"Self-denial is indispensable to a strong character, and the highest kind comes from a religious stock"
- Theodore Parker
About this Quote
Theodore Parker's quote speaks to the significance of self-denial in developing a strong character. He suggests that the highest form of self-denial comes from a spiritual background. This implies that spiritual teachings can provide a strong moral foundation for establishing a strong character. Self-denial is a hard concept to grasp, as it needs us to deny ourselves of things that we may want or prefer. However, it is a vital part of establishing a strong character, as it teaches us to be disciplined and to prioritize our values. By rejecting ourselves of particular things, we can find out to focus on what is really important and establish a strong sense of self-discipline. Ultimately, Parker's quote recommends that religious mentors can offer a strong moral structure for developing a strong character through self-denial.
"I have treated many hundreds of patients. Among those in the second half of life - that is to say, over 35 - there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life"
"This, it may be said, is no more than a hypothesis... only of that force of precedent which in all times has been so strong to keep alive religious forms of which the original meaning is lost"
"Well, in The Chosen, Danny Saunders, from the heart of his religious reading of the world, encounters an element in the very heart of the secular readings of the world - Freudian psychoanalytic theory"
"Israel of the coastal plain, where eight out of ten Israeli Jews live far removed from the occupied territories, from the fiery Jerusalem, from the religious and nationalistic conflicts, is unknown to the outside world, almost unknown to itself"
"I believe that nothing enjoys a higher estate in our society than the right given by the First and Fourteenth Amendments freely to practice and proclaim one's religious convictions"
"I guess my religious faith sustained me more than anything else. Family is also very important. If I didn't have children, it would have been too difficult. Even if you are strong, you still need people who would support you all the way"
"I think it's a mother's dream come true to see it work out that way. Not just the mother, but certainly parents, to know that their children have a very solid moral foundation and religious foundation"