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John Wesley

57 quotes

“I observed, "Love is the fulfilling of the law, the end of the commandment." It is not only "the first and great" command, but all the commandments in one. "Whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, if there be any virtue, if there be any praise," they are all comprised in this one word, love.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1733 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Wesley quoting his own sermon on "The Circumcision of the Heart" (1 January 1733) in the work A Plain Account Of Christian Perfection (Edition of 1777)
“Christian faith is then, not only an assent to the whole gospel of Christ, but also a full reliance on the blood of Christ; a trust in the merits of his life, death, and resurrection; a recumbency upon him as our atonement and our life, as given for us, and living in us; and, in consequence hereof, a closing with him, and cleaving to him, as our "wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption," or, in one word, our salvation.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1738 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Sermon 1, Salvation by Faith, preached 18 June 1738, St. Mary's Oxford
“I look on all the world as my parish; thus far I mean, that, in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty, to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1739 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal (11 June 1739)
“I can by no means approve the scurrility and contempt with which the Romanists have often been treated. I dare not rail at, or despise, any man: much less those who profess to believe in the same Master. But I pity them much; having the same assurance, that Jesus is the Christ, and that no Romanist can expect to be saved, according to the terms of his covenant.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1739 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to a Roman Catholic Priest, published in his Journal for 27 August 1739.
“I believe that He was made man, joining the human nature with the divine in one person; being conceived by the singular operation of the Holy Ghost, and born of the blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as before she brought Him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1749 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to a Roman Catholic, July 18, 1749, The works of the Rev. John Wesley (1872), London, Wesleyan Conference Office, vol. X, p. 81.
“Every one, though born of God in an instant, yet undoubtedly grows by slow degrees.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1760 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter (27 June 1760), published in The Works of the Rev. John Wesley (1813) Vol. XVI, p. 109
“The longer I live, the larger allowances I make for human infirmities. I exact more from myself, and less from others. Go thou and do likewise!”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1762 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Reverend Samuel Furley (25 January 1762), Published in The Life and Times of the Rev. John Wesley, M. A., Founder of the Methodists (1872) by Luke Tyerman, p. 451.
“Lord, let me not live to be useless!”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1763 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal (22 December 1763)
“Will any dare to speak against loving the Lord our God with all our heart, and our neighbour as ourselves? against a renewal of heart, not only in part, but in the whole image of God? Who is he that will open his mouth against being cleansed from all pollution both of flesh and spirit; or against having all the mind that was in Christ, and walking in all things as Christ walked? What man, who calls himself a Christian, has the hardiness to object to the devoting, not a part, but all our soul, body, and substance to God?”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1766 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Plain Account of Christian Perfection (1766)
“Beware you be not swallowed up in books! An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1768 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Joseph Benson (7 November 1768); published in The Letters of John Wesley (1915) edited by George Eayrs
“His Majesty's character, then, after all the pains which have been taken to make him odious as well as contemptible remains unimpeached; and therefore cannot be in any degree the cause of the present commotions. His whole conduct both in public and private ever since he began his reign, the uniform tenor of his behaviour, the general course both of his words and actions, has been worthy of an Englishman, worthy of a Christian, and worthy of a King.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1766 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: To a Friend, on ‘The Present State of Public Affairs’ (December 1768), John Telford (ed.), The Letters of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M. Vol. V: February 28, 1766, to December 9, 1772 (Epworth Press, 1960), p. 376
“Passion and prejudice govern the world; only under the name of reason. It is our part, by religion and reason joined, to counteract them all we can.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1770 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to John Benson (5 October 1770); published in Wesley's Select Letters (1837), p. 207
“In returning I read a very different book, published by an honest Quaker, on that execrable sum of all villanies, commonly called the Slave-trade.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1772 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal (12 February 1772) after reading Some historical accounts of Guinea by Anthony Benezet
“Permit me, sir, to give you one piece of advice. Be not so positive; especially with regard to things which are neither easy nor necessary to be determined. When I was young I was sure of everything. In a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before. At present, I am hardly sure of anything but what God has revealed to man.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1774 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reply to a letter signed "Philosophaster" addressed to him in the London Magazine of 1774, in London Magazine 1775, p. 26
“I do not intend to enter upon the question whether the Americans are in the right or in the wrong. Here all my prejudices are against the Americans; for I am an High Churchman, the son of an High Churchman, bred up from my childhood in the highest notions of passive obedience and non-resistance. And yet, in spite of my long-rooted prejudices, I cannot avoid thinking, if I think at all, these, an oppressed people, asked for nothing more than their legal rights, and that in the most modest and inoffensive manner that the nature of the thing would allow.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1775 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Lord North (15 June 1775), quoted in John Telford (ed.), The Letters of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M. Vol. VI (Epworth Press, 1931), p. 156
“Let us put away our sins; the real ground of all our calamities! Which never will or can be thoroughly removed, till we fear God and honour the King.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1775 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Calm Address to our American Colonies (1775), pp. 17–18.
