You've got to save your own soul first, and then the souls of your neighbors if they will let you; and for that reason you must cultivate, not a spirit of criticism, but the talents that attract people to the hearing of the Word.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Personal spiritual growth precedes helping others; avoid criticism.
- In plain terms
- Work on yourself before trying to fix others.
- What can you take from it?
- Focus on self-improvement to influence others.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do you help others?
- Is self-focus selfish?
Another view
Self-focus can become selfishness if not checked.
More from George MacDonald
You can't live on amusement. It is the froth on water - an inch deep and then the mud.
Permalink to quote #43 But God lets men have their playthings, like the children they are, that they may learn to distinguish them from true possessions. If they are not learning tha…
Permalink to quote #45 Where there is no choice, we do well to make no difficulty.
Permalink to quote #42
Related quotes
I think I have learned that the best way to lift one's self up is to help someone else.
Booker T. WashingtonBooker T. Washington quote #3 I am a wife-made man
Danny KayeDanny Kaye quote #1 Build up your weaknesses until they become your strong points.
Knute RockneKnute Rockne quote #1