1 Thessalonians 2:7-8 But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherishes her children:… St. Anselm was a monk in the Abbey of Bec, in Normandy; and upon 's removal became his successor as abbot. No teacher ever threw a greater spirit of love into his toil. "Force your scholars to improve!" he burst out to another teacher who relied on blows and compulsion. "Did you ever see a craftsman fashion a fair image out of a golden plate by blows alone? Does he not now gently press it and strike it with his tools; now with wise art, yet more gently raise and shape it? What do your scholars turn into under this ceaseless beating? They turn only brutal," was the reply. "You have bad luck," was the keen answer, "in a training that only turns men into beasts." The worst natures softened before this tenderness and patience. Even the Conqueror, so harsh and terrible to others, became another man, gracious and easy of speech, with Anselm. (Dean Church.) Parallel Verses KJV: But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:WEB: But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother cherishes her own children. |
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