Religion without humanity is very poor human stuff.
Sojourner TruthRead
It is written that there shall be a separation, and the sheep shall be separated from the goats. The other preachers have the sheep; I have the goats. And I have a few sheep among my goats, but they are very ragged.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the idea of discernment in spiritual or moral contexts, where individuals are categorized based on their values and behaviors.
Sojourner Truth's quote uses the metaphor of separating sheep from goats to illustrate the differentiated paths of people's lives, particularly in terms of their spiritual or moral character. In this context, the sheep represent those who adhere to certain virtues or beliefs, while the goats symbolize those who may stray from the expected or accepted norms. Truth’s assertion that she has 'goats' suggests an acceptance of the complex nature of humanity, where not all who follow a path do so perfectly, and some may exhibit flaws despite their potential for goodness.
Themes
SeparationSheepGoatsTruthMoralityCharacter
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon about discernment in our communities, you could cite this quote to illustrate the diversity of belief.
More from Sojourner Truth
All quotes →That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman?
Sojourner TruthRead
The rich rob the poor and the poor rob one another.
Sojourner TruthRead
Good man! Genuine gentleman! God bless George Thompson, the great-hearted friend of my race.
Sojourner TruthRead
And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?
Sojourner TruthRead
Because of them I can now live the dream. I am the seed of the free, and I know it. I intend to bear great fruit.
Sojourner TruthRead
Similar quotes
The big message of gospel is that you don't have to keep fighting the universe; you can stop, and the universe is quite good to you. There is a loss of ego.
Brian EnoRead
I feel a whole country growing inside me, thousands of years, millions of people, stupid, crazy, shrewd people, and all of them me. I never felt like that before, I never felt that there was anything inside me, even myself.
Peter S. BeagleRead
Call a thing immoral or ugly, soul-destroying or a degradation to man, a peril to the peace of the world or to the well-being of future generations: as long as you have not shown it to be "uneconomic" you have not really questioned its right to exist, grow, and prosper.
E. F. SchumacherRead
The armies of the day have chased the army of the night, Heaven and earth are filled with purity and light.
RumiRead
Unlike the twisters he famously chased in the movies, Bill Paxton was the kind of force of nature you ran toward and never away from.
Ron HowardRead
There's another disadvantage to the use of the flashlight: like many other mechanical gadgets it tends to separate a man from the world around him. If I switch it on my eyes adapt to it and I can see only the small pool of light it makes in front of me; I am isolated. Leaving the flashlight in my pocket where it belongs, I remain a part of the environment I walk through and my vision though limited has no sharp or definite boundary.
Edward AbbeyRead