--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: So, as we have our tea, I propose not…" description: "\"So, as we have our tea, I propose not only to operate on your heart so as to change your will, but also on your eyes so as to change your outlook. But ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d2/cornelius-van-til-30277_blind_so-as-we-have-our-tea-i-propose-not-only_765219.png" --- # So, as we have our tea, I propose not only to operate on… ![“So, as we have our tea, I propose not only to operate on your heart so as to change your will, but also on your eyes so as to change your outlook. But wait a minute. No, I do not propose to operate at all. I myself cannot do anything of the sort. I am just mildly suggesting that you are perhaps…” quote by Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d2/cornelius-van-til-30277_blind_so-as-we-have-our-tea-i-propose-not-only_765219.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d2/cornelius-van-til-30277_blind_so-as-we-have-our-tea-i-propose-not-only_765219.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8d2/cornelius-van-til-30277_blind_so-as-we-have-our-tea-i-propose-not-only_765219.png) > “So, as we have our tea, I propose not only to operate on your heart so as to change your will, but also on your eyes so as to change your outlook. But wait a minute. No, I do not propose to operate at all. I myself cannot do anything of the sort. I am just mildly suggesting that you are perhaps dead, and perhaps blind, leaving you to think the matter over for yourself. If an operation is to be performed it must be performed by God Himself.” [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He suggests that only divine intervention can truly change a person’s heart and perception, not human effort. **In simple terms:** Only God can truly change core beliefs and outlook. Key Takeaway Seek spiritual transformation, not just self‑help. Themes theology personal change divine agency Mood contemplative serious Type philosophical theological When to use this quote - personal crisis - spiritual counseling - ethical decision making Key Concepts free will spiritual transformation human limitation Questions to Reflect On - Can you identify areas where you rely on yourself versus seeking higher help? - What does “dead and blind” symbolize for you? A Different Perspective Human attempts may be futile without divine guidance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Outlook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outlook/) [Tea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tea/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [Don't operate on the heart with a hatchet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/don-t-operate-on-the-heart-with-a-hatchet/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [The mouthpiece of the half-inarticulate, all-suggesting music that is at once the very soul and the inseparable garment of romance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walther-von-der-vogelweide/the-mouthpiece-of-the-half-inarticulate-all-suggesting-music-that-is/) Walther von der Vogelweide > [I'm suggesting that, ironically, the secret to becoming a world 'hyperpower' is tolerance. If you look at history, you see great powers being very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-chua/i-m-suggesting-that-ironically-the-secret-to-becoming-a-world/) [Amy Chua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-chua/) > [Republicans are suggesting that you take your retirement money and invest it in the stock market to take care of yourself but that leaves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-wasserman-schultz/republicans-are-suggesting-that-you-take-your-retirement-money-and/) [Debbie Wasserman Schultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-wasserman-schultz/) > [I'm not sure if Cupitt himself still uses this term, but it's useful in suggesting that, actually, there are more choices than the choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-pattison/i-m-not-sure-if-cupitt-himself-still-uses-this-term-but-it-s-useful/) [George Pattison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-pattison/) > [Partial legalization, as some are suggesting, is a dangerous path, and we need only look at France and Germany to see how unwise it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoe-lofgren/partial-legalization-as-some-are-suggesting-is-a-dangerous-path-and/) [Zoe Lofgren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoe-lofgren/) > [By its very looseness, by its way of evoking rather than defining, suggesting rather than saying, English is a magnificent vehicle for emotional poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-beerbohm/by-its-very-looseness-by-its-way-of-evoking-rather-than-defining/) [Max Beerbohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-beerbohm/) > [When you have a candidate like Donald Trump saying that Mexicans are rapists and drug dealers, and also doubling down and suggesting that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debbie-wasserman-schultz/when-you-have-a-candidate-like-donald-trump-saying-that-mexicans-are/) [Debbie Wasserman Schultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debbie-wasserman-schultz/) > [The argument goes that the pay gap only exists because of women's 'choices' of work type, hours, and child related career breaks, effectively making…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-bates/the-argument-goes-that-the-pay-gap-only-exists-because-of-women-s/) [Laura Bates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-bates/) > [When