Truth is something so noble that if God could turn aside from it, I could keep the truth and let God go.
Meister EckhartRead
The outward work can never be small if the inward one is great, and the outward work can never be great or good if the inward is small or of little worth.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The significance of our external actions depends on the depth of our internal values and beliefs.
Meister Eckhart's quote emphasizes the relationship between inner thoughts and outward actions. It suggests that true greatness and value in our external efforts stem from a profound inner life; conversely, superficiality in our inner world will lead to mediocrity in our outward endeavors. This insight highlights the importance of self-reflection and nurturing our internal sense of worth to manifest meaningful actions in the world.
Themes
Inner WorkOuter WorkSelf-ReflectionValuesActions
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech, highlighting the importance of personal growth before pursuing goals.
More from Meister Eckhart
All quotes →...Where and when God finds you ready, he must act and overflow into you, just as when the air is clear and pure, the sun must overflow into it and cannot refrain from doing that.
Meister EckhartRead
What good is it to me that Mary gave birth to the son of God fourteen hundred years ago, and I do not also give birth to the Son of God in my time and in my culture? We are all meant to be mothers of God. God is always needing to be born.
Meister EckhartRead
In this breaking-through, I receive that God and I are one. Then I am what I was, and then I neither diminish nor increase, for I am then an immovable cause that moves all things.
Meister EckhartRead
Apprehend God in all things, for God is in all things. Every single creature is full of God and is a book about God. Every creature is a word of God.
Meister EckhartRead
If you love yourself, you love everybody else as you do yourself. As long as you love another person less than you love yourself, you will not really succeed in loving yourself but if you love all alike, including yourself, you will love them as one person and that person is both God and man.
Meister EckhartRead
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The text is a tissue of quotations drawn from the innumerable centres of culture.
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