Reverence Quotes
More Reverence Quotes
Ethics, too, are nothing but reverence for life . That is what gives me the fundamental principle of morality , namely, that good consists in maintaining, promoting, and enhancing life, and that destroying, injuring, and limiting life are evil .
— Albert Schweitzer, in Kulturphilosophie (1923), Vol. 2 : Civilization and Ethics
History shows that whenever an emergency arises, our national spirit is most emphatically manifested to advance the prestige and fortune of the nation. It is incumbent upon us to leave no stone unturned in order to promote loyalty and bravery on the home front as well, and to replenish and demonstrate our nation's powers, for which are required the inculcation of the spirit of reverence for deities and respect for ancestors, the renovation of national education and the of the people's physical strength.
mitsumasa yonai— alternate version: History shows that, whenever an emergency arises, our national spirit is manifested most emphatically to advance the prestige and bring about the prosperity of the nation. Nor must we be negligent in any way in promoting a loyal and heroic spirit among the home-front population so that national strength may be augmented and given full play. For this purpose, such measures as the fostering of the spirit of piety and of honouring ancestors, the renovation of national education and the improvement of the people's physical strength.
— Quoted in "Tokyo Gazette" - Page 343 - by Nihon Gaiji Kyokai. Also quoted in "Modern Japan and Shinto Nationalism" - Page 19 - by Daniel Clarence Holtom - 1963
Hatless, I take off My cycle-clips in awkward reverence.
— 1954 'Church Going'.
Dear Lord and Father of mankind, Forgive our foolish ways! Re-clothe us in our rightful mind, In purer lives thy service find, In deeper reverence praise
john greenleaf whittier— 1872 'The Brewing of Soma'.
He could not sing for them a sweet song, or create a "thing of beauty" which should be "a joy for ever," or touch their hearts, or fire their spirits, or deepen their reverence or their fervour. He was not a Poet, a Priest, or a Prophet, but only a cold, clear, Intelligence, raying down pure white light, which brightened everything on which it fell, but warmed nothing—a Star of at least the second, if not of the first magnitude, in the Intellectual Firmament.
henry cavendish— George Wilson, The Life of the Honble Henry Cavendish (1851) p.186
Our rule is the works of mercy… It is the way of sacrifice, worship, a sense of reverence.
dorothy day— As quoted in The Encyclopedia of American Catholic History (1997)
— Variant: [Practicing] the works of mercy ... is our program, our rule of life.As quoted in The Catholic Worker after Dorothy : Practicing the Works of Mercy in a New Generation (2008) by Dan McKanan
That which concerns the mystery of the King's power is not lawful to be disputed; for that is to wade into the weakness of Princes, and to take away the mystical reverence that belongs unto them that sit in the throne of God.
james i of england— Speech in the Star Chamber (June 1616)
We may not pay Satan reverence, for that would be indiscreet, but we can at least respect his talents.
— Mark Twain, "Concerning the Jews", Harper's Magazine (September 1899)
One dwells in suffering if one is without reverence and deference. Now what ascetic or brahmin can I honour and respect and dwell in dependence on?
angulimalo— Angulimalo, in Anussati: the Recollections. with Quotes from the Pali Canon and Forest p.55
Just a little more reverence, please, and not so much astonishment.
— Attributed, admonishing a choir singing Handel's'For Unto Us a Child is Born'.
Men reverence one another, not yet God.
Henry David Thoreau— 1849 AWeek on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers,'Sunday'.
This well may be The Day of Judgment which the world awaits; But be it so or not, I only know my present duty, and my Lord’s command to occupy till He come. So at the post where He hath set me in His providence, I choose, for one, to meet Him face to face, no faithless servant frightened from my task, but ready when the Lord of the harvest calls; and therefore, with all reverence, I would say, let God do His work, we will see to ours. Bring in the candles.
abraham davenport— As quoted by John Greenleaf Whittier in his poem "Abraham Davenport" first published in The Atlantic Monthly (May 1866); later published in The Tent on the Beach, and Other Poems (1867).
Let the air strike our tune,Whilst we show reverence to yond peeping moon. 15
thomas middleton— The Witch (1616), Act v. Sc. 2. "I ’ll charm the air to give a sound, While you perform your antic round", Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act iv. Sc. 1.
