--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our nature is to worship, but unless that…" description: "\"Our nature is to worship, but unless that element is directed towards God it becomes \"a senseless impersonal force, carrying us away in its momentum. I..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/784/olivier-clement-51726_destruction_our-nature-is-to-worship-but-unless-that_3073357.jpg" --- # Our nature is to worship, but unless that element is… ![“Our nature is to worship, but unless that element is directed towards God it becomes "a senseless impersonal force, carrying us away in its momentum. It becomes a search for ecstasy - no matter what kind achieved through destruction...The worshipful integraton of nature in the person is inverted…” quote by Olivier Clement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/784/olivier-clement-51726_destruction_our-nature-is-to-worship-but-unless-that_3073357.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/784/olivier-clement-51726_destruction_our-nature-is-to-worship-but-unless-that_3073357.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/784/olivier-clement-51726_destruction_our-nature-is-to-worship-but-unless-that_3073357.jpg) > “Our nature is to worship, but unless that element is directed towards God it becomes "a senseless impersonal force, carrying us away in its momentum. It becomes a search for ecstasy - no matter what kind achieved through destruction...The worshipful integraton of nature in the person is inverted in a hellish imprisonment of the individual in nature."” [Olivier Clement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-clement/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human beings instinctively seek reverence; without a divine focus it can turn into a destructive, aimless pursuit of pleasure. **In simple terms:** Worship without direction leads to chaos. Key Takeaway Seek purpose beyond mere sensation. Themes spirituality human nature purpose destruction Mood reflective serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal crisis - addiction recovery - creative inspiration - ethical decision making Key Concepts theism existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What do you consider the ultimate source of meaning? - How can one channel reverence constructively? A Different Perspective The quote assumes a theistic framework, which may not resonate with secular perspectives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) [Ecstasy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ecstasy/) [Elements](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elements/) [Imprisonment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imprisonment/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Momentum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/momentum/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual/) [Worship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worship/) ## Related quotes > [“In my travels I have encountered worship styles that are so varied. Lately I have been thinking of the loud nature of much worship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-holdsworth/in-my-travels-i-have-encountered-worship-styles-that-are-so-varied/) [David Holdsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-holdsworth/) > [By nature, worship is not some performance we do, but a presence we experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/by-nature-worship-is-not-some-performance-we-do-but-a-presence-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [Modern nature-worship is all upside down. Trees and fields ought to be the ordinary things; terraces and temples ought to be extraordinary. I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/modern-nature-worship-is-all-upside-down-trees-and-fields-ought-to-be/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [To pay homage to beauty is to admire Nature; to admire Nature is to worship God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/to-pay-homage-to-beauty-is-to-admire-nature-to-admire-nature-is-to/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [Ninety-nine percent of the things that seem weird in my life can be answered with my religion. Paganism is mostly about nature-worship. It's about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-sol-invictus/ninety-nine-percent-of-the-things-that-seem-weird-in-my-life-can-be/) [Augustus Sol Invictus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-sol-invictus/) > [“The obvious pollution occurring in many places - worst of all, in the planned societies- has encouraged the growth of the environmental movement, which,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-kasun/the-obvious-pollution-occurring-in-many-places-worst-of-all-in-the/) Jacqueline Kasun > [“Equipped as he is by his very nature for worship, man cannot not worship ; and if his outlook is cut off from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-lings/equipped-as-he-is-by-his-very-nature-for-worship-man-cannot-not/) [Martin Lings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-lings/) > [To appeal to contemporary man to revert, in this twentieth century, to a pagan-like nature worship in order to restrain technology from further encroachment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lamm/to-appeal-to-contemporary-man-to-revert-in-this-twentieth-century-to/) [Norman Lamm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lamm/) > [“There is no such “mother” as Mother Nature. Nature itself is powerless to produce life of any kind. In itself, nature is barren. