"Religion is the state of being grasped by an ultimate concern, a concern which qualifies all other concerns as preliminary and which itself contains the answer to the question of a meaning of our life"
- Paul Tillich
About this Quote
This quote by Paul Tillich speaks to the power of religious beliefs in our lives. He suggests that faith is a method of linking to something higher than ourselves, something that offers our lives suggesting and purpose. He calls this an "ultimate issue," which is something that is so important that it takes precedence over all other issues. This supreme issue is the answer to the concern of what our lives suggest. Faith, then, is a method of linking to this ultimate issue and enabling it to form our lives. It is a way of finding significance and function in our lives, and of understanding our location in the world.
"Life is life - whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man's own advantage"