From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordPraise acknowledges and celebrates excellence.
- In TraherneII.94 compares the relation to breathing: the soul cannot breathe out what it has never drawn in.
- In this editionPraises can include inward acknowledgment and delighted esteem as well as spoken or sung words.
- A place to beginBenefits become praises through apprehension, and the world supplies their substance and occasion.
Meaning
Praise acknowledges and celebrates excellence. In Traherne it is the active return of a benefit first understood and enjoyed.
Use in the book
II.94 compares the relation to breathing: the soul cannot breathe out what it has never drawn in. Blindness to benefit therefore closes the lips. Praise is neither empty repetition nor a payment unrelated to the gift; it transforms what is received into knowledge, affection, and expression directed toward the giver. The world is its temple, altar, fuel, and material.
III.82 explains why this response can matter to divine love. Acknowledgment shows that the gift and giver have been prized, and the recipient’s joy becomes delightful to its source. Others’ praises likewise become one’s own joy through love of their giver. Praise is consequently a shared circulation of recognized goodness rather than isolated verbal performance.
Places to read
In this edition
Praises can include inward acknowledgment and delighted esteem as well as spoken or sung words. The surrounding language repeatedly makes apprehension prior to utterance.