Truth is something so noble that if God could turn aside from it, I could keep the truth and let God go.
Meister EckhartRead
People should not worry as much about what they do but rather about what they are. If they and their ways are good, then their deeds are radiant. If you are righteous, then what you do will also be righteous. We should not think that holiness is based on what we do but rather on what we are, for it is not our works which sanctify us but we who sanctify our works.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Focus on your character rather than solely on your actions, as true righteousness comes from being good within.
This quote emphasizes the importance of inner character over external actions. Meister Eckhart argues that true holiness and righteousness stem from who we are as individuals rather than merely the deeds we perform. By cultivating goodness within ourselves, our actions naturally reflect that inner quality, making them righteous. It is a reminder that our integrity and virtue are the true measures of our worth, not just our accomplishments or behavior in isolation.
Themes
CharacterRighteousnessGoodnessHolinessActionsDeeds
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about self-improvement.
More from Meister Eckhart
All quotes β...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.
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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.
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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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