Never let your zeal outrun your charity. The former is but human, the latter is divine.
Hosea BallouRead
Religion which requires persecution to sustain, it is of the devil's propagation.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques religions that rely on persecution to maintain power, suggesting they are morally corrupt.
Hosea Ballou's quote challenges the moral foundation of any religion that thrives on the oppression of others. It implies that true spirituality should not require violence or coercion to exist; rather, it should be rooted in love and understanding. Such a view invites individuals to reflect on the authenticity of their beliefs and question the ethical implications of their practices, as well as the role of faith in society.
Themes
ReligionPersecutionMoralityFaithBelief
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the role of faith in modern society, this quote can highlight the dangers of dogma.
More from Hosea Ballou
All quotes →Real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit.
Hosea BallouRead
Similar quotes
Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we watch – this is the Capitol’s way of reminding us how totally we are at their mercy.
Suzanne CollinsRead
Now Coraline," said Miss Spink, "what's your name?" "Coraline," said Coraline. "And we don't know each other, do we?" Coraline looked at the thin young woman with black button eyes and shook her head slowly.
Neil GaimanRead
It's a cruel season that makes you get ready for bed while it's light out.
Bill WattersonRead
I miss everyone. I can remember being young and feeling a thing and identifying it as homesickness, and then thinking well now that’s odd, isn’t it, because I was home, all the time. What on earth are we to make of that?
David Foster WallaceRead
You think that I am impoverishing myself withdrawing from men, but in my solitude I have woven for myself a silken web or chrysalis, and, nymph-like, shall ere long burst forth a more perfect creature, fitted for a higher society.
Henry David ThoreauRead
Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement.
Alfred AdlerRead