George MacDonald

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.

Love is the opener as well as closer of eyes.

Work is not always required. There is such a thing as sacred idleness.

Age is not all decay; it is the ripening, the swelling, of the fresh life within, that withers and bursts the husk.

To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.

Afflictions are but the shadows of God's wings.

There are thousands willing to do great things for one willing to do a small thing.

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.

Where there is no choice, we do well to make no difficulty.

The principle part of faith is patience.

It matters little where a man may be at this moment; the point is whether he is growing.

Man finds it hard to get what he wants, because he does not want the best; God finds it hard to give, because He would give the best, and man will not take it.

To have what we want is riches; but to be able to do without is power.

The first thing a kindness deserves is acceptance, the second, transmission.

Friends, if we be honest with ourselves, we shall be honest with each other.

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.

It is not the cares of today, but the cares of tomorrow, that weigh a man down.

When we are out of sympathy with the young, then I think our work in this world is over.

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

How strange this fear of death is! We are never frightened at a sunset.

We die daily. Happy those who daily come to life as well.

You can't live on amusement. It is the froth on water - an inch deep and then the mud.

Attitudes are more important than facts.

The principal part of faith is patience.

Few delights can equal the presence of one whom we trust utterly.

The best preparation for the future is the present well seen to, and the last duty done.

Forgiveness is the giving, and so the receiving, of life.

Many a thief is a better man than many a clergyman, and miles nearer to the gate of the kingdom.

I find that doing of the will of God leaves me no time for disputing about His plans.

The more I work with the body, keeping my assumptions in a temporary state of reservation, the more I appreciate and sympathize with a given disease. The body no longer appears as a sick or irrational demon, but as a process with its own inner logic and wisdom.

Anything large enough for a wish to light upon, is large enough to hang a prayer upon.

To keep a lamp burning we have to keep putting oil in it.

If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.