The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
Coming to the Bible through commentaries is much like looking at a landscape through garret windows, over which generations of unmolested spiders have spun their webs.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Interpreting the Bible through commentaries can obscure its true meaning, much like a web can distort a view.
Henry Ward Beecher illustrates that relying on commentaries to understand the Bible is like viewing a beautiful landscape through dirty windows. The cobwebs represent the interpretations and biases accumulated over time which may cloud one's understanding of the text, suggesting that direct engagement with the scripture is necessary for clarity and authenticity.
Themes
BibleCommentariesInterpretationUnderstandingTruth
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a sermon to emphasize the importance of personal study of the Bible.
More from Henry Ward Beecher
All quotes →A man who cannot get angry is like a stream that cannot overflow, that is always turbid. Sometimes indignation is as good as a thunderstorm in summer, clearing and cooling the air.
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No one can deal with the hearts of men unless he has the sympathy which is given by love.
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We are always on the anvil; by trials God is shaping us for higher things.
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No man can tell if he is rich or poor by turning to his ledger. It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has.
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There are joys which long to be ours. God sends ten thousands truths, which come about us like birds seeking inlet; but we are shut up to them, and so they bring us nothing, but sit and sing awhile upon the roof, and then fly away.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
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