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."

Famous quotes containing the word soul:

“What of soul was left, I wonder, when the kissing had to stop?”
—Robert Browning (1812–1889)

“I hate your people that will sooner tolerate a soul than a gown that is awry, and will judge a man by his bow, his bearing, and his boots.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)

“He shall love my soul as though
Body were not at all,
He shall love your body
Untroubled by the soul,
Love cram love’s two divisions
Yet keep his substance whole.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)