“I desired as many as could to join together in fasting and prayer, that God would restore the spirit of love and of a sound mind to the poor deluded rebels in America.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1777 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Journal entry (1 August 1777), published in The Journal of the Rev. John Wesley (1827), p. 104
“Though I am always in haste, I am never in a hurry.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1777 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter (10 December 1777)
“When Poetry thus keeps its place as the handmaiden of piety, it shall attain not a poor perishable wreath, but a crown that fadeth not away.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1779 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From the Preface to A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People called Methodists, (c 1779)
“In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1779 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Popery Calmly Considered (1779): The works of the Rev. John Wesley, 1812, London : Printed at the Conference - Office … by Thomas Cordeux, agent, vol. XV, p. 180 - Google Books
“For it is not a saint but a sinner that is forgiven, and under the notion of a sinner. God justifieth not the godly, but the ungodly; not those that are holy already, but the unholy.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) said by 1791 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“According to the decision of holy writ all who desire the grace of God are to wait for it in the means which he hath ordained; in using, not in laying them aside.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) said by 1791 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Is not the eating of that bread, and the drinking of that cup, the outward, visible means, whereby God conveys into our souls all that spiritual grace, that righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, which were purchased by the body of Christ once broken and the blood of Christ once shed for us? Let all, therefore, who truly desire the grace of God, eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) said by 1791 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Beware you are not a fiery, persecuting enthusiast. Do not imagine that God has called you (just contrary to the spirit of Him you style your Master) to destroy men’s lives, and not to save them. Never dream of forcing men into the ways of God. Think yourself, and let think. Use no constraint in matters of religion. Even those who are farthest out of the way never compel to come in by any other means than reason, truth, and love.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) said by 1791 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt, we may. Herein all the children of God may unite, notwithstanding these smaller differences.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) said by 1791 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Sermon 39 Catholic Spirit from the 1872 edition of Wesley's Complete Works - Thomas Jackson, editor
“I deny that villany is ever necessary. It is impossible that it should ever be necessary for any reasonable creature to violate all the laws of justice, mercy, and truth. No circumstances can make it necessary for a man to burst in sunder all the ties of humanity. It can never be necessary for a rational being to sink himself below a brute. A man can be under no necessity of degrading himself into a wolf. The absurdity of the supposition is so glaring, that one would wonder any one can help seeing it.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) said by 1791 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The whole matter is this. I have without the least bitterness advanced three reasons why I conceive it is not safe to tolerate the Roman Catholics. But still, I would not have them persecuted; I wish them to enjoy the same liberty, civil and religious, which they enjoyed in England before the late Act was repealed. Meantime I would not have a sword put into their hands; I would not give them liberty to hurt others.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1780 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to the Editors of the Freeman's Journal (23 March 1780), quoted in John Telford (ed.), The Letters of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M. Vol. VII: March 23, 1780, to July 24, 1787 (Epworth Press, 1960), p. 7
“You must immediately drop any preacher that gives any countenance to Nathaniel Ward. While I live I will bear the most public testimony I can to the reality of witchcraft. Your denial of this springs originally from the Deists; and simple Christians lick their spittle. I heartily set them at open defiance.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1780 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Thomas Tattershall (13 November 1785), quoted in John Telford (ed.), The Letters of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M. Vol. VII: March 23, 1780, to July 24, 1787 (Epworth Press, 1960), p. 300
“Most of those who gave him this title did not distinguish between a Jacobite and a Tory; whereby I mean ‘one that believes God, not the people, to be the origin of all civil power.’ In this sense he was a Tory; so was my father; so am I. But I am no more a Jacobite than I am a Turk; neither was my brother. I have heard him over and over disclaim that character.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1780 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to the Editor of the Gentleman's Magazine (24 December 1785), quoted in John Telford (ed.), The Letters of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M. Vol. VII: March 23, 1780, to July 24, 1787 (Epworth Press, 1960), p. 305
“I believe there is no liturgy in the World, either in ancient or modern language, which breathes more of a solid, scriptural, rational Piety, than the Common Prayer of the Church of England. And though the main of it was compiled considerably more than two hundred years ago, yet is the language of it, not only pure, but strong and elegant in the highest degree.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1788 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Sunday Service of the Methodists; With Other Occasional Services (1788), p. 3
“But when the Son of Man shall come in his glory, the brightest crown will be given to the sufferers.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1789 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Works of the Rev. John Wesley, Letter XI, 1789. (J&J Harper, 1827), p. 375.
