Friday, October 23, 2009

Know the measure, know the times...

"My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast.
I will sing and raise a psalm,
awake, my spirit,
awake..."
-Psalms 57:7-8

You are working for the whole, are acting for the future. Seek no reward, for great is your reward on this earth: the spiritual joy which is only vouchsafed to the righteous man. Fear not the great nor the mighty, but be wise and ever serene. Know the measure, know the times, study that. When you are left alone, pray. Love to throw yourself on the earth and kiss it. Kiss the earth and love it with an unceasing, consuming love. Love all men, love everything. Seek that rapture and ecstasy. Water the earth with the tears of your joy and love those tears. Don't be ashamed of that ecstasy, prize it, for it is a gift of God and a great one; it is not given to many but only to the elect.
-The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

2 comments:

Benjamin said...

Words of the narrator or a character? I'm just about to start reading these books.

Unknown said...

http://www.classicreader.com/book/276/

Book VI: The Russian Monk
Chapter 3: Conversations and Exhortations of Father Zossima. The Russian Monk and his possible Significance.