From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordDiligence is careful, persistent exertion.
- In TraherneA thought of the whole world can arise easily and disappear just as easily.
- In this editionDiligence is not a purchase price paid for grace.
- A place to beginMaintaining the world in the soul is called a work of unspeakable diligence.
Meaning
Diligence is careful, persistent exertion. It stresses continuance and fidelity rather than the difficulty or novelty of an isolated achievement.
Use in the book
A thought of the whole world can arise easily and disappear just as easily. Keeping it alive for God’s sake requires a care compared to the continual preservation of creation. The intellectual act becomes an enduring act of love. In the imagined discovery of a heavenly book, daily reading would likewise be necessary even if the gift arrived miraculously. Traherne thus qualifies his language of easy enjoyment: what is freely accessible is not automatically sustained.
Places to read
In this edition
Diligence is not a purchase price paid for grace. It describes the recipient’s exercise and preservation of powers already given, especially attention and understanding.