“The sun by the action of heat makes wax moist and mud dry, hardening the one while it softens the other, by the same operation producing exactly opposite results; thus, from the long-suffering of God, some derive benefit, and others harm; some are softened, while others are hardened.”

—  Theodoret

As quoted in Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), by Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, p. 263.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Oct. 2, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The sun by the action of heat makes wax moist and mud dry, hardening the one while it softens the other, by the same op…" by Theodoret?
Theodoret photo
Theodoret 9
Syrian bishop 393–458

Related quotes

Abu Hamid al-Ghazali photo
Peter Barlow (mathematician) photo

“Opinions derived from long experience are exceedingly valuable, and outweigh all others, while they are consistent with facts and with each other; but they are worse than useless when they lead, as in this instance, to directly opposite opinions.”

Peter Barlow (mathematician) (1776–1862) British mathematician and physicist

[Peter Barlow, Second report addressed to the directors and proprietors of the London and Birmingham Railway company, founded on an inspection of, and experiments made on the Liverpool and Manchester railway, B. Fellowes, 1835, 4]

Dietrich Bonhoeffer photo

“God honors some with great suffering and grants them the grace of martyrdom, while other are not tempted beyond their strength. But in every case it is one cross.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) German Lutheran pastor, theologian, dissident anti-Nazi

Source: Discipleship (1937), Discipleship and the Cross, p. 87.
Context: God honors some with great suffering and grants them the grace of martyrdom, while other are not tempted beyond their strength. But in every case it is one cross.
It is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering that everyone has to experience is the call which summons us away from our attachments to this world. It is the death of the old self in the encounter with Jesus Christ. Those who enter into discipleship enter into Jesus' death.

Theodore Zeldin photo

“Even Gandhi, with all his charisma, did not "melt the hearts" of his oppressors, as he had hoped. After softening, hearts harden again.”

Theodore Zeldin (1933) English academic

An Intimate History of Humanity (1994)
Context: Even Gandhi, with all his charisma, did not "melt the hearts" of his oppressors, as he had hoped. After softening, hearts harden again. Asoka too was wrong to think that he was changing the course of history, and that his righteousness would last "as long as the sun and the moon."

Vitruvius photo
Aristotle photo
Letitia Elizabeth Landon photo
Robert Fulghum photo
Karen Armstrong photo

“Surely it's better to love others, however messy and imperfect the involvement, than to allow one's capacity for love to harden.”

Karen Armstrong (1944) author and comparative religion scholar from Great Britain

Source: Through the Narrow Gate: A Memoir of Spiritual Discovery

Li-Young Lee photo

Related topics