Faith always contains an element of risk, of venture; and we are impelled to make the venture by the affinity and attraction which we feel in ourselves.
William IngeRead
A man may build himself a throne of bayonets, but he can't sit on it.
Interpretation
Power gained through force is not a true source of comfort or stability.
This quote speaks to the futility of relying on power achieved through violence or oppression. It suggests that while one may accumulate force or authority, it does not bring genuine fulfillment or security, highlighting the importance of moral integrity and the limitations of aggressive pursuits in achieving true leadership or happiness.
In practice
In a speech about non-violent leadership, one might quote this to emphasize the limits of coercion.
Faith always contains an element of risk, of venture; and we are impelled to make the venture by the affinity and attraction which we feel in ourselves.
Keats mourned that the rainbow, which as a boy had been for him a magic thing, had lost its glory because the physicists had found it resulted merely from the refraction of the sunlight by the raindrops. Yet knowledge of its causation could not spoil the rainbow for me. I am sure that it is not given to man to be omniscient. There will always be something left to know, something to excite the imagination of the poet and those attuned to the great world in which they live (p. 64)
The utterly fallacious idea at the heart of the pro-war argument is that it is the duty of the anti-war argument to provide an alternative to war. The onus is on them to explain just cause.
I am forced to get my living by the labour of my hand; and the sweat of my brow... for bitter bread, earned under the frowns of some who have no natural or divine right to be above me, and entirely owe their grandeur and honor to grinding the faces of the poor.
But that part of us greater than the sum of our parts cannot begin and cannot end, and so it cannot fail
If you really want to experience God, go and make disciples.
Sacrifice is truly the crowning test of the gospel. Men are tried and tested in this mortal probation to see if they will put first in their lives the kingdom of God.
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