• Where there are humans you'll find flies, and Buddhas. Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828) Japanese poet, lay Buddhist Chan Zen priest, cited in: Manuela Dunn-Mascetti, editor, A Book of Zen. Sayings, Haiku, Koans, Hyperion, 5. December 1996

• The Glory of God is a human being who is fully alive. Saint Irenaeus (2nd century-202 AD) Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul (then Roman Empire, now France) early church father, apologist, author, source unknown

• The problem with the world is that humanity is not in its right mind. Mahatma Gandhi [LoC 760] (1869-1948) Indian sage, spiritual activist leader, humanitarian, lawyer, nonviolent freedom fighter, source unknown

• Interdependence is and ought to be as much the ideal of man as self-sufficiency. Man is a social being. Mahatma Gandhi [LoC 760] (1869-1948) Indian sage, spiritual activist leader, humanitarian, lawyer, nonviolent freedom fighter, source unknown

• The man we call modern, the man who is aware of the immediate present is by no means the average man. The man who has attained consciousness of the present is solitary. The "modern" man has at all times been so, for every step towards fuller consciousness removes him further from his original, purely animal participation mystique with the herd, from submersion in a common unconsciousness. Every step forward means tearing oneself loose from the maternal womb of unconsciousness in which the mass of men dwells. Even in a civilized community – the people who form, psychologically speaking – the lowest stratum, live in a state of unconsciousness, little different from that of primitives. Those of the succeeding strata live on a level of consciousness which corresponds to the beginnings of human culture. While those of the highest stratum, has a consciousness that reflects the life of the past few centuries. Only the man who is modern in our meaning of the term really lives in the present. He alone has a present day consciousness and he alone finds that the way of life on the earlier levels have begun to fall upon him. Values and strivings of those past worlds no longer interest him, save from the historical stand point. Plus he becomes unhistorical. He has estranged himself from the mass of men who live entirely within the bounds of tradition. Indeed, he is completely modern only when he has come to the very edge of the world leaving behind him all that has become discarded and outgrown and acknowledging that he stands before the nothing out of which all may grow. An honest mission of modernity means voluntarily declaring oneself bankrupt, taking the vows of poverty and chastity in a new sense and what is still more painful, renouncing the halo of sanctity which history bestows. To be unhistorical is the promethean sin and in this sense the modern man is sinful. A higher level of consciousness is like a burden of guilt, but as I have said, only the man who has outgrown the stages of consciousness belonging to the past can achieve full consciousness of the present. To do this he must be sound and proficient in the best sense. It is these qualities which enable him to gain the next highest level of consciousness. Carl Gustav Jung [LoC 520/540] (1875-1961) Swiss psychiatrist, psychoanalytist, founder of a new school of depth psychology, author, Gerhard Adler, translator,‎ R. F. C. Hull, translator, Civilization in Transition – Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Volume 10, "The Spiritual Problems of Modern Man", paragraph 149-150, 1928, Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 2nd edition 1. August 1970

• [Paraphrased] Seven levels of existence
  1. Mineral
  2. Vegetal
  3. Animal
  4. Man[*]
  5. Angel
  6. Seraphim
  7. The One Source of all things, both masculine and feminine, translatable as He/She

[*]The task of the "new man" (in 4th density) is to fill the breach in creation and reunite the lower and higher levels, to reconcile both aspects of creation: the first 3 first levels are "more" material and created by the higher levels. The last 3 levels are less material and endowed with creative abilities.

• Question: What does surprise you the most about humanity?
  Answer: Man. […] Because
  ➤ he sacrifices his health in order to make money.
  ➤ Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.
  ➤ And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present;
  ➤ the result being that he does not live in the present or the future;
  ➤ he lives as if he is never going to die,
  ➤ and then dies having never really lived.

• For human beings, it is the most daunting challenge there is – the challenge of becoming fully divine. For to become human is to become fully divine. Fr. Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O. (1923-2018) US American Trappist monk, priest, founder of the Centering Prayer movement, author, source unknown

Seven Ages of Man, 1838
William Mulready (1786-1863) Irish painter

• In some sense man is a microcosm of the universe; therefore what man is, is a clue to the universe. We are enfolded in the universe. David Bohm [LoC 507] (1917-1992) German-born US American British leading theoretical quantum physicist, source unknown

• We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin [LoC 500] (1881-1955) French philosopher, Jesuit priest, trained paleontologist, trained geologist
  • We are not human beings on a spiritual journey. We are spiritual beings on a human journey. Stephen R. Covey (1932-2012) US American leading management consultant, bestselling author, source unknown

• A human being is part of a whole, called by us the "Universe", a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. The striving to free oneself from this delusion is the one issue of true religion. Not to nourish it but to try to overcome it is the way to reach the attainable measure of peace of mind. Albert Einstein [LoC 499] (1879-1955) German-born US American theoretical physicist, developer of the theory of general relativity, Nobel Prize laureate in physics, 1921, handwritten letter to a distraught father who had lost his young son asking for some comforting words, 12. February 1950, presented by the US American daily newspaper The New York Times, 29. March 1972; Alice Calaprice, editor, The New Quotable Einstein, S. 206, Princeton University Press, paperback, 22. February 2005

• The true value of a human being is determined by the measure and the sense in which they have obtained liberation from the self. We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive. Albert Einstein [LoC 499] (1879-1955) German-born US American theoretical physicist, developer of the theory of general relativity, Nobel Prize laureate in physics, 1921, 1954

• All mankind is divided into three classes:
  1. Those that are immovable,
  2. those that are movable,
  3. and those that move.

