In music, in the sea, in a flower, in a leaf, in an act of kindness... I see what people call God in all these things.
Interpretation
The quote expresses the idea that divinity can be found in the beauty and kindness present in the world around us.
Pablo Casals highlights the notion that the presence of God can be perceived in various aspects of life, such as music, nature, and acts of kindness. Instead of seeking divinity in abstract concepts or dogmas, he emphasizes that one can experience and connect with the divine through the beauty and love that surround us in everyday experiences.
In practice
This quote can be used in a reflection on spirituality during a community gathering.
Bach is the supreme genius of music... This man, who knows everything and feels everything, cannot write one note, however unimportant it may appear, which is anything but transcendent. He has reached the heart of every noble thought, and has done it in the most perfect way.
The love of one's country is a splendid thing. But why should love stop at the border?
The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn't been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.
I am an old man but in many senses a very young man. And this is what I want you to be, young, young all your life.
To the whole world you might be just one person, but to one person you might just be the whole world.
How could anybody think of Bach as 'cold' when these [cello] suites seem to shine with the most glittering kind of poetry," Casals said. "As I got on with the study I discovered a new world of space and beauty... the feelings I experienced were among the purest and most intense in my artistic life!
Unselfishness is God. One may live on a throne, in a golden palace, and be perfectly unselfish; and then he is in God. Another may live in a hut and wear rags, and have nothing in the world; yet, if he is selfish, he is intensely merged in the world.
That proves you are unusual,' returned the Scarecrow; 'and I am convinced that the only people worthy of consideration in this world are the unusual ones. For the common folks are like the leaves of a tree, and live and die unnoticed.
If princes and kings could follow it (Tao), all things would by themselves abide, Heaven and Earth would unite and sweet dew would fall. People would by themselves find harmony, without being commanded.
True patriotism is better than the wrong kind of piety.
We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it.
History is neither written nor made without love or hate.
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