Your cravings as a human animal do not become a prayer just because it is God whom you ask to attend to them.
Dag HammarskjoldRead
God does not die on the day when we cease to believe in a personal deity, but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance, renewed daily, of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The essence of life and wonder does not depend on belief in a deity, but on the continuous appreciation of life and its mysteries.
Dag Hammarskjold's quote suggests that our existence is not defined by the presence or absence of belief in a personal god. Instead, it emphasizes that the true essence of life lies in our ability to be continually inspired and awed by the world around us, regardless of our religious beliefs. The idea is that we truly perish when we lose our sense of wonder and appreciation for life itself.
Themes
WonderBeliefLifeAppreciationInspiration
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about finding joy in everyday moments.
More from Dag Hammarskjold
All quotes →It is not we who seek the Way, but the Way which seeks us. That is why you are faithful to it, even while you stand waiting, so long as you are prepared, and act the moment you are confronted by its demands.
Dag HammarskjoldRead
Do not seek death. Death will find you. But seek the road which makes death a fulfillment.
Dag HammarskjoldRead
The world cannot live at peace without the United Nations. For this reason: it creates a reasonable guarantee that all this change in the world, these tremendous political and economic developments, can be channelized, kept orderly. The United Nations is a mold that keeps the hot metal from spilling over.
Dag HammarskjoldRead
In a dream I walked with God through the deep places of creation; past walls that receded and gates that opened through hall after hall of silence, darkness and refreshment--the dwelling place of souls acquainted with light and warmth--until, around me, was an infinity into which we all flowed together and lived anew, like the rings made by raindrops falling upon wide expanses of calm dark waters.
Dag HammarskjoldRead
He is one of those who has had the wilderness for a pillow, and called a star his brother. Alone. But loneliness can be a communion.
Dag HammarskjoldRead
Similar quotes
One of the things we have to acknowledge is that if you look at Haiti, many billions of dollars have gone into development aid there that have not been effective.
Paul FarmerRead
He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God's providence to lead him aright.
Blaise PascalRead
It is not easy to convey a sense of wonder, let alone resurrection wonder, to another. It’s the very nature of wonder to catch us off guard, to circumvent expectations and assumptions. Wonder can’t be packaged, and it can’t be worked up. It requires some sense of being there and some sense of engagement.
Eugene H. PetersonRead
A man speaking sense to himself is no madder than a man speaking nonsense not to himself.
Tom StoppardRead
Necessity has the face of a dog.
Gabriel Garcia MarquezRead
The old cathedrals are good, but the great blue dome that hangs over everything is better.
Thomas CarlyleRead