There is greater comfort in the substance of silence than in the answer to a question. Eternity is in the present. Eternity is in the palm of the hand. Eternity is a seed of fire whose sudden roots break barriers that keep my heart from being an abyss.
Journal of Thomas Merton, July 4, 1952

Like a partridge hatching what she did not lay,
So is one who amasses wealth by unjust means;
In the middle of his life it will leave him,
And in the end he will be proved a fool.
Jeremiah 17:11b

Rabbi Yose son of Rabbi Hanina said: The divine Word spoke to each and every person according to his particular capacity. And do not be surprised at this idea. For when manna came down to Israel, each and every person tasted it in keeping with his own capacity... Now what was true about the manna was equally true about the divine Word. Each and every person heard it according to his own particular capacity. Thus David said, The voice of the Lord is in strength (Psalm 29:4) -- not "The voice of the Lord is in His strength," but the voice of the Lord is in the strength and capacity of each and every person.
Peskita De-Rab Kahana 12:25

Lord, you add understanding to faith. Therefore, as far as it is profitable for me, let me understand that you exist, in the way I believe you exist; and that your nature is what I believe it to be. I believe you to be that above which nothing greater can be conceived. But something above which nothing greater can be conceived, cannot exist only in the mind. If it exists in the mind, it is possible for it to exist in reality; and if it exists in reality, it would be greater than merely existing in the mind.
St. Anselm of Canterbury: Proslogion 2

The practice of yoga does not earn merit, nor does it lose merit; in itself it is morally neutral. But by practicing yoga you become progressively more inclined to act in a manner that has benign results, and less inclined to act in a manner that has malign results.
Patanjali: 4.7

Some people asked Rabi'a: 'Why do you not take a husband?' She replied: 'There are three questions, which absorb all my attention; if you can answer these questions, I shall take a husband. First, at the moment of death, will my faith be sound or not? Second, will the record of my deeds be put in my right hand, or in my left hand? Third, will I be in the group which is led to paradise, or in the group which is led to hell?' They said: 'We cannot answer these questions.' She said: 'With such agonizing questions on my mind, how can I concern myself with taking a husband?'
Attar: Rabi'a: 24

Perfect knowledge belongs to enlightened people, who recognize that all things are figments of the mind; who understand the emptiness of all things; and who have passed through the five levels of understanding. Perfect knowledge belongs to enlightened people who are entirely free from the dualism of being and non-being, of birth and death, and of assertion and negation. They no longer see the world as subject to causation. To them nothing is evolving and nothing is disappearing.
Lankavatra Sutra: 4

Your body is the shape lent to you by heaven and earth. Your life is not your possession; it exists through the harmony of energies, and is lent for a time by heaven and earth. Your character and destiny are not your possessions; they are laid down for you by heaven and earth. You travel through life without knowing where you are going; and you are fed, without knowing how food grows. So how can you ever possess anything?
Lieh Tzu, The Book of Lieh Tzu: 1