If two lives join, there is oft a scar. They are one and one, with a shadowy third; One near one is too far.
Robert BrowningRead
All service ranks the same with God,- With God, whose puppets, best and worst, Are we: there is no last nor first.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that all acts of service hold equal value in the eyes of God, emphasizing the importance of humility and equality in human actions.
Robert Browning's quote reflects on the nature of service and its standing before a higher power, suggesting that in the grand scheme of existence, all acts of service are equal regardless of social rank or title. It conveys a profound notion of humility, highlighting that everyone, as mere puppets in the hands of God, plays a role in the tapestry of life and thereby diminishes the value of worldly distinctions such as 'last' or 'first'.
Themes
ServiceHumilityEqualityGodValue
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon about charity, a speaker might use this quote to emphasize the importance of serving others humbly.
More from Robert Browning
All quotes βTis Man's to explore up and down, inch by inch, with the taper his reason.
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I think, am sure, a brother's love exceeds_x000D_ _x000D_ All the world's loves in its unworldliness.
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I dare not so honor my mere wishes and prayers as to put them for a moment beside your noble acts; but this know, I would rather submit to the worst of deaths, so far as pain goes, than have a single dog or cat tortured on the pretence of sparing me a twinge or two.
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How well I know what I mean to do When the long dark Autumn evenings come, And where, my soul, is thy pleasant hue? With the music of all thy voices, dumb In lifeβs November too! I shall be found by the fire, suppose, Oβer a great wise book as beseemeth age, While the shutters flap as the cross-wind blows, And I turn the page, and I turn the page, Not verse now, only prose!
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How good is life, the mere living!
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