in a certain sense nothing can be spoken of so briefly as the Good, when it is well described. for the Good without condition and without qualification, without preface and without compromise is, absolutely the only thing that a man may and should will, and is only one thing. oh, blessed brevity, oh, blessed simplicity, that seizes swiftly what cleverness, tired out in the service of vanity, may grasp but slowly! that which a simple soul, in the happy impulse of a pious heart, feels no need of understanding in an elaborate way, since he simple seizes the Good immediately, is grasped by the clever one only at the cost of much time and much grief. the way this one thing is willed is not such that: one man wills one thing but that which he wills is not the Good; another wills one thing nor is what he wills the Good; a third wills one thing and what he wills is the Good. no, it is not done in that way. the person who wills one thing that is not the good, he does not truly will one thing. it is a delusion , an illusion, a deception, a self-deception that he wills only one thing. for in his innermost being he is, he is bound to be, double-minded. therefore the Apostle says, "purify your hearts ye double-minded," that is, purify your hearts of double-mindedness; in other words, let your heart in truth will only one thing, for therein is the heart's purity.
-soren kierkegaard purity of heart is to will one thing
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment