It's a privilege to serve the poor, to be servants of noble Africans, but I better belong in the rehearsal room or in the studio with my band. That's where I want to be and I still wake up in the morning with melodies in my head.
BonoRead
God is so big. It's a gigantic concept in God. The idea that God might love us and be interested in us is kind of huge and gigantic, but we turn it, because we're small-minded, into this tiny, petty, often greedy version of God, that is religion.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on how people often limit the concept of God to their own small-minded views, reducing His greatness to petty interpretations.
Bono's quote suggests that the concept of God is vast and all-encompassing, embodying love and interest for humanity. However, he critiques how people often shrink this profound idea into trivial theological interpretations, which can stem from narrow-mindedness and greed, thus losing sight of the true essence of divinity and spirituality.
Themes
GodBeliefReligionSmall-MindednessSpirituality
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on spirituality at a seminar, one might quote Bono to highlight the limitations of dogmatic religion.
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At a certain point, I just felt, you know, God is not looking for alms, God is looking for action.
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It's much easier to be successful than it is to be relevant. The tricks won't keep you relevant. Tricks might keep you popular for a while, but in all honesty, I don't know how U2 will stay relevant. I know we've got a future. I know we can fill stadiums. And yet with every record, I think, 'Is this it? Are we still relevant?'
BonoRead
God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them.
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Hanging out with politicians and corporations is very unhip work. But I think that the U2 audience have turned out to be incredibly subtle in their understanding.
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