All the world knows me in my book, and my book in me.
Michel De MontaigneRead
There is little less trouble in governing a private family than a whole kingdom.
Interpretation
Governance of a family can be as complex as governance of a larger society.
This quote by Michel De Montaigne suggests that managing the dynamics and responsibilities within a family can be just as difficult as overseeing an entire kingdom. It highlights the intricacies of interpersonal relationships and the challenges faced in maintaining order, harmony, and effective leadership in both small and large settings.
In practice
A speaker at a family leadership seminar might use this quote to emphasize the importance of family dynamics.
All the world knows me in my book, and my book in me.
All I say is by way of discourse, and nothing by way of advice. I should not speak so boldly if it were my due to be believed.
Pythagoras used to say that life resembles the Olympic Games: a few people strain their muscles to carry off a prize; others bring trinkets to sell to the crowd for gain; and some there are, and not the worst, who seek no other profit than to look at the show and see how and why everything is done; spectators of the life of other people in order to judge and regulate their own.
There is not much less vexation in the government of a private family than in the managing of an entire state.
Those who have compared our life to a dream were right... we were sleeping wake, and waking sleep.
Such as are in immediate fear of a losing their estates, of banishment, or of slavery, live in perpetual anguish, and lose all appetite and repose; whereas such as are actually poor, slaves, or exiles, ofttimes live as merrily as other folk.
It is often the case, as all the saints know, that fellowship with the Father and the Son is most vivid and sweet, and Christian joy is greatest, when the cross is heaviest.
Blacks have traditionally had to operate in a situation where whites have set themselves up as the custodians of the black experience.
It were better to have no opinion of God at all than such a one as is unworthy of him; for the one is only belief - the other contempt.
The whole principle (censorship) is wrong; it's like demanding that grown men live on skim milk because the baby can't eat steak.
Those of us raised in the Christian tradition need to choose to either see God in Jesus or to continue to let the Bible define God. Our tradition says that Jesus is God. Maybe we should act as if we think he is instead of worshipping a book. Maybe we should be brave enough to admit that we are compelled to either become blinded ideologues or we need to forthrightly pick and choose what we follow in the Bible. Most Christians do that anyway, many just donβt admit it.
Total peace after death, becoming someone else, is the best hope I've got.
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