Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
God rejects kings because of how they treat the poor.
In plain terms
Kings are rejected for oppressing the poor.
What can you take from it?
Oppression of the poor leads to judgment.

Where it applies

  • political critique
  • social justice

Putting it to work

  • advocate for poor
  • critique power

Questions to consider

  • What would God reject?
  • Who suffers for power?

Another view

Religious interpretations vary widely on kingship.

More from Ralph Waldo Emerson

  1. 'Tis very certain that each man carries in his eye the exact indication of his rank in the immense scale of men, and we are always learning to read it. A compl…

    Permalink to quote #214
  2. To-day unbind the captive, So only are ye unbound; Lift up a people from the dust, Trump of their rescue, sound!

    Permalink to quote #216
  3. The highest compact we can make with our fellow, is, - 'Let there be truth between us two forevermore.'

    Permalink to quote #213

Related quotes

  1. But now, instead of discussion and argument, brute force rises up to the rescue of discomfited error, and crushes truth and right into the dust. 'Might makes r…

    Adin BallouAdin Ballou quote #1
  2. The humblest citizen in all the land, when clad in the armor of a righteous cause, is stronger than all the hosts of error.

    William Jennings BryanWilliam Jennings Bryan quote #13
  3. Just as a vagrant accused of stealing a carrot from a field stands before a comfortably seated judge who keeps up an elegant flow of queries, comments and witt…

    Simone WeilSimone Weil quote #23