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A coward never knows what the ecstasy of courage is; and if you ask me why, my reply is, that he has not that in him by which he can know it. A man hearing a magnificent symphony of Beethoven says, "I would give more for 'Yankee Doodle' than for a thousand such symphonies." Why? Because he has not that in him by which he can appreciate Beethoven's music. A man says in regard to a magnificent work of art, "I would rather see the sign that hangs over the door of the tavern in our town than any picture that Raphael ever painted." Very likely he would. That sign is just coarse enough for him to understand; and he has not that in him which would enable him to interpret the paintings of a great master. Many men would rather read a ballad than Milton's "Lycidas" or "Comus" or "Paradise Lost."

(H. W. Beecher.)

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KJV: Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

WEB: being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their hearts;