A given circle cannot be so true that a truer one cannot be found; and the movement of a sphere at one moment is never precisely equal to its movement at another, nor does it ever describe two circles similar and equal, even if from appearances the opposite may seem true. All visible things would not claim as their king some color of their region, which is actually among the visible things of this region, but rather would say, he is the highest possible beauty of the most lucid and perfect color. For when we say that what is different is different, we affirm that what is different is the same as itself. Divinity is in all things in such a way that all things are in divinity. But you, almighty God, who are invisible to every mind, are able to show yourself as visible to whom you will and in the way in which you can be grasped. Remarkable Last Words (or Near-Last Words). However, he names him God, or in Greek, theos. For there is nothing in Thee that is not Thy very Essence. But if perhaps this difference of rites cannot be removed or if it is not expedient to do so in order that the diversity may contribute to devotion, as when any region expends a more attentive effort in performing its ceremonies as if they would become the more pleasing to you, the King: at any rate, just as you are one, there should be one religion and one veneration of worship. In humility alone lies true greatness, and knowledge and wisdom are profitable only in so far as our lives are governed by them. Join OneJourney founder and bestselling “Secret of Letting Go” author Guy Finley for free online classes on Sunday mornings at 9:00 AM Pacific and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 PM Pacific. And that is the life of the virtuous, who proceed in the desire for the other life, which is commended by the saints. Better be killed than frightened to death. You will not find another faith, but rather one and the same single religion presupposed everywhere, There can only be one wisdom. These are the most famous of the said paths to God, although many others were presented by the wise and the prophets, Therefore in the Qur'an the splendour of the Gospel shines forth to the wise, to those who are led by the Spirit of Christ, The goal and intent of the book of the Qur'an, is not only not to detract from God the creator or from Christ or from God's prophets and envoys or from the divine books of the Testament, the Psalter, and the Gospel, but also to give glory to God the Creator, to praise and bear witness to Christ (the son of the Virgin Mary) above all prophets, and to confirm and approve of the Testament and the Gospel. Therefore, do not hide yourself any longer, O Lord; be merciful and show your face, and all peoples will be saved who are no longer able to forsake the source of life and its sweetness when they have had even a little foretaste of them. And even if that intellectual spirit, sown in earth and swallowed up in shadow, does not see the light and the source of his beginning, nevertheless, you created along with him everything through which he, kindled by wonder at those things which he contacts by the senses, can sometimes lift the eyes of his mind to you, the Creator of all, and can be reunited to you in highest love and so can finally return to his source with joy. Therefore, God is revealed therein, that one knows that every intellect is too small to make itself a figuration or concept of Him. Therefore, it is you, the giver of life and being, who seem to be sought in the different rites by different ways and are named with different names, because as you are you remain unknown and ineffable to all. What does the existing seek except to exist? Book by Nicholas of Cusa, translated by Jasper Hopkins, 1981. Well-ordered and correct lordships and honors, then, are established by election, and so also are general judges established over those who elect them. Follow AzQuotes on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. For there is nothing in Thee that is not Thy very Essence. Now if the earth provides in each species a focus for the action of each star, why may not a similar provision be made among other heavenly bodies that are subject to the action of their fellows? For, surely, these plural beginnings would be both alike, by virtue of their not partaking of the One, and not alike, by virtue of their not partaking of the One. There will be a machina mundi whose centre, so to speak, is everywhere, whose circumference is nowhere, for God is its circumference and centre and He is everywhere and nowhere. Quotes by Nicholas of Cusa “Wisdom is not to be found in the art of oratory, or in great books, but in a withdrawal from these sensible things and in a turning to the most simple and infinite forms. . For no other purpose is it sent by God to the earth than that it glow and grow into a flame. . It would certainly have a circumference if it had a centre, in which case it would contain within itself its own beginning and end; and that would mean that there was some other thing which imposed a limit to the world - another being existing in space outside the world. An external thing that is knowable [is knowable] by means of something internal that is consubstantial [with the rational soul]. Therefore, come to our aid you who alone are able. trans. An external thing that is knowable [is knowable] by means of something internal that is consubstantial [with the rational soul]. The world has no circumference. For it is the absolute maximum of every rational desire, than which a greater cannot be. Click here to download a free excerpt from the book. Jasper Hopkins (Minneapolis: Arthur J Banning Press, 1990), 119 – 20. For no one desires anything in all that one seems to desire other than the Good, which You are. For what is different can be different only through the Absolute Same, through which all that is is both the same as itself and other than another. Motivational quotes by Nicholas of Cusa about love, life, success, friendship, relationship, change, work and happiness to positively improve your life. If that one is already a great artist, who knows how to educe from a small piece of wood the face of a king or of a queen, an ant or a camel, how great then is the mastery which can form as actuality everything which is in all potentiality? What does the living search for other than life? Once … Inspirational Picture Quotes and Motivational Sayings with Images To Kickstart Your Day! Nicolas of Cusa’s fifteenth-century text De Visione Dei represents his most far-reaching illustration of communication between finite “quantum” vision and the infinite spherical vision of God. When one reads the Qur'an with this understanding, assuredly some fruit can be elicited from it, We find passages in the Qur'an that are useful for us. Nicholas of Cusa was noted for his deeply mystical writings about Christianity, particularly the nature of the Trinity. Since beings desire to exist, because to exist is a good thing: they desire the One without which they cannot exist. All men strive and hope for nothing other than eternal life in their human nature. For each one desires in all that he seems to desire only the good which you are; no one is seeking with all his intellectual searching for anything else than the truth which you are. If, then, you called this divine Simplicity infinite Mind, it will be the exemplar of our mind. Time is to eternity as an image is to its exemplar, and those things which are temporal bear a resemblance to those things which are eternal. He entered the Faculty of Arts of the Heidelberg University in 1416 as a “cleric of the Diocese of Trier,” studying the liberal arts. Time is to eternity as an image is to its exemplar, and those things which are temporal bear a resemblance to those things which are eternal. All we know of the truth is that the absolute truth, such as it is, is beyond our reach. Therefore, that which is seen in different things can also be seen in and of itself without otherness, since otherness did not give being to it. 1459. When Eternity is considered to be the Beginning, then our speaking of the Beginning of the Begun is nothing but our speaking of the Eternity of the Eternal or our speaking of the Eternity of the Begun. For what does the living seek except to live? Paul indeed wanted to reveal the unknown God to the philosophers and then affirms of Him, that no human intellect can conceive Him. Human beings must find a common ground if our battles are ever to end. In creating the world, God used arithmetic, geometry, and likewise astronomy. Within itself the soul sees all things more truly than as they exist in different things outside itself. So. Since, then, in Thee the loved is one with the lover, and being loved [is one] with loving, this bond of coincidence is an essential bond. Number, in consequence, includes all things that are capable of comparison. This is a fine argument. Fair Use Policy and Disclaimer. It is found as none of these, but rather above everything as God of gods and King of all kings. Many believe he was influenced in this by the work of Thomas a Kempis. Better be killed than frightened to death. You, therefore, who bestow life and existence, are that one, who seems to be sought differently in the diverse rites and is named with diverse names, since You as You are remain unknown and ineffable for all. Hence, in Thee, who art Love, the lover -is not one thing and the loved another, and the bond between them a third, but they are one and the same-Thou, Thyself, my God.