The Quotes of Annie Besant

Born: 10/1/1847 12:00:00 AM Died: 9/20/1933 12:00:00 AM

Death consists, indeed, in a repeated process of unrobing, or unsheathing. The immortal part of man shakes off from itself, one after the other, its outer casings, and - as the snake from its skin, the butterfly from its chrysalis - emerges from one after another, passing into a higher state of consciousness.

In a deep metaphysical sense, all that is conditioned is illusory. All phenomena are literally 'appearances,' the outer masks in which the One Reality shows itself forth in our changing universe. The more 'material' and solid the appearance, the further is it from reality, and therefore the more illusory it is.

The soul grows by reincarnation in bodies provided by nature, more complex, more powerful, as the soul unfolds greater and greater faculties. And so the soul climbs upward into the light eternal. And there is no fear for any child of man, for inevitably he climbs towards God.
 

Liberty is a great celestial Goddess, strong, beneficent, and austere, and she can never descend upon a nation by the shouting of crowds, nor by arguments of unbridled passion, nor by the hatred of class against class.

Every form, not being the whole, must, of necessity, be imperfect; less than the whole, it cannot be identical with the whole, and being less than the whole and, therefore, imperfect by itself, it shows imperfection as evil, and only the totality of a universe can mirror the image of God.
 

Refusal to believe until proof is given is a rational position; denial of all outside of our own limited experience is absurd.

"There is an equality which is taught in Masonry, the true equality, the inner life of God which makes all men equal."

Better remain silent, better not even think, if you are not prepared to act.

Refusal to believe until proof is given is a rational position; denial of all outside of our own limited experience is absurd.

Mysticism is the realization of God, of the Universal Self.

Masonry remains as evidence of those ancient teachings which, as Plato said, 'made a man sure of immortality' and gave him certainty of life on the other side of death.

Of all the great Initiations of the Mysteries of the past, you have in Masonry, a faint reproduction; faint, because only in allegory and in symbol, and because those who belong to the ordinary Masculine Masonry are more apt – though not in all cases by any means – to trace it to what is called 'Operative Masonry' Guilds of the Middle Ages.

Freemasonry, as a tradition, is built on the spoken word. It is a mystic tradition that has been passed down from lip to hear across the centuries. It acknowledges the power of language to transform the mind of the individual and even the course of history itself. Throughout history, great changes in civilizations and the rise and fall of empires have depended on a few words, spoken into the right ear at the right time. Freemasonry places great importance on remembering the thoughts of our ancestors. It is from these thoughts that we can learn how to navigate the maze of life and avoid the pitfalls that have entrapped the unfortunate. The Masons below have all contributed to the wisdom of the world and we have selected a small portion of their knowledge to be shared here to inspire, uplift and educate.