He will wipe the tears from all faces.' It takes nothing from the loveliness of the verse to say that is exactly what will be required
Marilynne RobinsonRead
I would advise you against defensiveness on priciple. it precludes the best eventualities along with the worst. At the most basic level it expresses a lack of faith.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Being defensive inhibits positive outcomes and demonstrates a lack of trust.
Marilynne Robinson's quote suggests that defensiveness is counterproductive, preventing one from experiencing the best possible outcomes while also safeguarding against the worst. It highlights how a defensive stance often stems from insecurity and a lack of belief in oneself or the situation at hand, thereby limiting potential growth and connection with others.
Themes
DefensivenessFaithTrustGrowthOutcomes
In practice
Example use cases
In a team meeting discussing project strategies, one might quote this to encourage open-mindedness.
More from Marilynne Robinson
All quotes βIt seems to me there is less meanness in atheism, by a good measure. It seems that the spirit of religious self-righteousness this article deplores is precisely the spirit in which it is written. Of course he's right about many things, one of them being the destructive potency of religious self-righteousness. (p. 146)
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A narrow pond would form in the orchard, water clear as air covering grass and black leaves and fallen branches, all around it black leaves and drenched grass and fallen branches, and on it, slight as an image in an eye, sky, clouds, trees, our hovering faces and our cold hands.
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The moon looks wonderful in this warm evening light, just as a candle flame looks beautiful in the light of morning. Light within light...It seems to me to be a metaphor for the human soul, the singular light within that great general light of existence.
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There are worries that seem to me sustained by the love of worry. For example, that people are reading from screens, or listening to recorded books. Why scold the impulse to enjoy language and narrative in whatever form it takes?
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Teaching is a distraction and a burden, but it's also an incredible stimulus. And a reprieve, in a way. When you're trying to work on something and it's not going anywhere, you can go to school and there's a two-and-a-half-hour block of time in which you can accomplish something.
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