Famous quotes
Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide
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“Prayer is intended to increase the devotion of the individual, but if the individual himself prays he requires no formula — he pours himself forth much more naturally in self-chosen and connected thoughts before God, and scarcely requires words at all. Real inward devotion knows no prayer but that arising from the depths of its own feelings.”
Wilhelm von Humboldt (attributed) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Christian god can easily be pictured as virtually the same god as the many ancient gods of past civilizations. The Christian god is a three headed monster; cruel, vengeful and capricious. If one wishes to know more of this raging, three headed beast-like god, one only needs to look at the caliber of people who say they serve him. They are always of two classes: fools and hypocrites.”
Thomas Jefferson (misattributed) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Must have been bad when the gods were alive, though. They might grant your prayer, they might grant your enemy’s, but they’d certainly grant their own. A god’s wishes wouldn’t have anything to do with what human beings wanted.”
Larry Niven (born 1938) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Apart from the positive woes of perdition, an eternity of wretchedness grows from the want of love to Christ as naturally as the oak grows from the acorn, or the harvest from the scattered grain. It is not that love to Christ merits heaven; it does far better, it makes heaven. It is, as it were, the organ of sensation that takes note of heaven's blessedness.”
Andrew Kennedy Hutchison Boyd (1825–1899) said by 1899 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As Milton says, the mind can make a hell of heaven or a heaven of hell. So heaven is not somewhere above the clouds, and hell somewhere underneath the earth!... Whether a man is healthy or unhealthy depends on himself. Illness is the result not only of our actions but also of our thoughts. ... Ignorance is one of the root-causes of disease. (Introduction)”
Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) said by 1948 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The mother is worn; the father tired. As for imagining Heaven, they have no time. Heaven-making must be left to the imagination of the poets. Without their help we can but trifle…We need the poets to imagine for us. The duty of Heaven-making should be attached to the office of the Poet Laureate.”
Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) said by 1941 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Is he in heaven? Is he in hell?" "There is no heaven. There is no hell." "There is no heaven? There is no hell?" "That's all in your mind.”
Joseph Heller (1923–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Joy to the world! the Lord is come; Let earth receive her King. Let ev'ry heart prepare Him room, And heav'n and nature sing, And heaven and nature sing, And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.”
Isaac Watts (1674–1748) said by 1748 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[W]atching ducks land on a lake in Arkansas in the winter is about the closest to Heaven as you can find on this earth… and as someone who believes, according to my faith, I will go to Heaven when I die, I am pretty sure that there is duck hunting in Heaven!”
Mike Huckabee (born 1955) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm in heaven, I'm in heaven I'm in heaven when you smile, when you smile.”
Van Morrison (born 1945) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He who understood the secrets of the Truth Became vaster than the vast heaven; Mulla says “Ahmad went to heaven”; Sarmad says “Nay, heaven came down to Ahmad.”
Sarmad Kashani (1590–1661) said by 1661 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: [Asiri 1950, No. 126] Asiri 1950 — Asiri, Fazl Mahmud. Rubaiyat-i-Sarmad. Shantiniketan, 1950. Quoted from SARMAD: LIFE AND DEATH OF A SUFI by N. Prigarina
“Open up the doors of heaven and let me in. I think I'm finally tired of living, let me in. I'm going to walk into glory, Tell everyone my story. So open up the doors of heaven and let me in.I've tried to live my life the righteous way. I tried to do my best from day to day. But no matter how hard I try, Seems all I do is cry. So open up the doors of heaven and let me in.”
Lucinda Williams (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Mammon, the least erected spirit that fell From heaven; for ev'n in heaven his looks and thoughts Were always downward bent, admiring more The riches of heaven's pavement, trodden gold, Than aught divine or holy else enjoy'd In vision beatific.”
John Milton (1608–1674) said by 1674 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“Just are the ways of Heaven: from Heaven proceed The woes of man; Heaven doom'd the Greeks to bleed,-- A theme of future song!”
Alexander Pope (1688–1744) said by 1744 at the latest bartlett, Public domain source
“Catholicity seized on man... and the mystics, transcending all, taught him to ascend on high with the wings of contemplation the Ladder of Jacob composed of brilliant stones, by which God descends to Earth and man ascends to Heaven, till Earth and Heaven, and God and man, burning together in a conflagration of infinite charity, are transmuted into one.”
Juan Donoso Cortés (1809–1853) said by 1853 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“...you shall never hold the Kingdom of France from God, the King of Heaven, the son of St. Mary; but King Charles, the true heir, will hold it; for God, the King of Heaven wishes it so....”
Joan of Arc (1412–1431) first seen 1429 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: From her ultimatum to the English commanders at Orleans, dictated to a scribe on 22 March 1429; excerpt from the translation in "Joan of Arc: Her Story" (1999) by Regine Pernoud and Marie-Veronique Clin, p. 34.
