Toward dawn, he dreamed that he was in hiding, in one of the naves of the Clementine Library. What are you looking for? a librarian wearing dark glasses asked him. I'm looking for God, Hladik replied. God, the librarian said, is in one of the letters on one of the pages of one of the four hundred thousand volumes in the Clementine. My parents and my parents' parents searched for that letter; I myself have gone blind searching for it.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- A librarian tells a seeker that God is hidden in a specific letter among countless volumes, a quest that has blinded many generations.
- In plain terms
- Finding divine truth is depicted as an impossible task hidden within infinite text.
- What can you take from it?
- The search for ultimate truth may be endless and consuming.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What are you searching for?
- Is some knowledge too costly?
Another view
The story uses metaphor rather than literal claims about religion.
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