# Devotion

Devotion is defined as the act or state of devoting or being devoted, the feeling of strong or fervent affection; dedication, Religious veneration, zeal, piety, prayer and religious ritual.
Arranged alphabetically by author or source: A · B · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · J · K · L · M · N · O · P · Q · R · S · T · U · V · W · X · Y · Z · Anon · See also · External links

## A

* A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler they consider god-fearing and pious.
** Aristotle, in Jews, Myth and History: A Critical Exploration of Contemporary Jewish Belief ..., p. 25
* I never write when I’m drunk. Why should one need aids? The Muse is a high-spirited girl who doesn’t like to be brutally or coarsely wooed. And she doesn’t like slavish devotion — then she lies.
** W. H. Auden, in W. H. Auden, The Art of Poetry No. 17 Interviewed by Michael Newman
* Everybody likes to go their own way- to choose their own time and manner of devotion.
** Jane Austen, in Dictionary of Quotations, p. 150

## B

* True devotion must not get dispirited; nor elated or satisfied with lesser gains; it must fight against failure, loss, calumny, calamity, ridicule and against egoism and pride, impatience and cowardice.
** Satya Sai Baba, in on Religions
* The art of motherhood involves much silent, unobtrusive self-denial, an hourly devotion which finds no detail too minute.
** Honore de Balzac, in Letters of Two Brides, p. 162
* ...whatever our ignorance left to itself, and whatever the wounds that other human beings are, we ought to study ourselves with a sort of devotion.
** Henri Barbusse, in The Inferno (Hell), p. 71
* They convey a certain reverence for the higher, a respect for the contemplative life, understood as contemplation of God and the peak of devotion, and a cleaving to eternal beings that mitigates absorption in the merely pressing or current.
** Allan David Bloom, in The closing of the American mind, p. 251
* Devotion (bhakti) effectively spans and reconciles the seemingly disparate aims of obtaining aid in solving worldly problems and locating one’s soul in relation to divinity. The term bhakti is derived from a root that literally means “having a share”; devotion unites without totally merging the identities of worshipers and deities.
** Encyclopædia Britannica, in Devotion
* To my thinking, a woman's religion ought not to lessen her devotion to her earthly lord. She should have enough to purify and etherealise her soul, but not enough to refine away her heart, and raise her above all human sympathies.
** Anne Brontë, in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall By Anne Bronte - With ..., p. 182
* I have been told by an eminent bookseller, that in no branch of his business, after tracts of popular devotion, were so many books as those on the law exported to the Plantations.
** Edmund Burke, in Select British eloquence: embracing the best speeches entire, of the most ..., p. 274
* "Eat The Music" Split me open With devotion You put your hands in And rip my heart out Eat the music...
** Kate Bush, in Kate Bush Lyrics
* But take this with thee: if I was not form'd To prize a love like thine, a mind like thine, Nor dote even on thy beauty — as I've doted On lesser charms, for no cause save that such Devotion was a duty, and I hated All that look'd like a chain for me or others (This even rebellion must avouch); yet hear These words, perhaps among my last — that none E'er valued more thy virtues, though he knew not To profit by them...
** Lord Byron, in The Poetical Works of Lord Byron Complete in One Volume Collected and ..., p. 278

## C

* ...a caring that gains only when losing; an obsessed desire to be bound, for love, in jail; a capitulation to the one you've conquered yourself; a devotion to your own assassin every single day.
** Luís de Camões, in Selected Sonnets: A Bilingual Edition, p. 45
* ...there is a gulf of difference between the lower-love (Sneha) and the higher-love (Prema). The highest love is when you seek, discover and experience, our essential oneness with the very substance of truth, the Lord. It is called devotion (Prema-Bhakthi).
** Swami Chinmayananda, in Tarangini - X, P.15
* Devotion to Sri Narayana also is the means to cultivate love within. To “hear” of his glories, to “sing” about His beauties, to “reflect” upon His love, to “meditate” upon His Presence within us, are the ways by which a devotee grows in his love for Him.
** Swami Chinmayananda, in "Tarangini - X", p. 18
* By unswerving devotion to Me, a man crosses over three Gunas- I am the Abode of Brahman, Eternal and Immutable, of everlasting Dharma and Absolute Bliss.
** Swami Chinmayananda, in "Tarangini - X", p. 40
* He took his time strapping on his customized armor and loading his weapon magazines, rifle, pistol, and assorted knives. For him, preparing for battle was a divine ritual, a blessing and sacrifice to the Holy Ones. He intended to show his devotion by expunging as many of the enemy as he could..
** Wesley Chu, The Rebirths of Tao (2015), ISBN 978-0-85766-430-3, p. 436
* Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love, generosity and devotion exist. And you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.
** Frances Pharcellus Church, in The Time of Your Life: The Best of Genie Wheeler's Columns on Aging Issues p. 19
* ...throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of world war by their prowess and their devotion.
** Winston Churchill, in The Most Dangerous Enemy: An Illustrated History of the Battle of Britain, p. 165

