Children Quote by Thomas Traherne
““Our Saviour's meaning, when He said, He must be born again and become a little child that will enter in the Kingdom of Heaven is deeper far than is generally believed. It is only in a careless reliance upon Divine Providence, that we are to become little children, or in the feebleness and shortness of our anger and simplicity of our passions, but in the peace and purity of all our soul. Which purity also is a deeper thing than is commonly apprehended. For we must disrobe infant-like and clear; the powers of our soul free from the leaven of this world, and disentangled from men's conceits and customs. Grit in the eye or yellow jaundice will not let a man see those objects truly that are before it. And therefore it is requisite that we should be as very strangers to the thoughts, customs, and opinions of men in this world, as if we were but little children. So those things would appear to us only which do to children when they are first born. Ambitions, trades, luxuries, inordinate affections, casual and accidental riches invented since the fall, would be gone, and only those things appear, which did to Adam in Paradise, in the same light and in the same colours: God in His works, Glory in the light, Love in our parents, men, ourselves, and the face of Heaven: Every man naturally seeing those things, to the enjoyment of which he is naturally born.””
About This Quote
Source Sermon: Divine Simplicity, 1650s (published posthumously)
True spiritual purity comes from child‑like innocence, shedding worldly attachments and ego to perceive divine truth.
In simple terms: Spiritual purity requires childlike innocence.
Let go of ego to see divine truth.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- prayer
- meditation
- simple living
- detaching from materialism
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- What does “being a child” mean to you spiritually?
- How can you balance innocence with adult responsibilities?
Childlike innocence may be unrealistic in complex societies.