Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end.
Madame De StaelRead
Prayer is more than meditation. In meditation the source of strength is one's self. When one prays he goes to a source of strength greater than his own.
Interpretation
Prayer connects individuals to a higher source of strength beyond themselves, while meditation focuses on inner strength.
Madame De Stael emphasizes the distinction between prayer and meditation, highlighting that while meditation draws on personal inner strength, prayer seeks a connection with a transcendent power that offers greater strength. This connection is believed to provide support and guidance, indicating that reliance on a higher source can lead to a more profound sense of empowerment and purpose.
In practice
In a motivational speech about personal growth, one might quote this to highlight the importance of seeking help beyond oneself.
Love is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end.
When at eve, at the bounding of the landscape, the heavens appear to recline so slowly on the earth, imagination pictures beyond the horizon an asylum of hope, - a native land of love; and nature seems silently to repeat that man is immortal.
The more we know the better we forgive. Whoever feels deeply, feels for all who live.
Intellect does not attain its full force unless it attacks power.
The human mind always makes progress, but it is a progress in spirals.
Wit lies in recognizing the resemblance among things which differ and the difference between things which are alike.
If by losing the spirit of prayer, you mean losing the heavenly sensations of deep devotion, I am afraid that does not matter a scrap.
I always begin my prayer in silence, for it is in the silence of the heart that God speaks. God is the friend of silence-we need to listen to God because it's not what we say but what He says to us and through us that matters.
It is God to whom and with whom we travel, and while He is the end of our journey, He is also at every stopping place.
Prayer is the window that God has placed in the walls of our world. Leave it shut and the world is a cold, dark house. But throw back the curtains and see His light. Open the window and hear His voice. Open the window of prayer and invoke the presence of God in your world.
The only trouble is that in the spiritual life there are no tricks and no shortcuts. Those who imagine that they can discover spiritual gimmicks and put them to work for themselves usually ignore God's will and his grace.
Prayer gives us strength for great ideals, for keeping up our faith, charity, purity, generosity; prayer gives us strength to rise up from indifference and guilt, if we have had the misfortune to give in to temptation and weakness. Prayer gives us light by which to see and to judge from God's perspective and from eternity. That is why you must not give up on praying!
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