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Ritual is necessary for us to know anything. -- Ken Kesey
Ritual will always mean throwing away something: destroying our corn or wine upon the altar of our gods. -- Gilbert K. Chesterton
Rituals, anthropologists will tell us, are about transformation. The rituals we use for marriage, baptism or inaugurating a president are as elaborate as they are because we associate the ritual with a major life passage, the crossing of a critical threshold, or in other words, with transformation. -- Abraham Verghese
Ritual murder is referred to in court files which are located in Rome. There are pictures in it which show that in 23 cases, the Church itself has dealt with the question. -- Julius Streicher
Ritual is the passage way of the soul into the Infinite. -- Algernon Blackwood
Ritual is another word for fear, manifested in a different way. -- Conor McGregor
Ritual is to the internal sciences what experiment is to the external sciences. -- Timothy Leary
Ritual and myth are like seed crystals of new patterns that can eventually reshape culture around them. -- Starhawk
Ritual is important to us as human beings. It ties us to our traditions and our histories. -- Miller Williams
I try to work every day, even when I'm not motivated. Ritual is very important to me. -- Mel Ramos
Ritual disposal of the dead speaks clearly of an awareness of death, and thus an awareness of self. -- Richard Leakey
Ritual use of psychedelic plants and substances has been a particularly effective technology for inducing holotropic states of consciousness. -- Stanislav Grof
Ritual is the way you carry the presence of the sacred. Ritual is the spark that must not go out. -- Christina Baldwin
Ritual is the most primitive reflection of serious thought, a slow deposit, as it were, of people's imaginative insight into life. -- Susanne Katherina Langer
Ritual is a terribly important, binding cement in a society. If we abandon formality and rituals, we're actually weakening the relationships that exist between people that bind. -- Alexander McCall Smith
Ritual and ceremony in their due times kept the world under the sky and the stars in their courses. It was astonishing what ritual and ceremony could do. -- Terry Pratchett
Ritual which could entail a wedding or brushing one's teeth goes in the direction of life. Through it we reconcile our barbed solitude with rushing, irreducible conditions of life. -- Gretel Ehrlich
Ritual affirms the common patterns, the values, the shared joys, risks, sorrows, and changes that bind a community together. Ritual links together our ancestors and descendants, those who went before with those will come after us. -- Starhawk
Magic, then, is not a method, but a language; it is part and parcel of that greater phenomenon, ritual, which is the language of religion. Ritual is a symbolic transformation of experiences that no other medium can adequately express. -- Susanne Katherina Langer
Ritual is one of the ways in which humans put their lives in perspective, whether it be Purim, Advent, or drawing down the moon. Ritual calls together the shades and specters in people's lives, sorts them out, puts them to rest. -- Clarissa Pinkola Estes
There is a single main definition of the object of all magical Ritual. It is the uniting of the Microcosm with the Macrocosm. The Supreme and Complete Ritual is therefore the Invocation of the Holy Guardian Angel; or, in the language of Mysticism, Union with God. -- Aleister Crowley
Time passed. Art came off the walls and became rituals. Ritual became religion. Religion spawned science. Science led to big business. And big business, if it continues on its present, mindless trajectory, could land those lucky enough to survive its ultimate legacy back into caves again. -- Tom Robbins
Rituals are important. -- John Lennon
Any ritual is an opportunity for transformation. -- Starhawk
Rituals are important. Nowadays it's hip not to be married. I'm not interested in being hip. -- John Lennon
The legal system is often a mystery, and we, its priests, preside over rituals baffling to everyday citizens. -- Henry Miller
Modern bodybuilding is ritual, religion, sport, art, and science, awash in Western chemistry and mathematics. Defying nature, it surpasses it. -- Camille Paglia
The function of ritual... is to give form to the human life, not in the way of a mere surface arrangement, but in depth. -- Joseph Campbell
To pray together, in whatever tongue or ritual, is the most tender brotherhood of hope and sympathy that man can contract in this life. -- Madame de Stael
