Soul
The soul, in many mythological, religious, philosophical, and psychological traditions, is the incorporeal and, in many conceptions, immortal essence of a person, living thing, or object. According to some religions (including the Abrahamic religions in most of their forms), souls—or at least immortal souls capable of union with the divine—belong only to human beings. For example, the Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas attributed "soul" (anima) to all organisms but taught that only human souls are immortal. Other religions (most notably Jainism) teach that all biological organisms have souls, and others further still that even non-biological entities (such as rivers and mountains) possess souls. This latter belief is called animism. Anima mundi and the Dharmic Ātman are concepts of a "world soul."
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Famous quotes containing the word soul:
“I’ve known rivers:
Ancient, dusky rivers.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.”
—Langston Hughes (1902–1967)
“I shall despair. There is no creature loves me,
And if I die no soul will pity me.
And wherefore should they, since that I myself
Find in myself no pity to myself?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Then we shall rust in shade, or shine in strife,
And fluctuate ‘twixt blind hopes and blind despairs,
And fancy that we put forth all our life,
And never know how with the soul it fares.”
—Matthew Arnold (1822–1888)