Religion quotes

My Religion, Introduction; Huntington Smith translation, represented 1885 Crowell edition, Project Gutenberg #43794. Tolstoy’s autobiographical opening says that faith came to him five years earlier and describes the reversal of his former judgments and desires.

Robinson Crusoe, represented by Project Gutenberg #38705. Crusoe says this while reflecting on what he interprets as secret intimations of Providence; the sentence is fictional first-person religious reflection, not evidence for supernatural guidance.

“Pied Beauty,” written in 1877 and first published in Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins (1918), represented by Project Gutenberg #22403. The poem is a Christian curtal sonnet of praise; its theological attribution of natural variety remains devotional poetry.

The Task, Book I, represented by Project Gutenberg #3698. “God made the country, and man made the town” appears in Cowper’s didactic contrast between urban fashion and rural life immediately before claims about health and virtue in fields and groves. It remains eighteenth-century poetic and Christian-inflected judgment rather than empirical evidence that country living is healthier or more virtuous.

“God’s Grandeur,” in Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins Now First Published, Project Gutenberg #22403. Hopkins wrote the sonnet in 1877; it was published posthumously in 1918. The statement is Christian poetic belief, not an empirical description of nature.

Pippa Passes (1841), represented in the Project Gutenberg Robert Browning works edition #59123. The lyric is sung by Pippa inside a verse drama; its Christian optimism is a character-song within the play, not a factual guarantee that every event is good.

“A Better Resurrection,” in Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862 first edition), Devotional Pieces, printed page 137 / scan leaf 153. “My life is in the falling leaf: O Jesus, quicken me” closes the first stanza as a direct Christian prayer for renewed life; the address to Jesus and resurrection frame are essential context and are not secularized into generic recovery advice.

“Light Shining out of Darkness,” first published in 1774 and later included in Olney Hymns; represented by the Cowper & Newton Museum. The line is explicitly Christian devotional poetry about providence, not evidence that every hardship has a knowable beneficial purpose.

Natural Law in the Spiritual World, represented by Project Gutenberg #23334. The sentence belongs to Drummond’s nineteenth-century attempt to analogize scientific language and Christian theology. It is retained as historical religious-philosophical argument, not a current biological law.

Rights of Man, Part II, Project Gutenberg public-domain collection #3742. The line appears in Paine’s statement of independence from place or person while criticizing hereditary political privilege. The exact text is “my country is the world, and my religion is to do good,” not the later expanded attribution “all mankind are my brethren.”

Gitanjali, poem 4, in Tagore’s own prose translations from Bengali; Project Gutenberg #7164. The omitted continuation explicitly attributes the strength to act to the divine addressee, so the line remains religious rather than generic productivity advice.

Hydriotaphia, Urn Burial, Chapter V, Project Gutenberg #586. The represented 1869 J. W. Willis Bund collection states that its Hydriotaphia text is taken from the 1686 folio edition. “Life is a pure flame” occurs inside Browne’s Christian meditation on burial, resurrection, mortality and posthumous memory; the “invisible sun” is metaphysical-religious imagery, not scientific evidence.

Mark 11:25 in the King James Version; excerpt from the verse.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Part VII, Project Gutenberg #151. ‘He prayeth best, who loveth best / All things both great and small’ belongs to the Mariner's explicitly Christian concluding lesson after his supernatural ordeal, immediately following the parallel line about loving ‘Both man and bird and beast.’ It is fictional poetic speech and religious-moral language, not a neutral scientific, theological or animal-behavior proposition.

“The Narrow Way,” dated April 27, 1848 and represented by Wikisource’s Complete Poems text. The poem explicitly describes a Christian path of labour, endurance, pardon and devotion to God; the metaphor is religious poetry rather than generic success doctrine.

Aurora Leigh, Book VII, printed page 304 / Wikisource scan leaf 313, scan-backed Chapman and Hall third edition (London, 1857), cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #56621. Aurora’s “Earth’s crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God” belongs to an explicitly theistic argument about art, spiritual perception and the divine significance of ordinary nature. It remains poetic-religious narration rather than a scientific claim about nature.

