“What is a saint? A saint is someone who has achieved a remote human possibility. It is impossible to say what that possibility is. I think it has something to do with the energy of love. Contact with this energy results in the exercise of a kind of balance in the chaos of existence. A saint does not dissolve the chaos; if he did the world would have changed long ago. I do not think that a saint dissolves the chaos even for himself, for there is something arrogant and warlike in the notion of a man setting the universe in order. It is a kind of balance that is his glory. He rides the drifts like an escaped ski. His course is a caress of the hill. His track is a drawing of the snow in a moment of its particular arrangement with wind and rock. Something in him so loves the world that he gives himself to the laws of gravity and chance. Far from flying with the angels, he traces with the fidelity of a seismograph needle the state of the solid bloody landscape.”
Quote Analysis
In this quote by Leonard Cohen, the concept of a saint is explored as someone who has achieved a remote human possibility, likely relating to the energy of love. Cohen suggests that a saint does not aim to dissolve the chaos of existence, but rather finds balance within it. The idea of a saint as someone who embraces the world with love and acceptance, navigating the challenges of life with grace and humility, is beautifully portrayed in this passage.
Modern Relevance
In this quote by Leonard Cohen, the concept of a saint is described as someone who has achieved a remote human possibility through the energy of love. Despite the chaos and challenges of existence, a saint finds a balance and harmony within themselves and the world around them. This idea of embracing chaos and finding beauty in imperfection can be seen as a relevant concept in our modern, turbulent world.
Examples of Usage
In this profound quote by Leonard Cohen, the concept of a saint is explored in a unique and thought-provoking way. Cohen's words paint a vivid picture of a saint as someone who embraces the chaos of existence with a sense of balance and love.
During a discussion about spirituality and the qualities of a saint, one might bring up Leonard Cohen's poetic interpretation of a saint as someone who navigates the chaos of life with grace and love.
In a literature class, a teacher could use this quote as a starting point for a discussion on the theme of balance in spiritual and philosophical texts.
When reflecting on personal values and beliefs, an individual might find inspiration in Cohen's words about a saint's relationship with the world and the laws of nature.
Reflection Questions
Reflecting on Leonard Cohen's definition of a saint, consider the following questions:
- How do you define a saint based on Cohen's description?
- Do you believe achieving a remote human possibility is linked to the energy of love? Why or why not?
- In what ways do you see balance in chaos as a defining characteristic of a saint?
- How do you interpret the idea that a saint does not dissolve chaos, but rather finds a kind of balance within it?
- Can you think of any individuals, historical or contemporary, who epitomize Cohen's description of a saint?
Similar quotes
“The ordinary man thinks that yielding to doubts and worries is a sign of sensibility, of spirituality. Acting thus, he remains distant from the true meaning of life, for his reduced reasoning turns him into the saint or monster he imagines he is, and before he realizes it, he is caught in the trap he has set himself. This type of person loves being told what he should do, but even more than that, he loves not following sound advice - simply in order to anger the generous soul who, at a certain moment, was concerned about him.”
“Every man builds his world in his own image; he has the power to choose, but no power to escape the necessity of choice. If he abdicates his power, he abdicates the status of man, and the grinding chaos of the irrational is what he achieves as his sphere of existence—by his own choice.”
“Patience is more than endurance. A saint's life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says--'I cannot stand anymore.' God does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He lets fly. Trust yourself in God's hands. Maintain your relationship to Jesus Christ by the patience of faith. 'Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.”
“Well, you see, she was saintly but she wasn't a saint. No one could really hate a saint, could they? They can't really hate God either. When they want to hate him and his saints they have to find something like themselves and pretend it's God and hate that. I suppose you think that's all bosh.”
“Where the Divine and the Human Meet" shows how important it is to meet the world with the creativity of an artist, particularly in these uncertain times: "What do we do with chaos? Creativity has an answer. We are told by those who have studied the processes of nature that creativity happens at the border between chaos and order. Chaos is a prelude to creativity. We need to learn, as every artist needs to learn, to live with chaos and indeed to dance with it as we listen to it and attempt some ordering. Artists wrestle with chaos, take it apart, deconstruct and reconstruct from it. Accept the challenge to convert chaos into some kind of order, respecting the timing of it all, not pushing beyond what is possible—combining holy patience with holy impatience--that is the role of the artist. It is each of our roles as we launch the twenty-first century because we are all called to be artists in our own way. We were all artists as children. We need to study the chaos around us in order to turn it into something beautiful. Something sustainable. Something that remains".”