His face is livid, gaunt his whole body, his breath is green with gall; his tongue drips poison.
John Quincy AdamsRead
This idea of the transcendent power of the Supreme Being is essentially connected with that by which the whole duty of man is summed up: obedience to His will.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes that understanding the Supreme Being's power is linked to humanity's primary duty: to obey His will.
John Quincy Adams expresses a belief that the concept of a higher power carries with it a moral obligation for individuals. He suggests that recognizing the transcendent power of God is intertwined with understanding that humanity's main responsibility lies in obedience to divine guidance, implying a deep connection between faith and ethical living.
Themes
ObedienceFaithDutyHigher PowerMoral Obligation
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech on faith and morality, a speaker could quote Adams to highlight the importance of following divine guidance.
More from John Quincy Adams
All quotes βAlways vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.
John Quincy AdamsRead
It is among the evils of slavery that it taints the very sources of moral principle. It establishes false estimates of virtue and vice: for what can be more false and heartless than this doctrine which makes the first and holiest rights of humanity to depend upon the color of the skin?
John Quincy AdamsRead
The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.
John Quincy AdamsRead
I have no predilection for unpopularity as such, but I hold it much preferable to the popularity of a day, which perishes with the transient topic upon which it is grounded.
John Quincy AdamsRead
According to the Stoics, all vice was resolvable into folly: according to the Christian principle, it is all the effect of weakness.
John Quincy AdamsRead
Similar quotes
A society needs famous people; the question is whom it chooses for that role. Any criticism of its choice is by implication a criticism of that society.
Max FrischRead
In coming to understand anything we are rejecting the facts as they are for us in favour of the facts as they are.
C. S. LewisRead
In the final analysis, the whole cause of world revolution hinges on the revolutionary struggles of the Asian, African and Latin American people who make up the overwhelming majority of the world's population.
Lin BiaoRead
It was clear to me, as I glanced back over my earlier life, that a loving Providence watched over me, that all was directed for me by a higher power.
Hans Christian AndersenRead
It was a Greek tragedy. Nixon was fulfilling his own nature. Once it started it could not end otherwise.
Henry A. KissingerRead
I am pleading for the future; I am pleading for a time when hatred and cruelty will not control the hearts of men. When we can learn by, reason and judgment and understanding and faith that all life is worth saving, and that mercy is the highest attribute of man.
Clarence DarrowRead