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"Cut the granite rock with a blade of grass,
and moor the vessel with a thread of silk, then can you fight with these
giants: the pride and passion of man."
- Blessed John Henry Newman
Using such metaphors and hyperboles, Newman poetically describes the two greatest obstacles of man: his pride and sensuality, corresponding to what makes him human -- his intellect and will. It is easier, he says, to cut a rock with grass and pull to shore a ship with a thin thread than to contend singlehandedly and with success these mighty forces.
Lord, pride and lust are man's perennial enemies. You know what is inside human nature, the laws of its members, the weakness of the flesh. But before you, the hard rock of passion melts. With your healing touch, pride is humbled.
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