The earth has grown old with its burden of care, But at Christmas it always is young.
Phillips BrooksRead
No man ever yet thought whether he was preaching well without weakening his sermon.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that overthinking can distract from delivering a good message.
Phillips Brooks emphasizes that when individuals focus too much on how they are being perceived while conveying their thoughts, it detracts from the quality and strength of the message itself. The idea is that self-consciousness can undermine effectiveness, and true communication should prioritize the content over the delivery concerns.
Themes
PreachingCommunicationSelf-ConsciousnessMessageEffectiveness
In practice
Example use cases
A teacher could use this quote to encourage students to focus on the material rather than their performance.
More from Phillips Brooks
All quotes βWe never become truly spiritual by sitting down and wishing to become so. You must undertake something so great that you cannot accomplish it unaided.
Phillips BrooksRead
The truest help we can render an afflicted man is not to take his burden from him, but to call out his best energy, that he may be able to bear the burden.
Phillips BrooksRead
To believe in the God over us and around us and not in the God within us - that would be a powerless and fruitless faith.
Phillips BrooksRead
To say, 'well done' to any bit of good work is to take hold of the powers which have made the effort and strengthen them beyond our knowledge.
Phillips BrooksRead
Think of life as a voyage. The truest liver of the truest life is like a voyager who, as he sails, is not indifferent to all the beauty of the sea around him.
Phillips BrooksRead
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