Manly Hall Quotes & Sayings

The adoration of the sun was one of the earliest and most natural forms of religious expression. Complex modern theologies are merely involvements and amplifications of this simple aboriginal belief. — Manly Hall

Each person must discover his own philosophy of life,
and it is not fair or right to impose our codes upon
others. It is also our responsibility, however, to share
one with another such experiences as may have
common value. We desire, therefore, not to convert or
convince, but to invite such a sharing with the sincere
hope that some mutual good will be accomplished. — Manly Hall

Wisdom is a condition of consciousness rather than an attitude of mind. Wisdom is that state of being in which an individual finds himself when realization has tinctured and transmuted all attitudes and opinions. A wise man is one who has experienced wisdom, wisdom in this sense being a mystical experience. — Manly Hall

Words are potent weapons for all causes, good or bad. — Manly Hall

Before our globe had become egg-shaped or round it was a long trail of cosmic dust or fire-mist, moving and writhing like a serpent. This, say the explanations, was the Spirit of God moving on the chaos until its breath had incubated cosmic matter and made it assume the annular shape of a serpent with its tail in its month
emblem of eternity in its spiritual and of our world in its physical sense. — Manly Hall

There are many levels of life which we cannot see and know, yet which certainly exist. There is a larger world, vast enough to include immortality ... Our spiritual natures belong to this larger world ... If death is apparently an outward fact, immortality is an inner certainty. — Manly Hall

Symbolism is the language of the Mysteries. By symbols men have ever sought to communicate to each other those thoughts which transcend the limitations of language. — Manly Hall

An unhealthy mind, even in a healthy body, will ultimately destroy health. — Manly Hall

Man's security comes from within himself. — Manly Hall

Symbols are oracular forms-mysterious patterns creating vortices in the substances of the invisible world. — Manly Hall

Secret Societies have existed among all peoples, savage and civilized, since the beginning of recorded history ... It is beyond question that the secret societies of all ages have exercised a considerable degree of political influence. — Manly Hall

There are two great systems in the body of man: the tree of life, which is the arterial with its roots in the heart; and, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, i.e. the nervous system, which has its roots in the brain. These two "trees" are physical manifestations of a complicated network of branching energy currents in the aura or superphysical bodies. — Manly Hall

The headdresses of the Egyptians have great symbolic and emblematic importance, for they represent the auric bodies of the superhuman intelligences, and are used in the same way that the nimbus, halo, and aureole are used in Christian religious art. — Manly Hall

To repress rebellion is to maintain the status quo, a condition which binds the mortal creature in a state of intellectual or physical slavery. But it is impossible to chain man merely by slaving his body; the mind also must be held, and to accomplish this, fear is the accepted weapon. The common man must fear life, fear death, fear God, fear the Devil, and fear most the overlords, the keepers of his destiny. — Manly Hall

Philosophy is the science of estimating values. The superiority of any state or substance over another is determined by philosophy. By assigning a position of primary importance to what remains when all that is secondary has been removed, philosophy thus becomes the true index of priority or emphasis in the realm of speculative thought. — Manly Hall

It is the exact experience of mathematics. Not merely the adding up of your grocery bill, or the daily uses that we make of number. But the great concept of a universal exactitude, that numbers are an instrument of magic. And by means of them, men can unlock all the wonders of the world. — Manly Hall

What nobler relationship than that of friend? What nobler compliment can man bestow than friendship? The bonds and ties of the life we know break easily, but through eternity one bond remains - the bond of fellowship - the fellowship of atoms, of star dust in its endless flight, of suns and worlds, of gods and men. The clasped hands of comradeship unite in a bond eternal - the fellowship of spirit. — Manly Hall

To avoid a future of war, crime, and bankruptcy, the individual must begin to plan his own destiny, and the best source for the necessary information comes down to us through the writings of the ancients. The greatest knowledge of all time should be available ... in a book that would be a monument, not merely a coffin. — Manly Hall

Suicide thwarts the plan of the entity which sends out the personality. Fortunately, the entity is far beyond the reach of man's destructive tendencies. — Manly Hall

We are the gods of the atoms that make up ourselves but we are also the atoms of the gods that make up the universe. — Manly Hall

It must be shown that self-seeking is out of fashion, and that the world is moving on to a larger conception of living. — Manly Hall

In ancient times men fought with their right arms and defended with their left arms ... the right side of the body was considered masculine and the left side feminine. — Manly Hall

Khem was an ancient name for the land of Egypt; and both the words alchemy and chemistry are a perpetual reminder of the priority of Egypt's scientific knowledge. — Manly Hall

Moderation is the secret of survival. — Manly Hall

This tree is indeed a Tree of Life, for without the higher and finer sentiments man does not life; he merely exists. If any branch of that tree does not bear fruit, the Master tells us that it shall be cut off and cast into the fire. It is the duty of all living things to produce some truly constructive labor as recognition of the divine life which is within them. God is most glorified when His children glorify His spirit within themselves. — Manly Hall

The way of heaven can be known and experienced through the heart. — Manly Hall

It is only a step from boredom to disillusionment, which leads naturally to self-pity, which in turn ends in chaos. — Manly Hall

The end of science is not to prove a theory, but to improve mankind. — Manly Hall

Ignorance of ignorance, then, is that self-satisfied state of unawareness in which man, knowing nothing outside the limited area of his physical senses, bumptiously declares there is nothing more to know! — Manly Hall