## D

* It is nearly impossible to give an adequate idea of the higher feelings which are excited; wonder astonishment, and sublime devotion fill and elevate the mind.
** Charles Darwin, in A "pure Excess of Complexity": Tropical Surfeit, the Observing Subject, and ..., p. 231
* Your ignorance is the mother of your devotion to me.
** John Dryden, in Dictionary of Proverbs, in p. 299

## E

* Downey's Holmes is at once more dissolute and more fit than previous incarnations. Holmes' canonical devotion to cocaine is here augmented by other drugs and a great deal of booze. Yet Holmes has the body of a lithe athlete, the skills of a gymnast and the pugilism of a world champion.
** Roger Ebert, in a review of Sherlock Holmes (2009 film)
* Thus with most careful devotion Thus with precise attention To detail, interfering preparation Of that which is already prepared Men lighten the knot of confusion Into perfect misunderstanding, Reflecting a pocket-torch of observation...
** T. S. Eliot, in T.s. Eliot The Dramatist, p. 146
* What they do not see is that their reverence for economic activity and industry and what is called business is also fetish worship, and that in their devotion to that idol they torture themselves as needlessly and indulge in the same meaningless
** Englishmen, in Readings in Jurisprudence and Legal Philosophy, Volume 1, p. 96

## F

* St. Orberosia is forgotten by the Penguins, her devotion abandoned, and her sanctuary deserted. On her shrine, bereft of its gold and precious stones, the spider silently weaves her web.
** Anatole France, in Penguin Island, p. 238
* Instead of man to love, we have a man-god to worship. From being the example of devotion, he is its object; the religion of Christ ended with his life, and left us instead but the Christian religion.
** James Anthony Froude, in The Christian Reformer, Or, Unitarian Magazine and Review, p. 275

## G

* The devotion of such titans of spirit as Lenin to an Ideal must bear fruit. The nobility of his selflessness will be an example through centuries to come, and his Ideal will reach perfection.
** Mahatma Gandhi, in Top 10 Most Influental Political/Military Leaders Ever
* With unquestioning devotion to the Union, with a patience and gentleness not born of fear, they have 'followed the light as God gave them to see the light.
** James A. Garfield, in Official Government Recognition of God: All Presidents, All States, Etc., p. 68
* ...one sex of voice in public matters, and that we could in no way so increase the attention, the intelligence and the devotion which may be brought to the solution of social problems as by enfranchising our women.
** Henry George, in Social problems, p. 320
* But they for whom I am the supreme goal, who do all work renouncing self for me and meditate on me with single-hearted devotion, these I will swiftly rescue from death's vast sea, for their consciousness has entered into me.
** Bhagavad Gita, in Quotes about Consciousness, p. 2
* Whatever I am offered in devotion with a pure heart - a leaf, a flower, fruit, or water - I accept with joy.
** Bhagavad Gita, in Like a Thousand Suns: The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living, p. 320
* But you must love with a sublime, genuine, profound sympathy, with devotion, with intelligence, and you must try all the time to understand Him more, better and yet more. That will lead to God, that will lead to an unshakeable faith.
** Vincent van Gogh, in Vincent van Gogh, p. 136
* Our natural distrust of concentrated power and our devotion to openness and democracy are what have lead us as a people to consistently
** Al Gore, in Pocket Patriot: Quotes from American Heroes, p. 190

