"Yes, forget your weakness, whatever that weakness may be. It is egotism, it is selfishness after. all, for it is a dwelling on self. Forget your weakness; and remember your strength"
About this Quote
Lightfoot’s line is pastoral triage disguised as moral instruction: stop treating your fragility as your identity. The sentence swings on a bracing inversion. Weakness is not merely a burden to manage; it becomes a kind of vanity, “egotism,” because it keeps the spotlight fixed on the self. That’s a provocative move from a theologian, and it’s meant to sting just enough to break a habit of rumination that feels humble but often functions like self-absorption with better branding.
The intent is practical and spiritual at once. In the Victorian religious world Lightfoot inhabited - a culture of strenuous duty, introspection, and public respectability - people were trained to scrutinize their failures as proof of seriousness. Lightfoot pushes back: endless self-audit doesn’t necessarily produce holiness, it produces paralysis. Calling it “selfishness” reframes melancholy and anxiety as misdirected attention, a moral and psychological loop that crowds out service, gratitude, and action.
“Forget” here isn’t denial; it’s a reallocation of focus. Lightfoot pairs it with “remember your strength,” a phrase with biblical resonance (strength as gift, vocation, grace) rather than mere willpower. The subtext is anti-narcissistic Christianity: your life is not a courtroom where you prosecute yourself; it’s a mission field. His rhetoric works because it refuses to romanticize weakness while also refusing to let it have the final word. It’s a call to step out of the mirror and back into the world.
The intent is practical and spiritual at once. In the Victorian religious world Lightfoot inhabited - a culture of strenuous duty, introspection, and public respectability - people were trained to scrutinize their failures as proof of seriousness. Lightfoot pushes back: endless self-audit doesn’t necessarily produce holiness, it produces paralysis. Calling it “selfishness” reframes melancholy and anxiety as misdirected attention, a moral and psychological loop that crowds out service, gratitude, and action.
“Forget” here isn’t denial; it’s a reallocation of focus. Lightfoot pairs it with “remember your strength,” a phrase with biblical resonance (strength as gift, vocation, grace) rather than mere willpower. The subtext is anti-narcissistic Christianity: your life is not a courtroom where you prosecute yourself; it’s a mission field. His rhetoric works because it refuses to romanticize weakness while also refusing to let it have the final word. It’s a call to step out of the mirror and back into the world.
Quote Details
| Topic | Self-Improvement |
|---|
More Quotes by Joseph
Add to List
