Faith is the highest passion in a human being. Many in every generation may not come that far, but none comes further.
Soren KierkegaardRead
Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays.
Interpretation
Prayer is a transformative practice that impacts the individual who prays rather than altering the divine.
The essence of this quote by Soren Kierkegaard highlights the idea that prayer is not about convincing a higher power to change its will, but rather it serves as a means for the individual to evolve and reflect. Through the act of praying, a person engages in introspection, allowing for personal growth and a shift in perspective, thus experiencing a change within themselves rather than expecting a change from God.
In practice
During a spiritual retreat, this quote can inspire participants to reflect on their own practices.
Faith is the highest passion in a human being. Many in every generation may not come that far, but none comes further.
Men think that it is impossible for a human being to love his enemies, for enemies are hardly able to endure the sight of one another. Well, then, shut your eyes--and your enemy looks just like your neighbor.
How did I get into the world? Why was I not asked about it and why was I not informed of the rules and regulations but just thrust into the ranks as if I had been bought by a peddling shanghaier of human beings? How did I get involved in this big enterprise called actuality? Why should I be involved? Isn't it a matter of choice? And if I am compelled to be involved, where is the managerβI have something to say about this. Is there no manager? To whom shall I make my complaint?
A possibility is a hint from God. One must follow it.
And when the hourglass has run out, the hourglass of temporality, when the noise of secular life has grown silent and its restless or ineffectual activism has come to an end, when everything around you is still, as it is in eternity, then eternity asks you and every individual in these millions and millions about only one thing: whether you have lived in despair or not.
I am so stupid that I cannot understand philosophy; the antithesis of this is that philosophy is so clever that it cannot comprehend my stupidity. These antitheses are mediated in a higher unity; in our common stupidity.
We are asleep. Our Life is a dream. But we wake up sometimes, just enough to know that we are dreaming.
The young feel tired at the end of an action, the old at the beginning.
The history of the world is the world's court of justice.
I am grateful to President George W. Bush for PEPFAR, which is saving the lives of millions of people in poor countries and to both Presidents Bush for the work we've done together after the South Asia tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and the Haitian earthquake.
Re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul; and your very flesh shall be a great poem, and have the richest fluency, not only in its words, but in the silent lines of its lips and face, and between the lashes of your eyes, and in every motion and joint of your body.
Justice and mercy/ Are human dreams, they do not concern the birds nor the fish nor eternal God.
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