• People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D. [Social impact LoC 485] (1926-2004) Swiss US American psychiatrist, death and dying researcher, founder of Near-death studies, author, Quotes

• The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.
  [Other version: The most beautiful people I’ve known are those who have known trials, have known struggles, have known loss, and have found their way out of the depths.] Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D. [Social impact LoC 485] (1926-2004) Swiss US American psychiatrist, death and dying researcher, founder of Near-death studies, author, Death. The Final Stage of Growth, 1975, Scribner, 1st edition 9. June 1997

• The Human Races will never again be able to go back to their citadels of high-walled exclusiveness. They have been exposed to each other, physically and intellectually. The shells, which have so long given them full security within their individual enclosures, have been broken, and by no artificial process can be mended again. So we have to accept the fact, even though we have not yet fully adapted our minds to this changed environment of publicity, even though through it we may have to run all the risks entailed by the wider expansion of life's freedom. Rabindranath Tagore [LoC 475] (1861-1941) Indian Bengali philosopher, musician, painter, playwright, poet, novelist, Nobel laureate in literature, 1913, editor Sisir Kumar Das, The English Writings of Rabindranath Tagore, Vol. II. A Miscellany, S. 71, paragraph 152, Sahitya Akademi, Wellwish Printers, Dehli, 1st edition 1996, reprint edition 2003, 2006

• The human being knows himself only insofar as he knows the world; he perceives the world only in himself, and himself only in the world. Every new object, well contemplated and clearly seen, opens up a new organ within us. Johann Wolfgang Goethe [LoC 465] (1749-1832) German polymath, poet, playwright, dramatist, novelist, Naturwissenschaftliche Schriften I, Goethes Werke volume 13, S. 38, 1955, 13. edition 2002, 11. edition 2012

• Humankind has become so much one family that we cannot insure our own prosperity except by insuring that of everyone else. If you wish to be happy yourself, you must resign yourself to seeing others also happy. ⚡ Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) British philosopher, social critic, logician, mathematician, historian, social reformist, "pacifist", member of the Royal Society, Nobel laureate in literature, 1950, essay The Science to Save Us from Science, presented by the US American Sunday edition The New York Times Magazine, 19. March 1950

• Modern man has transformed himself into a commodity; he experiences his life energy as an investment with which he should make the highest profit, considering his position and the situation on the personality market. He is alienated from himself, from his fellow men and from nature. His main aim is profitable exchange of his skills, knowledge, and of himself, his "personality package" with others who are equally intent on a fair and profitable exchange. Life has no goal except the one to move, no principle except the one of fair exchange, no satisfaction except the one to consume. Erich Fromm (1900-1980) German US American social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, author, The Art of Loving, S. 95, Harper & Brothers, New York, 1956

• In the 19th century inhumanity meant cruelty; in the 20th century it means schizoid self-alienation.
  The danger of the past was that men became slaves. The danger of the future is that men may become robots. True enough, robots do not rebel. But given man's nature, robots cannot live and remain sane, they become "Golems"; they will destroy their world and themselves because they cannot stand any longer the boredom of a meaningless life. Erich Fromm (1900-1980) German American social psychologist, psychoanalyst, sociologist, humanistic philosopher, The Sane Society, chapter 9 "Summary – Conclusion'', S. 102, Rinehart and Company, New York, 1955, Henry Holt & Company; Owl Book reissued paperback edition, 1. November 1990

• Birthday celebrations began as a way of recognizing the spirit that comes to life with each soul born. Originally, there was a single candle representing the inner spirit and shining genius that enters the world at birth. In this sense, a birthday serves as a reminder that each person is gifted; having an inner genius and god-given gifts to bring to life. Michael Meade Mosaicvoices.org US American storyteller, mythologist, ritualist, spokesman in the Men's Movement, author, Fate and Destiny. The Two Agreements of the Soul, Greenfire Press, 30. September 2010

• In ancient Egypt, circumcision appears to have been practiced from the earliest dynasties – that is, more than 6,000 years before the present – and is thought to have been of independent invention there (though the proximity of areas such as those known today as the Sudan and Chad, where mutilation appears to have been long established, may raise a doubt as to its independent invention). In any event, what makes Egyptian circumcision especially interesting is that the scholarly evidence indicates that, no matter where and upon whom it was practiced, it represented a sign of affiliation to the cult of sun god, Amon-Re, chief deity and creator of all things. Part of the Egyptian cosmogonic myth suggests that Amon-Re mutilated his genitals in some way. From Classical Greek sources, we know that the surgery appears to have been a privilege of the priestly castes. […]
  [C]ircumcision, an archaic ritual mutilation that has no justification whatsoever and no place in a civilized society. Ashley Montagu (1905-1999) British-American anthropologist, humanist, author on race and gender, politics and development, http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/montagu.htmlMutilated Humanity, presented at The Second International Symposium on Circumcision, San Francisco, California, 30. April-3. May 1991

• If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this:
  1. you must first enable the government to control the governed;
  2. and in the next place oblige it to control itself.

