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Quote by Johan Huizinga

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Johan Huizinga
Johan Huizinga

Dutch historian known for his research in cultural and art history. Johan Huizinga was born on December 7, 1872, and died on February 1, 1945. His works have had a profound impact on subsequent historical and sociological studies. more

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“If, therefore, man has come into the world to search for God and, if he has found Him, to adhere to Him and to find repose in adhering to Him-man cannot search for Him and attain Him in this sensible and corporeal world, since God is spirit rather than body, and cannot be attained in intellectual abstraction, since one is able to conceive nothing similar to God, as he asserts-how can one, therefore, search for Him in order to find Him?”

IfsMenWorldBodyAbleSpiritOrderFoundIntellectualReal WorldSensibleAbstractionRepose
Author:Nicholas of Cusa
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“You are therefore able to run on this path, on which God is found above all vision, hearing, taste, touch, smell, speech, sense, rationality, and intellect. It is found as none of these, but rather above everything as God of gods and King of all kings. Indeed, the King of the world of the intellect is the King of kings and Lord of lords in the universe.”

WorldRunningAbleUniverseFoundVisionLordPathKingsTasteSpeechHearingIntellectSmellRationality
Author:Nicholas of Cusa
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“Life and perfection, joy and repose and whatever all the senses desire, lie in the distinguishing spirit, and from it they have everything that they have. Even if the organs lose in power and the life in them decreases in activity, it does not decrease in the distinguishing spirit, from which they receive the same life, when the fault or infirmity is removed.”

IfsDoeJoySpiritLyingDesireLosesActivityPerfectionFaultsSensesOrgansReposeDecreaseInfirmity
Author:Nicholas of Cusa
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“Those, however, who saw that one cannot attain wisdom and perennial intellectual life, unless it be given through the gift of grace, and that the goodness of the Almighty God is so great that He hears those who invoke His name, and they gain salvation, became humble, acknowledging that they are ignorant, and directed their life as the life of one desiring eternal wisdom. And that is the life of the virtuous, who proceed in the desire for the other life, which is commended by the saints.”

DesireNamesGivenSawsGraceGoodnessEternalIntellectualGainsSalvationSaintHumbleIgnorantVirtuousAlmightyAlmighty GodInvokeIntellectual Life
Author:Nicholas of Cusa
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“For our intellectual spirit has the power of fire in itself. For no other purpose is it sent by God to the earth than that it glow and grow into a flame. When it is excited by admiration, then it grows, just as if the wind entering into a fire excited its potential to actuality. If we apprehend the works of God, we marvel at eternal wisdom.”

IfsEarthSpiritPurposeGrowsFireWindEternalIntellectualExcitedFlamesAdmirationEnteringActuality
Author:Nicholas of Cusa
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“If that one is already a great artist, who knows how to educe from a small piece of wood the face of a king or of a queen, an ant or a camel, how great then is the mastery which can form as actuality everything which is in all potentiality? Therefore, God, who is able to produce from the most minute piece of matter the similitude of all forms which can be in this world and in infinitely many worlds, is of admirable subtlety.”

IfsKnowsWorldMatterAbleFacesFormArtistKnow HowPiecesMinutesThis WorldProduceKingsWoodsQueensMasteryGreat ArtAntsAdmirableGreat ArtistSubtletyCamelsActualitySmall Pieces
Author:Nicholas of Cusa
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“We see that God has implanted in all things a natural desire to exist with the fullest measure of existence that is compatible with their particular nature. To this end they are endowed with suitable faculties and activities; and by means of these there is in them a discernment that is natural and in keeping with the purpose of their knowledge, which ensures their natural inclination serving its purpose and being able to reach its fulfilment in that object towards which it is attracted by the weight of its own nature.”

MeanEndsAbleDesirePurposeNaturalExistenceObjectsParticularActivityAll ThingsWeightServingFacultyInclinationDiscernmentSuitableCompatibleFulfilment
Author:Nicholas of Cusa
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