Science has to be understood in its broadest sense, as a method for apprehending all observable reality, and not merely as an instrument for acquiring specialized knowledge.
Alexis CarrelRead
Man offers himself to God. He stands before Him like the canvas before the painter or the marble before the sculptor. At the same time he asks for His grace, expresses his needs and those of his brothers in suffering. Such a type of prayer demands complete renovation. The modest, the ignorant, and the poor are more capable of this self-denial than the rich and the intellectual.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the importance of humility and self-denial in prayer and connection with God.
In this quote, Alexis Carrel compares the act of man offering himself to God with a canvas awaiting the artist's touch or marble poised for the sculptor's creation. This metaphor emphasizes the necessity of humility and self-renovation in prayer, suggesting that those who are modest, unlearned, and impoverished often embody greater capacity for self-denial than those who are wealthy or well-educated. Through their sincere, unpretentious approach to prayer, they seek divine grace not only for themselves but for others who share in their suffering.
Themes
HumilityPrayerSelf-DenialGraceSpirituality
In practice
Example use cases
During a spiritual retreat, this quote can be shared to inspire participants to embrace humility in their prayers.
More from Alexis Carrel
All quotes →Hard conditions of life are indispensable to bringing out the best in human personality.
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A few observation and much reasoning lead to error; many observations and a little reasoning to truth.
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The first duty of society is to give each of its members the possibility of fulfilling his destiny. When it becomes incapable of performing this duty it must be transformed.
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Discipline brings us effort, sacrifice and suffering. Later it brings us something of an inestimable value: something of which those who live only for pleasure, profit or amusement will always be deprived. This peculiar indefinable joy which one must have felt oneself to understand is the sign with which life marks its moment of triumph.
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Those who desire to rise as high as our human condition allows, must renounce intellectual pride, the omnipotence of clear thinking, belief in the absolute power of logic.
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