“The mistake we make is to look for a source of comfort in ourselves: self-contemplation, instead of gazing upon God. In other words, we look for comfort precisely where comfort never can be.”

—  Frederick William Robertson

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 477.

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 mistake we make is to look for a source of comfort in ourselves: self-contemplation, instead of gazing upon God. In…" by Frederick William Robertson?
Frederick William Robertson photo
Frederick William Robertson 50
British writer and theologian 1816–1853

Related quotes

Starhawk photo

“Magic is another word that makes people uneasy, so I use it deliberately, because words they are comfortable with, the words that sound acceptable, rational, scientific, and intellectually sound, are comfortable precisely because they are the language of estrangement.”

Starhawk (1951) American author, activist and Neopagan

Source: Dreaming the Dark: Magic, Sex and Politics (1982), Ch. 1 : Power-Over and Power-From-WIthin, p. 13

Randy Pausch photo

“Make your office comfortable for you, and optionally comfortable for others.”

Randy Pausch (1960–2008) American professor of computer science, human-computer interaction and design

Time Management (2007)

Peter Greenaway photo

“There is some comfort to be had in contemplating the folly of so many dead, don't you think? … and more comfort still in contemplating the continuity.”

Peter Greenaway (1942) British film director

The Belly of An Architect

Meher Baba photo

“If, instead of seeing faults in others we look within ourselves we are loving God.”

Meher Baba (1894–1969) Indian mystic

"How to Love God" (12 September 1954) http://www.avatarmeherbaba.org/erics/lovegod.html <!-- Also in The Path of Love (1986) -->
General sources
Context: When a person tells others “Be good”, he conveys to his hearers the feeling that he is good and they are not. When he says “Be brave, honest and pure”, he conveys to his hearers the feeling that the speaker himself is all that, while they are cowards, dishonest and unclean.
To love God in the most practical way is to love our fellow beings. If we feel for others in the same way as we feel for our own dear ones, we love God.
If, instead of seeing faults in others we look within ourselves we are loving God.

“We are in danger of forgetting that God is not only a comfort but a joy. He is the source of all pleasures; he is fun and laughter, and we are meant to enjoy him.”

Joy Davidman (1915–1960) American poet

Smoke on the Mountain: An Interpretation of the Ten Commandment

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn photo

“It is not because the truth is too difficult to see that we make mistakes. It may even lie on the surface; but we make mistakes because the easiest and most comfortable course for us is to seek insight where it accords with our emotions — especially selfish ones.”

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008) Russian writer

"Peace and Violence" (1973).

Leonard Paul Blair photo

“We are surrounded by darkness and are afraid to venture out. Unless we do, however, we will not find God, because it is only by leaving what is safe and comfortable to pierce the darkness that we will find the light of God. This is a fitting metaphor for the spiritual pilgrimage that all of us have to make out of our self-contained comfort zone into the wide world of God and God’s people in the Catholic Church.”

Leonard Paul Blair (1949) Catholic archbishop

Pilgrims all, on the journey of life http://www.catholicchronicle.org/index-php/columns/pilgrims-all-on-the-journey-of-life.html (13 November 2010)

“The mistake we make after we have chased away the lie is because we love the truth so much, we make for her a beautiful and very comfortable bed.”

- Goa
Roman Shukhevych photo

“We create comfortable positions for ourselves that cannot be achieved at the green tables [of conversations]. We will not let ourselves be lied to.”

Roman Shukhevych (1907–1950) Commander of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (1907-1950)

Source: Motyka, Grzegorz. Zapomnijcie o Giedroyciu: Polacy, Ukraińcy: IPN, 2008

Anne Lamott photo

“If we stay where we are, where we're stuck, where we're comfortable and safe, we die there… When nothing new can get in, that's death.”

Anne Lamott (1954) Novelist, essayist, memoirist, activist

Source: Help Thanks Wow: The Three Essential Prayers

Related topics