--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The sense that a man is serving a Higher…" description: "\"The sense that a man is serving a Higher than himself, with a service which will become ever more and more perfect freedom, evokes more profound, more ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/684/john-campbell-shairp-34694_can-do_the-sense-that-a-man-is-serving-a-higher_2157110.jpg" --- # The sense that a man is serving a Higher than himself… ![“The sense that a man is serving a Higher than himself, with a service which will become ever more and more perfect freedom, evokes more profound, more humbling, more exalted emotions than any thing else in the world can do. The spirit of man is an instrument which cannot give out its deepest…” quote by John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/684/john-campbell-shairp-34694_can-do_the-sense-that-a-man-is-serving-a-higher_2157110.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/684/john-campbell-shairp-34694_can-do_the-sense-that-a-man-is-serving-a-higher_2157110.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/684/john-campbell-shairp-34694_can-do_the-sense-that-a-man-is-serving-a-higher_2157110.jpg) > “The sense that a man is serving a Higher than himself, with a service which will become ever more and more perfect freedom, evokes more profound, more humbling, more exalted emotions than any thing else in the world can do. The spirit of man is an instrument which cannot give out its deepest, finest tones, except under the immediate hand of the Divine Harmonist.” [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Serving a higher purpose creates profound humility and exalted emotions, as humanity’s deepest expression emerges under divine guidance. **In simple terms:** Serving higher purpose humbles and uplifts. Key Takeaway Seek service beyond self. Themes humility spirituality exaltation Mood reverent inspired Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - volunteer work - leadership - creative expression - personal growth Key Concepts divine harmony human potential Questions to Reflect On - How does divine service shape your identity? - What higher purpose can you pursue today? A Different Perspective May become self‑centered if not balanced with personal needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Can do](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/can-do/) [Divine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/divine/) [Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/) [Evoke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evoke/) [Exalted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exalted/) [Finest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/finest/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Hands](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hands/) [Higher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/higher/) [Higher Service](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/higher-service-2975410/) [Humbling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humbling/) [Instruments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instruments/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Perfect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfect/) [Profound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profound/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Serving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serving/) [Serving Higher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serving-higher-2381421/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Spirit Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit-man-740949/) [Tone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tone/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-spirit-913811/) ## Related quotes > [We are never more like Jesus than when we are serving Him or others. There is no higher calling than to be a servant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-leigh-demoss/we-are-never-more-like-jesus-than-when-we-are-serving-him-or-others/) [Nancy Leigh DeMoss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-leigh-demoss/) > [All who in this world render true service to God or man receive a preparatory training in the school of sorrow. The weightier the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-g-white/all-who-in-this-world-render-true-service-to-god-or-man-receive-a/) [Ellen G. White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-g-white/) > [The life of a Christian is an education for higher service.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corrie-ten-boom/the-life-of-a-christian-is-an-education-for-higher-service/) [Corrie Ten Boom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/corrie-ten-boom/) > [So much of life is just talk. At the end of the day, you're just serving the higher thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawnee-smith/so-much-of-life-is-just-talk-at-the-end-of-the-day-you-re-just/) [Shawnee Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawnee-smith/) > [I'm pretty spiritual; I believe a lot in the spirit of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvester-stallone/i-m-pretty-spiritual-i-believe-a-lot-in-the-spirit-of-man/) [Sylvester Stallone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvester-stallone/) > [The spirit of man is more important than mere physical strength, and the spiritual fiber of a nation more than its wealth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/the-spirit-of-man-is-more-important-than-mere-physical-strength-and/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [“How did you wage a battle for a man’s spirit when the man himself wasn’t sure he wanted you to win?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-allred/how-did-you-wage-a-battle-for-a-man-s-spirit-when-the-man-himself/) [Katherine Allred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-allred/) > [There are many faiths, but the spirit is one, in me, in you, and in every man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/there-are-many-faiths-but-the-spirit-is-one-in-me-in-you-and-in-every/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [I'm a free spirit, so if I am with someone it has to be a man who understands that, and not all men do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marisa-berenson/i-m-a-free-spirit-so-if-i-am-with-someone-it-has-to-be-a-man-who/) [Marisa Berenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marisa-berenson/) > [In the temple of his spirit, each man is alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/in-the-temple-of-his-spirit-each-man-is-alone/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [You have to have a certain kind of celebrity to pull something that big together, but I had a whole thing called The Spirit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-davi/you-have-to-have-a-certain-kind-of-celebrity-to-pull-something-that/) [Robert Davi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-davi/) > [“The spirit of a man shall sustain him in his sick bed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-spirit-of-a-man-shall-sustain-him-in-his-sick-bed/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [“The spirit of a man is divine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-spirit-of-a-man-is-divine/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Without the Spirit man is so infirm that he cannot, with all other means whatsoever, be enabled to think one right saving thought of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/without-the-spirit-man-is-so-infirm-that-he-cannot-with-all-other/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [I believe in the spirit of God because I believe in the spirit of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keith-thurman/i-believe-in-the-spirit-of-god-because-i-believe-in-the-spirit-of-man/) [Keith Thurman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keith-thurman/) ## More by John Campbell Shairp > [The ground of all religion, that which makes it possible, is the relation in which the human soul stands to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/the-ground-of-all-religion-that-which-makes-it-possible-is-the/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [They who seek religion for culture's sake are aesthetic, not religious, and will never gain that grace which religion adds to culture, because they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/they-who-seek-religion-for-culture-s-sake-are-aesthetic-not-religious/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [We are not called on to believe this or that doctrine which may be proposed to us till we can do so from honest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/we-are-not-called-on-to-believe-this-or-that-doctrine-which-may-be/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [That image or rather that Person, so human, yet so entirely Divine, has a power to fill the imagination, to arrest the affections, to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/that-image-or-rather-that-person-so-human-yet-so-entirely-divine-has/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [The main condition is that the spiritual ear should be open to overhear and patiently take in, and the will ready to obey that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/the-main-condition-is-that-the-spiritual-ear-should-be-open-to/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [There is perhaps no truer sign that a man is really advancing than that he is learning to forget himself, that he is losing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/there-is-perhaps-no-truer-sign-that-a-man-is-really-advancing-than/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [Criticism is not religion, and by no process can it be substituted for it. It is not the critic's eye, but the child's heart,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/criticism-is-not-religion-and-by-no-process-can-it-be-substituted-for/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [For with all our pretension to enlightenment, are we not now a talking, desultory, rather than a meditative generation?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/for-with-all-our-pretension-to-enlightenment-are-we-not-now-a-talking/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [It is quite certain that, if from childhood men were to begin to follow the first intimations of conscience, honestly to obey them and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/it-is-quite-certain-that-if-from-childhood-men-were-to-begin-to/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [Great men, great events, great epochs, it has been said, grow as we recede from them; and the rate at which they grow in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/great-men-great-events-great-epochs-it-has-been-said-grow-as-we/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [The belief in a Divine education, open to each man and to all men, takes up into itself all that is true in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/the-belief-in-a-divine-education-open-to-each-man-and-to-all-men/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [Not as men of science , not as critics , not as philosophers , but as little children , shall we enter into the kingdom of heaven .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/not-as-men-of-science-not-as-critics-not-as-philosophers-but-as/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) > [Beauty comes, we scarce know how, as an emanation from sources deeper than itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-campbell-shairp/beauty-comes-we-scarce-know-how-as-an-emanation-from-sources-deeper/) [John Campbell Shairp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) [Explore all 14 John Campbell Shairp quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-campbell-shairp/) ## More Can do quotes > [Changes before your eyes, things you can do and things you can't. My attitude is always let it keep rolling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrence-malick/changes-before-your-eyes-things-you-can-do-and-things-you-can-t-my/) [Terrence Malick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrence-malick/) > [The happy medium is television. And if you find a good suitor, you can do it for years. With movies, you roll the dice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-campbell/the-happy-medium-is-television-and-if-you-find-a-good-suitor-you-can/) [Bruce Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-campbell/) > [If I had a million dollars, I just wouldn't just completely set back. I'd have to get out there and show my face to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muddy-waters/if-i-had-a-million-dollars-i-just-wouldn-t-just-completely-set-back-i/) [Muddy Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muddy-waters/) > [Anybody can be Prince Charming one day a year, with the dinner and the flowers and all that. But you know what impresses me?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryan-howard/anybody-can-be-prince-charming-one-day-a-year-with-the-dinner-and-the/) [Ryan Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryan-howard/) > [And if the mind thinks with a believing attitude one can do amazing things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/and-if-the-mind-thinks-with-a-believing-attitude-one-can-do-amazing/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [The amount of things you can do with a kettlebell is unsurpassed by any other training equipment - dumbbells, resistance machines, free weights.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laird-hamilton/the-amount-of-things-you-can-do-with-a-kettlebell-is-unsurpassed-by/) [Laird Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laird-hamilton/) > [It's nice when you've done enough movies that you can do your own anthology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lithgow/it-s-nice-when-you-ve-done-enough-movies-that-you-can-do-your-own/) [John Lithgow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lithgow/) > [If people don't have their own vision, all they can do is 'sign-up' for someone else's.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-senge/if-people-don-t-have-their-own-vision-all-they-can-do-is-sign-up-for/) [Peter Senge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-senge/) > [The one thing that flies in the face of all human history and experience, is that the government can do a superior job than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cook/the-one-thing-that-flies-in-the-face-of-all-human-history-and/) [James Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cook/) > [...what I can do is offer myself, wholehearted and present, to walk with the people I love through the fear and the mess. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shauna-niequist/what-i-can-do-is-offer-myself-wholehearted-and-present-to-walk-with/) [Shauna Niequist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shauna-niequist/) > [Whether that's speaking up in your job or asking for a promotion or saying, 'I think I can do that.' Using your voice in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-shriver/whether-that-s-speaking-up-in-your-job-or-asking-for-a-promotion-or/) [Maria Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-shriver/) > [The average ordinary citizen can do a lot of different things when it comes to the climate crisis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-bender/the-average-ordinary-citizen-can-do-a-lot-of-different-things-when-it/) [Lawrence Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-bender/) > [A professional is a man who can do his job when he doesn't feel like it. An amateur is a man who can't do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-agate/a-professional-is-a-man-who-can-do-his-job-when-he-doesn-t-feel-like/) [James Agate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-agate/) > [The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, as it pleases him, for he can do all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/the-lord-gives-and-the-lord-takes-away-as-it-pleases-him-for-he-can/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [I'm not an educated man. I only know what I'm told, and I'm not told that much; I have no frame of reference for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maynard-james-keenan/i-m-not-an-educated-man-i-only-know-what-i-m-told-and-i-m-not-told/) [Maynard James Keenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maynard-james-keenan/) [Browse all 5,673 Can do quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/can-do/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The sense that a man is serving a Higher than himself, with a service which will become ever more and more perfect freedom, evokes more profound, more humbling, more exalted emotions than any thing else in the world can do. 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