“The object of preaching is, constantly to remind mankind of what mankind are constantly forgetting; not to supply the defects of human intelligence, but to fortify the feebleness of human resolutions.”

—  Sydney Smith

"The Judge That Smites Contrary to the Law: A Sermon Preached...March 28, 1824", in The Works of the Rev. Sydney Smith (1860) p. 428

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 "The object of preaching is, constantly to remind mankind of what mankind are constantly forgetting; not to supply the d…" by Sydney Smith?
Sydney Smith photo
Sydney Smith 68
English writer and clergyman 1771–1845

Related quotes

Stanley A. McChrystal photo

“All leaders are human. They get tired, angry, and jealous and carry the same range of emotions and frailties common to mankind. Most leaders periodically display them. The leaders I most admired were totally human but constantly strove to be the best humans they could be. Leaders make mistakes, and they are often costly.”

Stanley A. McChrystal (1954) American general

Source: My Share Of The Task (2013), p. 393-394
Context: All leaders are human. They get tired, angry, and jealous and carry the same range of emotions and frailties common to mankind. Most leaders periodically display them. The leaders I most admired were totally human but constantly strove to be the best humans they could be. Leaders make mistakes, and they are often costly. The first reflex is normally to deny the failure to themselves; the second is to hide it from others, because most leaders covet a reputation for infallibility. But it's a fool's dream and inherently dishonest. There are few secrets to leadership. It is mostly just hard work. More than anything else it requires self-discipline. Colorful, charismatic characters often fascinate people, even soldiers. But over time, effectiveness is what counts. Those who lead most successfully do so while looking out for their followers' welfare.

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg photo

“Sickness is mankind's greatest defect.”

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–1799) German scientist, satirist

F 100
Aphorisms (1765-1799), Notebook F (1776-1779)

Czeslaw Milosz photo

“There were no words
In any human tongue
To be left for mankind,
Mankind who live on.”

Czeslaw Milosz (1911–2004) Polish, poet, diplomat, prosaist, writer, and translator

Rescue (1945)
Context: Someone will read as moral
That the people of Rome or Warsaw
Haggle, laugh, make love
As they pass by martyrs' pyres.
Someone else will read
Of the passing of things human,
Of the oblivion
Born before the flames have died. But that day I thought only
Of the loneliness of the dying,
Of how, when Giordano
Climbed to his burning
There were no words
In any human tongue
To be left for mankind,
Mankind who live on.

Siddharth Katragadda photo

“Progress of mankind is the decadence of humanity.”

Siddharth Katragadda (1972) Indian writer

page 15
The Other Wife (2003)

Dorothy Thompson photo

“[T]he object of mankind is not to live in a perfectly functioning universe, but to live in a tolerable universe, which means one suited to the nature and aspirations of human beings.”

Dorothy Thompson (1893–1961) American journalist and radio broadcaster

As quoted in "The best quotes from Ralph Klein’s colourful public life" http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/the-best-quotes-from-ralph-kleins-colourful-public-life/article10577310/, The Globe and Mail
p. 92
Dorothy Thompson’s Political Guide: A Study of American Liberalism and its Relationship to Modern Totalitarian States (1938)

Newton Lee photo

“Human beings will never evolve to higher creatures if we are constantly restricted by rules and regulations.”

Newton Lee American computer scientist

The Nightmares of a Journalist (1991)

Umberto Boccioni photo

Related topics