Faith is the highest passion in a human being. Many in every generation may not come that far, but none comes further.
Soren KierkegaardRead
One can advise comfortably from a safe port.
Interpretation
True understanding and wisdom often come from experience rather than from a distance.
This quote by Søren Kierkegaard implies that it is easy to give advice or make judgments when you are not personally affected by the situation. It highlights the importance of direct experience in making informed and empathetic decisions, reminding us that those who have faced challenges are often the best sources of guidance.
In practice
During a workshop on conflict resolution.
Faith is the highest passion in a human being. Many in every generation may not come that far, but none comes further.
Men think that it is impossible for a human being to love his enemies, for enemies are hardly able to endure the sight of one another. Well, then, shut your eyes--and your enemy looks just like your neighbor.
How did I get into the world? Why was I not asked about it and why was I not informed of the rules and regulations but just thrust into the ranks as if I had been bought by a peddling shanghaier of human beings? How did I get involved in this big enterprise called actuality? Why should I be involved? Isn't it a matter of choice? And if I am compelled to be involved, where is the manager—I have something to say about this. Is there no manager? To whom shall I make my complaint?
A possibility is a hint from God. One must follow it.
And when the hourglass has run out, the hourglass of temporality, when the noise of secular life has grown silent and its restless or ineffectual activism has come to an end, when everything around you is still, as it is in eternity, then eternity asks you and every individual in these millions and millions about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.
I am so stupid that I cannot understand philosophy; the antithesis of this is that philosophy is so clever that it cannot comprehend my stupidity. These antitheses are mediated in a higher unity; in our common stupidity.
Find people not to envy but to admire. Do not the profitable but the admirable deed. Live by ideals.
I know nothing, because I know too much, and understand not nearly enough and never will.
I learned to observe the world around me, and to note what I saw
Power is not happiness. Security and peace are more to be desired than a name at which nations tremble.
Exile (being where we don't want to be with people we don't want to be with) forces a decision: Will I focus my attention on what is wrong with the world and feel sorry for myself? Or will I focus my energies on how I can live at my best in this place I find myself?...'I will do my best with what is here.'
Half of your power lies in your sameness with others. The other half lies in your uniqueness.
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