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God

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“But the public display of religion is not God. We do not put God in our nation's life by placing the Ten Commandments in courthouses, nor do we evict God by removing the Ten Commandments from public property. God is not portable. Bland prayers, offered as noncontroversial formalities after the National Anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance do little to honor God.”
John Danforth (born 1936) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Praise consists in the love of God, in wonder at the goodness of God, in recognition of the gifts of God, in seeing God in all things He gives us, ay, and even in the things that He refuses to us; so as to see our whole life in the light of God; and seeing this, to bless Him, adore Him, and glorify Him.”
Henry Edward Manning (1808–1892) first seen 1874 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Sin and Its Consequences (London: Burns and Oates, 1874), p. 256.
“God is love," as Scripture says, and that means the revelation is in the relationship. "God is love" means God is known devotionally, not dogmatically. "God is love" does not clear up old mysteries; it discloses new mystery. "God is love" is not a truth we can master; it is only one to which we can surrender. Faith is being grasped by the power of love.”
William Sloane Coffin (1924–2006) first seen 1979 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Sermon "Emmanuel" (9 December 1979), as published in The Collected Sermons of William Sloane Coffin: The Riverside Years, Volume 1 (2008), p. 265
“The God Spinoza revered is my God, too: I meet Him everyday in the harmonious laws which govern the universe. My religion is cosmic, and my God is too universal to concern himself with the intentions of every human being. I do not accept a religion of fear; My God will not hold me responsible for the actions that necessity imposes. My God speaks to me through laws.”
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) said by 1955 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Dinosaur fossils? God put those here to test our faith." I think God put you here to test my faith, dude. Does that bother anybody else—the idea that God might be … fucking with our heads? I have trouble sleeping with that knowledge. Some prankster God running around, [pantomimes digging] "We'll see who believes in Me now! I am the Prankster God. I am killing Me!”
Bill Hicks (1961–1994) said by 1994 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“And now I see the face of god, and I raise this god over the earth, this god whom men have sought since men came into being, this god who will grant them joy and peace and pride. This god, this one word: 'I.'”
Ayn Rand (1905–1982) said by 1982 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When we claim that "God does not exist," we mean to deny by this declaration the personal God of theology, the God worshiped in various ways and divers modes by believers the world over, that God who from nothing created the universe, from chaos matter, that God of absurd attributes who is an affront to human reason.”
Benito Mussolini (1883–1945) said by 1945 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What sentence shall be given on mine? Of man, As ill or well God means me, well or ill Shall judgment pass upon me : but of God, If God himself be righteous or be God, Who being unrighteous were but god of hell, The sentence given shall judge me just...”
Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909) said by 1909 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Man is by nature unable to want God to be God. Indeed, he himself wants to be God, and does not want God to be God.”
Martin Luther (1483–1546) said by 1546 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The God I don't believe in is a good God, a just God, a merciful God. He's not the mean and stupid God you make him out to be.”
Joseph Heller (1923–1999) said by 1999 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I feel most spiritual when I'm out in the woods. I feel part of nature. Or looking up at the stars. [I used to say] I was an atheist. Now I say, it's all according to your definition of God. According to my definition of God, I'm not an atheist. Because I think God is everything. Whenever I open my eyes I'm looking at God. Whenever I'm listening to something I'm listening to God.”
Pete Seeger (1919–2014) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Pete Seeger's Session", a Beliefnet interview (2006)
“That pledge says "under God". I will not take "God" out of the name of our platform. I will not take "God" off our coins, and I will not take God out of my heart. We're a nation bestowed by God.”
Mitt Romney (born 1947) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Who is God? Some theological being? He is so much greater than theology. God is vitality. God is life. God is energy. As you breathe God in, as you visualize His energy, you will be reenergized!”
Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) first seen 1986 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: No More Stress or Tension" in Plus : The Magazine of Positive Thinking (May 1986), p. 22
“Most of your God concepts deal with a static God, and here is one of your main theological difficulties. The awareness and inner experience of this gestalt constantly changes and grows. There is no static God. When you say, "This is God," then God is already something else.”
Jane Roberts (1929–1984) said by 1984 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When you see the world you see God. There is no seeing God, apart from the world. Beyond the world to see God is to be God. The light by which you see the world, which is God, is the tiny little spark: ‘I am,’ apparently so small, yet the first and the last in every act of knowing and loving.”
Nisargadatta Maharaj (1897–1981) said by 1981 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“To ask what God did before the Creation assumes that God is locked in time like we are. If God is limited by time, He is not God! Time is God.”
Kent Hovind (born 1953) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I believe in God, not in a Catholic God, there is no Catholic God, there is God and I believe in Jesus Christ, his incarnation. Jesus is my teacher and my pastor, but God, the Father, Abba, is the light and the Creator. This is my Being.”
