Frithjof Schuon Archive

Truth and beauty are the two valuesFrom which all life’s happiness is made,And God’s favor. So in thy soul Be mindful of both — of the meaning of existence.

Man is activity — for he must do something;He is also faith — for he must believe something.So perform the highest work and believe in it —Then God will permit thee to be human.

Truth and duty are of a masculine nature;Beauty and love I would call feminine.But man and woman are one in their human nature;So both must recognize within themselvesTruth and duty, beauty and love, as their very Being.

Devotion and fervor — what magic liesIn these words! Devotion in height,And fervor in depth: the presenceOf the True, which conquers the world within ourselves.Devotion: a motionless light in a sanctuary;Fervor: an inexhaustible flowing towards God.