Plotinus
The founder of Neoplatonism, he developed a complex metaphysical system based on the One, Intellect, and Soul.
Most quoted
"Withdraw into yourself and look. And if you do not find yourself beautiful yet, act as does the sculptor 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 he fills his statue with a lovely face. So too must you. Cut away all that is superfluous, straighten all that is crooked, bring light to all that is dark, labor to make all that is brilliant, and never cease chiseling your statue until the divine splendor of virtue shines out on you, until you see temperance enthroned in its holy sanctuary."
— from Ennead I.6.9, 270
"Withdraw into yourself and look. And if you do not find 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 upon his work."
— from Enneads I.6.9
"This is the life of gods and of the godlike and blessed among men, liberation from the alien that besets us here, a life taking no pleasure in the things of earth, a flight of the alone to the Alone."
— from Enneads VI.9.11
All quotes by Plotinus (148)
The Good is the ultimate object of desire.
The One is beyond all multiplicity.
The Intellect is the source of all order and harmony.
The soul is capable of union with the One.
The sensible world is a necessary emanation from the intelligible world.
The wise man is a citizen of the universe.
The soul's descent into the body is a fall from grace.
The Good is the measure of all things.
The One is the ultimate reality.
The Intellect is the divine mind.
The soul is not in the body, but the body in the soul.
To any vision must be brought an eye adapted to what is to be seen.
Withdraw into yourself and look.
The stars are not the cause of our actions, but symbols of them.
God is not the author of evil.
The One is all things and no one of them; the source of all things is not all things.
Beauty is the splendor of truth.
We are always in need of a guide to lead us to the Good.
The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.
Evil is the absence of good.