But God lets men have their playthings, like the children they are, that they may learn to distinguish them from true possessions. If they are not learning that he takes them from them, and George MacDonald More Quotes by George MacDonald More Quotes From George MacDonald No words can express how much the world owes to sorrow. Most of the Psalms were born in the wilderness. Most of the Epistles were written in a prison. The greatest thoughts of the greatest thinkers have all passed through fire. The greatest poets have "learned in suffering what they taught in song." In bonds Bunyan lived the allegory that he afterwards wrote, and we may thank Bedford Jail for the Pilgrim's Progress. Take comfort, afflicted Christian! When God is about to make pre-eminent use of a person, He put them in the fire. George MacDonald christiangodbible A man's real belief is that which he lives by. What a man believes is the thing he does, not the thing he thinks. George MacDonald realmenbelieve Forgiveness unleashes joy. It brings peace. It washes the slate clean. It sets all the highest values of love in motion. George MacDonald cleanforgivenessjoy 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. George MacDonald worrymenneeds Never tell a child 'you have a soul.' Teach him, you are a soul; you have a body. George MacDonald bodysoulchildren I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of; for to have been thought about, born in God's thought, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest and most precious thing in all thinking. George MacDonald bornmadethinking 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. George MacDonald powermenpeople "But if God is so good as you represent Him, and if He knows all that we need, and better far than we do ourselves, why should it be necessary to ask Him for anything?" I answer, "What if He knows prayer to be the thing we need first and most? What if the main object in God's idea of prayer be the supplying of our great, our endless need - the need of Himself?" George MacDonald religiouschristiangod The truly wise talk little about religion and are not given to taking sides on doctrinal issues. When they hear people advocating or opposing the claims of this or that party in the church, they turn away with a smile such as men yield to the talk of children. They have no time, they would say, for that kind of thing. They have enough to do in trying to faithfully practice what is beyond dispute. George MacDonald partywisechildren To give truth to him who loves it not is but to give him more plentiful material for misinterpretation. George MacDonald misinterpretationmaterialsgiving It is by loving and not by being loved that one can come nearest to the soul of another. George MacDonald soulinspirationallove 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. George MacDonald thinking-of-youinspirationalfriendship Any faith in Him, however small, is better than any belief about Him, however great. George MacDonald faithgodbelieve In whatever man does without God, he must fail miserably, or succeed more miserably. George MacDonald succeeddoemen Instead of asking yourself whether you believe or not, ask yourself whether you have, this day, done one thing because He said, Do it! or once abstained because He said, Do not do it! It is simply absurd to say you believe, or even want to believe, in Him, if you do not do anything He tells you. George MacDonald doneaskingbelieve Sad, indeed, would the whole matter be if the Bible had told us everything God meant us to believe. But herein is the Bible greatly wronged. It nowhere lays claim to be regarded as the Word, the Way, the Truth. The Bible leads us to Jesus, the inexhaustible, the ever-unfolding Revelation of God. It is Christ "in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," not the Bible, save as leading to Him. George MacDonald leadershipbelievejesus This is and has been the Father's work from the beginning-to bring us into the home of His heart. George MacDonald homeheartfather To be kind neither hurts nor compromises. George MacDonald be-kindcompromisehurt Love makes everything lovely; hate concentrates itself on the one thing hated. George MacDonald lovelyhatedhate The love of our neighbor is the only door out of the dungeon of self. George MacDonald selfdoorslove
