(16 quotes found)
“SCARIFICATION, n. A form of penance practised by the mediaeval pious. The rite was performed, sometimes with a knife, sometimes with a hot iron, but always, says Arsenius Asceticus, acceptably if the penitent spared himself no pain nor harmless disfigurement. Scarification, with other crude penances, has now been superseded by benefaction. The founding of a library or endowment of a university is said to yield to the penitent a sharper and more lasting pain than is conferred by the knife or iron, and is therefore a surer means of grace. There are, however, two grave objections to it as a penitential method: the good that it does and the taint of justice.”
Ambrose Bierce
“A boar makes the rite useless by inhaling the smell of the offerings , a cock by the air of his wings, a dog by throwing his eye on them , a low caste man by touching them .”
Guru Nanak
“Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75.”
Benjamin Franklin
“There is no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt”
Niccolo Machiavelli
“Be the man you wish your father was and you don't have to keep saying, but my father wasn't around.”
JAWAR
“We celebrate together tonight that unity and that harmony as we bless these oils for the sacramental rites of the church. In a certain sense Jesus comes as the Anointed One tonight to anoint all of us and to help us be a part of his special mission.”
Cardinal Mahony
