Even if a unity of faith is not possible, a unity of love is.
Hans Urs Von BalthasarRead
Beauty is the disinterested one, without which the ancient world refused to understand itself, a word which both imperceptibly and yet unmistakably has bid farewell to our new world, a world of interests, leaving it to its own avarice and sadness.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Beauty transcends personal gain, revealing deeper truths about existence, which modern society often overlooks.
In this quote, Balthasar reflects on the essential role that beauty played in the ancient world as a guiding principle. He suggests that modern society, consumed by self-interest and materialism, has lost touch with the disinterested appreciation of beauty, leading to a culture marked by greed and sadness rather than a deeper understanding of life.
Themes
BeautyPhilosophyDisinterestedCultureSociety
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of art in education, this quote can highlight the value of appreciating beauty beyond utilitarian purposes.
More from Hans Urs Von Balthasar
All quotes →It is to the Cross that the Christian is challenged to follow his Master: no path of redemption can make a detour around it.
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A truth that is merely handed on, without being thought anew from its very foundations, has lost its vital power.
Hans Urs Von BalthasarRead
The Holy Spirit knows what a particular age's most pressing need is far better than men with their programs.
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The first attempt at a response: there must have been a fall, a decline, and the road to salvation can only be the return of the sensible finite into the intelligible infinite.
Hans Urs Von BalthasarRead
But the saints are never the kind of killjoy spinster aunts who go in for faultfinding and lack all sense of humor. (Nor should the Karl Barth who so loved and understood Mozart be regarded as such.)For humor is a mysterious but unmistakable charism inseparable from Catholic faith, and neither the "progressives" nor the "integralists" seem to possess it - the latter even less than the former.
Hans Urs Von BalthasarRead
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