The angels surround and help the priest when he is celebrating Mass.
Saint AugustineRead
Men go forth to marvel at the height of mountains, and the huge waves of the sea, the broad flow of the rivers, the vastness of the ocean, the orbits of the stars, and yet they neglect to marvel at themselves. Variant: Men go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty billows of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, and pass themselves by.
Interpretation
What this quote means
People often admire the grandeur of nature but overlook their own inner marvel.
This quote by Saint Augustine highlights the irony that while humans are captivated by the vastness and beauty of the natural world, they frequently fail to appreciate their own existence and potential. It encourages a reflective mindset, prompting individuals to recognize the inherent wonder within themselves rather than solely focusing on external marvels.
Themes
SelfWonderNaturePhilosophyReflectionAdmiration
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech focusing on self-awareness and reflection.
More from Saint Augustine
All quotes →There is no health in those who are displeased by an element in Your creation, just as there was none in me when I was displeased by many things You had made. Because my soul didn't dare to say that my God displeased me, it refused to attribute to You whatever was displeasing.
Saint AugustineRead
Bad times, hard times, this is what people keep saying; but let us live well, and times shall be good. We are the times: Such as we are, such are the times.
Saint AugustineRead
Who can map out the various forces at play in one soul? Man is a great depth, O Lord. The hairs of his head are easier by far to count than his feeling, the movements of his heart.
Saint AugustineRead
Whatever skills I have acquired, whatever gifts I have been given, I place them at Your service.
Saint AugustineRead
Everyone who observes himself doubting observes a truth, and about that which he observes he is certain; therefore he is certain about a truth. Everyone therefore who doubts whether truth exists has in himself a truth on which not to doubt.... Hence one who can doubt at all ought not to doubt the existence of truth.
Saint AugustineRead
Similar quotes
It is wrong for a man to say that he is certain of the objective truth of any proposition unless he can produce evidence which logically justifies that certainty.
Thomas HuxleyRead
All human plans [are] subject to ruthless revision by Nature, or Fate, or whatever one preferred to call the powers behind the Universe.
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The reason why life is a sleep & dream for most people is because their awareness is caught up with past or future & not with what is.
Deepak ChopraRead
Accordingly, France Had Voltaire, and his school of negative thinkers, and England (or rather Scotland) had the profoundest negative thinker on record, David Hume: a man, the peculiarities of whose mind qualified him to detect failure of proof, and want of logical consistency, at a depth which French skeptics, with their comparatively feeble powers of analysis and abstractions stop far short of, and which German subtlety alone could thoroughly appreciate, or hope to rival.
John Stuart MillRead
Do not feel certain of anything.
Bertrand RussellRead
EXPLORING the world is one of the best ways of exploring the mind, and walking travels both terrains.
Rebecca SolnitRead