Thou art a man God is no more Thy own humanity Learn to adore
William BlakeRead
It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.
Interpretation
Forgiveness can be more challenging when it involves those we are close to, like friends, than those with whom we have less personal connection.
The quote by William Blake highlights the paradox of human relationships, particularly the emotional weight we attach to friendships. While it might be expected that forgiving a friend would be easier due to the bond shared, the betrayal or hurt caused by someone closer can cut deeper, making forgiveness a more complex and difficult process.
In practice
In discussions about loyalty and trust in friendships.
Thou art a man God is no more Thy own humanity Learn to adore
In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.
O thou who passest through our valleys in Thy strength, curb thy fierce steeds, allay the heat That flames from their large nostrils! Thou, O Summer, Oft pitchest here thy golden tent, and oft Beneath our oaks hast slept, while we beheld With joy thy ruddy limbs and flourishing hair.
Every Night and every Morn Some to Misery are born. Every Morn and every Night Some are born to Sweet Delight, Some are born to Endless Night.
As the caterpillar chooses the fairest leaves to lay her eggs on, so the priest lays his curse on the fairest joys.
He who would do good to another must do it in minute particulars.
Human relationships are primary in all of living. When the gusty winds blow and shake our lives, if we know that people care about us, we may bend with the wind ... but we wonβt break.
It is well known to all great men, that by conferring an obligation they do not always procure a friend, but are certain of creating many enemies.
It was common enough, to see so much death and want a child. Common, therefore human, and he wanted it all the more. When the wounded were screaming, you dreamed of sharing a little house somewhere, of an ordinary life, a family line, connection.
But I didn't understand then. That I could hurt somebody so badly she would never recover. That a person can, just by living, damage another human being beyond repair.
Although many, we might even say most, strangers in this world become easily the victim of a fearful hostility, it is possible for men and women and obligatory for Christians to offer an open and hospitable space where strangers can cast off their strangeness and become our fellow human beings.
The women of Afghanistan have a voice, and it needs to be heard and not forgotten.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.