“I would do anything that is in my power toward the extirpation of that trade which is a scandal not only to Christianity but humanity.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1787 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On the slave trade; letter to Henry Moore (14 March 1790), quoted in John Telford (ed.), The Letters of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M. Vol. VIII: July 24, 1787, to February 24, 1791 (Epworth Press, 1960), p. 207
“That if the best of Kings—the most virtuous of Queens—and the most perfect Constitution, could make any nation happy, the people of this country had every reason to think themselves so.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1790 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speech in the West Riding of Yorkshire, reported in the Leeds Intelligencer (4 May 1790), quoted in Robert F. Wearmouth, Methodism and the Common People of the Eighteenth Century (Epworth Press, 1945), p. 257
“Reading this morning a tract wrote by a poor African, I was particularly struck by that circumstance, that a man who has a black skin, being wronged or outraged by a white man, can have no redress; it being a law in all our Colonies that the oath of a black against a white goes for nothing. What villany is this!”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1787 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to William Wilberforce (24 February 1791), quoted in John Telford (ed.), The Letters of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M. Vol. VIII: July 24, 1787, to February 24, 1791 (Epworth Press, 1960), p. 265
“The best of it all is, God is with us.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) said by 1791 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A statement among his final words, said to have been repeated two or three times, as quoted in The Living Wesley (1891) by James Harrison Rigg
“I desire to have both heaven and hell ever in my eye, while I stand on this isthmus of life, between two boundless oceans.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) said by 1791 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Having, First, gained all you can, and, Secondly saved all you can, Then give all you can.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) said by 1791 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Sermon 50 "The Use of Money" in The Works of the Reverend John Wesley, A.M. (1840) edited by John Emory, Vol. I, p. 446
“Let it be observed, that slovenliness is no part of religion; that neither this, nor any text of Scripture, condemns neatness of apparel. Certainly this is a duty, not a sin. Cleanliness is indeed next to godliness.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1605 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Sermon 93 On Dress. Compare: "Cleanness of body was ever deemed to proceed from a due reverence to God", Francis Bacon, Advancement of Learning, Book ii (1605)
“I am always in haste, but never in a hurry.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) said by 1791 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in the "Saturday Review" (28 November 1874)
“Tell me how it is that in this room there are three candles and but one light, and I will explain to you the mode of the Divine existence.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) said by 1791 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 285
“As to matters of dress, I would recommend one never to be first in the fashion nor the last out of it.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) said by 1791 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in A Dictionary of Thoughts : Being a Cyclopedia of Laconic Quotations from the Best Authors of the World, both Ancient and Modern (1908) by Tyron Edwards, p. 127
“The greater the share the people have in government, the less liberty, civil or religious, does a nation enjoy.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1714 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in England in the Eighteenth Century (1714 - 1815) (1964) by J. H. Plumb, p. 94
“I value all things only by the price they shall gain in eternity.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) said by 1791 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in The Law of Rewards : Giving What You Can't Keep to Gain What You Can't Lose (2003 by Randy C. Alcorn, p. 18
“... We now come to a numerous tribe, that seem to make approaches even to humanity; that bear an awkward resemblance to the human form, and discover the same faint efforts at intellectual sagacity.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) said by 1791 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Animals of the MONKEY class are furnished with hands instead of paws; their ears, eyes, eye-lids, lips, and breasts, are like those of mankind; their internal conformation also bears some distant likeness; and the whole offers a picture that may mortify the pride of such as make their persons the principal objects of their admiration.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) said by 1791 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Survey of the Wisdom of God in the Creation; Or A Compendium of Natural Philosophy New York: Bangs and T. Mason, 1823, Part the Second, Chapter I, volume 1, pages 147-148. Wesley Center Online
“The distinguishing marks of a Methodist are not his opinions of any sort. His assenting to this or that scheme of Religion, his embracing any particular set of notions, his espousing the judgment of one man or of another, are all quite wide of the point. Whosoever therefore imagines, that a Methodist is a man of such or such an opinion, is grossly ignorant of the whole affair; he mistakes the truth totally. We believe indeed, that all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God, and herein we are distinguished from Jews, Turks, and Infidels. We believe the written word of God to be the only and sufficient rule, both of Christian faith and practice; and herein we are fundamentally distinguished from those of the Romish church. We believe Christ to be the eternal, supreme God; and herein we are distinguished from the Socinians and Arians. But as to all opinions which do not strike at the root of Christianity, we think and let think. So that whatsoever they are, whether right or wrong, they are no distinguishing marks of a; Methodist.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1739 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Character of a Methodist" (1739); in The Works of the Rev. John Wesley in Ten Volumes (1826), Volume IV, p. 407; A portion of this is commonly quoted as "Think and let think.".
