A great empire and little minds go ill together.
No sound ought to be heard in the church but the healing voice of Christian charity.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that a church should be a place of compassion and charity, devoid of distractions or negativity.
Edmund Burke's quote suggests that the primary purpose of a church is to promote love and kindness through Christian charity. He implies that the atmosphere in such a sacred space should be filled only with messages of healing and support, contrasting the often chaotic and noisy distractions of the outside world. This highlights the importance of maintaining a serene and nurturing environment where compassion can flourish.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon discussing the essence of community service, a pastor might quote Burke to emphasize the church's role in fostering charity.
More from Edmund Burke
All quotes βTo read without reflecting is like eating without digesting.
Flattery corrupts both the receiver and the giver.
The hottest fires in hell are reserved for those who remain neutral in times of moral crisis.
Society can overlook murder, adultery or swindling; it never forgives preaching of a new gospel.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Similar quotes
I'm a spokesman for myself. It just so happens that there's a bunch of people that are concerned with what I have to say. I find that frightening at times because I'm just as confused as most people. I don't have the answers for anything.
Fundamentally, our Lord's message was Himself. He did not come merely to preach a Gospel; He himself is that Gospel. He did not come merely to give bread; He said, "I am the bread." He did not come merely to shed light; He said, "I am the light." He did not come merely to show the door; He said, "I am the door." He did not come merely to name a shepherd; He said, "I am the shepherd." He did not come merely to point the way; He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."
Isaac Asimov's remark about the infantilism of pseudoscience is just as applicable to religion: 'Inspect every piece of pseudoscience and you will find a security blanket, a thumb to suck, a skirt to hold.' It is astonishing, moreover, how many people are unable to understand that 'X is comforting' does not imply 'X is true'.
Ethics is in its unqualified form extended responsibility with regard to everything that has life.
If the work of our sanctification presents us with difficulties that appear insurmountable, it is because we do not look at it in the right way. In reality, holiness consists in one thing alone, namely, fidelity to God's plan. And this fidelity is equally within everyone's capacity in both its active and passive exercise.
We humans are obsessed with lights...Perhaps it is our way of hurling the constellations back at the sky.