It's a privilege to serve the poor, to be servants of noble Africans, but I better belong in the rehearsal room or in the studio with my band. That's where I want to be and I still wake up in the morning with melodies in my head.
When you truly accept that those children in some far off place in the global village have the same value as you in God's eyes or even in just your eyes, then your life is forever changed; you see something that you can't un-see.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Recognizing the inherent value of all individuals can transform your perspective on life.
This quote by Bono emphasizes the importance of universal empathy and the realization that all individuals, regardless of their geographical or social differences, possess equal worth. By acknowledging this shared humanity, one can experience a profound shift in their worldview, leading to a more compassionate and interconnected existence. It suggests that once this awareness is gained, it becomes an irreversible part of one's understanding, forever altering how one relates to others.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about global citizenship, you might use this quote to emphasize the importance of recognizing our shared humanity.
More from Bono
All quotes →Perspective is the cure for depression.
At a certain point, I just felt, you know, God is not looking for alms, God is looking for action.
It's much easier to be successful than it is to be relevant. The tricks won't keep you relevant. Tricks might keep you popular for a while, but in all honesty, I don't know how U2 will stay relevant. I know we've got a future. I know we can fill stadiums. And yet with every record, I think, 'Is this it? Are we still relevant?'
God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them.
Hanging out with politicians and corporations is very unhip work. But I think that the U2 audience have turned out to be incredibly subtle in their understanding.
Similar quotes
Since man, fragment of the universe, is governed by the same laws that preside over the heavens, it is by no means absurd to search there above for the themes of our lives, for those frigid sympathies that participate in our achievements as well as our blunderings.
That's all an angel is....an idea of God.
Neither fear nor self-interest can convert the soul. They may change the appearance, perhaps even the conduct, but never the object of supreme desire... Fear is the motive which constrains the slave; greed binds the selfish man, by which he is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed (James 1:14). But neither fear nor self-interest is undefiled, nor can they convert the soul. Only charity can convert the soul, freeing it from unworthy motives.
But this momentous question, like a fire bell in the night, awakened and filled me with terror.
If you want to be given everything, give everything up.
We recognize that there are no trivial occurrences in life if we get the right focus on them.