If in my life I fail completely to heed others, solely out of a desire to be 'devout' and to perform my 'religious duties', then my relationship with God will also grow arid. It becomes merely 'proper', but loveless.
We have to pay attention to developing well, in the correct manner, the human aspects also in the professions, in respect of other persons, in being concerned for others, which is the best way of being concerned for ourselves.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of nurturing our human qualities in professional settings, highlighting that caring for others ultimately benefits ourselves.
Pope Benedict XVI suggests that in our professional lives, it is crucial to cultivate not only our technical skills but also our human qualities such as compassion, empathy, and respect for others. By fostering these human aspects, we create a more harmonious environment that not only benefits our colleagues but enriches our own lives as well, reinforcing the interconnectedness of care and personal growth.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a team meeting, you can emphasize the importance of collaboration by quoting this to inspire colleagues to focus on empathy.
More from Pope Benedict Xvi
All quotes →The life of the community, both domestically and internationally, clearly demonstrates that respect for rights, and the guarantees that follow from them, are measures of the common good that serve to evaluate the relationship between justice and injustice, development and poverty, security and conflict.
If you follow the will of God, you know that in spite of all the terrible things that happen to you, you will never lose a final refuge. You know that the foundation of the world is love, so that even when no human being can or will help you, you may go on, trusting in the One that loves you.
I am consoled by the fact that the Lord knows how to work and how to act, even with insufficient tools.
Faith is above all a personal, intimate encounter with Jesus, and to experience [His] closeness, [His] friendship, [His] Love; only in this way does one learn to know [Him] ever more, and to love and follow [Him] ever more. May this happen to each one of us.
Do not be afraid of seeming different and being criticized for what might seem to be losing or out of fashion; your peers but adults too, especially those who seem more distant from the mindset and values of the Gospel, are crying out to see someone who dares to live according to the fullness of humanity revealed by Jesus Christ.
Similar quotes
The earth has enough resources for our need, but not for our greed.
Once the light of our awareness is cast on any darkness, then it cannot hide and it cannot remain. Such is the law of consciousness.
All resistance is a rupture with what is. And every rupture begins, for those engaged in it, through a rupture with oneself.
Tis but a part we see, and not a whole.
In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion.
Let sanguine healthy-mindedness do its best with its strange power of living in the moment and ignoring and forgetting, still the evil background is really there to be thought of, and the skull will grin in at the banquet.