“The Elixir,” in The Temple, published in 1633. The stanza is explicitly Christian devotional poetry about motive, work and service; it should not be flattened into secular evidence about job performance.

“The Pulley,” from The Temple (1633), represented by Poetry Foundation. The ending is spoken by God within Herbert’s devotional conceit and expresses Christian theology rather than a medical or psychological explanation of fatigue.

Religio Medici, represented by Project Gutenberg #586. Browne develops this sentence inside an explicitly Christian natural-theology argument about providence, creation and the beauty of living forms. It is historical religious philosophy, not a scientific definition of nature.

“To a Waterfowl,” represented in Project Gutenberg #29700. The closing lines explicitly infer providential guidance from the bird’s flight; the claim remains Christian-inflected lyric reflection, not evidence about supernatural intervention.

“Love (III),” posthumously published in The Temple (1633), represented by Poetry Foundation. “Love” functions as a personified divine presence within explicitly Christian devotional poetry; the exchange is theological lyric, not secular relationship advice.

Toilers of the Sea, Preface, represented by Project Gutenberg #32338 in W. Moy Thomas's English translation. 'Religion, Society, and Nature! these are the three struggles of man' opens Hugo's triadic framing of Notre-Dame de Paris, Les Misérables and Toilers of the Sea. It is translated authorial/literary framing, not a social-scientific taxonomy of every human struggle.

No Cross, No Crown, Preface, Project Gutenberg #44895. Penn opens by saying that the great business of life is to answer the end for which one lives, immediately defining that end as glorifying God and saving one’s soul. The frozen catalog retains only the opening clause. This is explicitly Quaker Christian devotional exhortation, not a neutral or universal factual definition of life’s purpose.

Optimism: An Essay (1903), Project Gutenberg #31622. “Attain heaven” belongs to Keller’s explicitly religious language and is not secularized into a guaranteed outcome.

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.

Pax Vobiscum, represented by Project Gutenberg #9373. The sentence appears in Drummond’s Christian practical-theology discussion of rest and peace; its religious causal framework is historical devotional argument rather than clinical psychology.

The Holy War, represented by Project Gutenberg #395. Emmanuel addresses the allegorical town of Mansoul in an explicitly Christian passage about redemption, temptation and divine love. Emmanuel is the Christ-like fictional/allegorical speaker; the sentence is not Bunyan autobiography or a nonreligious factual guarantee.

Letter to the Reverend Samson Occom, February 11, 1774, published in the Connecticut press and represented by the National Constitution Center. Wheatley’s explicitly religious and natural-rights argument condemns oppression while speaking from the historical context of Atlantic slavery.

“On Being Brought from Africa to America,” in Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral (1773), represented by Project Gutenberg #409. The poem’s eighteenth-century racial and Christian vocabulary is preserved in historical context; interpretation remains attentive to Wheatley’s position as an enslaved Black poet writing for a colonial audience.

Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments, represented by Founders Online / National Archives. Madison wrote against a proposed Virginia assessment supporting teachers of Christianity. The sentence is historical religious-liberty argument, not current legal advice.

Holy Sonnet 10, posthumously printed in 1633 and represented by Wikisource. The poem’s defiance of death rests on explicitly Christian claims about resurrection and eternal life; it is devotional poetry, not factual evidence about death.

The Vanity of Human Wishes (1749), explicitly devotional closing movement, Wikisource first-edition scan leaf 41. Johnson allows supplication for good while telling the petitioner to leave “the Measure and the Choice” to Heaven. The passage remains eighteenth-century Christian moral poetry rather than universal therapeutic, medical or decision-making guidance.

The Water-Babies, represented by Project Gutenberg #1018. Tom recalls the mysterious Irishwoman’s warning while half asleep. The cleanliness language participates in Kingsley’s Victorian Christian moral fantasy and is not a scientific claim about character or hygiene.

