I am an old sinner; and if God had designed mercy for me, he would have called me home to himself before now.
David BrainerdRead
No amount of scholastic attainment, of able and profound exposition of brilliant and stirring eloquence can atone for the absence of a deep impassioned sympathetic love for human souls.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True understanding and connection with others surpasses mere academic knowledge and eloquence.
In this quote, David Brainerd emphasizes that no level of scholarly achievement or eloquent speech can replace the importance of genuine love and compassion for others. The essence of human interaction lies in our ability to connect deeply and sympathetically with people, rather than just impressing them with knowledge or rhetoric.
Themes
LoveCompassionHuman ConnectionUnderstandingKnowledge
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about community involvement.
More from David Brainerd
All quotes →My desires seem especially to be after weanedness from the world, perfect deadness to it, and that I may be crucified to all its allurements. My soul desires to feel itself more of a pilgrim and a stranger here below, that nothing may divert me from pressing through the lonely desert, till I arrive at my Father's house.
David BrainerdRead
It is sweet to be nothing and less than nothing that Christ may be all in all.
David BrainerdRead
Oh! it is sweet to be thus weaned from friends, and from myself, and dead to the present world, that so I may live wholly to and upon the blessed God!
David BrainerdRead
Toward night, I felt my soul rejoice, that God is unchangeable happy and glorious and that He will be glorified, whatever becomes of His creatures.
David BrainerdRead
Saw so much of the wickedness of my heart that I longed to get away from myself...I felt almost pressed to death with my own vileness. Oh what a body of death is there in me...Oh the closest walk with God is the sweetest heaven that can be enjoyed on earth!
David BrainerdRead
Similar quotes
And as we drift into sleep, I feel something I’ve never felt before. A closeness that isn’t merely physical. A connection that defies the fact that we’ve only just met. A sensation that can only come from the most euphoric of feelings: belonging.
David LevithanRead
Lust is a poor, weak, whimpering, whispering thing compared with that richness and energy of desire which will arise when lust has been killed.
C. S. LewisRead
I testify that no one of us is less treasured or cherished of God than another. I testify that He loves each of us—insecurities, anxieties, self-image, and all. He doesn’t measure our talents or our looks; He doesn’t measure our professions or our possessions. He cheers on every runner, calling out that the race is against sin, not against each other.
Jeffrey R. HollandRead
How was I able to live alone before, my little everything? Without you I lack self-confidence, passion for work, and enjoyment of life--in short, without you, my life is no life. [Written to his wife, Mileva]
Albert EinsteinRead
How could it be that you could love someone so much and keep it secret from yourself as you woke daily so far from home?
Alice SeboldRead
Faith transforms the whole person precisely to the extent that he or she becomes open to love.
Pope FrancisRead