“It is true, likewise, that the English in general, and indeed most of the men of learning in Europe, have given up all accounts of witches and apparitions, as mere old wives' fables. I am sorry for it; and I willingly take this opportunity of entering my solemn protest against this violent compliment which so many that believe the Bible pay to those who do not believe it. I owe them no such service. I take knowledge these are at the bottom of the outcry which has been raised, and with such insolence spread throughout the nation, in direct opposition not only to the Bible, but to the suffrage of the wisest and best of men in all ages and nations. They well know (whether Christians know it or not), that the giving up witchcraft is, in effect, giving up the Bible; and they know, on the other hand, that if but one account of the intercourse of men with separate spirits be admitted, their whole castle in the air (Deism, Atheism, Materialism) falls to the ground. I know no reason, therefore, why we should suffer even this weapon to be wrested out of our hands. Indeed there are numerous arguments besides, which abundantly confute their vain imaginations. But we need not be hooted out of one; neither reason nor religion require this.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1768 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Nehemiah Curnock, ed., 'The Journal of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M.', London, Charles H. Kelly, vol. 5, p. 265 (entry of 25 May 1768)
“It has in all ages been allowed that the communion of saints extends to those in paradise as well as those upon earth as they are all one body united under one Head. And "Can death’s interposing tide / Spirits one in Christ divide?" But it is difficult to say either what kind or what degree of union may be between them. It is not improbable their fellowship with us is far more sensible than ours with them. Suppose any of them are present, they are hid from our eyes, but we are not hid from their sight. They no doubt clearly discern all our words and actions, if not all our thoughts too; for it is hard to think these walls of flesh and blood can intercept the view of an angelic being. But we have in general only a faint and indistinct perception of their presence, unless in some peculiar instances, where it may answer some gracious ends of Divine Providence. Then it may please God to permit that they should be perceptible, either by some of our outward senses or by an internal sense for which human language has not any name. But I suppose this is not a common blessing. I have known but few instances of it. To keep up constant and close communion with God is the most likely means to obtain this also.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) first seen 1773 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Mary Bishop, an important Methodist "Class Meeting" leader, (12 June 1773), in The works of the Rev. John Wesley, Seven Volumes, (1853), Carlton & Phillips, New York, vol. VII, p. 164. [https://books.google.co…
“And Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself.” Acts 26:24. And so say all the world, the men who know not God, of all that are of Paul’s religion: of every one who is so a follower of him as he was of Christ. It is true, there is a sort of religion, nay, and it is called Christianity too, which may be practised without any such Imputation, which is generally allowed to be consistent with common sense, —that is, a religion of form, a round of outward duties, performed in a decent, regular manner. You may add orthodoxy thereto, a system of right opinions, yea, and some quantity of heathen morality; and yet not many will pronounce, that “much religion hath made you mad.” But if you aim at the religion of the heart, if you talk of “righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost,” then it will not be long before your sentence is passed, “Thou art beside thyself.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) said by 1791 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Beware, lastly, of imagining you shall obtain the end without using the means conducive to it. God can give the end without any means at all; but you have no reason to think He will. Therefore constantly and carefully use all those means which He has appointed to be the ordinary channels of His grace. Use every means which either reason or Scripture recommends, as conducive (through the free love of God in Christ) either to the obtaining or increasing any of the gifts of God. Thus expect a daily growth in that pure and holy religion which the world always did, and always will, call “enthusiasm;” but which, to all who are saved from real enthusiasm, from merely nominal Christianity, is “the wisdom of God, and the power of God;” the glorious image of the Most High; “righteousness and peace;” a “fountain of living water, springing up into everlasting life!”
John Wesley (1703–1791) said by 1791 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source