A pathological business, writing, don't you think? Just look what a writer actually does: all that unnatural tense squatting and hunching, all those rituals: pathological! -- Hans Magnus Enzensberger
Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual of self-assessment and repentance that demands personal honesty and, ultimately, reinforces humility. Breaking them is part of the cycle. -- Eric Zorn
Music is a gut thing. You're working in a medium which is more in touch with the primal than the modern. A gig is a ritual. There's a congregation. -- Siobhan Fahey
All of the arts, poetry, music, ritual, the visible arts, the theater, must singly and together create the most comprehensive art of all, a humanized society, and its masterpiece, free man -- Bernard Berenson
Marriage is not a ritual or an end. It is a long, intricate, intimate dance together and nothing matters more than your own sense of balance and your choice of partner. -- Amy Bloom
For faithful Catholics, communion is not just a nice ritual: It is the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and the ultimate sign of our willingness to be incorporated into the church. -- Maggie Gallagher
I love to cook comfort food. I'll make fish and vegetables or meat and vegetables and potatoes or rice. The ritual of it is fun for me, and the creativity of it. -- Reese Witherspoon
It seemed to be a necessary ritual that he should prepare himself for sleep by meditating under the solemnity of the night sky... a mysterious transaction between the infinity of the soul and the infinity of the universe. -- Victor Hugo
A cross between a foreign legion boot-camp and a secret-society initiation ritual, the ordeals were grounded in pain. One thing was obvious: the agenda, which was dedicated to grave discomfort, had been drawn up by a passionate sadist. -- Tahir Shah
Beer has long been the prime lubricant in our social intercourse and the sacred throat-anointing fluid that accompanies the ritual of mateship. To sink a few cold ones with the blokes is both an escape and a confirmation of belonging. -- Rennie Ellis
The one thing I remember about Christmas was that my father used to take me out in a boat about ten miles offshore on Christmas Day, and I used to have to swim back. Extraordinary. It was a ritual. Mind you, that wasn't the hard part. The difficult bit was getting out of the sack. -- John Cleese
If insemination were the sole biological function of sex, it could be achieved far more economically in a few seconds of mounting and insertion. Indeed, the least social of mammals mate with scarcely more ceremony. The species that have evolved long-term bonds are also, by and large, the ones that rely on elaborate courtship rituals. . . . Love and sex do indeed go together. -- E. O. Wilson
Feeding is a very important ritual for me. I don't trust people who don't like to eat. -- Gina Gershon
When I was a kid, our family used to watch 'Bonanza.' I really liked having a Sunday night TV ritual. -- Anne Lamott
It is a paradox that far too few Americans participate in the wonderful ritual of democracy that we call Election Day. -- Brad Henry
Even the most understated ceremony involves a certain respect for ritual and pageantry. No one plays more of a significant role than the bride's attendants. -- Vera Wang
I wasn't losing my focus but I was getting tired of focusing. What I was focusing on was becoming too routine, too ritual, not something that was interesting, new and exciting. -- Picabo Street
When you're writing, you're conjuring. It's a ritual, and you need to be brave and respectful and sometimes get out of the way of whatever it is that you're inviting into the room. -- Tom Waits
It's no accident that most self-help groups use 'anonymous' in their names; to Americans, the first step toward redemption is a ritual wiping out of the self, followed by the construction of a new one. -- Walter Kirn
You know what I like to do on a Sunday morning? Clean my house. I really enjoy it; it's my ritual. I require tidiness, actually. I have to have everything spotless before I can relax. -- Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Therefore, a person should first be changed by a teacher's instructions, and guided by principles of ritual. Only then can he observe the rules of courtesy and humility, obey the conventions and rules of society, and achieve order. -- Xun Zi