“Enjoy the blessings Heaven bestows, Assist his friends, forgive his foes; Trust God, and keep his statutes still, Upright and firm, through good and ill;Thankful for all that God has given, Fixing his firmest hopes on heaven; Knowing that earthly joys decay, But hoping through the darkest day.”
Anne Brontë (1820–1849) said by 1849 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They tell me our kind was friendly with the old gods, and with older gods before them. Yet never have we made offering or worship. I’ve tried and failed to understand such things. Does a god need flesh or gold? Does it matter to him how you live? Does it swerve him if you grovel and whimper? Does he care whether you care about him?”
Poul Anderson (1926–2001) said by 2001 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The rash assertion that 'God made man in His own image' is ticking like a time bomb at the foundation of many faiths, and as the hierarchy of the universe is disclosed to us, we may have to recognize this chilling truth: if there are any gods whose chief concern is man, they cannot be very important gods.”
Arthur C. Clarke (1917–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“By the gods I do not want the Galileans to be killed or beaten unjustly nor to suffer any other ill. I do, however, state that the god-fearing (theosebeis) should be preferred to them … honour should go to the gods and to the men and cities that worship them.”
Julian (emperor) first seen 1978 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in Julian the Apostate (1978), by G. W. Bowersock, Ch. 8 : The Puritanical Pagan, p, 83
“You have to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you, namely by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one: from grace to grace FROM EXALTATION TO EXALTATION until you ATTAIN THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.”
Joseph Smith Jr. (1805–1844) first seen 1844 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: History of the Church, 6:306 (7 April 1844)
“Faith, faith, faith in ourselves, faith, faith in God, this is the secret of greatness. If you have faith in all the three hundred and thirty millions of your mythological Gods, and in all the Gods which foreigners have now and again introduced into your midst, and still have no faith in yourselves, there is no salvation for you.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Also, the god often resembles his followers in behavior and feelings. Angry people have angry gods and vindictive people have vindictive gods, and so forth.”
Sheri S. Tepper (1929–2016) said by 2016 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” ’? (34) If he called them gods, to whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken. (35) New King James Version”
Jesus (6 BC–33) said by 33 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There are no gods (including God). Like all species, ours is a product of nature. This is not something either to celebrate or to mourn. But it can prove a transformational and mind-opening experience to put all gods, religions and supernatural enthusiasms aside and to explore the world from the point of view of a human being who lives, dies, and is as natural as a tiger or a dove.”
Eric Maisel (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Mesopotamians conceived the generation of the gods in perfect agreement with the human one through the work of a male god and a female goddess. Even the primitive gods were therefore procreated by a couple. (p. 77)”
Giuseppe Furlani (1885–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The gods! Which gods! Do you still trust any of them after this? Or have you quickly forgotten what they told us about Anlugbua just now? No, women, there is no shelter anywhere but in ourselves! Each of us has become our own god.”
Femi Osofisan (born 1946) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The human vocation is to realize that which constitutes man's raison d’être: a projection of God and, therefore, a bridge between earth and Heaven; or a point of view that allows God to see Himself starting from an other-than-Himself, even though this other, in the final analysis, can only be Himself, for God is known only through God.”
Frithjof Schuon (1907–1998) said by 1998 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am not an Atheist or an anti-God person but my beliefs are that you do not have to go to a place to worship, you don't have to go to a house to do that and that God resides in you and me and so does the Devil and heaven and hell is where we live on this earth. If the God that everyone prays to is such a wonderful God he wouldn't have people suffering so horribly as they are.”
Ronnie James Dio (1942–2010) first seen 2000 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview by David Lee Wilson, 2000
“All that is real in me is God; all that is real in God is I. The gulf between God and me is thus bridged. Thus by knowing God, we find that the kingdom of heaven is within us.”
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) said by 1902 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Son of God is nailed to the cross; but on the cross God conquers human death. Christ, the Son of God, dies; but all flesh is made alive in Christ. The Son of God is in hell; but man is carried back to heaven.”
Hilary of Poitiers (315–367) said by 367 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Even today God may continue to call people to Himself, so that others may discover the mercy and the forgiveness of God, so that others may know that they have a Father who is in heaven. Without our testimony, the Gospel could not continue to manifest that God loves man. In fact, this is our message, the message of which we are heralds: God loves man.”
Giovanni Pietro Dal Toso (born 1964) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Archbishop Dal Toso: "Without testimony, the Gospel would be mute" (12 February 2019) Fides News Agency
“Haste thee on from grace to glory, Armed by faith and winged by prayer, Heaven's eternal day's before thee; God's own hand shall guide thee there.”
Henry Francis Lyte (1793–1847) said by 1847 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Why should the sons and daughters of God be reluctant to pray, when prayer is the key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven's storehouse, where are treasured the boundless resources of Omnipotence.”
Ellen G. White (1827–1915) first seen 1892 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Steps to Christ(1892), p. 94
“Solitude is Wisdom’s school. Attend then the lessons of your own soul; become a pupil of the wise God within you, for by his tuitions alone shall you grow into the knowledge and stature of the deities. The seraphs descend from heaven, in the solitudes of meditation, in the stillness of prayer.”
