1960s, Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence (1967)
Context: A genuine revolution of values means in the final analysis that our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies. This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all mankind. This oft misunderstood, this oft misinterpreted concept, so readily dismissed by the Nietzsches of the world as a weak and cowardly force, has now become an absolute necessity for the survival of man. When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am not speaking of that force which is just emotional bosh. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality.
“Alas! is even love too weak
To unlock the heart, and let it speak?”
" The Buried Life http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/arnold/writings/buriedlife.html" (1852), st. 2
Context: Alas! is even love too weak
To unlock the heart, and let it speak?
Are even lovers powerless to reveal
To one another what indeed they feel?
I knew the mass of men conceal'd
Their thoughts, for fear that if reveal'd
They would by other men be met
With blank indifference, or with blame reproved;
I knew they lived and moved
Trick'd in disguises, alien to the rest
Of men, and alien to themselves — and yet
The same heart beats in every human breast!
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Matthew Arnold 166
English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector… 1822–1888Related quotes
“Love unlocks doors and opens windows that weren't even there before.”
The Complete Neurotic's Notebook (1981), Love
the exhaustion will be lifted, and you will be able to listen still more. Yes, love must be communicated person to person; otherwise it will not be effective.
Molchanie (1982)
Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 398.
“Purity of heart is love for the weak who constantly fall.”
Source: Poustinia (1975), Ch. 12
“We're too weak to sacrifice the things we love.”
Raised by Wolves, season 1, episode 4. Character Ambrose.
“Alas! alas! how plague-spot like will sin
Spread over the wrung heart it enters in!”
Title poem, section VIII.
The Venetian Bracelet (1829)