Ritual Quotes

• Marriage is not a ritual or an end. It is a long, intricate, intimate dance together and nothing matters more than your own sense of balance and your choice of partner.

  Amy Bloom

  Marriage, Love You, Long

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• The function of ritual, as I understand it, is to give form to human life, not in the way of a mere surface arrangement, but in depth.

  Joseph Campbell

  Giving, Depth, Way

  "Myths to Live By".

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• Rituals keep us from forgetting what must not be forgotten and keep us rooted in a past from which we must not be disconnected.

  Tony Campolo

  Past, Forget, Forgotten

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• Any ritual is an opportunity for transformation. To do a ritual, you must be willing to be transformed in some way. The inner willingness is what makes the ritual come alive and have power. If you aren't willing to be changed by the ritual, don't do it.

  Starhawk

  Opportunity, Alive, Way

  "Infinity in Your Hand : A Guide for the Spiritually Curious". Book by William H. Houff, 1989.

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• Ritual is the passage way of the soul into the Infinite.

  Algernon Blackwood

  Soul, Way, Infinite

  Algernon Blackwood (2011). “Four Weird Tales”, p.120, The Floating Press

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• Ritual consists of the external practices of spirituality that help us become more receptive and aware of the closeness of our lives to the sacred. Ritual is the act of sanctifying action - even ordinary action - so that it has meaning. I can light a candle because I need the light or because the candle represents the light I need.

  Christina Baldwin

  Light, Practice, Ordinary

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• Any ritual is an opportunity for transformation.

  Starhawk

  Opportunity, Transformation

  "Infinity in Your Hand : A Guide for the Spiritually Curious". Book by William H. Houff, p. 151, 1994.

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• There is a comfort in rituals, and rituals provide a framework for stability when you are trying to find answers.

  Deborah Norville

  Trying, Comfort, Answers

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• Ritual affirms the common patterns, the values, the shared joys, risks, sorrows, and changes that bind a community together. Ritual links together our ancestors and descendants, those who went before with those will come after us.

  Starhawk

  Community, Joy, Risk

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• Any serious attempt to try to do something worthwhile is ritualistic.

  Derek Walcott

  Trying, Serious, Worthwhile

  Derek Walcott, William Baer (1996). “Conversations with Derek Walcott”, Univ Pr of Mississippi

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• A ritual is the enactment of a myth. And, by participating in the ritual, you are participating in the myth. And since myth is a projection of the depth wisdom of the psyche, by participating in a ritual, participating in the myth, you are being, as it were, put in accord with that wisdom, which is the wisdom that is inherent within you anyhow. Your consciousness is being re-minded of the wisdom of your own life.

  Joseph Campbell

  Depth, Consciousness, Myth

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• Religion becomes a hollow shell of its former self when ritual remains and thoughtful reflection disappears.

  Nouman Ali Khan

  Reflection, Thoughtful, Self

  FaceBook post by Nouman Ali Khan from Aug 15, 2013

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• To pray together, in whatever tongue or ritual, is the most tender brotherhood of hope and sympathy that man can contract in this life.

  Madame de Stael

  Men, Brotherhood, Together

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• Rituals are important.

  John Lennon

  Important

  John Lennon, Yōko Ono, David Sheff, G. Barry Golson (1981). “The Playboy interviews with John Lennon and Yōko Ono”, Putnam Pub Group

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• All acts of love and pleasure are my rituals

  Doreen Valiente

  Paganism, Wiccan, Goddess

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• Rituals are comforting; rituals combat loneliness.

  John Irving

  Loneliness, Comforting, Combat

  John Irving (2012). “A Prayer For Owen Meany”, p.296, Random House

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• Your first ritual that you do during the day is the highest leveraged ritual, by far, because it has the effect of setting your mind, and setting the context, for the rest of your day.

  Eben Pagan

  Mind, Firsts, Effects

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• Ritual is necessary for us to know anything.

  Ken Kesey

  Literature, Knows

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• Rituals, anthropologists will tell us, are about transformation. The rituals we use for marriage, baptism or inaugurating a president are as elaborate as they are because we associate the ritual with a major life passage, the crossing of a critical threshold, or in other words, with transformation.

  Abraham Verghese

  Baptism, President, Use

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• It seemed to be a necessary ritual that he should prepare himself for sleep by meditating under the solemnity of the night sky... a mysterious transaction between the infinity of the soul and the infinity of the universe.

  Victor Hugo

  Sleep, Night, Sky

  Victor Hugo (1980). “Les misérables”, Viking Pr

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• The preparation for the ritual is the ritual.

  Kate Green

  Preparation

  Kate Green (1985). “Shattered Moon”, Dell Publishing Company

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• Ritual will always mean throwing away something: destroying our corn or wine upon the altar of our gods.

  Gilbert K. Chesterton

  God, Wine, Mean

  "Tremendous Trifles. Secret of a Train". Book by Gilbert K. Chesterton, 1909.

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• Life can be lived in rules, but then life becomes superficial. Live life not according to the laws but according to consciousness, awareness. Don't live life according to the mind. Mind has rules and regulations, mind has rituals. Live life from the standpoint of no-mind so that you can bloom into unpredictable flowers.

  Rajneesh

  Live Life, Flower, Law

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• When tea becomes ritual, it takes place at the heart of our ability to see greatness in small things.

  Muriel Barbery

  Heart, Greatness, Tea

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• The one thing I remember about Christmas was that my father used to take me out in a boat about ten miles offshore on Christmas Day, and I used to have to swim back. Extraordinary. It was a ritual. Mind you, that wasn't the hard part. The difficult bit was getting out of the sack.

  John Cleese

  Christmas, Father, Swim

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