We ought not to extract pernicious honey from poison blossoms of misrepresentation and mendacious half-truth, to pamper the course appetite of bigotry and self-love.
I have found words [in the Bible] for my inmost thoughts, songs for my joy, utterances for my hidden griefs, and pleadings for my shame and my feebleness.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Coleridge expresses how the Bible provides him with the language for his deepest emotions and experiences.
In this quote, Samuel Taylor Coleridge reflects on the profound impact that the Bible has had on his emotional life. He emphasizes that the sacred text offers him not only the words to articulate his innermost thoughts and feelings but also comfort during times of joy and sorrow. The mention of 'hidden griefs' and 'pleadings for my shame' indicates a deep connection to human vulnerability, suggesting that sacred texts can serve as a source of solace and understanding for personal struggles.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon discussing the impact of scripture on personal feelings.
More from Samuel Taylor Coleridge
All quotes βCommon sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
And all who heard should see them there, And all should cry, Beware! Beware! His flashing eyes, his floating hair! Weave a circle round him thrice, And close your eyes with holy dread, For he on honey-dew hath fed, And drunk the milk of Paradise.
Often do the spirits stride on before the event; and in today already walks tomorrow.
Mr. Lyell's system of geology is just half the truth, and no more. He affirms a great deal that is true, and he denies a great deal which is equally true; which is the general characteristic of all systems not embracing the whole truth.
To believe and to understand are not diverse things, but the same things in different periods of growth.
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The only thing certain is nothing is certain.
Waves of thought are stirring. In a twilight corner of her consciousness, one tiny fragment and another tiny fragment call out wordlessly to eachother, their spreading ripples intermingling.