It is as absurd to argue men, as to torture them, into believing.
John Henry NewmanRead
I sought to hear the voice of God and climbed the topmost steeple, but God declared: "Go down again - I dwell among the people.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that divine presence is found in the community rather than in isolation or lofty places.
John Henry Newman's quote reflects the idea that searching for a higher power or truth should not lead one to seek isolation in pursuit of enlightenment; instead, true understanding and connection with the divine are found amidst the people. It speaks to the value of community, suggesting that engaging with others allows us to encounter the essence of spirituality and humanity.
In practice
During a church service, the pastor shared this quote to encourage community engagement.
It is as absurd to argue men, as to torture them, into believing.
A cloud of incense was rising on high; the people suddenly all bowed low; what could it mean? The truth flashed on him, fearfully yet sweetly; it was the Blessed Sacrament - it was the Lord Incarnate who was on the altar, who had come to visit and bless his people. It was the Great Presence, which makes a Catholic Church different from every other place in the world; which makes it, as no other place can be - holy.
It is seldom we have the heart to throw ourselves, if I may so speak, on the Divine Arm; we dare not trust ourselves on the waters, though Christ bids us. We have not St. Peter's love to ask leave to come to him upon the sea. When we once are filled with that heavenly charity, we can do all things, because we attempt all things - for to attempt is to do.
Now what is it moves our very hearts, and sickens us so much at cruelty shown to poor brutes? I suppose this first, that they have done no harm; next, that they have no power whatever of resistance; it is the cowardice and tyranny of which they are the victims which makes their sufferings so especially touching.
A science is not mere knowledge, it is knowledge which has undergone a process of intellectual digestion. It is the grasp of many things brought together in one, and hence is its power; for, properly speaking, it is Science that is power, not Knowledge.
Evil has no substance of its own, but is only the defect, excess, perversion, or corruption of that which has substance.
We cannot discuss human rights, when we are denying people the right to live.
I think it's in human nature to want to have more, to compete with the other and, at some level, to be dissatisfied if someone else has more than you.
Call no man happy, said Shadow, until he is dead
The reader becomes God, for all textual purposes. I see your eyes glazing over, so I'll hush.
The past grows gradually around one, like a placenta for dying.
The twentieth century was the bankruptcy of the social utopia; the twenty-first will be that of the technological one.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.