Martin Palmer > Quotes

“The secret to mastery in any field is to forever be a student.”
― Martin Palmer

“How is it that we have the Tao so obscured
that we have to distinguish between true and false?”
― Martin Palmer, The Book of Chuang Tzu

“Celtic Christianity developed in Wales, Cumbria and Cornwall, and in two areas where Roman influence had been marginal, at best – Ireland and Scotland. It was a rural faith that shunned the urbanism that was in the process of collapsing, and its adherents viewed that collapse as God’s judgement on a corrupt society.16 It was also monastic and quite closely mirrored the Benedictine model, as it stressed dedication to the spiritual life and the importance of restoring a proper relationship with the natural world.”
― Martin Palmer, Sacred Land: Decoding Britain's extraordinary past through its towns, villages and countryside

“Just as you are now, so have I been;
Just as I am now, so shall you be.”
― Martin Palmer, Sacred Land: Decoding Britain's extraordinary past through its towns, villages and countryside

“Without such beliefs and stories, as Carl Jung put it, we would be ‘crushed by the sheer awe-fullness of the universe’. In other words, without a story to give us a place in the greater picture, we will become lost or, even worse, think that we are the story.”
― Martin Palmer, Sacred Land: Decoding Britain's extraordinary past through its towns, villages and countryside

“Perhaps, as has happened four times before, the current system will collapse and pluralism will collapse with it. Perhaps utilitarianism will be abandoned, just as the stone circles were abandoned three thousand years ago. Certainly, the lesson from history is that when we lose touch with the earth, we lose touch with ourselves. The next collapse, if and when it comes, will be psychological as well as physical. On four separate occasions, our sense of purpose and our place in the world has disappeared along with our places of worship, our systems of agriculture and our communities.”
― Martin Palmer, Sacred Land: Decoding Britain's extraordinary past through its towns, villages and countryside

“Miao Shan spoke again quietly. "My desire is to heal the world of all its ills; of the chills of winter and the heats of summer; of the fires of lust and the damp of old age; of all sickness. I wish to make all equal, regardless of riches and poverty. I want all things to be shared so no one goes without or has more than they need. If I can marry a man who will help me in this, then I shall marry tomorrow.”
― Martin Palmer, The Promise of Kuan Yin: Wisdom, Miracles, & Compassion

“Utilitarianism is a deliberately unsentimental, unspiritual, pragmatic movement that values everything purely on the basis of its usefulness to humanity. It is the reason why we measure a country’s level of development in terms of Gross Domestic Product rather than quality of life, the degree to which industrial production is damaging the natural environment or whether what is being produced is beneficial to the rest of the world. Utilitarianism sees no virtue in adornment, in beauty for beauty’s sake, or in setting aside space for anything non-productive.”
― Martin Palmer, Sacred Land: Decoding Britain's extraordinary past through its towns, villages and countryside

“Once you crack the code, every building, every field, every street becomes more significant, more fascinating, more revealing. And with each new discovery, you learn more about yourself.”
― Martin Palmer, Sacred Land: Decoding Britain's extraordinary past through its towns, villages and countryside

“It has led us to be obsessed by data rather than by the significance of knowledge and to be determined to prove things, rather than to experience and risk experiencing things as part of an adventure of faith, coupled with uncertainty.”
― Martin Palmer, Sacred Land: Decoding Britain's extraordinary past through its towns, villages and countryside