Damned money! Alas! How many religious did it blind! How many cloistered religious did it deceive! Money is the 'droppings of birds' that blinded the eyes of Tobit.
Interpretation
This quote criticizes the corrupting influence of money on religious individuals and institutions.
Anthony of Padua reflects on the negative impact of money on those who are meant to uphold moral and spiritual values. He suggests that the pursuit of wealth can blind people to their principles and lead to deception, comparing money to 'droppings of birds,' which emphasizes its insignificance and the folly of prioritizing it over spirituality.
In practice
In a discussion about the moral implications of wealth, this quote can be referenced to highlight the dangers of materialism.
The creator of the heavens obeys a carpenter; the God of eternal glory listens to a poor virgin. Has anyone ever witnessed anything comparable to this? Let the philosopher no longer disdain from listening to the common laborer; the wise, to the simple; the educated, to the illiterate; a child of a prince, to a peasant.
Men will surrender to the spirit of the age. They will say that if they had lived in our day, faith would be simple and easy. But in their day, they will say, things are complex; the Church must be brought up to date and made meaningful to the day's problems.
The spirit of humility is sweeter than honey, and those who nourish themselves with this honey produce sweet fruit.
Christians must lean on the Cross of Christ just as travelers lean on a staff when they begin a long journey.
The life of the body is the soul; the life of the soul is God.
Earthly riches are like the reed. Its roots are sunk in the swamp, and its exterior is fair to behold; but inside it is hollow. If a man leans on such a reed, it will snap off and pierce his soul.
Against eternal injustice, man must assert justice, and to protest against the universe of grief, he must create happiness.
I should like to save the Shire, if I could - though there have been times when I thought the inhabitants too stupid and dull for words, and have felt that an earthquake or an invasion of dragons might be good for them. But I don't feel like that now. I feel that as long as the Shire lies behind, safe and comfortable, I shall find wandering more bearable: I shall know that somewhere there is a firm foothold, even if my feet cannot stand there again.
If you want your own way, God will let you have it. Hell is the enjoyment of one's own way forever.
In a world where ideas and ideals flow freely, we want what everybody else in an advanced society seems to have: a say in our future.
There are no little events in life, those we think of no consequence may be full of fate, and it is at our own risk if we neglect the acquaintances and opportunities that seem to be casually offered, and of small importance.
He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife.
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