“I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

1840s, Essays: First Series (1841), Self-Reliance
Source: Self-Reliance and Other Essays
Context: But now we are a mob. Man does not stand in awe of man, nor is his genius admonished to stay at home, to put itself in communication with the internal ocean, but it goes abroad to beg a cup of water of the urns of other men. We must go alone. I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching." by Ralph Waldo Emerson?

Ralph Waldo Emerson 727

American philosopher, essayist, and poet 1803–1882

Related quotes

“It were better to be of no Church, than to be bitter for any.”

William Penn (1644–1718) English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, early Quaker and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania

535
Fruits of Solitude (1682), Part I

“…with like-minded people one cannot discuss. With like-minded people one can only participate in a church service, and, as is widely known, I do not like church services.”

Ayaan Hirsi Ali (1969) Dutch feminist, author

NOS Journaal, official Dutch newsrail, 8 pm, August 30, 2006. "Met gelijkgezinden kun je alleen maar een kerkdienst* houden, en zoals bekend, houd ik niet van kerkdiensten." "Kerkdienst" means church service of a Christian denomination, such as Mass (liturgy) and cannot be used in Dutch to describe a Muslim prayer service.

“He, who begins by loving Christianity better than Truth, will proceed by loving his own Sect or Church better than Christianity, and end in loving himself better than all.”

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English poet, literary critic and philosopher

Aids to Reflection, "Moral and Religious Aphorisms," Aphorism 25 http://books.google.com/books?id=hEbwXNWXoBoC&q=%22He+who+begins+by+loving+Christianity+better+than+truth+will+proceed+by+loving+his+own+sect+or+church+better+than+Christianity+and+end+in+loving+himself+better+than+all%22&pg=PA74#v=onepage (1873)