• Monotheism does not mirror human society. Humans are first and foremost social animals. A deity who was alone, not by choice but because there were no other companions for Him, was a concept without parallel in human society. The god of the Israelites did not have a wife, a son, a daughter, or a mother. Leonard Shlain, M.D. sextimeandpower.com (1937-2009) US American chairman of laparoscopic surgery, associate professor of surgery, UC San Francisco, researcher, writer, The Alphabet Versus the Goddess, Penguin, 1. September 1999

• Mankind is a conduit, a channel, for making God grow. Video presentation by Maurice M. Cotterell (*1951) British electrical and communications engineer, scientist, independent researcher, author, Secret of the Super Gods, part 1 of 2, sponsored by International UFO Congress, Arizona, 2007, YouTube film, minute 54:00, 1:33:27 duration, posted 17. August 17. 2011

• The proper study of mankind is man. Alexander Pope (1688-1744) English translator, poet, neoclassic writer, source unknown

• Men on frontiers, whether of time or space, abandon their previous identities. Neighbourhood gives identity. Frontiers snatch it away. Herbert 'Marshall' McLuhan (1911-1980) Canadian professor of English literature, literary critic, scholar, educator, philosopher, communication theorist, rhetorician, source unknown

• The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind. […] We have it in our power to begin the world over again. Thomas Paine [US Founding Father] (1737-1809) British US American Enlightenment philosopher, inventor, atheist intellectual, radical, revolutionary, pamphleteer, author, Common Sense, bestselling pamphlet, blueprint of modern democracy, 1776

• The dark triad has already been well-studied. First discovered by Delroy Paulhus and Kevin Williams in 2002, the dark triad of personality consists of narcissism (entitled self-importance), Machiavellianism (strategic exploitation and deceit) and psychopathy (callousness and cynicism). While these three traits had traditionally been studied mostly among clinical populations (e.g., criminals), Paulhus and Williams showed that each of these traits are clearly on a continuum – we are all at least a little bit narcissistic, Machiavellian and psychopathic. […]
  While each of the members of the dark triad has unique features and correlates, there is enough overlap among these "socially aversive" traits that Paulhus has argued that they "should be studied in concert." Indeed, there does appear to be a "dark core" to personality. Blog article by Scott Barry Kaufman (*1979) US American psychologist, Columbia University, science writer researching intelligence, personality, and creativity, author, The Light Triad vs. Dark Triad of Personality. New research contrasts two very different profiles of human nature, presented by the US American popular science magazine Scientific American, 19. March 2019

• [The light triad consists of] three distinct factors
  1. Kantianism (treating people as ends unto themselves, not mere means),
  2. Humanism (valuing the dignity and worth of each individual) and
  3. Faith in Humanity (believing in the fundamental goodness of humans)

• We are Gods with an anus. Ernest Becker (1924-1974) US American cultural anthropologist, interdisciplinary scientific thinker, writer, Pulitzer recipient, 1974, The Denial of Death, 1973, Free Press, 1st edition 8. May 1997

• We are beings toward death. Featherless, two-legged, linguistically conscious creatures born between urine and feces, whose body will one day be the culinary delight of terrestrial worms. But in the womb, we are beings introduced to the funk of life and the love push that gets us out. Covered in water and blood. Surrounded in Mother. Pushed into the world by a wave of love, blood and sacrifice. Cornel West, Ph.D. (*1953) US American philosopher, academic, public intellectual, prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America, activist, author, source unknown

• [A]natomically modern humans have coexisted with other primates for tens of millions of years. Philip Coppens (1971-2012) Belgian radio host, investigative journalist, author, The Lost Civilization Enigma. A New Inquiry Into the Existence of Ancient Cities, Cultures, and Peoples Who Pre-Date Recorded History, S. 56, New Page Books, 1st edition 31. October 2012

• Man is a creature who makes pictures of himself, and then comes to resemble the picture. Iris Murdock (1919-1999) British philosopher, author, source unknown

•  The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The man who walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever been before. Poster by Francis Phillip Wernig [Ashley-Pitt], 15. July 1970

Original split version

• Great people talk about ideas.
  Average people talk about things.
  Small people talk about other people.
  Unknown

Corrected version
Basic (body-oriented) people talk about things.
Mental (mind-oriented) people talk about ideas.
Relational (heart-centered) people talk about other people.
Maturing (integrating) people consider interrelatedness.
Hence, they tend to address all three levels of existence and wholesomeness.
Elfriede Ammann

• We are all visitors to this time, this place.
  We are just passing through.
  Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love [...]
  and then we return home.
  Australian Aboriginal proverb

• There's nowt so queer as folk.
  Nothing is as strange as people can be. People can behave very oddly sometimes.