Definitions HQ

Providence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠degraded, not honoured, by those who exclude necessity from it — they turn it into blind, irrational caprice.

Providence (n.) without ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠necessity would be blind, irrational caprice; for Hegel necessity is God's trademark, not a limit on him.

Providence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠fate no longer blind: once God is truly universal, the fall of any given city is understood rather than suffered.

Providence (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠God's absolute cunning: he lets men follow their own passions and interests, and what happens fulfils his intentions all the same.

Providence (n.) behaves ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠with absolute cunning: God lets men with their passions and interests do as they please, and the result is his intentions, not theirs.

Providence (n.) becomes, ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠for those who call its design unknowable, a faith in higher control that never fills in the notion — spirit stays an empty word and history a play of accidental passion.

Providence (n.) differs ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠from the ancients' fate not in lacking necessity but in consolation: the absolute is a subject, so in death too we are one with its life and never in exile.