I like the ritual, the liturgy of a well-crafted, emotional fashion show. I will never be jaded with this side of fashion. The catwalk is pure anthropology, something like an esoteric encrypted parade. It can totally be replaced but it will be missed. -- Hedi Slimane
A person is born with desires of the eyes and ears, and a liking for beautiful sights and sounds. If he gives way to them, they will lead him to immorality and lack of restriction, and any ritual principles and propriety will be abandoned. -- Xun Zi
I never was in the Nation of Islam... I mean, what I call myself is a natural Muslim, 'cause it's just me and God. You know, going to the mosque, the ritual and the tradition, it's just not in me to do. So I don't do it. -- Ice Cube
Growing up in Ireland, when my family received important news, good or bad, we would boil water and make tea. It was the first thing I did when my father died in 1984. This ritual allowed me a moment to take in the enormity of what had happened. -- Roma Downey
We always get up about 5:30, and George gets up and goes in and gets the coffee and brings it to me, and that's been our ritual since we got married. And we read the newspapers in bed and drink coffee for about an hour probably, read our briefing papers. -- Laura Bush
I had a longing for ritual, something I could cling to, a routine to make me feel well and contented. I hoped that reading Bible commentaries and theological critiques would nudge me closer to some kind of absolute that I could hold up as a torch to light my way. -- Jack Dee
Eventually, competition and adventure wane, and I enter my ibuprofen phase. Tweaky hamstrings and achy knees restrict mileage, but I continue running for health, sanity, and the ritual of a Sunday trail run with like-minded buddies. We discuss the nagging injuries that bedevil us, and remember the good old days when we were kings. -- Don Kardong
We Hoosiers hold to some quaint notions. Some might say we 'cling' to them, though not out of fear or ignorance. We believe in paying our bills. We have kept our state in the black throughout the recent unpleasantness, while cutting rather than raising taxes, by practicing an old tribal ritual - we spend less money than we take in. -- Mitch Daniels
Mobile is a seaport town, and we ate a lot of seafood. We'd go fishing, we'd catch our fish and we'd eat our fish. It was a ritual on Saturday morning for all my family - my grandfather, my brothers, my uncles, my father - to go fishing, and then the ladies of the family would clean the fish and fry them up. -- Billy Williams
Now that I have a 16-month-old son, my weekend ritual has changed - but it's better than ever. We get up early and go for a walk on one of the hiking trails near my home in Los Angeles, then meet up with friends at a diner. There's nothing better than sipping coffee, eating scrambled eggs, and taking three hours to do it. -- Connie Britton
I was 11 when a teacher suggested to my parents that they should send me to drama classes to curb my disruptive ways in the classroom. The next Saturday I was acting, and thereafter it became a ritual of my youth to see a show at the Belvoir on Sundays and, if I was lucky, another at the Opera House on Monday after school. -- David Wenham
If the music in a groove fits with what you're playing, then play it; if not, then you can play it backwards. If that doesn't work, you try it at a different speed. If it really doesn't work you just break it. The whole ritual to put a record on a turntable just to listen to it, I don't do that too often. -- Christian Marclay
Nothing in life is ritual. -- William P. Young
Dance is the ritual of immortality -- Shah Asad Rizvi
Loneliness is random; solitude is ritual. -- Pearl Cleage
Religion is more than rite and ritual. -- Yann Martel
A pool game mixes ritual with geometry. -- Mary Karr
A pool game mixes ritual with geometry." -- Mary Karr
I do love the idea of ritual. -- Sarah Silverman
The preparation for the ritual is the ritual. -- Kate Green
Hands, matches, an ashtray. A ritual beautiful and bitter. -- Anna Akhmatova
Passionate grave thought, belief enhanced, ritual returned and magic. -- Hilda Doolittle
Parties are the nightly ritual of the sophisticated society. -- Dominick Dunne
I simply decided that dope wasn't worth the ritual. -- George Carlin
Football is the last sacred ritual of our time. -- Pier Paolo Pasolini
The ritual of our daily lives permeate our very bodies. -- Banana Yoshimoto
I see God in a sunrise, not in repetitious ritual. -- Karen Marie Moning
ritual lulls our fear of disorder with the certainty of order. -- E. M. Broner
