To his admirers, Sri Ramakrishna is revered as a great teacher and a saint. For his devotees, he is seen as a divine incarnation. Summing up his life, Will Durant, in his work "The Story of Civilization," writes: "All religions are good," he taught his followers, "'All rivers flow to the ocean. Flow and let others flow too!'" Sri Ramakrishna empathetically embraced the polytheism of the people and humbly accepted the monism of the philosophers. However, in his own living faith, he perceived God as a spirit incarnated in all beings, and he believed that the true worship of God lies in lovingly serving humanity.
