No one should approach the temple of science with the soul of a money changer.
I have loved my friends as I do virtue, my soul, my God.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a profound love for friends that parallels the love for virtuous qualities and spiritual values.
In this quote, Thomas Browne emphasizes the deep and sacred nature of friendship, equating his affection for friends with his love for virtue, his own soul, and even God. This highlights the immense value he places on friendships, suggesting they are integral to his moral and spiritual existence, and that true friendship is intertwined with the essence of what is virtuous and deeply meaningful in life.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of community, one might say, 'As Thomas Browne said, I have loved my friends as I do virtue, my soul, my God, emphasizing the value of deep connections.'
More from Thomas Browne
All quotes βContent may dwell in all stations. To be low but above contempt may be high enough to be happy.
Thus there are two books from whence I collect my Divinity; besides that written one of God, another of his servant Nature, that universal and public Manuscript, that lies expans'd unto the eyes of all; those that never saw him in the one, have discovered him in the other.
To be content with death may be better than to desire it.
Life itself is but the shadow of death, and souls departed but the shadows of the living.
The long habit of living indisposeth us for dying.
Similar quotes
We must meet our duty and convince the world that we are just friends and brave enemies.
Unlike the puerile loyalty to a conviction, loyalty to a friend is a virtue - perhaps the only virtue, the last remaining one.
A blessed thing it is to have a friend; one human soul whom we can trust utterly; who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults; who will speak the honest truth to us, while the world flatters us to our face, and laughs at us behind our back; who will give us counsel and reproof in a day of prosperity and self-conceit; but who, again, will comfort and encourage us in days of difficulty and sorrow, when the world leaves us alone to fight our own battle as we can.
If we want to make friends, let's greet people with animation and enthusiasm.
I am not of that feather, to shake off my friend when he must need me
She laughed when there was no joke. She danced when there was no music. She had no friends, yet she was the friendliest person in school.