The Brothers Karamazov, Book VI, Chapter 3, Constance Garnett translation, verified against Project Gutenberg #28054 and Wikisource. Father Zossima urges his listeners to love a person even in sin as a likeness of divine love; the statement remains explicitly Christian fictional exhortation, not uncomplicated Dostoevsky autobiography.

What's Wrong with the World, Part One, Chapter V, ‘The Unfinished Temple,’ Project Gutenberg #1717. Chesterton argues that the Christian ideal was ‘found difficult; and left untried’ while claiming that older ideals failed through incomplete practice rather than exhaustion. It remains explicitly Christian and historical polemic rather than a neutral empirical rule about why institutions or ideals fail.

Psalm 100:4 in the King James Version; thanksgiving is presented as the posture for entering worship.

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.

James 1:27 in the King James Version.

The Christian Religion, as Profess'd by a Daughter of the Church of England (1705), opening section, first-edition Google Books scan, around p. 6 before the p. 7 heading represented in the scan’s contents. The first edition uses period spelling/capitalization (“Women shou’d use their Reason … wou’d”), while the frozen catalog record modernizes those forms. Astell’s argument is explicitly Christian and concerns women’s rational agency in religion; it is not a modern empirical finding.

A Theologico-Political Treatise — Part III, Chapter XIV, paragraph 77, Project Gutenberg #991. The frozen catalog preserves the opening of Spinoza’s longer sentence; the paragraph continues by condemning teachings tending toward obstinacy, hatred, strife and anger and praising justice and charity. This is seventeenth-century theological / political philosophy, not a modern empirical claim.

The Great Case of Liberty of Conscience (1670), represented by the CELT / University College Cork transcription. Original-period spelling is retained. Penn is making a seventeenth-century Quaker argument against coercion in religion; the record is historical political-religious thought, not current legal advice.

A Letter to a Friend, represented by Project Gutenberg #586. The sentence follows Browne’s description of his deceased friend’s desire for public and lasting charities. Its image of foundations in heaven is explicitly Christian consolation and should not be detached into a secular factual promise about charitable intentions.

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.

The Age of Reason, Part I, Chapter I, “The Author’s Profession of Faith”; Moncure Daniel Conway collected/edited text represented by Project Gutenberg #3743 and cross-checked against Wikisource. The retained catalog wording says “I believe in the equality of man,” while the Conway/Gutenberg and Wikisource witness reads “I believe the equality of man.” This collection keeps its frozen legacy wording and discloses the edition-level variant rather than silently rewriting it. The passage is Paine’s deist profession of faith joining equality, justice, mercy and the happiness of fellow-creatures.

Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, paragraph 339, represented by Project Gutenberg #654. This is Bunyan’s explicitly Christian autobiographical reflection after describing fear of imprisonment, death and spiritual abandonment; it remains devotional testimony rather than general mental-health or adversity advice.

Letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, August 18, 1790, Founders Online. Washington follows this by saying the United States government gives “to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.” The record is historical civic-religious argument, not evidence that the period had already achieved equal liberty in practice.

A Philosophical Dictionary, article ‘Toleration,’ Section I, Project Gutenberg #35630. Voltaire opens the section by calling toleration an attribute of humanity and urging mutual pardon for human weakness and error, then turns immediately to religious communities trading together without violence. This remains an Enlightenment polemic against religious persecution rather than a modern legal definition or universal empirical law.

Villette, late in the novel; spoken in the first-person narrative voice of the fictional Lucy Snowe. The religious hope belongs to Lucy’s character and scene, not a direct autobiographical declaration by Charlotte Brontë.

A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689), public-domain text also preserved in The Works of John Locke. Locke immediately distinguishes civil government from religion and argues that persecution should not be disguised as care for souls. His historical position had limits, so this page does not present the letter as a complete modern theory of equal religious freedom.