Plotinus Quotes

A collection of quotes by Plotinus.

Plotinus (205-270 AD) was a Greek philosopher, widely considered the founder of Neoplatonism. Born in Egypt, he studied philosophy in Alexandria before becoming a disciple of Ammonius Saccas in Rome. Plotinus developed a complex system of thought rooted in the teachings of Plato and combined with elements of Aristotelian and Stoic philosophy. His works, primarily compiled by his student Porphyry, emphasized the existence of a transcendent, divine reality and the importance of spiritual self-realization. Plotinus greatly influenced later Western philosophy and his ideas continue to be studied and debated today.

I am striving to give back the Divine in myself to the Divin

I am striving to give back the Divine in myself to the Divine in the All.

Being is desirable because it is identical with Beauty, and

Being is desirable because it is identical with Beauty, and Beauty is loved because it is Being. We ourselves possess Beauty when we are true to our own being; ugliness is in going over to another order; knowing ourselves, we are beautiful; in self-ignorance, we are ugly.

Beauty

Withdraw into yourself and look. And if you do not fine your

Withdraw into yourself and look. And if you do not fine yourself beautiful yet, act as does the creator of a statue that is to be made beautiful: he cuts away here, he smoothes there, he makes this line lighter, this other purer, until a lovely face has grown his work. So do you also: cut away all that is excessive, straighten all that is crooked, bring light to all that is overcast, labor to make all one glow or beauty and never cease chiseling your statue, until there shall shine out on you from it the godlike splendor of virtue, until you see the perfect goodness surely established in the stainless shrine

Beauty

God is not external to anyone, but is present with all thing

God is not external to anyone, but is present with all things, though they are ignorant that he is so.

God