Between a sign and the thing it signifies there is the fixed, determined relationship of cause and effect. We see this in the case... of the footprint in the sand, the tear on the eyelash, or the trademark of a commercial product. But no matter how closely tied a symbol is to the thing symbolized, the relation is variable, flexible, and free. It is in poetry, however, that the symbolic value of words reaches its apex. The cross has become the symbol of Christianity not because of its form but because the Christians, following St. Paul, at a definite moment in their history, decided to adopt the instrument of Christ's torture as their emblem. Similarly, the relation between a word and its meaning depends on its origin, its history, and its usage.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. It is not in heaven, that... you should say, "Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?" Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, "Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?" No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe. See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
No one is without Christianity, if we agree on what we mean by that word. It is every individual's individual code of behavior by ...means of which he makes himself a better human being than his nature wants to be, if he followed his nature only. Whatever its symbol--cross or crescent or whatever--that symbol is man's reminder of his duty inside the human race.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
The very word "Christianity" is a misunderstanding--there was really only one Christian, and he died on the cross. The "evangel" d...ied on the cross.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
What are you now? If we could touch one another, if these our separate entities could come to grips,... clenched like a Chinese puzzle . . . yesterday I stood in a crowded street that was live with people, and no one spoke a word, and the morning shone. Everyone silent, moving. . . . Take my hand. Speak to me.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
He does not go to the dictionary, the word-book, but to the word-manufactory itself, and has made endless work for the lexicograph...ers.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
There is that in me--I do not know what it is--but I know it is in me ... I do not know it--it is without name--it is a word ...unsaid, It is not in any dictionary, utterance, symbol ... Do you see O my brothers and sisters? It is not chaos or death--it is form, union, plan--it is eternal life--it is Happiness.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »