Against the persecution of a tyrant the godly have no remedy but prayer.
John CalvinRead
Man's nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Humans constantly create ideals and beliefs that can distract them from reality.
This quote by John Calvin suggests that humans have an innate tendency to create and cling to various concepts, ideals, and beliefs—referred to as 'idols'—that often overshadow their understanding of true life and reality. These idols can manifest as material possessions, ideology, or even false notions of worth, ultimately leading individuals away from genuine spiritual and existential truths.
Themes
IdolsBeliefsNatureHumanPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion on the impact of consumerism in society.
More from John Calvin
All quotes →The pastor ought to have two voices: one, for gathering the sheep; and another, for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. The Scripture supplies him with the means of doing both.
John CalvinRead
Man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God's majesty.
John CalvinRead
Whomever the Lord has adopted and deemed worthy of His fellowship ought to prepare themselves for a hard, toilsome, and unquiet life, crammed with very many and various kinds of evil.
John CalvinRead
For as the aged, or those whose sight is defective, when any book, however fair, is set before them, though they perceive that there is something written, are scarcely able to make out two consecutive words, but, when aided by glasses, begin to read distinctly, so Scripture, gathering together the impressions of Deity, which, till then, lay confused in our minds, dissipates the darkness, and shows us the true God clearly.
John CalvinRead
When God wants to judge a nation, He gives them wicked rulers.
John CalvinRead
Similar quotes
What a host of little incidents, all deep-buried in the past -- problems that had once been urgent, arguments that had once been keen, anecdotes that were funny only because one remembered the fun. Did any emotion really matter when the last trace of it had vanished from human memory; and if that were so, what a crowd of emotions clung to him as to their last home before annihilation? He must be kind to them, must treasure them in his mind before their long sleep.
James HiltonRead
There is no road towards peace; peace is the road
Mahatma GandhiRead
That what appears to be egoism so often isn't.
David Foster WallaceRead
Woman’s bodies continue to be dismembered in advertising. Over and over again just one part of the body is used to sell products, which is one of the most dehumanizing thing you can do to someone. Not only is she a thing, but just one part of that thing is focused on.
Jean KilbourneRead
The mask was a thing on it's own, behind which Jack hid, liberated from shame and self-conciousness.
William GoldingRead
We should like to have some towering geniuses, to reveal us to ourselves in colour and fire, but of course they would have to fit into the pattern of our society and be able to take orders from sound administrative types.
J. B. PriestleyRead