How does the universe come to exist? What is the nature of its creator? Is there a purpose to human existence? What is it to live a good life? The Routledge Dictionary of Religious and Spiritual Quotations offers not just one, but many answers to these questions. The fundamental questions concerning God and Man are as old as humanity, finding new expressions and answers in every society and age. The revealed word of Jehovah, Allah and Krishna, of Christ, Mohammad and the Buddha and the inspiration of religious and mystic experience have produced the world's richest and most extensive literature. In this collection of over 3000 quotations you will discover the diversity of that literature and the fertility of religious thought, experience and practice throughout history. Geoffrey Parrinder has drawn on all the great books of world religions - the Bible, Qur'an, Zoroastrian Gathas, Hindu Vedas, Bhagavad Gita, Jewish Mishnah, Sikh Adi Granth and Chinese Tao Te Ching. Read the words of prophets, scholars and mystics on the nature of the divine, the ethics of human conduct and the puzzles of mortality, resurrection and life after death.Here too are the thoughts of the religious and irreligious on matters spiritual and moral, from Plato on sexuality, Freud on the origins of religion, and William Blake on angels to Omar Khayyam on fate, Confucius on poverty and Gandhi on violence. Originally published in 1990, The Routledge Dictionary of Religious Quotations is now re-issued with a new preface by Geoffrey Parrinder.