Elias Hicks Quotes

Do you mortify? Do you make it your daily work? Be always at it whilst you live; cease not a day from this work; be killing sin or it will be killing you.

The whole point of a sacrifice is that you give up something you never really wanted in the first place. People are doing it around you all the time. They give up their careers, say - or their beliefs - or sex.

A life is either all spiritual or not spiritual at all. No man can serve two masters. Your life is shaped by the end you live for. You are made in the image of what you desire.

Sexual self-restraint is only a preliminary stage in the ego's evolution.

All our talents increase in the using, and every faculty, both good and bad, strengthens by exercise: therefore, if you choose to use the bad, or those which tend to evil till they become your masters, and neglect the good till they dwindle away, you have only yourself to blame.

Why cannot we correct the baneful passions, without weakening the good?

It's very clearly stated in the film: You make your own choices, and what you're always fighting is ego.

Every being has flaws; the potential is always there to connect to the light or to darkness.

The natural mind is ever prone to reason, when we ought to believe; to be at work, when we ought to be quiet; to go our own way, when we ought steadily to walk on in God's ways, however trying to nature.

Is it not enough to know the evil to shun it? If not, we should be sincere enough to admit that we love evil too well to give it up.

As exercise is necessary to the development of physical muscle, so development of the moral nature is accomplished through temptation. The soul being given choice, may exercise it in whatever direction it chooses, for it learns just as well by its mistakes as by right action in the first place, perhaps even better.

Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.

Man wants to live, but it is useless to hope that this desire will dictate all his actions.

And so it is, that both the Devil and the angelic Spirit present us with objects of desire to awaken our power of choice.

I struggle with pride every day, but the one thing that I try to remind myself everyday is that I'm still a sinner no matter how many points/assists/win I get on the court.

Every spoken word arouses our self-will.

It's certainly not wrong to want to be a better person. God gave us that desire.

The wise use of your freedom to make your own decisions is crucial to your spiritual growth, now and for eternity.

I want to be a good person. I don't want to fail. I want to learn from my mistakes, rid myself of distractions, and run into the arms of Jesus. Most of the time, however, I feel like I am running away from Jesus into the arms of my own clutteredness.

My life is such a contradiction. My soul yearns for holiness and then runs from the mortification necessary to attain it.

The greater jihad is proclaiming war on our ego's destructive and negative emotions and thoughts... which prevent us from attaining perfection.

Everybody has a hero and a villain within themselves. So it depends upon you to be a hero or a villain. If you show humanity, it will give you satisfaction.

To gain the spiritual ascendancy over ourselves, and the influences with which we are surrounded, through a rigid course of self-discipline, is our first consideration, it is our first labor, before we can pave the way for our children to grow up without sin unto salvation.

If you want an enemy, the soul (nafs) is sufficient. If you want advice, death is sufficient.

Nobody makes me do anything I don't want to do. It's my decision. So the biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy.