Jesus Christ belonged to the true race of prophets. He saw with open eye the mystery of the soul. Drawn by its severe harmony, ravished with its beauty, he lived in it and had his being there. Alone in all history, he estimated the greatness of man.
Interpretation
The quote highlights Jesus Christ's profound understanding of the human soul and his unique appreciation for humanity's greatness.
Ralph Waldo Emerson reflects on Jesus Christ as a true prophet who possessed a deep insight into the mysteries of the soul. He suggests that Jesus not only recognized the inherent beauty and harmony of the soul but also lived fully within this understanding, setting him apart in history for his extraordinary recognition of the greatness of mankind.
In practice
This quote could be used in a sermon to illustrate the divine insight of Jesus.
It is plain that there is no separate essence called courage, no cup or cell in the brain, no vessel in the heart containing drops or atoms that make or give this virtue; but it is the right or healthy state of every man, when he is free to do that which is constitutional to him to do.
Few people have any next, they live from hand to mouth without a plan, and are always at the end of their line.
Men cease to interest us when we find their limitations
Tis the good reader that makes the good book; a good head cannot read amiss: in every book he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakeably meant for his ear.
The world belongs to the energetic.
Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?
The sacredness, if there is any, is all in yourself and not in the place.
Temptation said that we all dream of committing crimes, but that only the unbalanced make that macabre idea a reality.
What does it matter how one comes by the truth so long as one pounces upon it and lives by it?
Peace is the work of justice indirectly, in so far as justice removes the obstacles to peace; but it is the work of charity (love) directly, since charity, according to its very notion, causes peace.
No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good...Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is.
Charity should be spontaneous. Calculated altruism is an affront.
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