Do you wish to be free? Then above all things, love God, love your neighbor, love one another, love the common weal; then you will have true liberty.
Whoever excommunicates me, excommunicates God.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that one's authority to judge others should be scrutinized, as true moral authority comes from a higher power.
Girolamo Savonarola's quote reflects a profound assertion about the nature of excommunication and authority in spiritual and moral contexts. By stating that whoever excommunicates him is also excommunicating God, Savonarola emphasizes the connection between divine authority and human judgment, challenging the validity of any authority that would exclude him from the community of believers. It speaks to the idea that true righteousness cannot be claimed by those who act without divine sanction and portrays the struggle between individual conscience and institutional power.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a debate about religious authority during a lecture on Renaissance thinkers.
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When I was a kid, all I knew was that I felt more comfortable sitting in one chair than in another. And now I realize it was because one chair was older. I still respond directly to the age of things.
No one, I hope, can doubt my wish to see... all mankind exercising self-government, and capable of exercising it. But the question is not what we wish, but what is practicable.