Browse quotations by Jesus with named works, context notes, meanings and recurring themes.
Focused collections bring together quotations from this author around one recurring idea.
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
The remembered saying shifts attention from acquisition to contribution, presenting generosity as a source of value for the giver as well as the recipient.
Source note: Acts 20:35 in the King James Version; Paul recalls the saying while urging support for the weak.
“Jesus wept.”
The shortest sentence records grief without explanation or denial, showing sorrow as compatible with love, presence, and compassion in the face of death.
Source note: John 11:35, King James Version; Jesus weeps shortly before the raising of Lazarus, within a scene of mourning and bereavement.
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you.”
Love is presented as an active obligation shaped by example, not merely a private feeling.
Source note: John 13:34, King James Version.
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.”
The line offers peace as something deeper than favorable circumstances and distinct from the reassurance the world ordinarily gives.
Source note: John 14:27 in the King James Version; opening clauses.
“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.”
The promise distinguishes inward peace from security based only on changing external circumstances, placing calm within a spiritual relationship rather than worldly control.
Source note: John 14:27 in the King James Version; the verse continues, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
“These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”
Joy is presented as something that can remain and become full through a sustained relationship rather than a passing mood.
Source note: John 15:11 in the King James Version.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
The verse defines love through costly action, making willingness to sacrifice for friends a measure of devotion rather than merely affectionate language.
Source note: John 15:13 in the King James Version.
“I have called you friends.”
The brief phrase reframes the relationship from mere obedience toward disclosed trust and personal closeness.
Source note: John 15:15 in the King James Version; Jesus contrasts servants with friends who have been told what he has heard.
“Ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.”
The line does not deny sorrow; it frames grief as an experience that can be transformed rather than the final state of a life.
Source note: John 16:20 in the King James Version.
“Your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.”
The promise describes a joy durable enough to survive separation and difficulty rather than one controlled entirely by other people.
Source note: John 16:22 in the King James Version; Jesus speaks about sorrow being turned into joy.
“Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”
Full joy is connected with asking and receiving inside a relationship of trust, rather than with passive wishfulness.
Source note: John 16:24 in the King James Version; concluding clause of the verse.
“In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer.”
The line acknowledges hardship directly before calling for courage, so cheer is not based on pretending that trouble does not exist.
Source note: John 16:33 in the King James Version; excerpt from Jesus’s closing words to the disciples.
“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Truth is connected with freedom, suggesting that clearer understanding can loosen the control of falsehood and confusion.
Source note: John 8:32, King James Version.
“Go, and do thou likewise.”
The line places human flourishing inside mutual care: strength, resources, attention, or opportunity become responsibilities toward other people.
Source note: Luke 10:37 in the King James Version.
“For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.”
Greater resources, knowledge, or authority create greater obligations rather than simply greater privilege.
Source note: Luke 12:48 in the King James Version; this excerpt keeps the central responsibility clause.
“If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.”
This passage does not equate forgiveness with silence about harm: it places honest confrontation and forgiveness in the same sequence when repentance follows.
Source note: Luke 17:3 in the King James Version.
“If he trespass against thee seven times in a day ... thou shalt forgive him.”
Repeated offence makes forgiveness harder, which is exactly the point of the passage: the moral demand is not limited to the first easy opportunity to forgive.
Source note: Luke 17:4 in the King James Version; the middle repetition is shortened with an ellipsis while preserving the verse’s instruction.
“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”
The request for forgiveness is made in the middle of injury rather than after conditions become comfortable, giving the line its unusually demanding moral force.
Source note: Luke 23:34 in the King James Version.
“And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.”
The line places human flourishing inside mutual care: strength, resources, attention, or opportunity become responsibilities toward other people.
Source note: Luke 6:31 in the King James Version.
“Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.”
The short instruction treats forgiveness as a practice rather than merely a feeling: release is something a person does in response to another person’s fault.
Source note: Luke 6:37 in the King James Version; excerpt from the verse’s instruction about judgment and forgiveness.
“Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much.”
The line links forgiveness with a transformed response of love, emphasizing that mercy changes the meaning of a person’s past rather than denying it.
Source note: Luke 7:47 in the King James Version; Jesus explains the woman’s actions during the meal at the Pharisee’s house.
“And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any.”
The instruction makes unresolved resentment relevant even in a private act of prayer: a grievance cannot simply be separated from the way a person approaches reconciliation and mercy.
Source note: Mark 11:25 in the King James Version; excerpt from the verse.
“Freely ye have received, freely give.”
The line places human flourishing inside mutual care: strength, resources, attention, or opportunity become responsibilities toward other people.
Source note: Matthew 10:8 in the King James Version.
“I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.”
The answer rejects a small numerical limit on forgiveness, making repeated mercy the point rather than merely reaching a quota.
Source note: Matthew 18:22 in the King James Version; Jesus answers Peter’s question about how often a brother should be forgiven.
“If ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses.”
The emphasis falls on forgiveness that is more than outward compliance: the teaching demands a response rooted in the heart rather than merely performed.
Source note: Matthew 18:35, King James Version; the sentence concludes the parable of the unforgiving servant and returns to forgiveness between people.
“Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
The command uses care for oneself as the measure for care toward another person, linking healthy self-regard with outward responsibility rather than selfishness.
Source note: Matthew 22:39 in the King James Version.
“Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”
Self-promotion and genuine worth are distinguished: the saying reverses ordinary status-seeking by making humility a condition of lasting honour.
Source note: Matthew 23:12 in the King James Version.
“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
The teaching gives ordinary acts of care moral weight by identifying service to overlooked people with service to something larger than oneself.
Source note: Matthew 25:40 in the King James Version; the king explains why acts of practical care toward “the least” mattered.
“Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.”
The line places human flourishing inside mutual care: strength, resources, attention, or opportunity become responsibilities toward other people.
Source note: Matthew 5:42 in the King James Version.
“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you.”
The teaching moves beyond merely withholding retaliation and asks for active goodwill toward opponents, making forgiveness part of a transformed response to hostility.
Source note: Matthew 5:44, King James Version; Jesus commands love, blessing, and good action toward enemies within the Sermon on the Mount.
“Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”
Mercy is presented as a virtue that shapes both how a person treats others and the kind of moral world that person hopes to inhabit.
Source note: Matthew 5:7 in the King James Version.
“Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”
Peacemaking is treated as active moral work: reducing conflict and restoring relationship rather than simply avoiding disagreement.
Source note: Matthew 5:9, King James Version.
“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”
The prayer links asking for mercy with practicing mercy toward other people, making forgiveness a reciprocal moral discipline rather than a one-sided demand.
Source note: Matthew 6:12 in the King James Version.
“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”
Forgiveness is framed as conduct expected from people who themselves depend on mercy, tying belief to the way injury is answered.
Source note: Matthew 6:14 in the King James Version.
“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:”
Attention is directed to ordinary flowers as a corrective to anxious preoccupation, making observation itself part of the teaching about worry.
Source note: Matthew 6:28, King James Version; Jesus points listeners to the lilies while discussing anxiety about clothing and material provision.
“Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.”
The line places human flourishing inside mutual care: strength, resources, attention, or opportunity become responsibilities toward other people.
Source note: Matthew 7:12 in the King James Version.