Quit Pro Quotes
(Page 3 of 3)
September/October 1996
Martha Coventry, Utne Reader
It seems to me a terrible thing to want me to stay in England after all I've suffered there. But people expect you to suffer indefinitely for their sake.
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Most of the great spiritual commandments, precepts, and teachings throughout history have been merely guidelines for what we should quit. Most of the Ten Coimmandments start with 'Thou shalt not.' The Buddhist precepts and Hindu Namas and Niyamas start with 'non-,' as in 'non-killing,' 'non-stealing,' 'non-lying,' and so on. Many contemporary people have complained about such overwhelmingly negative wording in the ancient teachings. But the reason they're phrased that way is that there really isn't anything to do in order to realize the Divine Presence, the natural holiness life offers. We merely have to quit thinking and acting in ways which are harmful or selfish.
The great teachings unanimously emphasize that all the peace, wisdom, and joy in the universe are already within us; we don't have to gain, develop, or attain them. We're like a child standing in a beautiful park with his eyes shut tight. We don't need to imagine trees, flowers, deer, birds, and sky; we merely need to open our eyes and realize what is already here, who we really are--as soon as we quit pretending we're small or unholy. My practice of quitting has already led me to experience the truth of this, so I've become a more and more devoted quitter.
I could characterize nearly any spiritual practice as simply being identify and quit, identify and quit, identify and quit. Identify the myriad forms of limitation and delusion we place upon ourselves, and muster the courage to quit each one. Little by little, deep inside us, the diamond shines, the eyes open, the dawn rises, we become what we already are.
Molefi Kete Asante
I quit wearing neckties. When I was growing up, almost everyone in my circle of friends wore ties, especially on Sundays. That was the way it was in south Georgia. Even the few Black Muslims I knew wore bow ties.
I decided about fifteen years ago that I could not wear a tie because to me it represented, in a crazy sort of way, the colonization of my body. It was a throwback to the days of lynching--of hanging by the neck--and in the agony of my imagination I took action. I became a tie quitter.
Part of Utne Reader cover story, September/October 1996.
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