It seems that fighting is a game where everybody is the loser.
Zora Neale HurstonRead
I do not pray. . . . I do not expect God to single me out and grant me advantages over my fellow men. . . . Prayer seems to me a cry of weakness, and an attempt to avoid, by trickery, the rules of the game as laid down. I do not choose to admit weakness. I accept the challenge of responsibility.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes personal responsibility over reliance on prayer as a means to seek unfair advantages.
Zora Neale Hurston's quote reflects a strong belief in personal agency and the rejection of using prayer as a means to gain special favor or escape accountability. She suggests that prayer may be viewed as a sign of weakness, implying that true strength lies in confronting challenges head-on rather than seeking divine intervention to overcome them. Hurston advocates for taking responsibility for one's own life and actions, highlighting the importance of individual effort and integrity in the pursuit of one's goals.
Themes
ResponsibilityStrengthAgencyFaithWeakness
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about personal growth and accountability.
More from Zora Neale Hurston
All quotes →Lack of power and opportunity passes off too often for virtue.
Zora Neale HurstonRead
From barren brown stems to glistening leaf-buds; from the leaf-buds to snowy virginity of bloom…It was like a flute song forgotten in another existence and remembered again. What? How? Why? This singing she heard that had nothing to do with her ears. The rose of the world was breathing out smell. It followed her through all her waking moments and caressed her in her sleep.
Zora Neale HurstonRead
Someone is always at my elbow reminding me that I am the granddaughter of slaves. It fails to register depression with me.
Zora Neale HurstonRead
Don't you realize that the sea is the home of water? All water is off on a journey unless it's in the sea, and it's homesick, and bound to make its way home someday.
Zora Neale HurstonRead
Two things everybody's got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin' fuh theyselves.
Zora Neale HurstonRead
Similar quotes
Shutting off the thought process is not rejuvenating; the mind is like a car battery - it recharges by running.
Bill WattersonRead
Remember, the greatest gift to give people your enlightenment, to share it. It has to be the greatest.
Gautama BuddhaRead
I'm just suggesting that when you're faced with fear and anxiety, don't medicate. Meditate instead.
Russell SimmonsRead
I treasure the memory of the past misfortunes. It has added more to my bank of fortitude.
Bruce LeeRead
My eyes are dim with childish tears, My heart is idly stirred, For the same sound is in my ears Which in those days I heard.
William WordsworthRead
If I had read as much as other men I would have known no more than they.
Thomas HobbesRead