Against the persecution of a tyrant the godly have no remedy but prayer.
John CalvinRead
The most accomplished in the Scripture are fools, unless they acknowledge that they have need of God for their schoolmaster all the days of their life.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Knowledge is meaningless without humility and acknowledgment of a higher power.
This quote by John Calvin emphasizes the importance of recognizing one's limitations and the need for guidance from a higher authority, specifically God, in the pursuit of wisdom and knowledge. It suggests that even the most knowledgeable individuals are foolish if they do not understand their dependence on divine guidance throughout their lives, highlighting the interplay between humility and learning.
Themes
WisdomKnowledgeHumilityGodLearning
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon highlighting the importance of humility in education.
More from John Calvin
All quotes βThe pastor ought to have two voices: one, for gathering the sheep; and another, for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. The Scripture supplies him with the means of doing both.
John CalvinRead
Man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God's majesty.
John CalvinRead
Whomever the Lord has adopted and deemed worthy of His fellowship ought to prepare themselves for a hard, toilsome, and unquiet life, crammed with very many and various kinds of evil.
John CalvinRead
For as the aged, or those whose sight is defective, when any book, however fair, is set before them, though they perceive that there is something written, are scarcely able to make out two consecutive words, but, when aided by glasses, begin to read distinctly, so Scripture, gathering together the impressions of Deity, which, till then, lay confused in our minds, dissipates the darkness, and shows us the true God clearly.
John CalvinRead
When God wants to judge a nation, He gives them wicked rulers.
John CalvinRead
Similar quotes
Experiment with this a little. During these days that you are here with me, don't nourish any desire for happiness, and then see how your heart becomes filled with happiness. Don't have any desire for peace, and see how the turmoil within you vanishes. Don't beg for contentment and see how contentment showers down on you. Please try this - only then will you understand.
RajneeshRead
or the first time in my life I understood the meaning of the word never. And it's really awful. You say the word a hundred times a day but you don't really know what you're saying until you're faced with a real "never again."
Muriel BarberyRead
It is difficult to make a man miserable while he feels worthy of himself and claims kindred to the great God who made him.
Abraham LincolnRead
A child who is disillusioned abruptly, by his peers or siblings, being ridiculed for his faith and imagination, may choose never to believe in anything- tangible or intangible- again. To never trust or wonder.
Chuck PalahniukRead
The Difficulty lies, in finding out an exact Measure but eat for Necessity, not Pleasure, for Lust knows not where Necessity ends.
Benjamin FranklinRead
I'd always tried to resist playing the supervirility thing. I liked showing the vulnerability of age.
Clint EastwoodRead