R.S. Thomas Quotes

There is really no way we can know the heart, the intentions, or the circumstances of someone who might say or do something we find reason to criticize. Thus the commandment: 'Judge not.'

Garlick maketh a man wynke, drynke, and stynke.

We never shall have any more time we have, and we have always had, all the time there is.

He enjoys much who is thankful for little.

Preparing our city to achieve its destiny will require strong leadership.

Our idea of God tells us more about ourselves than about Him.

The greatest invention in the world is the mind of a child.

Prayer is nothing but the breathing that out before the Lord, that was first breathed into us by the Spirit of the Lord.

It is in those times of hopeless chaos when the sovereign hand of God is most likely to be seen.

Grace and glory differ very little; the one is the seed, the other is the flower; grace is glory militant, glory is grace triumphant.

The secret of success is focus of purpose.

Statistically, the probability of any one of us being here is so small that you'd think the mere fact of existing would keep us all in a contented dazzlement of surprise.

How can I be sincere if I am constantly changing my mind to conform with the shadow of what I think others expect of me?

The Cross to me is certain salvation. The Cross is that which I ever adore. The Cross of the Lord is with me. The Cross is my refuge.

For perfect hope is achieved on the brink of despair, when instead of falling over the edge, we find ourselves walking on air.

Memory is the treasure house of the mind wherein the monuments thereof are kept and preserved.

All bibles are man-made.

Most of my ideas belonged to other people who never bothered to develop them.

The complementary movement towards divine love is growth in humility which is the acceptence of the reality about ourselves, our own weakness and limitations.

The universe is the primary revelation of the divine, the primary scripture, the primary locus of divine-human communication.

God has no need for our worship. It is we who need to show our gratitude for what we have received.

Making the world safe for hypocrisy.

The first great gift we can bestow on others is a good example.

Acceptance of the bit happens in the haunches, not in the mouth.

Education is not the piling on of learning, information, data, facts, skills, or abilities-that's training or instruction-but is rather making visible what is hidden as a seed.

Time is never wasted if you remember to bring along something to read.

When a person can no longer laugh at himself, it is time for others to laugh at him.

I can hear the roar of women's silence

Afflictions are but as a dark entry into our Father's house.

The real hope is not in something we think we can do, but in God, who is making something good out of it in some way we cannot see.

Beauty is found in anything that delights the senses, nourishes the soul, fires the imagination.

A man’s best friend is a good wife.

Man is a tool-using animal. Without tools he is nothing, with tools he is all.

Go in close, and when you think you are too close, go in closer.

As for rosemary, I let it run all over my garden walls, not only because my bees love it but because it is the herb sacred to remembrance and to friendship, whence a sprig of it hath a dumb language.

It is amazing how many people seem to think that the government exists to turn their prejudices into law.

There are only two ways of telling the complete truth - anonymously and posthumously.

Wealth is so concentrated that a large segment of society is virtually unaware of its existence.

The Bible: a history of wickedness that has served to corrupt and brutalise mankind.

Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances.

Experience demands that man is the only animal which devours his own kind, for I can apply no milder term to the general prey of the rich on the poor.

Laughter is a sunbeam of the soul.

Why should things be easy to understand?

War is only a cowardly escape from the problems of peace.

I have sworn upon the altar of God Eternal, hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.

Five percent of the people think; ten percent of the people think they think; and the other eighty-five percent would rather die than think.

Make up your mind to act decidedly and take the consequences. No good is ever done in this world by hesitation.

Why is it that a woman can see from a distance what a man cannot see close?

An honest heart being the first blessing, a knowing head is the second.

The sky was clear - remarkably clear - and the twinkling of all the stars seemed to be but throbs of one body, timed by a common pulse.