--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The flight away from self to God is not a…" description: "\"“The flight away from self to God is not a \"forgetting self\" in the sense that man thereby loses himself. Rather, in the experience of the Spirit there..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/hans-urs-von-balthasar-9350_experience_the-flight-away-from-self-to-god-is-not_1095031.jpg" --- # The flight away from self to God is not a "forgetting… ![“The flight away from self to God is not a "forgetting self" in the sense that man thereby loses himself. Rather, in the experience of the Spirit there is bestowed on man the deepest possible experience of himself: for the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of revelation which illuminate the human spirit, in…” quote by Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/hans-urs-von-balthasar-9350_experience_the-flight-away-from-self-to-god-is-not_1095031.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/hans-urs-von-balthasar-9350_experience_the-flight-away-from-self-to-god-is-not_1095031.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ff3/hans-urs-von-balthasar-9350_experience_the-flight-away-from-self-to-god-is-not_1095031.jpg) > ““The flight away from self to God is not a "forgetting self" in the sense that man thereby loses himself. Rather, in the experience of the Spirit there is bestowed on man the deepest possible experience of himself: for the Holy Spirit is a Spirit of revelation which illuminate the human spirit, in which it is immanent, by telling man what he is.”” [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Spiritual growth deepens self‑knowledge, not erases it; the Holy Spirit reveals our true nature. **In simple terms:** Spiritual insight enhances understanding of self. Key Takeaway Seek deeper self‑awareness through spirituality. Themes spirituality self‑knowledge revelation Mood contemplative inspirational Type theological philosophical When to use this quote - prayer - meditation - study of scripture Key Concepts theology anthropology Questions to Reflect On - What does “deepest experience of self” mean to you? - How does revelation differ from self‑forgetting? A Different Perspective May be interpreted as self‑centered rather than divine. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Experience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [Holy spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holy-spirit/) [Human spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-spirit/) [Identity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/identity/) [Memory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/memory/) [Revelation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revelation/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) ## Related quotes > [Forgetting your Self is the greatest injury; all the calamities flow from it. Take care of the most important, the lesser will take care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/forgetting-your-self-is-the-greatest-injury-all-the-calamities-flow/) [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-nisargadatta-maharaj/) > [The practice of Zen is forgetting the self in the act of uniting with something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yamada-koun/the-practice-of-zen-is-forgetting-the-self-in-the-act-of-uniting-with/) [Yamada Koun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yamada-koun/) > [We are to look for God in each other and love this God, forgetting all else...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-holmes/we-are-to-look-for-god-in-each-other-and-love-this-god-forgetting-all/) [Ernest Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-holmes/) > [“And now the woman is praying to God…… I am laughing laughing because God is forgetting everybody in this country.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/uzodinma-iweala/and-now-the-woman-is-praying-to-god-i-am-laughing-laughing-because/) [Uzodinma Iweala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/uzodinma-iweala/) > [Thus meditating you will no longer strive to build yourself up in your prejudices, but, forgetting self, you will remember only that you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-allen/thus-meditating-you-will-no-longer-strive-to-build-yourself-up-in/) [James Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-allen/) > [Just remember enough never to be vulnerable again: total forgetting could be as self-destructive as complete remembering.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-clark-macinnes/just-remember-enough-never-to-be-vulnerable-again-total-forgetting/) [Helen Clark MacInnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-clark-macinnes/) > [RAMANAM: Complete Faith in God's will and forgetting all worries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/ramanam-complete-faith-in-god-s-will-and-forgetting-all-worries/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Holy Amnesia is remembering who you are in God, while forgetting who you had to be to survive everyone else.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elissa-gabrielle/holy-amnesia-is-remembering-who-you-are-in-god-while-forgetting-who/) [Elissa Gabrielle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elissa-gabrielle/) > [When suffering comes, we yearn for some sign from God, forgetting we have just had one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mignon-mclaughlin/when-suffering-comes-we-yearn-for-some-sign-from-god-forgetting-we/) [Mignon McLaughlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mignon-mclaughlin/) > [Trying to forget someone you love, Is like trying to forget your own self, and forgetting your own self is like forgetting the whole…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria/trying-to-forget-someone-you-love-is-like-trying-to-forget-your-own/) [Maria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria/) > [“If anything, other than our own ‘Real Self’, remains in our memory, it is all vishaya \[subjects of pleasures that take one away from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/if-anything-other-than-our-own-real-self-remains-in-our-memory-it-is/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [To get away from one's working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one's self; and this is often the chief advantage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-horton-cooley/to-get-away-from-one-s-working-environment-is-in-a-sense-to-get-away/) [Charles Horton Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-horton-cooley/) > [“Presume not that I am the thing I was; For God doth know, so shall the world perceive, That I have turn'd away my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/presume-not-that-i-am-the-thing-i-was-for-god-doth-know-so-shall-the/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Take away the self-conceited, and there will be elbowroom in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-whichcote/take-away-the-self-conceited-and-there-will-be-elbowroom-in-the-world/) [Benjamin Whichcote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-whichcote/) > [They cannot take away our self respect if we do not give it to them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/they-cannot-take-away-our-self-respect-if-we-do-not-give-it-to-them/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) ## More by Hans Urs von Balthasar > [Only the Christian religion, which in its essence is communicated by the eternal child of God, keeps alive in its believers the lifelong awareness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/only-the-christian-religion-which-in-its-essence-is-communicated-by/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [The work with which we embark on this first volume of a series of theological studies is a work with which the philosophical person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/the-work-with-which-we-embark-on-this-first-volume-of-a-series-of/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [The Holy Spirit knows what a particular age's most pressing need is far better than men with their programs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/the-holy-spirit-knows-what-a-particular-age-s-most-pressing-need-is/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [The first attempt at a response: there must have been a fall, a decline, and the road to salvation can only be the return…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/the-first-attempt-at-a-response-there-must-have-been-a-fall-a-decline/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [There is a moment when the interior light of the "eyes of faith" becomes one with the exterior light that shines from Christ, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/there-is-a-moment-when-the-interior-light-of-the-eyes-of-faith/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [A truth that is merely handed on, without being thought anew from its very foundations, has lost its vital power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/a-truth-that-is-merely-handed-on-without-being-thought-anew-from-its/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [But the issue is not only life and death but our existence before God and our being judged by him. All of us were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/but-the-issue-is-not-only-life-and-death-but-our-existence-before-god/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [Faith means the fundamental response to the love that has offered itself up for me. It thus becomes clear that faith is ordered primarily…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/faith-means-the-fundamental-response-to-the-love-that-has-offered/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [Hell is to be contemplated strictly as a matter which concerns me alone. As part of the spiritual life it belongs behind the 'closed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/hell-is-to-be-contemplated-strictly-as-a-matter-which-concerns-me/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [What you are is God's gift to you, what you become is your gift to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/what-you-are-is-god-s-gift-to-you-what-you-become-is-your-gift-to-god/) [Hans Urs Von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [Above all we must not wish to cling to our suffering. Suffering surely deepens us and enhances our person, but we must not desire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/above-all-we-must-not-wish-to-cling-to-our-suffering-suffering-surely/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [The inner reality of love can be recognized only by love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/the-inner-reality-of-love-can-be-recognized-only-by-love/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [To be a child means to owe one's existence to another, and even in our adult life we never quite reach the point where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/to-be-a-child-means-to-owe-one-s-existence-to-another-and-even-in-our/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [There is much in Christianity which can be subjected to exact analysis. But the ultimate things are shrouded in the silent mysteries of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/there-is-much-in-christianity-which-can-be-subjected-to-exact/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) > [“For all his gentleness and humility unto death on the Cross, God does not relinquish his attribute of being judge and consuming fire. Nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-urs-von-balthasar/for-all-his-gentleness-and-humility-unto-death-on-the-cross-god-does/) [Hans Urs von Balthasar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) [Explore all 73 Hans Urs von Balthasar quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-urs-von-balthasar/) ## More Experience quotes > [Experience makes a lesson to us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/experience-makes-a-lesson-to-us/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The Derby experience had not been good for me and the way it finished left a very bad taste in my mouth so I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-pearson/the-derby-experience-had-not-been-good-for-me-and-the-way-it-finished/) [Nigel Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-pearson/) > [Well, I've been politically involved for a really long time. Growing up in the segregated South, it was a very painful experience for me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cybill-shepherd/well-i-ve-been-politically-involved-for-a-really-long-time-growing-up/) [Cybill Shepherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cybill-shepherd/) > [From my experience of having served for 3000 days, I can say that anything can be achieved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/from-my-experience-of-having-served-for-3000-days-i-can-say-that/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [My favorite job is the next one. Its such a gratifying experience getting to creatively keep trying something new and push things in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-craig-smith/my-favorite-job-is-the-next-one-its-such-a-gratifying-experience/) [Roger Craig Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-craig-smith/) > [I happen to think it's the politics that makes you electable, but the reason for that is politicians sometimes talk about electability as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-blair/i-happen-to-think-it-s-the-politics-that-makes-you-electable-but-the/) [Tony Blair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-blair/) > [Iranians hate Arabs. They're a fairly well-educated population and they have centuries of experience with self-government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ledeen/iranians-hate-arabs-they-re-a-fairly-well-educated-population-and/) [Michael Ledeen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ledeen/) > [Education is a lifelong experience. Experience is a lifelong education. Education plus experience equals expertise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bugeja/education-is-a-lifelong-experience-experience-is-a-lifelong-education/) Michael Bugeja > [Prison experience puts distance between me and any person who hasn't been there, done that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-mcconnell/prison-experience-puts-distance-between-me-and-any-person-who-hasn-t/) [Patricia McConnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-mcconnell/) > [Experience is a thorough teacher.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-jane-holmes/experience-is-a-thorough-teacher/) [Mary Jane Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-jane-holmes/) > [It definitely helps to have the acting experience going into singing, because when you're singing, you have to portray the emotion you were feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-newman/it-definitely-helps-to-have-the-acting-experience-going-into-singing/) Ryan Newman > [I have no physical genius about me. I can't dribble a ball and run at the same time, I can't do lay-ups - I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rich-mullins/i-have-no-physical-genius-about-me-i-can-t-dribble-a-ball-and-run-at/) [Rich Mullins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rich-mullins/) > [I've had a great experience with pretty much everybody I've worked with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mia-wasikowska/i-ve-had-a-great-experience-with-pretty-much-everybody-i-ve-worked/) [Mia Wasikowska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mia-wasikowska/) > [It wasn't a mistake, it was a fun learning experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-wasn-t-a-mistake-it-was-a-fun-learning-experience/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I worked a lot in Chicago's theater scene as a fight choreographer. And so I do have a lot of experience in stage combat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-offerman/i-worked-a-lot-in-chicago-s-theater-scene-as-a-fight-choreographer/) [Nick Offerman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-offerman/) [Browse all 11,792 Experience quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experience/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The flight away from self to God is not a \"forgetting self\" in the sense that man thereby loses himself. 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