"Thought is something limitless and independent, and has been mixed with no thing but is alone by itself. […] What was mingled with it would have prevented it from having power over anything in the way in which it does. […] For it is the finest of all things and the purest." (Anaxagoras, cca. 5th century BC)
"Education and study, and the favors of the muses, confer no greater benefit on those that seek them than these humanizing and civilizing lessons, which teach our natural qualities to submit to the limitations prescribed by reason, and to avoid the wildness of extremes." (Plutarch, "Plutarch's Lives", 2nd century)
"To live in the Great Way is neither easy nor difficult, but those with limited views are fearful and irresolute: the faster they hurry, the slower they go, and clinging cannot be limited: even to be attached to the idea of enlightenment is to go astray. Just let things be in their own way and there will be neither coming nor going. Obey the nature of things (your own nature), and you will walk freely and undisturbed." (Jianzhi Sengcan, "Xinxin Ming" ["Inscription on Faith in Mind"], 6th century)
"By enlarging one's mind, one can enter into all the things in the world [to examine and understand their principle]. As long as anything is not yet entered into, there is still something outside the mind. The mind of ordinary people is limited to the narrowness of what is seen and what is heard. The sage, however, fully develops his nature and does not allow what is seen or heard to fetter his mind. He regards everything in the world to be his own self. This is why Mencius said that if one exerts his mind to the utmost, he can know nature and Heaven. (1) Heaven is so vast that there is nothing outside of it. Therefore the mind that leaves something outside is not capable of uniting itself with the mind of Heaven. Knowledge coming from seeing and hearing is knowledge obtained through contact with things. It is not knowledge obtained through one's moral nature. Knowledge obtained through one's moral nature does not originate from seeing or hearing." (Chang Tsai, "Zhengmeng" ["Correcting Youthful Ignorance"], 1076)
"Everything is destiny. A man should accept obediently what is correct [in his destiny]. If one obeys the principles of his nature and destiny, he will obtain what is correct in them. If one destroys principle and indulges in desires to the limit, he will be inviting evil fortune." (Chang Tsai, "Zhengmeng" ["Correcting Youthful Ignorance"], 1076)
"The Great Vacuity is clear. Being clear, it cannot be obstructed. Not being obstructed, it is therefore spirit. The opposite of clearness is turbidity. Turbidity leads to obstruction. And obstruction leads to physical form. When material force is clear, it penetrates; and when it is turbid, it obstructs. When clearness reaches its limit, there is spirit. When spirit concentrates, it penetrates like the breeze going through the holes (of musical instruments), producing tones and carrying them to great distances. This is the evidence of clearness. As if arriving at the destination without the necessity of going there, penetration reaches the highest degree." (Chang Tsai, "Cheng-meng" ["Correcting Youthful Ignorance"], 1076)
"All worries and troubles have gone from my breast and I play joyfully far from the world. For a person of Zen, no limits exist. The blue sky must feel ashamed to be so small." (Muso Soseki, 1305)
"Do not continue to conceive of yourself in terms of obstructions and limitations, squeezing out thoughts of self and poverty, of being a deluded being. This is the demonic defilement of the Wheel of Reality turned by the Buddhas." (Koun Ejo, "Kōmyōzō zanmai" ["The Practice of the Treasury of Luminosity"], cca 13th century)
"Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in dewdrops on the grass, or even in one drop of water. Enlightenment does not divide you, just as the moon does not break the water. You cannot hinder enlightenment, just as a drop of water does not hinder the moon in the sky. The depth of the drop is the height of the moon. Each reflection, however long or short its duration, manifests the vastness of the dewdrop, and realizes the limitlessness of the moonlight in the sky." (Dogen Zenji, cca. 13th century)
"When facing a single tree, if you look at a single one of its red leaves, you will not see all the others. When the eye is not set on one leaf, and you face the tree with nothing at all in mind, any number of leaves are visible to the eye without limit. But if a single leaf holds the eye, it will be as if the remaining leaves were not there." (Takuan Sōhō, "Fudōchi Shinmyōroku" ["The Unfettered Mind"], cca. 1630)
"[…] the role of determination is to limit the agonies of doubt and the perils of hesitation when the motives for action are inadequate." (Carl von Clausewitz, "On War", 1832)
"It is owing to our limitations that a thing appears to us as single and separate when in truth it is not a separate thing at all." (Rudolf Steiner, "The Philosophy of Freedom: The Basis for a Modern World Conception", 1894)
"There is no limit to the power of the human mind. The more concentrated it is, the more power is brought to bear on one point." (Swami Vivekananda, "Raja Yoga", 1896)
"When we raise ourselves through meditation to what unites us with the spirit, we quicken something within us that is eternal and unlimited by birth and death. Once we have experienced this eternal part in us, we can no longer doubt its existence. Meditation is thus the way to knowing and beholding the eternal, indestructible, essential center of our being." (Rudolf Steiner, 1923)
"Man was not born to solve the problems of the universe, but rather to seek to lay bare the heart of the problem and then confine himself within the limits of what is amenable to understanding." (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1825)
"The limits of thought are not so much set from outside, by the fullness or poverty of experiences that meet the mind, as from within, by the power of conception, the wealth of formulative notions with which the mind meets experiences." (Susanne Langer, "Philosophy in a New Key: A Study in the Symbolism of Reason, Rite, and Art", 1942)
"Growth is limited by that necessity which is present in the least amount. And, naturally, the least favorable condition controls the growth rate." (Frank Herbert, "Dune", 1965)
