Show me your hands. Do they have scars from giving? Show me your feet. Are they wounded in service? Show me your heart. Have you left a place for divine love?
Fulton J. SheenRead
No one has ever laughed at a pun who did not see in the one word a twofold meaning. To materialists this world is opaque like a curtain; nothing can be seen through it. A mountain is just a mountain, a sunset just a sunset; but to poets, artists, and saints, the world is transparent like a window pane - it tells of something beyond....a mountain tells of the Power of God, the sunset of His Beauty, and the snowflake of His Purity.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the distinction between a materialistic view of the world and a more poetic or spiritual perspective that sees deeper meanings in nature.
Fulton J. Sheen contrasts two ways of perceiving the world: the materialistic view that sees only the surface of things and the poetic view that perceives deeper truths represented by the natural world. For those who look beyond mere appearances, nature reveals a reflection of divine attributes, where mountains embody strength, sunsets denote beauty, and snowflakes symbolize purity, inviting a contemplation of higher realities.
Themes
PerceptionNatureSpiritualityPoetryMaterialism
In practice
Example use cases
During a poetry reading event, one might use this quote to highlight the significance of seeing deeper meanings in everyday life.
More from Fulton J. Sheen
All quotes →A woman gets angry when a man denies his faults, because she knew them all along. His lying mocks her affection; it is the deceit that angers her more than the faults.
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Many married women who have deliberately spurned the "hour" of childbearing are unhappy and frustrated. They never discovered the joys of marriage because they refused to surrender to the obligation of their state. In saving themselves, they lost themselves!
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The big print giveth, and the fine print taketh away.
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Hearing nuns' confessions is like being stoned to death with popcorn.
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The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The Tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.
Fulton J. SheenRead
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