Pope Francis (1936–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The grace of God is to God himself as sunlight is to the sun — a means and a way leading us to the latter. It therefore shines within us in a simple, one-fold way and makes us deiform, that is, like God. This likeness constantly sinks away, dying in God and becoming and remaining one with him, for charity makes us become one with God and causes us to remain living in union with him.”
John Ruysbroeck (1293–1381) said by 1381 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I see, indeed I know, that in some sense God is love, and God is wisdom, and God is creative action, yes and God is beauty; but what God actually is, whether the maker of all things, or the fragrance of all things, or just a dream in our own hearts, I have not the art to know. Neither have you, I believe; nor any man, nor any spirit of our humble stature.”
Olaf Stapledon (1886–1950) said by 1950 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Proving evolution wouldn’t disprove God unless your god is a book. The Bible is easy to disprove, but that shouldn’t be enough to disprove God. Whether God exists or not, evolution is still an inescapable fact of population genetics and the Bible is still a man-made compilation of falsified fables. Not even the existence of God could change either of these things.”
Aron Ra (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“All sinners have less turpitude than the hypocrite, for the former, though they sin against God, do not sin with God or in God, whilst the hypocrite sins against God and also with God, since he takes Him as an instrument of his sin.”
Francisco de Quevedo (1584–1645) said by 1645 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“God remains silent so that men and women may speak, protest, and struggle. God remains silent so that people may really become people. When God is silent, and men and women cry, God cries in solidarity with them but doesn’t intervene. God waits for the shouts of protest.”
Elsa Tamez (born 1950) first seen 1983 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: https://sojo.net/magazine/septemberoctober-2010/archives-september-1983. On the silence of God.
“You’re an atheist,” I said. “No, I believe in God. I believe God exists. I had an experience, I had that vision, and in the vision I saw God. God is a pestilent light ringed with black stars. I’m still a man of faith because I believe, but when I think of God, I think of something like a parasite.”
Tom Sweterlitsch (born 1977) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan. And I did, and then God would tell me, George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq... And I did. And now, again, I feel God's words coming to me, go get the Palestinians their state and get the Israelis their security, and get peace in the Middle East. And by God I'm gonna do it.”
George W. Bush (attributed) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: According to Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath, said by Bush to him, apparently in the same June 2003 meeting, as reported by BBC News Shaath later clarified this with "We understood that he was illustrating [in his c…
“Under these circumstances prayer and faith were again resorted to. For my universal remedy in need of any kind is, to make known my requests unto God, and then I seek to believe that God has heard me for His dear Son's sake, and I look out for answers to my petitions, and fully expect them.”
George Müller (1805–1898) said by 1898 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sin is anti-will to God's will; it sets itself to oppose preaching, prayer, and all the institutions of God.”
Ralph Venning (1621–1674) said by 1674 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Billy,” John said, “you are on your way to India, a country that has no conception of God. You will need a special approach to break into people’s thinking, because they know nothing of the Bible or God. Do you have such an approach in mind?” Admitting that I didn’t, I suggested that we make that issue a matter of concentrated prayer.”
Billy Graham (1918–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“There is no burden of the spirit but is lightened by kneeling under it. Little by little, the bitterest feelings are sweetened by the mention of them in prayer. And agony itself stops swelling, if we can only cry sincerely, " My God, my God!”
William Mountford (1816–1885) said by 1885 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I soon began writing out my whole prayer and reading it back to God. Previously I'd get no further than "Dear God" and I'd already be thinking of the person I was going to meet for lunch or the board meeting agenda or what my family members and I would be doing later that evening. But when I began to move pen across paper, it became much easier to remain focused.”
Bill Hybels (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Be wary of insisting that you know better than God about when a prayer request should be granted. God's delays are not necessarily denials. He always has reasons for his 'not yets.'”
Bill Hybels (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Claims of supernatural phenomena like the efficacy of prayer are rendered unfalsifiable by the assertion that “God will not be tested.” (Of course, if the tests had been successful, then testing God would have been fine!)”
Jerry Coyne (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“What is it but a low form of prayer when he or Les or anybody else God-damns everything? I can't believe God recognizes any form of blasphemy. It's a prissy word invented by the clergy.”
J. D. Salinger (1919–2010) said by 2010 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I knew God had heard my prayer when I learned that it was you and no other who drew this case.” “One judge is coughing his life out into bloody handkerchiefs and the other is burying his wife, and you think this is how God answers your prayers?”
Orson Scott Card (born 1951) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I just depend on a lot of prayer and meditation. I believe that without God I am nobody, but that with God, I can do anything.”
