QuoteProject
...conversation can be as mutually incomprehensible as foreign languages. We need the different and complementary perspectives of the various yogas - and ideally of all religions - not only to reach God but to reach each other.
Huston Smith
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Communication between people can often feel as complex as speaking different languages, and understanding diverse perspectives is essential for connection.

Huston Smith highlights the intricacies of conversation, suggesting that communication can sometimes be ineffective, resembling the barriers faced when speaking foreign languages. He advocates for the importance of embracing different perspectives, particularly from various yogas and religions, as a means to not only find a connection with the divine but also to foster deeper understanding and connection among people.

Themes

CommunicationPerspectiveUnderstandingReligionYogaConnection

In practice

Example use cases

A speaker at a multicultural conference discussing the importance of understanding diverse viewpoints.

More from Huston Smith

A nation can assume that the addition of the words "under God" to its pledge of allegiance gives evidence that its citizens actually believe in God whereas all it really proves is that they believe in "believing" in God
Huston SmithRead
One reason education undoes belief is its teaching of evolution; Darwin's own drift from orthodoxy to agnosticism was symptomatic. Martin Lings is probably right in saying that more cases of loss of religious faith are to be traced to the theory of evolution ... than to anything else.
Huston SmithRead
So always, if we look back, concern for face-to-face morality, and its modern emphasis on justice as well, have historically evolved as religious issues.
Huston SmithRead
The crisis that the world finds itself in as it swings on the hinge of a new millennium is located in something deeper than particular ways of organizing political systems and economies.
Huston SmithRead
In the post-individualistic era, science and spirituality will become allies, and human beings will realize a vast potentiality now only dimly felt.
Huston SmithRead
In nature, the emphasis is in what is rather than what ought to be.
Huston SmithRead

Similar quotes

Life is no way to treat an animal.
Kurt VonnegutRead
We have no choice but to be guilty. God is unthinkable if we are innocent.
Archibald MacleishRead
Worse that drugs is drug trafficking. Much worse. Drugs are a disease, and I don't think that there are good drugs or that marijuana is good. Nor cigarettes. No addiction is good. I include alcohol. The only good addiction is love. Forget everything else.
Jose MujicaRead
I know this world is ruled by infinite intelligence. Everything that surrounds us- everything that exists - proves that there are infinite laws behind it. There can be no denying this fact. It is mathematical in its precision.
Thomas A. EdisonRead
Real spirituality is going through fire. Real spirituality is rebellion against all that is rotten, against all that is past, against all that is being forced on you by others, against all conditionings. Real spirituality is the greatest rebellion there is. It is risky, it is adventurous, it is dangerous. So beware of pseudo spirituality which is always there, available, easily available at the door.
RajneeshRead
Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others.
John F. KennedyRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.