Justice and power must be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful, and whatever is powerful may be just.
Blaise PascalRead
The sum of a man's problems come from his inability to be alone in a silent room.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that many of our troubles stem from our discomfort with solitude and silence.
Blaise Pascal's quote highlights the idea that an individual's inner turmoil often arises from a fear of being alone with their thoughts. In a world filled with distractions, many people struggle to confront their own emotions and reflections in silence, leading to a myriad of personal problems. It serves as a reminder to embrace solitude as a pathway to self-discovery and clarity.
In practice
During a workshop on mindfulness, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of solitude for mental health.
Justice and power must be brought together, so that whatever is just may be powerful, and whatever is powerful may be just.
If we submit everything to reason our religion will be left with nothing mysterious or supernatural. If we offend the principles of reason our religion will be absurd and ridiculous . . . There are two equally dangerous extremes: to exclude reason, to admit nothing but reason.
Those are weaklings who know the truth and uphold it as long as it suits their purpose, and then abandon it.
Jesus is the God whom we can approach without pride and before whom we can humble ourselves without despair.
If he exalts himself, I humble him. If he humbles himself, I exalt him. And I go on contradicting him Until he understands That he is a monster that passes all understanding.
What use is it to us to hear it said of a man that he has thrown off the yoke that he does not believe there is a God to watch over his actions, that he reckons himself the sole master of his behavior, and that he does not intend to give an account of it to anyone but himself?
What is left over if I subtract the fact that my arms goes up from the fact that I raise my arm?
The wild, cruel beast is not behind the bars of the cage. He is in front of it.
Born to an age where horror has become commonplace, where tragedy has, by its monotonous repetition, become a parody of sorrow, we need to fence off a few parks where humans try to be fair, where skill has some hope of reward, where absurdity has a harder time than usual getting a ticket.
Again, the glory of one attribute is more seen in one work than in another: in some things there is more of His goodness, in other things more of His wisdom is seen, and in others more of His power. But in the work of redemption all His perfections and excellencies shine forth in their greatest glory.
I am a Christian and a Democrat, that's all.
In the end, we are our choices.
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