From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordThomas à Kempis is the devotional writer cited for the exchange of all for all.
- In TraherneTraherne places this call to renunciation at the point where he distinguishes two worlds.
- In this editionThe source identification and account of the older contempt-of-the-world tradition belong to the 2026 note.
- A place to beginThe maxim closes the distinction between God’s world and the world of invented vanities.
Meaning
Thomas à Kempis is the devotional writer cited for the exchange of all for all. The 2026 edition identifies the saying with The Imitation of Christ III.37.
Use in the book
Traherne places this call to renunciation at the point where he distinguishes two worlds. One is the beautiful creation given by God; the other is the humanly manufactured system of vain and scarce treasures. Giving up the second allows enjoyment of the first. The quotation therefore preserves the intensity of renunciation while specifying its target. It is not a casual inconsistency in a book devoted to worldly enjoyment. Rather, the passage redefines what must be relinquished and what total possession can mean. The brief named citation becomes a compact example of Traherne’s way with inherited devotional language: he receives it, sharpens the distinctions around it, and makes it serve felicity.
Places to read
- I.7The maxim closes the distinction between God’s world and the world of invented vanities.
In this edition
The source identification and account of the older contempt-of-the-world tradition belong to the 2026 note. The entry does not assume that the cited work as a whole teaches rejection of every created good.
Source note
Primary text: I.7; author and source identification: 2026 edition note to I.7.