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-c-sproul/there-is-no-such-mother-as-mother-nature-nature-itself-is-powerless/) [R. C. Sproul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-c-sproul/) > [Every individual nature has its own beauty. One is struck in every company, at every fireside, with the riches of nature, when he hears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/every-individual-nature-has-its-own-beauty-one-is-struck-in-every/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [What people think is their individual nature is just a bundle of thoughts, emotions, ideas, opinions, and prejudices. The world can do without this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaggi-vasudev/what-people-think-is-their-individual-nature-is-just-a-bundle-of/) [Jaggi Vasudev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaggi-vasudev/) > [In war there are none but particular cases; everything has there an individual nature; nothing ever repeats itself. In the first place, the data…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferdinand-foch/in-war-there-are-none-but-particular-cases-everything-has-there-an/) [Ferdinand Foch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferdinand-foch/) > [“The separation of the individual from a corporeal relationship with the Soul is mirrored in the separation of the individual from nature. This is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-williams/the-separation-of-the-individual-from-a-corporeal-relationship-with/) [Craig Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-williams/) > [We early arrive at the great discovery that there is one mind common to all individual men: that what is individual is less than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/we-early-arrive-at-the-great-discovery-that-there-is-one-mind-common/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“Just as the migratory and nest-building instincts of birds were never learnt or acquired individually, man brings with him at birth the ground-plan of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-stein/just-as-the-migratory-and-nest-building-instincts-of-birds-were-never/) Murray Stein ## More by Olivier Clement > [People never cease to project on to God their individual and collective obsessions, so that they can appropriate and make use of him. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-clement/people-never-cease-to-project-on-to-god-their-individual-and/) [Olivier Clement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-clement/) > [Prayer and Theology are inseparable. True Theology is the adoration offered by the intellect. The intellect clarifies the moment of prayer, but only prayer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-clement/prayer-and-theology-are-inseparable-true-theology-is-the-adoration/) [Olivier Clement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-clement/) > [The kenosis of the Son reveals the mystery of God who is Love. This gift of life is an extension of a mysterious exchange…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-clement/the-kenosis-of-the-son-reveals-the-mystery-of-god-who-is-love-this/) [Olivier Clement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-clement/) > [St. Seraphim, like Francis of Assisi, talked to animals. One day two nuns saw him deep in conversation with a bear. 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Then it becomes a tranquil lake in which the sky is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olivier-clement/it-is-therefore-essential-to-let-the-heart-spirit-settle-like-calm/) [Olivier Clement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-clement/) [Explore all 7 Olivier Clement quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olivier-clement/) ## More Destruction quotes > [For not only every democracy, but certainly every republic, bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-not-only-every-democracy-but-certainly-every-republic-bears/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [It goes to show you how we in the press so often miss the big stories that are right under our noses. 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And it is all a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/somewhere-somebody-must-have-some-sense-men-must-see-that-force/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Death is but an aspect of life, and the destruction of one material form is but a prelude to building up of another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/death-is-but-an-aspect-of-life-and-the-destruction-of-one-material/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Hundreds of millions of human beings on our planet increasingly suffer from unemployment, poverty, hunger, and the destruction of their families.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-kung/hundreds-of-millions-of-human-beings-on-our-planet-increasingly/) [Hans Kung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-kung/) > [Away with you, water, destruction of wine!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catullus/away-with-you-water-destruction-of-wine/) [Catullus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catullus/) > [Some voluntary castaways there will always be, whom no fostering kindness and no parental care can preserve from self-destruction; but if any are lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/some-voluntary-castaways-there-will-always-be-whom-no-fostering/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [“You are a lawmaker in your own right.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/you-are-a-lawmaker-in-your-own-right/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [ No visiting angel, or explorer from another planet, could have guessed that this bland orb \[Earth\] teemed with vermin, with world-mastering, self-torturing, incipiently angelic… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/olaf-stapledon/no-visiting-angel-or-explorer-from-another-planet-could-have-guessed/) [Olaf Stapledon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/olaf-stapledon/) > [As far as I know, the question of whether and how it could be strategically or morally justified was never the subject of open…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-far-as-i-know-the-question-of-whether-and-how-it-could-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Is there some lesson on how to be friends? I think what it means is that central to living a life that is good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-rakoff/is-there-some-lesson-on-how-to-be-friends-i-think-what-it-means-is/) [David Rakoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-rakoff/) > [“We're on the eve of destruction. Men have lost all sense of honor. Power has become their faith instead of faith being their power.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atiq-rahimi/we-re-on-the-eve-of-destruction-men-have-lost-all-sense-of-honor/) Atiq Rahimi [Browse all 3,161 Destruction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Our nature is to worship, but unless that element is directed towards God it becomes \"a senseless impersonal force, carrying us away in its momentum. 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