He was one of those men who possess almost every gift, except the gift of the power to use them.
Charles KingsleyRead
We have used the Bible as if it were a mere special constable's handbook, an opium dose for keeping beasts of burden patient while they are overloaded.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques how the Bible has been misused to pacify people rather than inspire genuine moral behavior.
Charles Kingsley's quote highlights the problematic utilization of the Bible, suggesting it has been treated merely as a tool to maintain control over the masses, rather than being embraced as a source of profound moral guidance. Kingsley warns against reducing sacred texts to mere instruments for oppression, advocating for their deeper understanding and rightful application to foster true spiritual and ethical growth.
Themes
BibleMoralControlOppressionPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on the role of religion in governance, one might use this quote to express skepticism about theological misuse.
More from Charles Kingsley
All quotes βBeauty is God's handwriting β a wayside sacrament; welcome it in every fair face, every fair sky, every fair flower, and thank for it Him.
Charles KingsleyRead
Take comfort, and recollect however little you and I may know, God knows; He knows Himself and you and me and all things; and His mercy is over all His works.
Charles KingsleyRead
Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle will never know.
Charles KingsleyRead
Do today's duty, fight to-day's temptation; and do not weaken and distract yourself by looking forward to things which you cannot see, and could not understand if you saw them.
Charles KingsleyRead
You must not talk about 'ain't and can't' when you speak of this great wonderful world round you, of which the wisest man knows only the very smallest corner, and is, as the great Sir Isaac Newton said, only a child picking up pebbles on the shore of a boundless ocean.
Charles KingsleyRead
Similar quotes
Tragedy, for me, is not a conflict between right and wrong, but between two different kinds of right.
Peter ShafferRead
The joke of it all is that you are looking from your true nature right now without knowing it. If you would stop being fascinated with the contents of your mind, you would experience what I am saying. Feel your way into what I am saying rather than thinking about it. Only a self-concept looks and longs for God. Drop your self-concept and there is only God meeting God. Enlightenment is the restoration of cosmic humor.
AdyashantiRead
God does not know whether a skin is black or white, He sees only souls.
Katherine Anne PorterRead
I believe that when I die I shall rot, and nothing of my ego will survive.
Bertrand RussellRead
The constant assertion of belief is an indication of fear.
Jiddu KrishnamurtiRead
When we accept all of life's contradictions, when we can comfortably flow between the banks of pleasure and pain, experiencing them both while getting stuck in neither, then we are free.
Deepak ChopraRead