Quotes from George MacDonald

In joy or sorrow, feebleness or might, Peace or commotion, be thou, Father, my delight.

Philosophy is really homesickness.

It is not in the nature of politics that the best men should be elected. The best men do not want to govern their fellowmen.

A beast does not know that he is a beast, and the nearer a man gets to being a beast, the less he knows it.

Free will is not the liberty to do whatever one likes, but the power of doing whatever one sees ought to be done, even in the very face of otherwise overwhelming impulse. There lies freedom, indeed.

Any faith in Him, however small, is better than any belief about Him, however great.

If we do not die to ourselves, we cannot live to God, andhe that does not live to God, is dead.

The purposes of God point to one simple end-that we should be as he is, think the same thoughts, mean the same things, possess the same blessedness.

Do not measure God's mind by your own.

The mind of the many is not the mind of God.

It is our best work that God wants, not the dregs of our exhaustion. I think he must prefer quality to quantity.

If you care to see God, be pure. If you will not be pure, you will grow more and more impure.

Afflictions are but the shadows of God's wings.

All those evil doctrines about God that work misery and madness have their origin in the brains of the wise and prudent, not in the hearts of children.

God is nearer to you than any thought or feeling of yours... Do not be afraid.

Primarily, God is not bound to punish sin; he is bound to destroy sin. The only vengeance worth having on sin is to make the sinner himself its executioner.

God's finger can touch nothing but to mold it into loveliness.

What does God want me to do?", not "What will God do if I do so and so?

Oh the folly of any mind that would explain God before obeying Him! That would map out the character of God instead of crying, Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do?

The kingdom of heaven is not come even when God's will is our law; it is fully come when God's will is our will.

God will not take shelter behind a jugglery of logic or metaphysics. He is neither a schoolman nor theologian, but our Father in Heaven.

I want to help you grow as beautiful as God meant you to be when he thought of you first.

Good souls many will one day be horrified at the things they now believe of God.

Thou art beautiful because God created thee, but thou art a slave to sin... wickedness has made you ugly.