"Whatever the right hand findeth to do, the left hand carries a watch on its wrist to show how long it takes to do it"
About this Quote
Sockman lifts the cadence of Scripture and nudges it into modern satire. The phrase echoes Ecclesiastes 9:10, Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might, but then introduces the companion image of a watch-toting left hand that times the effort. The result is a wry portrait of an age that cannot simply work with might; it must clock, compare, and report. Diligence turns into data.
As a mid-20th-century Methodist preacher who addressed millions by radio, Sockman often fused biblical sensibility with contemporary anxieties. Industrial efficiency, time clocks, and scientific management had taught people to measure everything. He does not condemn conscientiousness; he exposes the subtle shift from wholehearted doing to self-surveillance. The split between right and left hand suggests a divided self: one part acts, the other audits. Instead of being fully present in the task, we keep glancing at the wrist.
There is also an ironic inversion of another Gospel refrain: do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. In Sockmans image, the left hand not only knows but times it, perhaps ready to publish the result. Deeds meant to be inward and sincere become quantified and performative. The humor lands because it is recognizably human; a watch promises control yet quietly breeds anxiety, haste, and comparison.
The moral is not to abandon clocks but to restore priority. Measure can be a servant of purpose, not its master. What gives work its worth is might, love, and integrity, not the seconds shaved off its completion. When timing becomes the headline, quality, joy, and generosity flatten into metrics. Sockman invites a return to unfragmented effort, where both hands serve the task rather than one doing and the other judging, and where the standard is faithfulness rather than a stopwatch.
As a mid-20th-century Methodist preacher who addressed millions by radio, Sockman often fused biblical sensibility with contemporary anxieties. Industrial efficiency, time clocks, and scientific management had taught people to measure everything. He does not condemn conscientiousness; he exposes the subtle shift from wholehearted doing to self-surveillance. The split between right and left hand suggests a divided self: one part acts, the other audits. Instead of being fully present in the task, we keep glancing at the wrist.
There is also an ironic inversion of another Gospel refrain: do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. In Sockmans image, the left hand not only knows but times it, perhaps ready to publish the result. Deeds meant to be inward and sincere become quantified and performative. The humor lands because it is recognizably human; a watch promises control yet quietly breeds anxiety, haste, and comparison.
The moral is not to abandon clocks but to restore priority. Measure can be a servant of purpose, not its master. What gives work its worth is might, love, and integrity, not the seconds shaved off its completion. When timing becomes the headline, quality, joy, and generosity flatten into metrics. Sockman invites a return to unfragmented effort, where both hands serve the task rather than one doing and the other judging, and where the standard is faithfulness rather than a stopwatch.
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| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
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