Amos Bronson Alcott (1799–1888) said by 1888 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As bishops, as presbyters and as deacons we're all invited in that ministry to bombard Heaven with our prayers. And each day as you speak with the Lord in prayer, like the prophets of old, you as new young prophets, you share in the ministry of your bishop and intercede unceasingly before God for your people.”
Michael Fabian McCarthy (born 1950) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Ordained to serve (27 June 2014) The Catholic Leader
“Here is Jesus in prayer, alone, prostrate before the Father, with his arms outstretched and his gaze turned to heaven. It was a marvellous sight worthy of God, as the eternal Word, knowledge of the Father, light from infinite light. He was like an eternal lamp before Him. (p. 1102)”
Dolindo Ruotolo (1882–1970) said by 1970 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The best and sweetest flowers of paradise God gives to His people when they are upon their knees. Prayer is the gate of heaven.”
Thomas Brooks (Puritan) (attributed) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My God, my God, thou art a direct God, may I not say a literal God, a God that wouldst be understood literally and according to the plain sense of all that thou sayest? But thou art also...a figurative, a metaphorical God too.”
John Donne (1572–1631) said by 1631 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I had three manners of understanding of this light, Charity. The first is Charity unmade; the second is Charity made; the third is Charity given. Charity unmade is God; Charity made is our soul in God; Charity given is virtue. And that is a precious gift of working in which we love God, for Himself; and ourselves, in God; and that which God loveth, for God.”
Julian of Norwich (1342–1500) said by 1500 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“God is alive. Magic is afoot. God is alive. Magic is afoot. God is afoot. Magic is alive. Alive is afoot. Magic never died. God never sickened. Many poor men lied. Many sick men lied. Magic never weakened. Magic never hid. Magic always ruled. God is afoot. God was ruler though his funeral lengthened. Though his mourners thickened Magic never fled...”
Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) first seen 1966 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Beautiful Losers (1966)
“God is all. God knows all, and God does all. When the Avatar proclaims he is the Ancient One, it is God who proclaims His manifestation on earth. When man utters for or against the Avatarhood, it is God who speaks through him. It is God alone who declares Himself through the Avatar and mankind.”
Meher Baba (1894–1969) said by 1969 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We know that God is He whom we do not know, and that our ignorance is precisely the problem and the source of our knowledge. The Epistle to the Romans is a revelation of the unknown God; God chooses to come to man, not man to God. Even after the revelation man cannot know God, for he is ever the unknown God. In manifesting himself to man he is farther away than before.”
Karl Barth (1886–1968) said by 1968 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I've said many times that you can't stop science... God made man in his own image. God intended for man to become one with God. We are going to become one with God. We are going to have almost as much knowledge and almost as much power as God. Cloning and the reprogramming of DNA is the first serious step in becoming one with God.”
Richard Seed (1928–2013) first seen 1998 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: National Public Radio (1998-01-07)
“In the Gospel of the New Testament the ancient conception of God is perfected and fulfilled... The same God who spoke from the bush on Mount Horeb had now appeared visibly in the Person of Emmanuel, God with us... The God of the New Testament is not a different God from the God of the Old.”
Michael von Faulhaber (1869–1952) said by 1952 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You see God as an engineer?” asked Urpastor Phelps. “I don’t see God as anything at all.” “An engineer, you said. An incompetent engineer.” “Incompetent, perfect, who knows? God is whatever we agree to pretend God is. God is our image of God.”
James K. Morrow (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Since God is continuously present, why do you worry? For in Him we live and move. We are carried in His arms. We breathe God; we are vested with God; we touch God; we consume God in the Mystery. Wherever you turn, wherever you look, God is everywhere: in the heavens, on the earth, in the abysses, in the trees, within the rocks, in your nous, in your heart.”
Joseph the Hesychast (1897–1959) said by 1959 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“God is infinite Nous and man, through his nous, is both related to God, and also approaches Him. God is infinite Love, and man, with a purified heart, experiences God. God is simple, and man believes with simplicity, and struggles humbly and in a philotimo-filled way, and experiences the mysteries of God.”
Paisios of Mount Athos (1924–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Saint Paisios, quoted in the book cover flap of Athonite Fathers and Athonite Matters (2016, 3rd ed.)
“Belief in God is the single greatest barrier to God in the Universe. It is almost a total barrier to the experience of God. When you think you have experienced God, you haven't. Experiencing God is experiencing God, and that is true religion.”
Werner Erhard (attributed) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“From this I testify her holy cheerfulness, and religious alacrity, (one of the best evidences of a good conscience), that as she came to this place, God’s house of Prayer...she ever hastened her family, and her company hither, with that cheerful provocation, For God’s sake let’s go, For God’s sake let’s be there at the Confession.”
John Donne (1572–1631) first seen 1627 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Sermon of Commemoration of the Lady Danvers (1627)