## H

* Gallantry to women (the sure road to their favor) is nothing but the appearance of extreme devotion to all their wants and wishes, a delight in their satisfaction, and a confidence in yourself as being able to contribute towards it.
** William Hazlitt, in Treasury of Wisdom, Wit and Humor, Odd Comparisons and Proverbs: Authors, p. 159
* Do you know the kind of skill it demands, and the years of passionate, merciless, excruciating devotion that go to acquire that skill? That was what I would not place at the disposal of men whose sole qualification to rule me was their capacity to spout the fraudulent generalities that got them elected to the privilege of enforcing their wishes at the point of a gun. .
** Dr. Hendricks, in Atlas Shrugged, in The Little Red Book of Leadership Lessons, p. 70
* If I was told to sacrifice something to prove my devotion to God, if I was told to do what all monotheists are told to do and admire the man who said 'Yes I'll gut my kid to show my love of God.
** Christopher Hitchens, in Thank you, Mr. Hitchens
* And in these four things, opinion of ghosts, ignorance of second causes, devotion towards what men fear, and taking of things casual for prognostics, consisteth the natural seed of religion; which by reason of the different fancies, judgments and passions of several men, has grown up into ceremonies so different, that those which are used by one man, are for the most part ridiculous to another.
** Thomas Hobbes, in Modern Political Thought: Readings from Machiavelli to Nietzsche, p. 165
* All forms of dedication, devotion, loyalty and self-surrender are in essence a desperate clinging to something which might give worth and meaning to our futile, spoiled lives.
** Eric Hoffer, in The Discovery of First Principles, p. 277
* When his devotion to the unfortunate, the hungry, and the needy became known to Tolstoy, it had a profound influence upon his thought and eventually worked an entire transformation in his manner of living.
** Robert Hunter (author), in Get the Hell Out of Church: 7 Maxims for Fighting the Good Fight, p. 97

## I

* In a word, the almighty dollar, that great object of universal devotion throughout our land, seems to have no genuine devotees in these peculiar villages.
** Washington Irving, in American Icons, p. 208

## J

* To myself grant for the fruit of my devotion to thee — Truth in belief concerning the gods, the attainment of perfection in religious rites, and in all the undertakings which we attempt as regards warlike or military measures....
** Julian (emperor), in Julian the emperor, p. 280

## K

* To succeed in your mission, you must have single-minded devotion to your goal.
** A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, in A.P.J. Abdul Kalam: The Visionary of India, p. 36
* The atmosphere of devotion which hangs above the river is improbable in strength; stronger than in any church that I have ever visited. Every Christian priest would do well to sacrifice a year of his theological studies in order to spend his time on the Ganges; here he would discover what piety is.
** Klaus K. Klostermaier, in Hinduism: A Short History, p. 30

## L

* The American culture promotes personal responsibility, the dignity of work, the value of education, the merit of service, devotion to a purpose greater than self, and at the foundation, the pre-eminence of family.
** David Landes, in Angels in the Silicon: How Silicon Valley Changed Forever America's ..., p. 67
* The territorial state is such an ancient form of society - here in Europe it dates back thousands of years - that it is now protected by the sanctity of age and the glory of tradition. A strong religious feeling mingles with the respect and the devotion to the fatherland.
** Christian Lous Lange, in Peace: 1991-1995, p. 338
* We have great work ahead of us, and it needs devotion and much, much energy. To grow, to discover, we need involvement, which is something ...
** Bruce Lee, in The Bruce Lee Story, p. 120
* Love is sustained by action, a pattern of devotion in the things we do for each other every day.
** Wilson Lewis, in The Wedding, 37
* As leader and man Lenin possessed a selfless devotion to communist ideals and to the cause of the party and of the working class and a supreme conviction of the righteousness and justice of that cause.
** Vladimir Lenin, in Russians commemorate anniversary of the death of V.I. Lenin
* It is rather for us here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion.
** Abraham Lincoln, in History of an attempt to steal the body of Abraham Lincoln, p. 134

## M

* The number, the industry, and the morality of the priesthood, and the devotion of the people have been manifestly increased by the total separation of the church from the state.
** James Madison, in The Founding Fathers and the Place of Religion in America, p. 288
* Devotion to your goal makes you live a clean and orderly life, given to search for truthand to helping people, and realization makes noble virtue easy and spontaneous, by removing for good the obstacles in the shape of desires and fears and wrong ideas.
** Nisargadatta Maharaj, in Nisargadatta Maharaj Words
* The true test of our devotion to freedom is just beginning. I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way.
** Nelson Mandela, in Ebony Jan 1995, p. 127
* The more important Puranas or ancient tales...were written somewhere between 300 AD and 1200 AD and rank next to the epics in their influence on the masses as they seek to evoke religious devotion through myths, stories, and legends.
** Gurinder Singh Mann, in Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs in America : A Short History, p. 22
* Hindus offer devotion and offering to them Gods -Vishnu and Shiva at shrines in their homes and temples.
** Gurinder Singh Mann, in "Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs in America : A Short History", p. 50
* True strength lies in submission which permits one to dedicate his life, through devotion, to something beyond himself.
** Henry Miller, in Strive to Love, Anticipate with Hope, Believe in Faith, p. 29
* There are, certainly, differing degrees of devotion among Moon's followers; the fact that they bow at the right moment or shout "Mansei! ...
** Sun Myung Moon, in The New Yorker, Volume 74, Issues 26-33, p. 50

