From thee, great God, we spring, to thee we tend,- Path, motive, guide, original, and end.
Interpretation
This quote reflects the idea that all human existence originates from God and ultimately returns to Him, serving as the guiding force in our lives.
Samuel Johnson articulates a profound philosophical concept about the relationship between humanity and the divine. He suggests that God is not only the source of our being but also the ultimate destination we are all headed toward. The path we take in life, our motivations, and our guidance are all deeply intertwined with this divine origin and purpose. This quote encourages reflection on the spiritual aspects of existence and the significance of divine influence in our lives.
In practice
In a sermon discussing the divine purpose in our lives.
To be of no church is dangerous. Religion, of which the rewards are distant, and which is animated only by faith and hope, will glide by degrees out of the mind unless it be invigorated and reimpressed by external ordinances, by stated calls to worship, and the salutary influence of example.
He that reads and grows no wiser seldom suspects his own deficiency, but complains of hard words and obscure sentences, and asks why books are written which cannot be understood.
To let friendship die away by negligence and silence is certainly not wise. It is voluntarily to throw away one of the greatest comforts of the weary pilgrimage.
Fly-fishing may be a very pleasant amusement; but angling or float fishing I can only compare to a stick and a string, with a worm at one end and a fool at the other.
When any anxiety or gloom of the mind takes hold of you, make it a rule not to publish it by complaining; but exert yourselves to hide it, and by endeavoring to hide it you drive it away.
A fishing rod is a stick with a hook at one end and a fool at the other.
If you asked me now who I am, the only answer I could give with any certainty would be my name. For the rest: my loves, my hates, down even to my deepest desires, I can no longer say whether these emotions are my own, or stolen from those I once so desperately wished to be.
The interior of our skulls contains a portal to infinity.
It was a hollow victory they gave me. A crown...it was the girl I prayed them for. Your sister, safe... and mine again as she was meant to be. I ask you, Ned, what good is it to wear a crown?
Tragedy is restful: and the reason is that hope, that foul, deceitful thing, has no part in it.
Novels can change attitudes. Maybe we should speak quietly otherwise politicians will use novels as propaganda.
Our fathers founded the first secular government that was ever founded in this world. Recollect that. The first secular government - the first government that said every church has exactly the same rights and no more; every religion has the same rights, and no more.
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