Hug the shore; let others try the deep.
If ye despise the human race, and mortal arms, yet remember that there is a God who is mindful of right and wrong.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of morality and the divine oversight of human actions, regardless of one's feelings towards humanity.
Virgil's quote points to a fundamental belief in a higher power that watches over human behavior, serving as a reminder that even when one feels disillusioned or contemptuous towards humanity and its flaws, there exists a divine presence that upholds morality and justice. This prompts individuals to reflect on their actions and the inherent worth of moral principles, encouraging a sense of accountability towards a greater good.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be shared during a philosophical discussion about the nature of humanity and morality.
More from Virgil
All quotes βEven virtue is fairer when it appears in a beautiful person.
Happy the man who has been able to learn the causes of things.
Endure the present, and watch for better things.
Come what may, all bad fortune is to be conquered by endurance.
Fear is proof of a degenerate mind.
Similar quotes
Everything which relates to God is infinite. We must therefore, while we keep our hearts humble, keep our aims high. Our highest services are indeed but finite, imperfect. But as God is unlimited in goodness, He should have our unlimited love.
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When we learn to read the story of Jesus and see it as the story of the love of God, doing for us what we could not do for ourselves--that insight produces, again and again, a sense of astonished gratitude which is very near the heart of authentic Christian experience.
The truth is that the whole life of the worker is simply a continuous and dismaying succession of terms of serfdom - voluntary from the juridical point of view but compulsory in the economic sense - broken up by momentarily brief interludes of freedom accompanied by starvation; in other words, it is real slavery.
In a free society, government has the responsibility of protecting us from others, but not from ourselves.
The uniformity and obedience of the media, which any dictator would admire...