## N

* He was batting with single-minded devotion. It was truly remarkable. It was a lesson.
** Martina Navratilova about Sachin Tendulkar, in Amazing Cricket Facts, p. 95
* Pontus, instituted among all people, as an addition or corollary of devotion towards God, that festival days and assemblies should be celebrated to them who had contended for the faith (that is, to lie martyrs).
** Isaac Newton, in Observations upon the prophecies of Daniel, and the apocalypse of ..., Volume 1, p. 204
* Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation, as any painter's or sculptor's work; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared with having to do with the living body..., the temple of God's spirit? It is one of the Fine Arts: I had almost said, the finest of Fine Arts.
** Florence Nightingale in Role Development in Professional Nursing Practice, p. 186

## O

* By 'patriotism' I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force on other people.
** George Orwell, in The Oxford Handbook of British and Irish War Poetry, p. 368

## P

* ...made a great part in the religious devotion of the times in which they were written; and it was this devotional study and contemplation.
** Thomas Paine, in The Report of the Proceedings of the Court of King's Bench: In the Guildhall ..., p. 58
* ...to attain liberation. There are three ways: The Karma Marga (the way of works or good deeds), the Jnana Marga (the way of wisdom or knowledge), and the Bhakthi Marga (the way of devotion).
** Paul Pathickal, in Christ and the Hindu Diaspora, p. 47
* True devotion to god is indeed filled with wisdom and knowledge.
** Paul Pathickal, in "Christ and the Hindu Diaspora", p. 49
* Devotion to God is a specific religious attitude and sentiment, the essential features of which are faith, love, and trust in God.
** Paul Pathickal, in "Christ and the Hindu Diaspora", p. 49
* ...that 38.4% of the Hindus surveyed [in the US] admired the religious devotion of Christians. Hindus see Christians of all denominations going to worship services on Sundays, some going to prayer meetings and Bible studies on Saturdays and other days, and Christian children going to Sunday school during the school year and Vocation Bible School during the summer.
** Paul Pathickal, in "Christ and the Hindu Diaspora", P.78
* Bhakthi movement became prominent in later Hinduism. In the Bhakti Marga (Way of Devotion), devotion to god is a specific religious attitude and sentiment, the essential features of which are faith, love, and trust in god...Quite often, native Christian songs, hymns, and lyrics express these very same emotions of faith, love, and trust in Jesus Christ. Hindus identify with these emotions, with the difference that the object of their devotion would be Rama, Krishna and some other god.
** Paul Pathickal, in "Christ and the Hindu Diaspora", P.78
* The impurity of ignorance is in none so manifest as in the devout; for they act on their ignorance, and fill themselves and others with miserable scruples and hard thoughts of God, and are as apt to call good evil as other men are to call evil good.
** Coventry Patmore, The Rod, the Root, and the Flower (London: George Bell and Sons, 1895), Knowledge and Science XVI, p. 70
* Even this miraculous event, which ought to have excited the wonder, the curiosity, or the devotion, of mankind, passed without notice in an age of science and history.
** Phlegon on Bible, in Discussion on the existence of God and the authenticity of the Bible ..., p. 154
* ...in the 12th and 13th centuries believed that such a clock [mechanical clock] would provide a precise regularity to the seven periods of devotion...
** Neil Postman, in Computers, Ethics, and Society, p. 130

## Q

* If God is watching us, as some believers suggest, as though we were a television show and God had a lot of free time, the deity would surely be bemused by how dumbed-down devotion has sometimes become in this so-called modern era. How might an omnipotent being with the long view of history respond to those who visit the traveling exhibit of a grilled-cheese sandwich, sold on eBay, that is said to bear the image of the Virgin Mary? It certainly argues against intelligent design, or at least intelligent design in humans.
** Anna Quindlen, in Newsweek, Volumes 146-147, p. 228

## R

* But the challenge is always the same — whether each generation facing its own circumstances can summon the practical devotion to attain and retain that greatest good for the greatest number which this government of the people was created to ensure.
** Franklin D. Roosevelt, in The Presidency and Rhetorical Leadership, p. 168
* I doubt, however, if it is good for us to feel assured of this without the accompanying obligation of having to justify this devotion by our behaviour.
** Eleanor Roosevelt, in The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt, p. 105
* ...unity and inwardness; and makes the heart grow and bring forth the leaves of inward love, the flowers of ardent devotion, and the fruits of thanksgiving and praise, and makes these fruits to endure eternally, in humble grief, because of our shortcomings.
** Jan van Ruysbroeck|John Ruysbroeck, in The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage (Extended Annotated Edition), p. 3

