QuoteProject
Mary's greatness consists in the fact that she wants to magnify God, not herself.
Pope Benedict Xvi
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

True greatness comes from a desire to honor God rather than seeking personal glory.

This quote highlights the essence of humility and the importance of spiritual devotion. Pope Benedict XVI suggests that true greatness is measured not by one's personal achievements, but by the intent to magnify and glorify a higher power, in this case, God. It calls attention to the value of selflessness and the impactful nature of serving a greater purpose beyond oneself.

Themes

GreatnessHumilityServiceDevotionGodSelflessness

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be shared during a religious service to encourage selflessness.

More from Pope Benedict Xvi

If in my life I fail completely to heed others, solely out of a desire to be 'devout' and to perform my 'religious duties', then my relationship with God will also grow arid. It becomes merely 'proper', but loveless.
Pope Benedict XviRead
The life of the community, both domestically and internationally, clearly demonstrates that respect for rights, and the guarantees that follow from them, are measures of the common good that serve to evaluate the relationship between justice and injustice, development and poverty, security and conflict.
Pope Benedict XviRead
If you follow the will of God, you know that in spite of all the terrible things that happen to you, you will never lose a final refuge. You know that the foundation of the world is love, so that even when no human being can or will help you, you may go on, trusting in the One that loves you.
Pope Benedict XviRead
I am consoled by the fact that the Lord knows how to work and how to act, even with insufficient tools.
Pope Benedict XviRead
Faith is above all a personal, intimate encounter with Jesus, and to experience [His] closeness, [His] friendship, [His] Love; only in this way does one learn to know [Him] ever more, and to love and follow [Him] ever more. May this happen to each one of us.
Pope Benedict XviRead
Do not be afraid of seeming different and being criticized for what might seem to be losing or out of fashion; your peers but adults too, especially those who seem more distant from the mindset and values of the Gospel, are crying out to see someone who dares to live according to the fullness of humanity revealed by Jesus Christ.
Pope Benedict XviRead

Similar quotes

One of the things that makes Wittgenstein a real artist to me is that he realized that no conclusion could be more horrible than solipsism.
David Foster WallaceRead
People are always angry at anyone who chooses very individual standards for his life; because of the extraordinary treatment which that man grants to himself, they feel degraded, like ordinary beings.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question.
Thomas JeffersonRead
Not longer loved or fostered by religion, beauty is lifted from its face as a mask, and its absence exposes features on that face which threaten to become incomprehensible to man.
Hans Urs Von BalthasarRead
How poor this world would be without its graves, without the memories of its mighty dead. Only the voiceless speak forever.
Robert Green IngersollRead
Power should be a check on power.
Baron De MontesquieuRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Pope Benedict Xvi | QuoteProject