--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When we really worship anything, we love…" description: "\"When we really worship anything, we love not only its clearness but its obscurity. We exult in its very invisibility.\" — Gilbert K. Chesterton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fc/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_clearness_when-we-really-worship-anything-we-love_1216375.png" --- # When we really worship anything, we love not only its… ![“When we really worship anything, we love not only its clearness but its obscurity. We exult in its very invisibility.” quote by Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fc/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_clearness_when-we-really-worship-anything-we-love_1216375.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fc/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_clearness_when-we-really-worship-anything-we-love_1216375.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2fc/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_clearness_when-we-really-worship-anything-we-love_1216375.png) > “When we really worship anything, we love not only its clearness but its obscurity. We exult in its very invisibility.” [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Worship appreciates both clarity and mystery; hidden aspects deepen reverence. **In simple terms:** Mystery enhances love. Key Takeaway Value both obvious and hidden qualities. Themes faith aesthetics paradox appreciation Mood contemplative inquisitive Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - religious practice - art criticism - personal spirituality - creative writing Key Concepts theology philosophy beauty Questions to Reflect On - What does the unseen reveal about what you cherish? - How can you balance clarity with mystery in belief? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on mystery can obscure truth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Invisibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invisibility/) [Obscurity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/obscurity/) [Worship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worship/) ## Related quotes > [“I found a strange solace and safety in my power of invisibility and made obscurity my residence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-raphael-mcmanus/i-found-a-strange-solace-and-safety-in-my-power-of-invisibility-and/) [Erwin Raphael McManus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-raphael-mcmanus/) > [If there's no Scripture in the worship set, then it's not really a worship set.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-papa/if-there-s-no-scripture-in-the-worship-set-then-it-s-not-really-a/) [Matt Papa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-papa/) > [All I'm doing is being authentic and real and singing about the emotions I go through as a human being. I don't think we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-evans/all-i-m-doing-is-being-authentic-and-real-and-singing-about-the/) [Anthony Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-evans/) > [I don't really worship the album 'Transformer.' It's not the best thing that Lou Reed has done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-furman/i-don-t-really-worship-the-album-transformer-it-s-not-the-best-thing/) [Ezra Furman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-furman/) > [God gave me a gift of singing and playing the piano, and when I do it, it's exciting, of course. But it's more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-gave-me-a-gift-of-singing-and-playing-the-piano-and-when-i-do-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You have to experience real life before you can understand what it means to really worship. That's it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-evans/you-have-to-experience-real-life-before-you-can-understand-what-it/) [Anthony Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-evans/) > [Children feel the whiteness of the lily with a graphic and passionate clearness which we cannot give them at all. The only thing we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/children-feel-the-whiteness-of-the-lily-with-a-graphic-and-passionate/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The chief virtue that language can have is clarity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippocrates/the-chief-virtue-that-language-can-have-is-clarity/) [Hippocrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippocrates/) > [To see the butcher slap the steak before he laid it on the block, and give his knife a sharpening, was to forget breakfast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/to-see-the-butcher-slap-the-steak-before-he-laid-it-on-the-block-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [...one can speak with the utmost clearness, and yet not be heard by anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-can-speak-with-the-utmost-clearness-and-yet-not-be-heard-by-anyone/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Lord, enlighten thou our enemies. Sharpen their wits, give acuteness to their perceptions, and consecutiveness and clearness to their reasoning powers: we are in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/lord-enlighten-thou-our-enemies-sharpen-their-wits-give-acuteness-to/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [The chief virtue that language can have is clearness, and nothing detracts from it so much as the use of unfamiliar words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippocrates/the-chief-virtue-that-language-can-have-is-clearness-and-nothing/) [Hippocrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippocrates/) > [I believe there are techniques of the human mind whereby, in its dark deep, problems are examined, rejected or accepted. Such activities sometimes concern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-believe-there-are-techniques-of-the-human-mind-whereby-in-its-dark/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [What I mean by the Muse is that unimpeded clearness of the intuitive powers, which a perfectly truthful adherence to every admonition of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-fuller/what-i-mean-by-the-muse-is-that-unimpeded-clearness-of-the-intuitive/) [Margaret Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-fuller/) > [He was not only, I soon discovered, a water drinker, but a strict vegetarian, to which, perhaps, he owed a great deal of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kingsley/he-was-not-only-i-soon-discovered-a-water-drinker-but-a-strict/) [Charles Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kingsley/) ## More by Gilbert K. Chesterton > [The aim of good prose words is to mean what they say. The aim of good poetical words is to mean what they do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-aim-of-good-prose-words-is-to-mean-what-they-say-the-aim-of-good/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Youth is always too serious, and just now it is too serious about frivolity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/youth-is-always-too-serious-and-just-now-it-is-too-serious-about/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Tradition does not mean a dead town; it does not mean that the living are dead but that the dead are alive. It means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/tradition-does-not-mean-a-dead-town-it-does-not-mean-that-the-living/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [It is shorter to state the things forbidden than the things permitted; precisely because most things are permitted and only a few things forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/it-is-shorter-to-state-the-things-forbidden-than-the-things-permitted/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Everyone seems to assume that the unscrupulous parts of journalism will be the frivolous or jocular parts. This is against all ethical experience. Jokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/everyone-seems-to-assume-that-the-unscrupulous-parts-of-journalism/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [For Scotland has a double dose of the poison called heredity; the sense of blood in the aristocrat, the sense of doom in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/for-scotland-has-a-double-dose-of-the-poison-called-heredity-the/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Faith is always at a disadvantage; it is a perpetually defeated thing which survives all conquerors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/faith-is-always-at-a-disadvantage-it-is-a-perpetually-defeated-thing/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [A building is akin to dogma; it is insolent, like dogma. Whether or no it is permanent, it claims permanence, like a dogma. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/a-building-is-akin-to-dogma-it-is-insolent-like-dogma-whether-or-no/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The triangle of truisms, of father, mother and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-triangle-of-truisms-of-father-mother-and-child-cannot-be/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Criticism is only words about words, and of what use are words about such words as these?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/criticism-is-only-words-about-words-and-of-what-use-are-words-about/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place...The old humility was a spur that prevented a man from stopping; not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/what-we-suffer-from-today-is-humility-in-the-wrong-place-the-old/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Plato was only a Bernard Shaw who unfortunately made his jokes in Greek.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/plato-was-only-a-bernard-shaw-who-unfortunately-made-his-jokes-in/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The word good has many meanings...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-word-good-has-many-meanings/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Music with dinner is an insult both to the cook and the violinist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/music-with-dinner-is-an-insult-both-to-the-cook-and-the-violinist/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Eugenics asserts that all men must be so stupid that they cannot manage their own affairs; and also so clever that they can manage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/eugenics-asserts-that-all-men-must-be-so-stupid-that-they-cannot/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) [Explore all 868 Gilbert K. Chesterton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) ## More Clearness quotes > [He was not only, I soon discovered, a water drinker, but a strict vegetarian, to which, perhaps, he owed a great deal of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-kingsley/he-was-not-only-i-soon-discovered-a-water-drinker-but-a-strict/) [Charles Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-kingsley/) > [To see the butcher slap the steak before he laid it on the block, and give his knife a sharpening, was to forget breakfast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/to-see-the-butcher-slap-the-steak-before-he-laid-it-on-the-block-and/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [...one can speak with the utmost clearness, and yet not be heard by anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/one-can-speak-with-the-utmost-clearness-and-yet-not-be-heard-by-anyone/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Lord, enlighten thou our enemies. Sharpen their wits, give acuteness to their perceptions, and consecutiveness and clearness to their reasoning powers: we are in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/lord-enlighten-thou-our-enemies-sharpen-their-wits-give-acuteness-to/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [The chief virtue that language can have is clarity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippocrates/the-chief-virtue-that-language-can-have-is-clarity/) [Hippocrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippocrates/) > [What I mean by the Muse is that unimpeded clearness of the intuitive powers, which a perfectly truthful adherence to every admonition of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-fuller/what-i-mean-by-the-muse-is-that-unimpeded-clearness-of-the-intuitive/) [Margaret Fuller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-fuller/) > [I believe there are techniques of the human mind whereby, in its dark deep, problems are examined, rejected or accepted. Such activities sometimes concern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-believe-there-are-techniques-of-the-human-mind-whereby-in-its-dark/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [The chief virtue that language can have is clearness, and nothing detracts from it so much as the use of unfamiliar words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hippocrates/the-chief-virtue-that-language-can-have-is-clearness-and-nothing/) [Hippocrates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hippocrates/) > [The finer the nature, the more flaws it will show through the clearness of it; and it is a law of this universe that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/the-finer-the-nature-the-more-flaws-it-will-show-through-the/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [“Purity is defined by the clearness of the stars”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-biondi/purity-is-defined-by-the-clearness-of-the-stars/) [Michael Biondi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-biondi/) > [It is not enough that a man has clearness of vision, and reliance on sincerity, he must also have the art of expression, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-lewes/it-is-not-enough-that-a-man-has-clearness-of-vision-and-reliance-on/) [George Henry Lewes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-lewes/) > [Some people hear their own inner voices with great clearness and they live by what they hear. Such people become crazy, or they become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-harrison/some-people-hear-their-own-inner-voices-with-great-clearness-and-they/) [Jim Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-harrison/) > [Eutrapelia . "A happy and gracious flexibility," Pericles calls this quality of the Athenians...lucidity of thought, clearness and propriety of language, freedom from prejudice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-arnold/eutrapelia-a-happy-and-gracious-flexibility-pericles-calls-this/) [Matthew Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-arnold/) > [The observance of one commandment, however clearly and forcibly enjoined, cannot make up for the neglect of another which is enjoined with equal clearness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wilberforce/the-observance-of-one-commandment-however-clearly-and-forcibly/) [William Wilberforce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wilberforce/) > [We wound our modesty and make foul the clearness of our deservings, when of ourselves we publish them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/we-wound-our-modesty-and-make-foul-the-clearness-of-our-deservings/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) Browse all 68 Clearness quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When we really worship anything, we love not only its clearness but its obscurity. 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