“You have to live with the people to know their needs, and you have to live with God to know how to solve them.”
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John C. Maxwell 145
American author, speaker and pastor 1947Related quotes
No printed sources exist for this prior to 2009, and this seems to have been an attribution which arose on the internet, as indicated by web searches and rationales provided at "Marcus Aurelius and source checking" at Three Shouts on a Hilltop (14 June 2011) http://threeshoutsonahilltop.blogspot.com/2011/06/marcus-aurelius-and-source-checking.html
This quote may be a paraphrase of Meditations, Book II:
Since it is possible that thou mayest depart from life this very moment, regulate every act and thought accordingly.
But to go away from among men, if there are gods, is not a thing to be afraid of, for the gods will not involve thee in evil;
but if indeed they do not exist, or if they have no concern about human affairs, what is it to me to live in a universe devoid of gods or devoid of Providence?
But Gods there are, undoubtedly, and they regard human affairs; and have put it wholly in our power, that we should not fall into what is truly evil
Misattributed
lecture I: "The Uncertainty of Science"
The Meaning of It All (1999)
Source: The Passionate Mistakes and Intricate Corruption of One Girl in America
meatrobot http://meatrobot.org.uk/post/47885354/if-you-need-to-appear-on-an-internet-list-to-know
Tweeting as @hotdogsladies
“It’s easier to solve problems if you don’t have to live with the solutions.”
Ron English's Fauxlosophy: Volume 2 (2022)
Interview on CBS News Sunday Morning (30 November 2006)
Context: Here's a chance, I think, for us to kind of remind ourselves, of those things we all commonly enjoy and love and share, try to get back together. You know, singing out for a more peaceful world today, I think, can only do good. … I do believe that … a lot of Muslims have yet to learn, you know, the incredible great history and contribution of Islamic civilization — and its become very, if you like, in some way puritanical — that puritanical approach will become narrower and narrower and even become more fragmented. Its that vast middle ground where people actually live, you know, that we have to reclaim; and in that area, everybody should be able to live together. And I don't think that God sent us prophets and books to fight about these books and these prophets. But they were telling us, actually, how to live together. If we ignore those teachings — whichever faith you belong, you profess, then I think we'll be finding ourselves in an even deeper mess.
