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 universe is a single, complex, living creature, which contains within itself all living creatures.
The man of real dignity must ascend above all that is mortal and fleeting, and think of nothing but the divine and the eternal.
The soul is not in the world; the world is in the soul.
To any vision must be brought an eye adapted to what is to be seen, and having some likeness to it.
The Good is that on which all else depends, and which itself depends on nothing.
The primary activity of the soul is contemplation.
The intelligible world is not separate from the Intellectual-Principle; it is the Intellectual-Principle itself in its repose and unity.
The One, being perfect, by reason of its perfection is productive.
We must close the eyes of the body, to open another vision, the vision of the mind, which all possess but few use.
The soul, by its very nature, is related to the highest and best, to the divine and eternal.
The body is a river of passing images; the soul is the standing ground.
The truest life is the life of intellect; this is the life that is most akin to the divine.
The soul is a ray of the intelligible light.
The One is not being, but the generator of being.
The soul, when it is purified, becomes form and formative power, altogether bodiless and intellectual and entirely belonging to the divine.
The world is a living being, one, visible, containing within itself all living beings.
The way to the Good is a withdrawal from the objects of sense and a turning of the soul towards the intelligible.
The soul that is purified becomes light and rises of itself.
The Good is gentle and kindly and gracious, and present to anyone when he wishes.
The soul is a glorious thing, and its power great, when it is pure.