#witnessing

Think about it: virtually every atrocity in the history of humankind was enabled by a populace that turned away from a reality that seemed too painful to face, while virtually every revolution for peace and justice has been made possibly by a group of people who chose to bear witness and demanded that others bear witness as well. ↗

— Melanie Joy

#revolution #witnessing #love

You could grow up in the city where history was made and still miss it all. ↗

— Jonathan Lethem

#missing-out #new-york-city #witnessing-history #new-york-city

It is the great business of every Christian to save souls. People complain that they do not know how to take hold of this matter. Why, the reason is plain enough; they have never studied it. They have never taken the proper pains to qualify themselves for the work. If you do not make it a matter of study, how you may successfully act in building up the kingdom of Christ, you are acting a very wicked and absurd part as a Christian. ↗

— Charles Grandison Finney

#evangelism #inspirational #soul-winning #witnessing #business

Christians need a new filling of the Holy Spirit to love those who disagree with them. And the greatest expression of love is to share with them the most precious thing a Christian has, which is the good news of the salvation of Jesus Christ. ↗

— Brother Andrew

#love #salvation #witnessing #love

Delphine witnessed awful things occurring to other humans. Worse than that, she was powerless to alter their fate. It would be that way all her life--disasters, falling like chairs all around her, falling so close they disarranged her hair, but not touching her. ↗

— Louise Erdrich

#powerlessness #witnessing #life

Becoming aware of the intense suffering of billions of animals, and of our own participation in that suffering, can bring up painful emotions: sorrow and grief for the animals; anger at the injustice and deception of the system; despair at the enormity of the problem; fear that trusted authorities and institutions are, in fact, untrustworthy; and guilt for having contributed to the problem. Bearing witness means choosing to suffer. Indeed, empathy is literally 'feeling with.' Choosing to suffer is particularly difficult in a culture that is addicted to comfort--a culture that teaches that pain should be avoided whenever possible and that ignorance is bliss. We can reduce our resistance to witnessing by valuing authenticity over personal pleasure, and integration over ignorance. ↗

— Melanie Joy

#suffering #witnessing #anger

"It worked." (said after witnessing the first atomic detonation). ↗

— J. Robert Oppenheimer

#atomic #first #said #witnessing #worked

I think that witnessing ecological problems visible from space is one of the new and essential roles of astronauts. ↗

— Philippe Perrin

#ecological #essential #i #i think #new

We are witnessing an enormous shift of collective consciousness throughout the world. We are at the precipice of great transformation within our culture and government. ↗

— Zachary Quinto

#collective consciousness #consciousness #culture #enormous #government

My primary instinct as an actor is not the big transformation. It's thrilling if a performer can do that well, but that's not me. Often with actors, it's a case of witnessing a big party piece but wondering afterwards, where's the substance? ↗

— Colin Firth

#afterwards #big #case #instinct #me