Gingrich attacked CNN's John King for bringing up his alleged proposal of an open marriage to his second wife, Gingrich accused him of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-dallek/when-gingrich-attacked-cnn-s-john-king-for-bringing-up-his-alleged/) [Robert Dallek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-dallek/) > [It seems like cloud cuckoo land. If anyone is suggesting that I would go to Parliament and suggest the abolition of the Pound Sterling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/it-seems-like-cloud-cuckoo-land-if-anyone-is-suggesting-that-i-would/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [Begbie offers an additional valuable contribution by rejecting the traditional emphasis on beauty, in its Platonic sense, and instead suggesting that beauty be reconceived…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-walford/begbie-offers-an-additional-valuable-contribution-by-rejecting-the/) [John Walford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-walford/) > [My single biggest financial concern is the loss of the dollar as the reserve currency. I can't imagine anything more disastrous to our country.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-zell/my-single-biggest-financial-concern-is-the-loss-of-the-dollar-as-the/) [Sam Zell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-zell/) > [years ago we would have been burned for this. Now what I am suggesting is that we've advanced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cleese/years-ago-we-would-have-been-burned-for-this-now-what-i-am-suggesting/) [John Cleese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cleese/) > [“Sometimes terror comes not from lighting a fuse but by merely suggesting the know how.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-ayden/sometimes-terror-comes-not-from-lighting-a-fuse-but-by-merely/) Alice Ayden ## More by Cornelius Van Til > [The only proof for the existence of God is that without God you couldn't prove anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/the-only-proof-for-the-existence-of-god-is-that-without-god-you/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [“How shortsighted and how uncultured, then, are the efforts of believers in Christ when they seek for snatches of worldly culture for themselves by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/how-shortsighted-and-how-uncultured-then-are-the-efforts-of-believers/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [ He \[Christ\] came to bring peace, to be sure, but the peace that He came to bring must be built upon the complete destruction… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/he-christ-came-to-bring-peace-to-be-sure-but-the-peace-that-he-came/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [Agnosticism is epistemologically self-contradictory on its own assumptions because its claim to make no assertion about ultimate reality rests upon a most comprehensive assertion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/agnosticism-is-epistemologically-self-contradictory-on-its-own/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [To admit one's own presuppositions and to point out the presuppositions of others is therefore to maintain that all reasoning is, in the nature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/to-admit-one-s-own-presuppositions-and-to-point-out-the/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [ “\[The intellect of fallen man\] may be compared to a buzz-saw that is sharp and shining, ready to cut the boards that come to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/the-intellect-of-fallen-man-may-be-compared-to-a-buzz-saw-that-is/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [When man thinks in self-conscious submission to the voluntary revelation of the self-sufficient God, he has therewith the only possible ground of certainty for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/when-man-thinks-in-self-conscious-submission-to-the-voluntary/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [Anti-theism presupposes Theism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/anti-theism-presupposes-theism/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [It is not kindness to tell patients that need strong medicine that nothing serious is wrong with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/it-is-not-kindness-to-tell-patients-that-need-strong-medicine-that/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [There are those, of course, who deny that they need any form of authority. They are the popular atheists and agnostics. Such men say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/there-are-those-of-course-who-deny-that-they-need-any-form-of/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [The picture of fallen man as given in Scripture is that he knows God but does not want to recognize Him as God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/the-picture-of-fallen-man-as-given-in-scripture-is-that-he-knows-god/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [The Bible is authoritative on everything of which it speaks. Moreover, it speaks of everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/the-bible-is-authoritative-on-everything-of-which-it-speaks-moreover/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [“I hold that belief in God is not merely as reasonable as other belief, or even a little or infinitely more probably true than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/i-hold-that-belief-in-god-is-not-merely-as-reasonable-as-other-belief/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [I shall not convert you at the end of my argument. I think the argument is sound. I hold that belief in God is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/i-shall-not-convert-you-at-the-end-of-my-argument-i-think-the/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) > [If one does not make human knowledge wholly dependent upon the original self-knowledge and consequent revelation of God to man, then man will have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelius-van-til/if-one-does-not-make-human-knowledge-wholly-dependent-upon-the/) [Cornelius Van Til](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) [Explore all 17 Cornelius Van Til quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelius-van-til/) ## More Blind quotes > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [Love is so blind, it feels right when it's wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beyonce-knowles/love-is-so-blind-it-feels-right-when-it-s-wrong/) [Beyonce Knowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beyonce-knowles/) > [... Arthur Gride, whose bleared eyes gloated only over the outward beauties, and were blind to the spirit which reigned within, evinced - a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/arthur-gride-whose-bleared-eyes-gloated-only-over-the-outward/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [“A man who saw has turned blind, A hearer deaf, A leader now leads astray!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miriam-lichtheim/a-man-who-saw-has-turned-blind-a-hearer-deaf-a-leader-now-leads-astray/) [Miriam Lichtheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miriam-lichtheim/) > [“What I shall feel to-morrow I cannot tell. Maybe I shall go blind again, for women are never two days alike in their minds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-parker/what-i-shall-feel-to-morrow-i-cannot-tell-maybe-i-shall-go-blind/) [Gilbert Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-parker/) > [Now the stage today is to know that Self Realization gives you experiences and then your faith is established. Not blind but open enlightened…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nirmala-srivastava/now-the-stage-today-is-to-know-that-self-realization-gives-you/) [Nirmala Srivastava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nirmala-srivastava/) > [The more I produce, the less I am certain. On the road along which the artist walks, night falls ever more densely. Finally, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-more-i-produce-the-less-i-am-certain-on-the-road-along-which-the/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“The heart’s blind. It’s the head that causes all the trouble. Sometimes both are stupid.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/k-bromberg/the-heart-s-blind-it-s-the-head-that-causes-all-the-trouble-sometimes/) [K. Bromberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/k-bromberg/) > [“In the story of the blind men and the elephant, what’s usually ignored is the fact that each man’s description was correct. What Faye…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-hill/in-the-story-of-the-blind-men-and-the-elephant-what-s-usually-ignored/) [Nathan Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-hill/) > [My favorite performance would definitely be "Toxic," which was my blind audition song. It was the start of it all and it was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melanie-martinez/my-favorite-performance-would-definitely-be-toxic-which-was-my-blind/) [Melanie Martinez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melanie-martinez/) > [Our attitude towards evil must be freed from hatred, and has itself need to be enlightened in character...Satan rejoices when he succeeds in inspiring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikolai-berdyaev/our-attitude-towards-evil-must-be-freed-from-hatred-and-has-itself/) [Nikolai Berdyaev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikolai-berdyaev/) > [If you are the master be sometimes blind, if you are the servant be sometimes deaf.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-buckminster-fuller/if-you-are-the-master-be-sometimes-blind-if-you-are-the-servant-be/) [R. Buckminster Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-buckminster-fuller/) > [I'm glad I'm blind and can't see it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stevie-wonder/i-m-glad-i-m-blind-and-can-t-see-it/) [Stevie Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stevie-wonder/) > [Shut your eyes and you will know what I mean by thought entombed in darkness. Light comes through the senses, and not only through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lindbergh/shut-your-eyes-and-you-will-know-what-i-mean-by-thought-entombed-in/) [Charles Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lindbergh/) > [Blind with love, my daughter has cried nightly for horses, those long-necked marchers and churners that she has mastered, any and all, reigning them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-sexton/blind-with-love-my-daughter-has-cried-nightly-for-horses-those-long/) [Anne Sexton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-sexton/) [Browse all 3,877 Blind quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "So, as we have our tea, I propose not only to operate on your heart so as to change your will, but also on your eyes so as to change your outlook. But wait a minute. No, I do not propose to operate at all. I myself cannot do anything of the sort. 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