He said, and drew me closer. The eternal pain at having known Paradise and lost it is priceless. I wouldn't swap it for anything.

~ George Pendle

It has always been this way. Death is followed by birth. To reach paradise, man must pass through inferno. - Bertrand Zobrist

~ Dan Brown

Do the thing you love to do. Hank Williams died at the ripe old age of twentynine. Stevie Ray Vaughan at thirty-five. Jesus at thirtythree. Don’t think you’re special and the Lord’s gonna bless you with time.

~ Jill S. Alexander

A book of verses underneath the boughA flask of wine, a loaf of bread and thouBeside me singing in the wildernessAnd wilderness is paradise now.

~ Omar Khayyám

Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough,A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse - and ThouBeside me singing in the Wilderness -And Wilderness is Paradise enow.

~ Omar Khayyám

I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.)

~ Anonymous

Only add Deeds to thy knowledge answerable; add faith; Add virtue, patience, temperance; add love, By name to come called charity, the soul Of all the rest: then wilt thou not be loath To leave this Paradise; but shalt possess A paradise within thee, happier far.

~ John Milton

Katika dunia ya leo ambapo mamilioni ya watu hutegemea utandawazi kupata pesa, kuwa na imani kwamba kupokea pesa kutoka kwa mtu usiyemjua au mtu mwenye nia mbaya na wewe ni kikwazo kikubwa cha maendeleo kwa sababu, karibu kila mtu unayekutana naye ni Shetani. Shetani ni mtu yoyote mwenye nia mbaya na wewe. Hivyo, kama uliwahi kuambiwa kwamba kupokea pesa kutoka kwa mtu usiyemjua ni kitu kibaya futa imani hiyo. Utaachaje kupokea pesa kutoka kwa mtu usiyemjua wakati kila siku unamwomba Mungu akusaidie, na Mungu hutenda kazi zake pale tunapojisahau? La sivyo hutapata pesa unayotamani kupata katika maisha yako, na kamwe hutawaamini watu. Zaka huondoa laana ya mapato. Toa zaka kununua pepo uliyopewa na Mungu.

~ Enock Maregesi

Whoever treads a path seeking knowledge, Allah will make easy for him the path to Paradise.(reported by Ibn Majah and others, fulfilling the conditions of Imam al Bukhari and Imam Muslim)

~ Anonymous

Until every soul is freely permitted to investigate every book, and creed, and dogma for itself, the world cannot be free. Mankind will be enslaved until there is mental grandeur enough to allow each man to have his thought and say. This earth will be a paradise when men can, upon all these questions differ, and yet grasp each other's hands as friends. It is amazing to me that a difference of opinion upon subjects that we know nothing with certainty about, should make us hate, persecute, and despise each other. Why a difference of opinion upon predestination, or the trinity, should make people imprison and burn each other seems beyond the comprehension of man; and yet in all countries where Christians have existed, they have destroyed each other to the exact extent of their power. Why should a believer in God hate an atheist? Surely the atheist has not injured God, and surely he is human, capable of joy and pain, and entitled to all the rights of man. Would it not be far better to treat this atheist, at least, as well as he treats us?Christians tell me that they love their enemies, and yet all I ask is—not that they love their enemies, not that they love their friends even, but that they treat those who differ from them, with simple fairness.We do not wish to be forgiven, but we wish Christians to so act that we will not have to forgive them. If all will admit that all have an equal right to think, then the question is forever solved; but as long as organized and powerful churches, pretending to hold the keys of heaven and hell, denounce every person as an outcast and criminal who thinks for himself and denies their authority, the world will be filled with hatred and suffering. To hate man and worship God seems to be the sum of all the creeds.

~ Robert G. Ingersoll

When people talk about destiny, they tend to forget that it isn’t deprived from free will, free will to both accept it or destroy it. If you were meant to find love and then hurt the person that loves you back, you’ve just exercised your free will against destiny, and that destiny, that brought that person to you, will now use the exact same force to pull such person away from you. You cannot violate the spiritual laws of the universe. You will always pay a heavy price for being ignorant about this fact. You have the free will to do whatever you wish in the paradise of life, but only as long as you don’t violate the sacred rules, when eating the fruit of selfishness, the tree of good and evil. That need to explore discernment will cost you your happiness, and expel you from the paradise destined to you.

~ Robin Sacredfire

Joni Mitchell had it right: They paved paradise / and put up a parking lot. But perhaps, in the near future, we could add a line of hopeful epilogue to that song: then they tore down the parking lot / and raised up a paradise

~ Richard Louv

Good gods are scarce because the majority of gods are created by evil men

~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

Why do religious believers hate unbelievers? The feel threatened by them, they feel besieged by them. Religions consider themselves as separate tribes in their own rights and feel like unbelievers will one day overrun their strongholds

~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

Every word that comes after And the Lord told me. . . “is a pious lie

~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

Some people are so stiff and inhumane as the dogma's they believe in

~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

Give me something to worship whatever.” Cries the human soul

~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

Spiritual leaders, priests and prophets are lamps burning in the dark, seeking meaning for humanity.

~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

Science cannot disprove god. Science studies the things that are. The eternal question is who or what made them to be

~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

Why doesn't the pope convert to Calvinism? Why doesn't the Dalai Lama, convert to Christianity, why doesn't Billy Graham convert to Islam, Why doesn't the Ayatollahs convert to Buddhism, Why isn't Buddhism swept away? Religious leaders know that all religions are equal; they know that no one of them has the monopoly to the knowledge of God. They know that each religion is trying to find the hidden God and that no one religion can claim to have found him beyond doubt. That's why they remain where they are and respect each other.

~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

Can really anybody put his hand on his heart and profess to know beyond doubt what happens on the other side of this life?

~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

There is nothing behind the curtains of religions, people put there whatever their imaginations can fathom

~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

Once you believe that god is not a private property of anybody, you are on your way to becoming a new messiah. Maybe your own if not the world's

~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

Theology is like assuming that there is a black cat in a dark room where in fact there is no black cat, and endeavoring to study the cat's properties and how it may have evolved from its ancestors.

~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

The eyes of god are upon you, I mean the eyes of society. We are prisoners of societies in which we live

~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

You take away my golden dreams and my visions of paradise, in its place you wake me up and hand me your reasons and facts and crude reality. You have ruined my life. If I commit murder or hang myself, let the god I used to pray to repay you in full.

~ Bangambiki Habyarimana

If you believe that God is good and that He loves you without regard to whom you are or what you do, you will worship Him wholeheartedly. You will praise him with thanksgiving. If you believe He is angry against you, you will come to him with fear and trying to appease his anger. And you don't know when His anger will be over. Such a god keeps you in a perpetual psychological anguish. That is the typical kind of god we usually worship. That is the typical god approved by authority.

~ Bangambiki Habyarimana