George MacDonald Quotes
. . . what is thought now, and held to be universal truth, was not thought then, or true of that time.
the truth she gathered, enlarging her strength, enlarged likewise the composure that comes of strength.
That's all nonsense, " said Curdie. "I don't know what you mean." "Then if you don't know what I mean, what right have you to call it nonsense?
All words, then, belonging to the inner world of the mind, are of the imagination, are originally poetic words.
I can but pray the Father o' a' to haud his e'e upon her, an' his airms aboot her, an' keep aff the hardenin' o' the hert 'at despises coonsel!
Certainly work is not always required of a man. There is such a thing as a sacred idleness, the cultivation of which is now fearfully neglected.
Indeed, a man is rather being thought than thinking, when a new thought arises in his mind.
If we speak of direct means for the culture of the imagination, the whole is comprised in two words--food and exercise.
How kind you are, North Wind!''I am only just. All kindness is but justice. We owe it.
Our Lord speaks of many coming up to His door confident of admission, whom He yet sends away. Faith is obedience, not confidence.
Alas, how easily things go wrong!A sigh too much, a kiss too longAnd there follows a mist and a weeping rainAnd life is never the same again
It may seem strange that one with whom I had held so little communion should have so engrossed my thoughts, but benefits conferred awaken love in some minds, as surely as benefits received in others.
...as no one can be just without love, so no one can truly report without understanding.
Most powerful of all powers in its holy insinuation is _being_. _To be_ is more powerful than even _to do_. Action _may_ be hypocrisy, but being is the thing itself, and is the parent of action.
The main secret of his progress, the secret of all wisdom, was, that with him action was the beginning and end of thought.
There are as many kinds of anger as there are of the sunsets with which they ought to end.
...he believed in God and he believed that when the human is still, the Divine speaks to it, because it is its own.
The person who can not bear with a sick man or a baby is not fit to be a woman.
She did not even trouble herself much to show Godfrey her gratitude. We may spoil gratitude as we offer it, by insisting on its recognition. To receive honestly is the best thanks for a good thing.
Oblige me by telling me where I am.""That is impossible. You know nothing about whereness. The only way to come to know where you are is to begin to make yourself at home.
Work done is of more consequence for the future than the foresight of an angel.
The well-meaning woman was in fact possessed by two devils--the one the stiff-necked devil of pride, the other the condescending devil of benevolence. She was kind, but she must have credit for it
No good ever comes of pride, for it is the meanest of mean things, and no one but he who is full of it thinks it grand.
punishment had not been spared--with best results in patience and purification
How much time is wasted in what is called thought, but is merely care--an anxious idling over the fancied probabilities of result
The church grew very lonely about him, and he began to feel like a child whose mother has forsaken it. Only he knew that to be left alone is not always to be forsaken.
From the neglect of a real duty, she became the slave of a false one.
She who is even once unjust can not complain if the like is expected of her again.
Not only then has each man his individual relation to God but each man has his peculiar relation to God.
It is not the cares of today but the cares of tomorrow that weigh a man down. For the needs of today we have corresponding strength given. For the morrow we are told to trust. It is not ours yet.
It is when tomorrow's burden is added to the burden of today that the weight is more than a man can bear.
The west is broken into bars Of orange gold and gray Gone is the sun come are the stars And night infolds the day.