Longing is a compass that guides us through life. We may never get what we really want, that's true, but every step along the way will be determined by it.
Joan D. ChittisterRead
It is a pathetic moment in the history of the human condition when the outside world tells us who and what we are - and we start to believe it ourselves. Then, bent over from the weight of the negativity, we start to wither on the outside.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the danger of allowing external perceptions to define our self-worth and identity.
Joan D. Chittister expresses concern over the human tendency to absorb negative perceptions from the outside world, which can lead individuals to doubt their intrinsic value. This internalization of negativity can cause emotional and psychological deterioration, making people feel burdened and diminished in their self-identity. Ultimately, the quote serves as a warning against believing in the limiting views that others may hold and emphasizes the importance of maintaining a strong sense of self.
Themes
Self-WorthIdentityNegativityPerceptionBelieve
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about mental health, this quote can inspire individuals to reclaim their identity.
More from Joan D. Chittister
All quotes →Feminism without spirituality runs the risk of becoming what it rejects: an elitist ideology, arrogant, superficial and separatist, closed to everything but itself. Without a spiritual base that obligates it beyond itself, calls it out of itself for the sake of others, a pedagogical feminism turned in on itself can become just one more intellectual ghetto that the world doesn’t notice and doesn’t need.
Joan D. ChittisterRead
We talk religion in a world that worships the bread but does not distribute it, that practices ritual rather than righteousness, that confesses but does not repent.
Joan D. ChittisterRead
Hospitality means we take people into the space that is our lives and our minds and our hearts and our work and our efforts. Hospitality is the way we come out of ourselves. It is the first step towards dismantling the barriers of the world. Hospitality is the way we turn a prejudiced world around, one heart at a time.
Joan D. ChittisterRead
The question is not, do we go to church; the question is, have we been converted. The crux of Christianity is not whether or not we give donations to popular charities but whether or not we are really committed to the poor.
Joan D. ChittisterRead
To be contemplative we must remove the clutter from our lives, surround ourselves with beauty, and consciously, relentlessly, persistently, give clutter away until the tiny world for which we ourselves are responsible begins to reflect the raw beauty that is God.
Joan D. ChittisterRead
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