For better or for worse, I've watched people die in front of me. I see how they are in the end. And they're not cynical. In the end, they wanna hold somebody's hand. And that's real to me.
Mitch AlbomRead
It is far more comforting to think God listened and said no, than to think that nobody’s out there.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that it's more reassuring to believe in a higher power, even with unanswered prayers, than to feel entirely alone in the universe.
Mitch Albom's quote reflects on the human need for connection and belief in a greater purpose. It implies that the idea of God listening to our prayers, even if the answer is 'no', provides a level of comfort compared to the existential dread of believing that there is no one to hear us at all. The reassurance of a deity, even in silence, implies a relationship and a greater meaning to our struggles, which can be more comforting than feeling utterly abandoned.
Themes
GodComfortBeliefExistenceLoneliness
In practice
Example use cases
Use this quote in a speech about faith and reassurance during tough times.
More from Mitch Albom
All quotes →If we tend to the things that are important in life, if we are right with those we love, and behave in line with our faith, our lives will not be cursed with the aching throb of unfulfilled business. Our words will always be sincere, our embraces will be tight. We will never wallow in the agony of ‘I could have, I should have’. We can sleep in a storm. And when its time, our goodbyes will be complete.
Mitch AlbomRead
Young men go to war. Sometimes because they have to, sometimes because they want to. Always, they feel they are supposed to. This comes from the sad, layered stories of life, which over the centuries have seen courage confused with picking up arms, and cowardice confused with laying them down.
Mitch AlbomRead
What about a man who sits down to wonder Why life has cheated him? Thinks about his situation Hangs his head and cries Will we pretend, his problems don't exist? He's reaching out for help-will we selfishly resist? What about your brother? He's crying What about your brother? He's dying What about your brother?
Mitch AlbomRead
Sacrfice," the captain said. "You made one. I made one. We all made them. But you were angry over yours. You kept thinking about what you lost. You didn't get it. Sacrifice is a part of life. It's supposed to be. It's not something to regret. It's something to aspire to.
Mitch AlbomRead
The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.
Mitch AlbomRead
Similar quotes
... you cannot make a man clean [simply] by washing his shirt.
William BoothRead
Things we do not expect, happen more frequently than we wish.
PlautusRead
I saw the years of my life spaced along a road in the form of telephone poles threaded together by wires. I counted one, two, three... nineteen telephone poles, and then the wires dangled into space, and try as I would, I couldn't see a single pole beyond the nineteenth.
Sylvia PlathRead
Neither fear nor self-interest can convert the soul. They may change the appearance, perhaps even the conduct, but never the object of supreme desire... Fear is the motive which constrains the slave; greed binds the selfish man, by which he is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed (James 1:14). But neither fear nor self-interest is undefiled, nor can they convert the soul. Only charity can convert the soul, freeing it from unworthy motives.
Bernard Of ClairvauxRead
There are things that tend to moderate with age. Schizophrenia is somewhat like that.
John Forbes NashRead
But I've got to think of myself as the luckiest guy. Robert Johnson only had one album's worth of work as his legacy. That's all that life allowed him.
David BowieRead