"Man seldom questions the fact that ugliness and evil are to be found in the world. But he's never as ready to accept that life also offers unlimited beauty and potential for joy as well as endless opportunities for pleasure." (Leo Buscaglia, "Love", 1972)
"The very name Aikido indicates its dependence on the laws of nature, which we term ki. Aikido means the way to harmony with ki. That is to say, Aikido is a discipline to make the heart of nature our own heart, to understand love for all things, and to become one with nature. Techniques and physical strength have limits; the great way of the universe stretches to infinity." (Koichi Tohei, "Book of Ki: Co-ordinating Mind and Body in Daily Life", 1976)
"Power is no more than a part, no more than the tip of the iceberg of limitless profundity and sublimate of Karate." (Mas Oyama, "The Kyokushin Way: Mas Oyama's Karate Philosophy", 1979)
"Anger shows us precisely where we are stuck, where our limits are, where we cling to beliefs and fears." (Jack Kornfield & Joseph Goldstein, "Seeking the Heart of Wisdom: The Path of Insight Meditation", 1987)
"We need a warrior's heart that lets us face our lives directly, our pains and limitations, our joys and possibilities." (Jack Kornfield, "Seeking the Heart of Wisdom: The Path of Insight Meditation", 1987)
"Through this principle, the creative process of the spirit is without limit. Within the circle, the ki of the universe is guided in the processes of creation, evolution, and protection. The movement of karma in this world is the circle of balance. The Budo of Aikido is the circle of protection. The circle of the spirit is the source of ki. The spirit of the circle joins spirit, mind, and matter through Aiki and nourishes life. The spirit of the circle contains and creates unlimited technique for it holds all the ki of the universe. This is the circle of the spirit in Aikido. Without it there is no glory, no wisdom, no integrity, no truth, no possibility of uniting spirit and substance. Without it the restorative functions of the body cease to exist. It is the ever-evolving cycle of kokyu." (Morihei Ueshiba, [attributed in Mitsugi Saotome, "The Principles of Aikido", 1989])
"Any single person's viewpoint will have blind spots caused by their habitual ways of perceiving the world, their perceptual filters [...] How can we shift our perceptions to get outside our own limited world view?" (Joseph O'Connor & John Seymour, "Introducing Neuro-Linguistic Programming: Psychological Skills for Understanding and Influencing People", 1990)
"We all have beliefs and expectations from our personal experience; it is impossible to live without them. Since we have to make some assumptions, they might as well be ones that allow us freedom, choice and fun in the world, rather than ones that limit us. You often get what you expect to get." (Joseph O'Connor & John Seymour, "Introducing Neuro-Linguistic Programming: Psychological Skills for Understanding and Influencing People", 1990)
"Even the most powerful human being has a limited sphere of strength. Draw him outside of that sphere and into your own, and his strength will dissipate." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)
"It is necessary to develop a strategy that utilizes all the physical conditions and elements that are directly at hand. The best strategy relies upon an unlimited set of responses." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1991)
"The Way of a Warrior is based on humanity, love, and sincerity; the heart of martial valor is true bravery, wisdom, love, and friendship. Emphasis on the physical aspects of warriorship is futile, for the power of the body is always limited." (Morihei Ueshiba, "The Art of Peace", 1992)
"Act as if what you intend to manifest in life is already a reality. Eliminate thoughts of conditions, limitations, or the possibility of it not manifesting. If left undisturbed in your mind and in the mind of intention simultaneously, it will germinate in the physical world." (Wayne Dyer, "Everyday Wisdom for Success", 1993)
"While the world of reality has its limits, the world of your imagination is without boundaries." (Wayne Dyer, "Being in Balance: 9 Principles for Creating Habits to Match Your Desires", 2006)
"Give up defining yourself - to yourself or to others. You won’t die. You will come to life. And don’t be concerned with how others define you. When they define you, they are limiting themselves, so it’s their problem. Whenever you interact with people, don’t be there primarily as a function or a role, but as the field of conscious Presence. You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are." (Eckhart Tolle, "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose", 2008)
"Our potential is something that can flower only when we are no longer caught within the influence and limitations of the known. Beyond the realm of the mind, beyond the limitations of humanity’s conditioned consciousness, lies that which can be called the sacred." (Adyashanti, "The Way of Liberation: A Practical Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment", 2012)
"Human beings are capable of virtually limitless degradation; they are also capable of virtually limitless improvement and achievement. Success depends on goals and on diligence in pursuing them." (Mas Oyama)
"One must try, everyday, to expand one's limits." (Mas Oyama)
"Real meditation is spontaneous. It is pure welcoming, because there is no choosing of whatever appears in the field of consciousness. There is no selection. There is only choiceless allowing, be it of external perceptions, feelings, bodily sensations, thoughts, or their absence. Everything is equally allowed to come into existence, not as a practice, but because the mind has understood its own limitations. That is all the truth-seeker needs to do. No further spiritual practice needs to be undertaken." (Francis Lucille)
"We have limited time in our life, therefore we should try to teach ourselves, not to teach others. We should conquer ourselves, rather than conquer others. Whether coming or going, standing, sitting or lying down, our mind should be focused in this way. If we practice like this and develop mindfulness continuously, wisdom arises quickly and this is a fast way of practice." (Ajahn Chah)
"When you coordinate your mind and body, you have unlimited access to the wisdom of the universe." (Koichi Tohei)
