# The Secret Teachings of All Ages - Author: [Manly P. Hall](https://www.leafyquotes.com/manly-p-hall.md) - Quotes: 10 - Book page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/manly-p-hall/the-secret-teachings-of-all-ages ## Quotes > Philosophy is the science of estimating values. The superiority of any state or substance over another is determined by philosophy. By assigning a position of primary importance to what remains when all that is secondary has been removed, philosophy thus becomes the true index of priority or emphasis in the realm of speculative thought. p. 4 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/manly-p-hall/the-secret-teachings-of-all-ages/philosophy-is-the.md) > The great materialistic progress which we have venerated for so long is on the verge of bankruptcy. We can no longer believe that we are born into this world to accumulate wealth and abandon ourselves to mortal pleasures. We see the dangers and realize that we have been exploited for centuries. We were told the twentieth century was the most progressive that the world has ever known, but unfortunately the progression was in the direction of self-destruction. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/manly-p-hall/the-secret-teachings-of-all-ages/the-great-materialistic.md) > The yoni and phallus were worshiped by nearly all ancient people as appropriate symbols of God's creative power. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/manly-p-hall/the-secret-teachings-of-all-ages/the-yoni-and.md) > Like nearly all schools of the Mysteries, the teachings of the Druids were divided into two distinct sections. The simpler, a moral code, was taught to all the people, while the deeper, esoteric doctrine was given only to initiated priests. To be admitted to the order, a candidate was required to be of good family and of high moral character. No important secrets were intrusted to him until he had been tempted in many ways and his strength of character severely tried. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/manly-p-hall/the-secret-teachings-of-all-ages/like-nearly-all.md) > European mysticism was not dead at the time the United States of America was founded. The hand of the mysteries controlled in the establishment of the new government for the signature of the mysteries may still be seen on the Great Seal of the United states of America. Careful analysis of the seal discloses a mass of occult and Masonic symbols chief among them, the so-called American Eagle. … the American eagle upon the Great Seal is but a conventionalized phoenix... Not only were many of the founders of the United States government Masons, but they received aid from a secret and august body existing in Europe which helped them to establish this country for a peculiar and particular purpose known only to the initiated few. The Great Seal is the signature of this exalted body —unseen and for the most part unknown — and the unfinished pyramid upon its reverse side is a trestleboard setting forth symbolically the task to the accomplishment of which the United States Government was dedicated from the day of its inception. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/manly-p-hall/the-secret-teachings-of-all-ages/european-mysticism-was.md) > The esoteric doctrines for which the Eastern lotus stands have been perpetuated in modern Europe under the form of the rose. The rose and the lotus are yonic emblems, signifying primarily the maternal creative mystery, while the Easter lily is considered to be phallic. The Brahmin and Egyptian initiates, who undoubtedly understood the secret systems of spiritual culture whereby the latent centers of cosmic energy in man may be stimulated, employed the lotus blossoms to represent the spinning vortices of spiritual energy located at various points along the spinal column and called chakras, or whirling wheels, by the Hindus. Seven of these chakras are of prime importance and have their individual correspondences in the nerve ganglia and plexuses. p. 306 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/manly-p-hall/the-secret-teachings-of-all-ages/the-esoteric-doctrines.md) > The Druids taught the people of Britain and Gaul concerning the immortality of the soul. They believed in transmigration and apparently in reincarnation. They borrowed in one life, promising to pay back in the next. They believed in a purgatorial type of hell where they would be purged of their sins, afterward passing on to the happiness of unity with the gods. The Druids taught that all men would be saved, but that some must return to earth many times to learn the lessons of human life and to overcome the inherent evil of their own natures. p. 46 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/manly-p-hall/the-secret-teachings-of-all-ages/the-druids-taught.md) > A nation with culture is blessed. To live in the world without becoming aware of the meaning of the world is like wandering about in a great library without touching the books. It has always seemed to me that symbolism should be restored to the structure of world education. The young are no longer invited to seek the hidden truths, dynamic and eternal, locked within the shapes and behavior of living beings. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/manly-p-hall/the-secret-teachings-of-all-ages/a-nation-with.md) > To avoid a future of war, crime, and bankruptcy, the individual must begin to plan his own destiny, and the best source for the necessary information comes down to us through the writings of the ancients. The greatest knowledge of all time should be available … in a book that would be a monument, not merely a coffin. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/manly-p-hall/the-secret-teachings-of-all-ages/to-avoid-a-future.md) > The accepted theory that the serpent is evil cannot be substantiated. It has long been viewed as the emblem of immortality. It is the symbol of reincarnation, or metempsychosis, because it annually sheds its skin...It was also believed that snakes swallowed themselves, and this resulted in their being considered emblematic of the Supreme Creator, who periodically reabsorbed His universe back into Himself. [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/manly-p-hall/the-secret-teachings-of-all-ages/the-accepted-theory.md)