Of studie took he most cure and most hede. Noght o word spak he more than was nede, And that was seyd in forme and reverence, And short and quik, and ful of hy sentence. Souninge in moral vertu was his speche, And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche.
Geoffrey Chaucer— General Prologue, l. 305 - 310.
When we reverence anything in the mature, it is their virtues or their wisdom, and this is an easy matter. But we reverence the faults and follies of children. We should probably come considerably nearer to the true conception of things if we treated all grown-up persons, of all titles and types, with precisely that dark affection and dazed respect with which we treat the infantile limitations.
gilbert keith chesterton— A Defence of Baby-Worship
Having still in my recollection so many excellent men, to whose grandfathers, upon the same spots, my grandfather had yielded cheerful obedience and reverence, it is not without sincere sorrow that I have beheld many of the sons of these men driven from their fathers' mansions, or holding them as little better than tenants or stewards, while the swarms of Placemen, Pensioners, Contractors, and Nabobs...have usurped a large part of the soil.
william cobbett— Political Register (21 December 1816), quoted in Karl W. Schweizer and John W. Osborne, Cobbett and His Times (Leicester: Leicester University Press, 1990), p. 31.
He that will have his son have a respect for him and his orders, must himself have a great reverence for his son. Maxima debetur pueris reverentia [The greatest respect is owed to the children].
john locke— Sec. 71 (Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693))
I love and reverence the Word, the bearer of the spirit, the tool and gleaming ploughshare of progress.
thomas mann— Settembrini's view of literature, Ch. 4
The emancipation of the scholars and scientists from philosophy is according to [Nietzsche] only a part of the democratic movement, i.e. of the emancipation of the low from subordination to the high. … The plebeian character of the contemporary scholar or scientist is due to the fact that he has no reverence for himself.
leo strauss— Studies in Platonic Political Philosophy, p. 186
God has such a deep reverence for our freedom that he'd rather let us freely go to Hell than be compelled to go to Heaven.
desmond tutu— Beyers Naudé memorial lecture (15 August 2003)
Let the air strike our tune, whilst we show reverence to yond peeping moon.
thomas middleton— Thomas Middleton, The Witch, Act V, scene 2.
This Court (Lords House of Parliament), which ought to be an example to all other Courts, will ever hold in the highest reverence the indulgent character of British justice.
— Lord Erskine, L.C., Trial of Lord Viscount Melville (1806), 29 How. St. Tr. 1249.
And as for me, though than I konne but lyte, On bokes for to rede I me delyte, And to hem yeve I feyth and ful credence, And in myn herte have hem in reverence So hertely, that ther is game noon. That fro my bokes maketh me to goon, But yt be seldome on the holy day. Save, certeynly, when that the monthe of May Is comen, and that I here the foules synge, And that the floures gynnen for to sprynge, Farwel my boke, and my devocion.
Geoffrey Chaucer— Geoffrey Chaucer, Legende of Goode Women, Prologue, line 29.
The Fear of God is healthful; it is an awe and a profound reverence for the Creator and a wholesome dread of displeasing him.
— Insight, Volume 1, it-1 pp. 818-819, at Watchtower online library
A religion old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the universe as revealed by modern science , might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths . Sooner or later, such a religion will emerge.
carl sagan— Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot (1994) p. 77
— While Sagan never described himself as a pantheist, many maintain that pantheism fit his views better than any other term. This claim, while widely accepted among pantheists of all varieties, remains somewhat controversial outside the pantheist community. A similar debate surrounds the attribution of pantheism to other notable figures, including Albert Einstein.
Because God created the Natural – invented it out of His love and artistry – it demands our reverence.
— C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), God in the Dock, 1948
Above all things reverence thy Self .
— As quoted in Divine Harmony: The Life and Teachings of Pythagoras by John Strohmeier and Peter Westbrook. (1999) ISBN 0-9653774-5-8
It is a satisfaction to find that his consideration for others, his respect for and deference to those deserving such treatment, his care of his own body and tongue, and even his reverence for his Maker , all were early inculcated in him by precepts which were the common practice in decent society the world over.
— Charles Moore introducing George Washington, in Famous Quotes from 100 Great People, p.2398
They convey a certain reverence for the higher, a respect for the contemplative life , understood as contemplation of God and the peak of devotion, and a cleaving to eternal beings that mitigates absorption in the merely pressing or current.
— Allan David Bloom, in The closing of the American mind,p.251
