R.S. Thomas Quotes

Marx said that religion was the opiate of the people. In the United States today, opiates are the religion of the people.

Marriages are said to be made in Heaven, which may be why they don't work here on Earth.

The Soul is shriveled up and buried in a grave that does not love.

To think the world therefore a general Bedlam, or place of madmen, and oneself a physician, is the most necessary point of present wisdom: an important imagination, and the way to happiness.

Tide flowing is feared, for many a thing, Great danger to such as be sick, it doth bring; Sea ebb, by long ebbing, some respite doth give, And sendeth good comfort, to such as shall live.

Prayer as it comes from the saint is weak and languid; but when the arrow of a saint's prayer is put into the bow of Christ's intercession it pierces the throne of grace.

Our murmuring is the devil's music.

Praising God is one of the highest and purest acts of religion. In prayer we act like men; in praise we act like angels.

Better have men reproach you for being good, than have God damn you for being wicked. Be not laughed out of your religion. If a lame man laugh at you for walking upright, will you therefore limp?

If you don't genuinely like your customers, chances are they won't buy.

None of us can hope to get anywhere without character, moral courage and the spiritual strength to accept responsibility.

Within us all there are wells of thought and dynamos of energy which are not suspected until emergencies arise.

The only sacred cow is an organisation should be its basic philosophy of doing business.

O lost, And by the wind grieved, Ghost, Come back again.

Peace fell upon her spirit. Strong comfort and assurance bathed her whole being. Life was so solid and splendid, and so good.

Bacon first taught the world the true method of the study of nature, and rescued science from that barbarism in which the followers of Aristotle, by a too servile imitation of their master.

Man was so engineered by God that the presence of the Creator within the creature is indispensable to His humanity.

Friendship is but another name for an alliance with the follies and the misfortunes of others. Our own share of miseries is sufficient: why enter then as volunteers into those of another?

Reason and free inquiry are the only effectual agents against error.

Negative results are just what I want. They’re just as valuable to me as positive results. I can never find the thing that does the job best until I find the ones that don’t.

My own mind is my own church.

Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife.

All the tales of miracles, with which the Old and New Testament are filled, are fit only for impostors to preach and fools to believe.

A rich man's joke is always funny.

A good horse should be seldom spurred.

If a man is to live, he must be all alive, body, soul, mind, heart, spirit.

The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

Know all and you will pardon all.

Work will win when wishy washy wishing won t.

Whatever is received is received according to the nature of the recipient.

The old cathedrals are good, but the great blue dome that hangs over everything is better.

Moral science is better occupied when treating of friendship than of justice.

'Tis skill, not strength, that governs a ship.

All commend patience, but none can endure to suffer.

Proclaim human equality as loudly as you like, Witless will serve his brother.

The value of old age depends upon the person who reaches it. To some men of early performance it is useless. To others, who are late to develop, it just enables them to finish the job.

When ambition ends, happiness begins.

There is absolutely nothing in this world that will provide more comfort and happiness than a testimony of the truth.

Intelligence must follow faith, never precede it, and never destroy it.

Is it not a species of blasphemy to call the New Testament revealed religion, when we see in it such contradictions and absurdities.

But because many endeavor to get knowledge rather than to live well, they are often deceived and reap little or no benefit from their labor.

Clarity affords focus.

The art of medicine was to be properly learned only from its practice and its exercise.

Now our job, our duty, our responsibility to ensure the safety and security of our citizens cannot be complete unless we guarantee health care security for our citizens.

A gift, with a kind countenance, is a double present.

And there have certainly been movies I wanted to be in and milestones I wanted to surpass that did not happen.

Reason in man is rather like God in the world.

The storm stops at the door. Love reigns, peace dwells.

The key to seeing the world's soul, and in the process wakening our own, is to get over the confusion by which we think that fact is real and imagination is illusion.

Doubt, of whatever kind, can be ended by action alone.