From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordAdmiration is wondering contemplation of what exceeds an ordinary measure.
- In TraherneAdmiration is both an opening into felicity and an activity of the enlarged soul.
- In this edition“Admiration” can mean the wondrous object as well as the beholder's response.
- A place to beginA happy loss of oneself in admiration becomes discovery of God in His gifts.
Meaning
Admiration is wondering contemplation of what exceeds an ordinary measure. It includes astonishment and delighted recognition, a stronger response than the modern sense of merely thinking well of something.
Use in the book
Admiration is both an opening into felicity and an activity of the enlarged soul. To lose oneself in admiration at one's happiness is to find God through His gifts. It does not cancel understanding: the world has first to be considered in its value and service. At the Cross, the object of angelic admiration draws the mind away from scattered distractions. The term can even name the thing wondered at, as in “the admiration of Angels.” Its movement is therefore from discovery to sustained regard and praise. The final enlargement is not endless novelty-seeking. A creature seen as God's living image can satisfy curiosity so thoroughly that ordinary searching is swallowed up in wonder.
Places to read
In this edition
“Admiration” can mean the wondrous object as well as the beholder's response. The older astonishment-sense is important in I.56.
Source note
Primary text: I.18, I.56, IV.67. The three passages move from admiring gifts to the Cross and the soul’s likeness to God.