Dolly Parton (1946–2026) first seen 1980 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted in "Dolly Parton: Gee, She’s So Nice" (7 December 1980), by Roger Ebert, Roger Ebert
“I have always had my doubts about any form of divine intervention in sports contests. The power of prayer may be remarkable in many other arenas, but why should God want my team to win instead of the other side? Isn't it insulting to request God to even take an interest in baseball?”
Roger Ebert (1942–2013) first seen 1994 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Review of Angels in the Outfield (15 July 1994)
“The wish to talk to God is absurd. We cannot talk to one we cannot comprehend — and we cannot comprehend God; we can only believe in Him. The uses of prayer are thus only subjective.”
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) first seen 1775 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A lecture at Königsberg (1775), as quoted in A New Dictionary of Quotations on Historical Principles from Ancient and Modern Sources (1946) by H. L. Mencken, p. 955
“God is going to supply a million dollars, somebody is praying right now, right this second, you’re praying for a million dollars and God said, "I have heard your prayer, I know your need, and I'm going to supply the need that you requested," it's done, in Jesus' name.”
Pat Robertson (1930–2023) said by 2023 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The National Day of Prayer has great significance for us as a nation. It enables us to recall and to teach the way in which our forebearers sought the wisdom of God faced with critical decisions. It stands as a call to us to humbly come before God, seeking His guidance for our leaders and His grace upon us as a nation.”
Josefa Iloilo (1920–2011) said by 2011 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It is not only prayer that gives God glory but work. Smiting on an anvil, sawing a beam, whitewashing a wall, driving horses, sweeping, scouring, everything gives God some glory if being in his grace you do it as your duty.”
Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889) said by 1889 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“School children and students who love God should never say: "For my part I like mathematics"; "I like French"; "I like Greek." They should learn to like all these subjects, because all of them develop that faculty of attention which, directed toward God, is the very substance of prayer.”
Simone Weil (1909–1943) said by 1943 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Paul of Tarsus (5–66) said by 66 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“[Jesus laughs as he watches his disciples offering a prayer to God before Passover.] Disciples: Why are you laughing at us? Jesus says that he is laughing not at them but at their strange idea of pleasing their God.”
Jesus (6 BC–33) said by 33 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“An old joke puts its thus, "when a man speaks to a god its prayer, when a god speaks to a man its schizophrenia"... Many people hear voices without suffering any of the debilitating and dysfunctional effects associated with schizophrenia, some treat these as sources of inspiration of develop religious ideas around them, others become mediums or occultists.”
Peter J. Carroll (1953–2026) said by 2026 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Prayer is a form of communication between God and man and man and God….I am always impressed by the fact that it is recorded that the only thing that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to do was to pray.”
Howard Thurman (1899–1981) first seen 1977 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Disciplines of the Spirit (1977)
“The soul cannot have true knowledge of God through its own efforts or by means of any created thing, but only by divine light and by a special gift of divine grace. I believe there is no quicker or easier way for the soul to obtain this divine grace from God, supreme Good and supreme Love, than by a devout, pure, humble, continual, and violent prayer.”
Angela of Foligno (1248–1309) said by 1309 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He is cunning, he is mighty, he never rests, he is ever plotting the downfall of the child of God; and if the child of God relaxes in prayer the Devil will succeed in ensnaring him.”
R. A. Torrey (1856–1928) first seen 1924 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Power and Peace in Prayer (1924)
“Closeness to God, first in prayer. Be faithful to that. Closeness to our priests, being close to them. Not being a brother, but being a father, and accompany them in their ministry. Being close to the people of God, whom we serve. It's something that since becoming a bishop, as a priest I was doing.”
Juan Miguel Betancourt (born 1970) first seen 2019 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Former seminary teacher to bishop of Hartford: seminarians discern for the right reasons (December 18, 2019)
“The grace of God can do all things, but in face of so many moral miseries... one sees clearly that human means are powerless, and that God alone can effect so great a transformation. Prayer and penance I The farther I go, the more I see that these are the principal means of acting upon these poor souls.”
Charles de Foucauld (1858–1916) first seen 1907 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter (December 9, 1907)
“Prayer must be humble: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Here St. James tells us that God does not listen to the prayers of the proud, but resists them; while, on the other hand, he is always ready to hear the prayers of the humble.”
Alphonsus Liguori (1696–1787) said by 1787 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Conditions Requisite for the Due Performance of Prayer in: The complete works of Saint Alphonsus de Liguori: the ascetical works, Volume 2. Redemptorist Fathers, 1926. p. 435.
“The power of prayer is real. Parents plant seeds that may take a while to sprout and grow, but God uses it all to make us into who we are. I’m so grateful to belong to God and be His servant.”
Pete Hegseth (born 1980) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source