Tarot and Quotes — Part 1

A couple of months ago in a blog post titled Kahlil Gibran, I said:

Whenever I read something of profound wisdom, I try to relate it to a Tarot card and I’m usually successful in that effort. (See, for example, my previous post, Tarot and Desiderata.) In doing so, I find more depth in what I’m reading and I find more depth in the cards as well.

Today I’m returning to that theme, but with a twist.  My friend Donnaleigh mentioned recently that she is a “quotes hound,” which reminded me that I too love great quotes.  And when I come across a new one, I often relate it to a Tarot card, so I thought I’d share some of those associations with you all.  I’ve mentioned a few examples from time to time in my blog, such as in my discussion of the Four of Cups where I posted the following quote, but I have a lot more.

“Boredom is your ‘fuller life’ calling you, and your fear of hearing that call.” — Gary Zukav, The Heart of the Soul: Emotional Awareness.

I have at least one quote per Major Arcana card, but not for all the Minors, so I’ll start with the Majors.  Actually, I have so many for the Majors, I decided to divide them up into three posts, with this one starting with Keys 0 through 7.

So here, now, is a collection of quotes for Tarot cards.  But first, here is one for doing Tarot readings in general:

“The eyes only see what the mind is prepared to comprehend.” — Henri Bergson
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The Fool:
“Every man is a divinity in disguise, a god playing the fool.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success.” — Henry David Thoreau
“All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous unpremeditated act without benefit of experience.” — Henry Miller
“You will either step forward into growth or you will step back into safety.” — Abraham Maslow
“He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.” – Chinese proverb
“Don’t be afraid to take a big step. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.” — David Lloyd George
“A ship is safe in harbor, but that is not what a ship is for.” — Thomas Aquinas
The Magician:
“What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing.” — Aristotle
“In everything natural there is something marvelous.” — Aristotle
“He that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.” — Confucius
“Maybe science is just magic with delusions of lack of grandeur.” — Peter David
“Miracles arise from a miraculous state of mind, or a state of miracle-readiness.” — from A Course in Miracles
“Our duty, as men and women, is to proceed as if limits to our ability did not exist. We are collaborators in creation.” — Pierre Teilhard De Chardin
The High Priestess:
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.  We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” — Albert Einstein
“The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice within.” — Mahatma Gandhi
“They understand but a little who understand only what can be explained.” — Marie Ebner-Eschenbach
The Empress:
“Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.” — John Lubbock
“You may drive out Nature with a pitchfork, yet she’ll be constantly running back.”— Horace
“Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed.” — Francis Bacon
“Man masters Nature not by force but by understanding.” — Jacob Bronsowski
“Nature’s instructions are always slow, those of men are generally premature.” — Jean-Baptiste Rousseau
“Chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit.” — Henry Adams
The Emperor:
“A man who does not lose his reason over certain things has none to lose.” — Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
“Order marches with weighty and measured strides; disorder is always in a hurry.” — Napoleon I
The Hierophant:
“The mediocre teacher tells.  The good teacher explains.  The superior teacher demonstrates.  The great teacher inspires.” — William Arthur Ward
“The real teacher, as every true teacher explains, is within.” – Rick Fields (Chop Wood, Carry Water)
“Tis education forms the common mind; just as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclined.” — Alexander Pope
“Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.” — Seneca
“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.” — Galileo Galilei
“God has no boundaries, including those of religion.” — Reb Yakov Leib HaKohain
The Lovers:
“Love is the difficult realization that something other than oneself is real.” — Iris Murdoch
“None love, but they who wish to love.” — Jean Baptiste Racine
“Love rests on no foundation. It is an endless ocean, with no beginning or end.” – Rumi
The Chariot:
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” — Chinese proverb
“Valor lies just halfway between rashness and cowardice.” — Cervantes
“Success is counted sweetest by those who ne’er succeed.” — Emily Dickinson
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I hope these quotes give you all some food for thought about the meanings of the cards that I have associated with them. Thinking about what cards you would associate with them is a great exercise too.

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Addendum:

For more Tarot & Quotes, see:

Tarot and Quotes — Part 2

Tarot and Quotes — Part 3

Tarot and Quotes — Part 4

The Tarot card images on this post are from my RWS 2.0 deck. 

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So here, now, is a collection of quotes for Tarot cards.  But first, here is one for doing Tarot readings in general:

“The eyes only see what the mind is prepared to comprehend.” — Henri Bergson

…

The Fool:

“Every man is a divinity in disguise, a god playing the fool.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“We must walk consciously only part way toward our goal, and then leap in the dark to our success.” — Henry David Thoreau

“All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous unpremeditated act without benefit of experience.” — Henry Miller

“You will either step forward into growth or you will step back into safety.” — Abraham Maslow

“He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever.” – Chinese proverb

“Don’t be afraid to take a big step. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.” — David Lloyd George

“A ship is safe in harbor, but that is not what a ship is for.” — Thomas Aquinas

…

The Magician:

“What we have to learn to do, we learn by doing.” — Aristotle

“In everything natural there is something marvelous.” — Aristotle

“He that would perfect his work must first sharpen his tools.” — Confucius

“Maybe science is just magic with delusions of lack of grandeur.” — Peter David

“Miracles arise from a miraculous state of mind, or a state of miracle-readiness.” — from A Course in Miracles.