"Richard's idea was that every man, by doing all the good he could in this life, always working for others, for the human race, always acting "Excelsior," should leave a track of light behind him on this World as he passes through. His idea of God was so immeasurably grander than anything people are usually taught to think about God. It always seemed to him that we dwindled God down to our own mean imaginations; that we made something like ourselves, only bigger, and far crueller. There is some truth in this; we are always talking about God just as if we understood Him. His idea of a Divine Being was so infinite, so great, that to pray to Him was an impertinence; that it was monstrous that we should expect Him to alter one of His decrees, because we prayed for it; that He was a God of big universal love, but so far off, as to be far above anything we can understand."
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Poets from EnglandDiplomats of the United KingdomLinguists from EnglandTravel writersExplorers from England
Original Language: English
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Sources
Isabel Burton, in The Life of Captain Sir Richd. F. Burton (1893), p. 196
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Francis_Burton
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Richard Francis Burton
Sir Richard Francis Burton (19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British consul, explorer, translator, writer, poet, Orientalist and swordsman known for his often-unprecedented exploits of travel and exploration as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures.
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