Our greatest leaders are neither dreamers nor dictators: They are, like Jefferson, those who articulate national aspirations yet master the mechanics of influence and know when to depart from dogma.
Jon MeachamRead
If heaven is understood more as God's space on earth than as an ethereal region apart from the essential reality we know, then what happens on earth matters even more than we think, for the Christian life becomes a continuation of the unfolding work of Jesus, who will one day return to set the world to rights.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of earthly actions in the context of faith and divine presence.
Jon Meacham's quote invites us to view heaven not as a distant, separate place but as a manifestation of God's influence here on earth. This perspective challenges us to see our daily lives and actions as integral to the Christian faith, suggesting that every good deed contributes to the ongoing work of Jesus and plays a role in the eventual restoration of the world.
Themes
HeavenEarthFaithJesusImportanceActions
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon discussing the impact of our daily choices on our spiritual journey.
More from Jon Meacham
All quotes →It would be wonderful if the public sector were always great, or always terrible; or if the private sector were always great, or always terrible. Alas, reality is more complicated than comforting caricatures. Governments fail, and corporations fail.
Jon MeachamRead
As crucial as religion has been and is to the life of the nation, America's unifying force has never been a specific faith, but a commitment to freedom - not least freedom of conscience.
Jon MeachamRead
The perennial conviction that those who work hard and play by the rules will be rewarded with a more comfortable present and a stronger future for their children faces assault from just about every direction. That great enemy of democratic capitalism, economic inequality, is real and growing.
Jon MeachamRead
A wise nation should cultivate a political spirit that allows opponents to cooperate without fearing an automatic execution from their core supporters. Who knew that the real rogues in American politics would be the ones who dare to get along?
Jon MeachamRead
One of the earliest resurrection scenes in the Bible is that of Thomas demanding evidence - he wanted to see, to touch, to prove. Those who question and probe and debate are heirs of the apostles just as much as the most fervent of believers.
Jon MeachamRead
Similar quotes
If civilization has risen from the Stone Age, it can rise again from the Wastepaper Age.
Jacques BarzunRead
The sum of all is, if we would most truly enjoy the gift of Heaven, let us become a virtuous people; then shall we both deserve and enjoy it. While on the other hand, if we are universally vicious and debauched in our manners, though the form of our Constitution carries the face of the most exalted freedom, we shall in reality be the most abject slaves.
Samuel AdamsRead
We have more and more ways to communicate, as Thoreau noted, but less and less to say.
Pico IyerRead
Women are not inherently passive or peaceful. We're not inherently anything but human.
Robin MorganRead
How could people like these, without words to put to their emotions and passions, manage? They could, at best, only suffer dumbly. Their pains and humiliations would work themselves out in their characters alone: like evil spirits possessing a body, so that the body itself might appear innocent of what it did.
V. S. NaipaulRead
I've always preferred writing about grey characters and human characters. Whether they are giants or elves or dwarves, or whatever they are, they're still human, and the human heart is still in conflict with the self.
George R. R. MartinRead