There is no ritual that enhances creativity other than just starting. -- John Hodgman
Metaphor is ritual sacrifice. It kills the look-alike. No, metaphor is homeopathy. -- Rae Armantrout
It is my contention that ritual begins at home, in domestic magic. -- E. M. Broner
The greatest task of democracy, its ritual and feast - is choice. -- H. G. Wells
It's about time! It's supposed to be a ritual, not a marathon. -- Karen Chance
Your dreamer may do without a creed, but he always wants a ritual ... -- Evelyn Underhill
The ritual was very important to me: cleaning the pot, rolling the pot. -- George Carlin
My only ritual is to just sit down and write, write every day. -- Augusten Burroughs
Mechanical reproduction emancipates the work of art from its parasitical dependence on ritual. -- Walter Benjamin
Decoration can be a state of mind, an unusual perception, a ritual whisper. -- Ettore Sottsass
Tea-making is a ritual that, like the drink itself, warms the heart somehow. -- James Norwood Pratt
In the end, the gesture of painting becomes almost meditative, like a ritual. -- Shahzia Sikander
Chinese restaurants have long been a weekly or monthly ritual for many Americans. -- Jennifer Lee
In ancient times the ritual, mythological and doctrinal aspects of spiritual space were predominant. -- Tom Turner
The gods had gone away, and the ritual of the religion continued senselessly, uselessly. -- Ray Bradbury
Amnesia may well be the highest sacrament in the great gray ritual of existence. -- Thomas Ligotti
To many people holidays are not voyages of discovery, but a ritual of reassurance. -- Phillip Adams
Where do we live symbolically? Nowhere except where we participate in the ritual of life. -- Carl Jung
Virtual worlds are places of imagination that encompass practices of play, performance, creativity and ritual. -- Tom Boellstorff
Seppuku is Japanese for ritual suicide. I thought, What a cute name for a coat. -- Lexa Doig
There's a need for a ritual and for real joy and real bliss. Real fun. -- Jerry Garcia
The whole dating ritual was different when I was a kid. Girls got pinned, not nailed. -- Bill Maher
To seek God by rituals is to get the ritual and lose God in the process -- Meister Eckhart
Honor LostAmbulant sunshine piercedthe soot covered glass ~the feeble man wandered byin this ritual morning pass ... -- Muse
Honor LostAmbulant sunshine piercedthe soot covered glass ~the feeble man wandered byin this ritual morning pass -- Muse
I really love doing yoga. My main ritual is yoga. I do A LOT of yoga -- Britney Spears
History is the enactment of ritual on a permanent and universal stage; and its perpetual commemoration. -- Norman O. Brown
Religion becomes a hollow shell of its former self when ritual remains and thoughtful reflection disappears. -- Nouman Ali Khan
A prayer couched in the words of the soul, is far more powerful than any ritual. -- Paulo Coelho
Sex is not some sort of pristine, reverent ritual. You want reverent and pristine, go to church. -- Cynthia Heimel
One needs the invented, the spontaneous, the impromptu for ritual. Skepticism, that grain of salt, is inappropriate. -- E. M. Broner
I beg people not to accept the seasonal ritual of well-timed charity on Christmas Eve. It's blasphemy. -- Jonathan Kozol
Ircumcision, an archaic ritual mutilation that has no justification whatever and no place in a civilized society. -- Ashley Montagu
It was part of theTexas ritual? We know about champagne and caviar but we talk hog and hominy. -- Edna Ferber
I believe that we often disguise pain through ritual and it may be the only solace we have. -- Rita Mae Brown
I like to think that the best poetry is or involves a contest between ordinary conversation and ritual. -- Miller Williams
The only [working] ritual is making tea. I use the loose leaves and drink it by the gallon. -- Stephen King
Sport provides the spectacle, the metaphor, the religious ritual, the putty to fill the cracks in countless lives. -- Phillip Adams
We seek to find peace of mind in the word, the formula, the ritual. The hope is illusion. -- Benjamin Cardozo
There are so many spiders, and their rituals, their mating rituals, their courtship ritual, can be very, very different. -- Isabella Rossellini
On the whole, our modern ritual is impoverished and does not fulfill man's need for collective art and ritual. -- Erich Fromm
I believe in courtesy, the ritual by which we avoid hurting other people's feelings by satisfying our own egos. -- Kenneth Clark

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