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For if we had understanding, ought we to do any thing else both jointly and severally than to sing hymns and bless the deity, and to tell of his benefits?
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“For if we had understanding, ought we to do any thing else both jointly and severally than to sing hymns and bless the deity, and to tell of his benefits?”

Epictetus

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Source
Discourses of Epictetus
Date
c. 108
English wording
George Long — Translator · from Ancient Greek
Meaning

Meaning of “For if we had understanding, ought we to…”

Epictetus links gratitude with attentive understanding: recognizing ordinary capacities and the order of life should produce praise rather than treating what sustains us as invisible or automatically deserved.

Source context

Where does it come from?

Discourses of Epictetus, Book I, Chapter XVI, “Of Providence,” George Long translation; 1877 George Bell & Sons witness on Wikisource, cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #10661. The passage is explicitly theological Stoicism: Epictetus says understanding should lead people to sing hymns, bless the deity and recount divine benefits.

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Themes

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GratitudeHappinessHumilityJoyMindfulnessPositive Quotes About a Constructive OutlookStoicWisdom Quotes About Judgment & Living WellFateMusicReligionSpiritual
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Source identified
Give thanks unto God for His grace, but for thyself alone confess thy fault.
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“Give thanks unto God for His grace, but for thyself alone confess thy fault.”

Thomas à Kempis · The Imitation of Christ · 15th century
Meaning & context

The sentence separates gratitude from self-congratulation: what is received as grace is answered with thanks, while personal failure remains something to examine rather than disguise with spiritual pride.

Source details

The Imitation of Christ, Book II, Chapter X, “Of gratitude for the Grace of God,” William Benham translation, Project Gutenberg #1653. The sentence appears in the third paragraph, distinguishing thanks for grace from confession of one’s own fault within the work’s Christian theology of grace and humility.

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He that is down needs fear no fall; He that is low, no pride; He that is humble ever shall Have God to be his guide.
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“He that is down needs fear no fall; He that is low, no pride; He that is humble ever shall Have God to be his guide.”

John Bunyan · The Pilgrim’s Progress · 1678–1684
Voice: Fictional character · Shepherd boy
Meaning & context

The shepherd boy’s song presents lowliness as freedom from the anxieties attached to status and pride, joining humility with contentment inside Bunyan’s Christian pilgrimage allegory.

Source details

The Pilgrim’s Progress, Part II, Valley of Humiliation, represented by Project Gutenberg #39452, the Jesse Lyman Hurlbut-edited Every Child Can Read edition that includes the Part II episode. Mr. Great-heart and the pilgrims see a shepherd boy feeding his father's sheep and hear him sing ‘He that is down needs fear no fall...’; the song is followed by Great-heart's praise of the boy's heart's-ease. The previous #131 fallback does not contain this represented Part II passage, so the evidence layer moves to #39452. The stanza remains embedded Christian-allegorical character song rather than Bunyan autobiography or secular clinical advice about humility.

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Be thankful, therefore, for the least benefit and thou shalt be worthy to receive greater.
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“Be thankful, therefore, for the least benefit and thou shalt be worthy to receive greater.”

Thomas à Kempis · The Imitation of Christ · 15th century
Meaning & context

The devotional instruction treats gratitude as a discipline of scale: small benefits should not disappear merely because larger gifts are desired, since attention to what is received is itself part of humility.

Source details

The Imitation of Christ, Book II, Chapter X, “Of gratitude for the Grace of God,” William Benham translation, Project Gutenberg #1653. The sentence appears in the chapter’s fifth paragraph and treats gratitude for even the least divine benefit as part of humility; this remains explicitly Christian devotional teaching rather than a general promise of material reward.

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Pass then through this little space of time conformably to nature, and end thy journey in content, just as an olive falls off when it is ripe, blessing nature who produced it, and thanking the tree on which it grew.
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“Pass then through this little space of time conformably to nature, and end thy journey in content, just as an olive falls off when it is ripe, blessing nature who produced it, and thanking the tree on which it grew.”

Marcus Aurelius · Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus · c. 170
Meaning & context

Marcus joins mortality with thankfulness: a completed life is imagined as a ripe fruit that leaves without complaint while acknowledging the nature and conditions that made its growth possible.

Source details

Meditations, Book IV, section 48 in George Long’s public-domain translation, Project Gutenberg #6920/#15877 tradition. The olive image follows a reflection on the shortness of life and frames gratitude as part of accepting mortality rather than denying loss.

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