## S

* There are many ways Hindus offer devotion through chanting and song.
** Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, in Saivite Hindu Religion Book Two, p. 146
* ...in the world there comes, as a result of thought about self and the world, spiritual self-devotion to the mysterious infinite Will that is continuously manifested in the universe.
** Albert Schweitzer, in Albert Schweitzer's Ethical Vision A Sourcebook, p. 110
* I never force myself to be devout except when I feel so inspired, and never compose hymns of prayers unless I feel within me real and true devotion.
** Franz Schubert, in Franz Schubert: The Man and His Circle, p. 123
* The desire of the moth for the star, Of the night for the morrow, The devotion to something afar From the sphere of our sorrow.
** Percy Bysshe Shelley, in Shelley's Music: Fantasy, Authority, and the Object Voice, p. 122
* He shuddered as he thought of it, for if this should be the case, they had spent their centuries of devotion to but little purpose, pursuing a will-o'-the-wisp.
** Clifford D. Simak, in A Choice of Gods, p. 25
* To give either to any public matter of interest or to any concern of my own, but I am in utter poverty by reason of my devotion to the god.
** Socrates, in Law and Literature: Text and Theory, p. 205
* ...a knowledge not gained by words but by touch, sight, sound, victories, failures, sleeplessness, devotion, love—the human experiences and emotions of this earth and of oneself and of other men; and perhaps, too....reverence for things you can not see.
** Adlai Stevenson, in Princeton Alumni Weekly, Volume 85, Issues 1-20, p. 29
* The time you spend alone with God will transform your character and increase your devotion. Then your integrity and godly behavior in an unbelieving world will make others long to know the Lord.
** Charles Stanley, in I Am a Student of Human Behavior

## T

* There is always the danger that we may just do the work for the sake of the work. This is where the respect and the love and the devotion come in - that we do it to God, to Christ, and that's why we try to do it as beautifully as possible.
** Mother Teresa, in The Bombast Transcripts: Rants and Screeds of Rage Boy, p. 126
* But men are now united in states; that work is done; why now maintain exclusive devotion to one's own state, when this produces terrible evils for all.
** Leo Tolstoy, in Peace-Mir: An Anthology of Historic Alternatives to War, p. 132

## U

* Loyalty and devotion lead to bravery. Bravery leads to the spirit of self-sacrifice. The spirit of self-sacrifice creates trust in the power of love.
** Morihei Ueshiba, in Meditation and the Martial Arts, p. 12

## V

* If my love is without sacrifice, it is selfish. Such a love is barter, for there is exchange of love and devotion in return for something. It is conditional love.
** Sadhu Vaswani, in How to OVERCOME DEPRESSION and other Heart-to-Heart Talks, p. 23
* The idea of a Personal God has obtained in almost every religion, except a very few. With the exception of the Buddhist and the Jain, perhaps all the religions of the world have the idea of a Personal God, and with it comes the idea of devotion and worship.
** Swami Vivekananda, in [The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 2/Bhakti or Devotion
* This idea of devotion and worship to some higher being who can reflect back the love to man is universal. In various religions this love and devotion is manifested in various degrees, at different stages.
** Swami Vivekananda, in "The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 2/Bhakti or Devotion".
* So we find that in almost every religion these are the three primary things which we have in the worship of God — forms or symbols, names, God-men. All religions have these, but you find that they want to fight with each other...These are the external forms of devotion, through which man has to pass; but if he is sincere, if he really wants to reach the truth, he goes higher than these, to a plane where forms are as nothing.
** Swami Vivekananda, in "The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda/Volume 2/Bhakti or Devotion".

## W

* It is this union of passionate interest in the detailed facts with equal devotion to abstract generalisation which forms the novelty in our present society.
** Alfred North Whitehead, in Dispute Resolution: Negotiation and Consensus Building, p. 11
* There is nothing in the world like the devotion of a married woman. It is a thing no married man knows anything about.
** Oscar Wilde, in Epigrams of Oscar Wilde, p. 97

## Z

* These are the seasons of emotion And like the winds, they rise and fall This is the wonder of devotion I seek the torch, we all must hold This is the mystery of the quotient upon us all, upon us all, a little rain must fall.
** Led Zeppelin, in The Rain Song
* I know that Zerthimon's devotion to the People was such that he was willing to protect them from themselves. He knew the “illithids” had come not to “know” themselves in their obsession with control and domination. So he chose to stop Gith before she carried the People to their deaths. There must be balance in all things, or else the self will not hold.
** Zerthimon, in The Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon

## Anonymous

* Work, apart from devotion or love of God, is helpless and cannot stand alone.
** In Daily Bread for Your Mind and Soul: A Handbook of Transcultural Proverb and ..., p. 264