It could be, but isn't.
The original phrase, comes from Hebrews (3:7-19 - and various other references). There may be some confusion with the translation from the Greek (hardened=seared). The original meaning was not to reject God, as the Israelites in the wilderness did.
Better to have a hard heart now and again than pave your road to hell with good intentions.
...That.
So why do you think it is the greatest, Lark?
(As opposed to second-greatest?)
That?
Sorry I dont understand.
Its a warning against letting life make you cynical or bitter.
^
I think "As opposed to the second-greatest" is supposed to be a hint.
The greatest insight then would be: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."
So I'd then ask: how do you relate your view of not hardening your heart as the greatest insight with the prescription above as the greatest commandment?
^
I think "As opposed to the second-greatest" is supposed to be a hint.
The greatest insight then would be: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."
So I'd then ask: how do you relate your view of not hardening your heart as the greatest insight with the prescription above as the greatest commandment?
The original phrase, comes from Hebrews (3:7-19 - and various other references). There may be some confusion with the translation from the Greek (hardened=seared). The original meaning was a warning not to reject God, as the Israelites in the wilderness did. Other references include Nabal being mean with his tributes to David; Solomon suggesting "hardeneth not thy neck" (an interesting one) or suffer the divine smiting you deserve.
In other words, the aphorism has mutated into something other than it's original Biblical meaning. The common interpretation seems to urge people to be less mean-spirited, but this is not backed up in the original text (whose translations from the Greek may themselves be questionable).
The logic of having a permanantly "soft" heart is that you'll be taken for a chump quite a lot, hoodwinked rather easily and give in to every doe-eyed scoundrel that scrounges the price of a coffee.
Better to have a hard heart now and again than pave your road to hell with good intentions.
Hmm, I tend to think that hardening your heart is the opposite of the commandment to love, the "Golden Rule" and the "Golden Mean" are both other important insights but I still tend to think that the admonishment to be conscious and prevent your heart hardening is superior.
Its perhaps a personal thing but I tend to think that other insights follow or flow from that of not having a hardened heart and mind.
Better to have a hard heart now and again than pave your road to hell with good intentions.