“Prayer is the soul's sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed,—
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.”

—  James Montgomery

What is Prayer?
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, Uttered or unexpressed,— The motion of a hidden fire That trembles in the breas…" by James Montgomery?
James Montgomery photo
James Montgomery25
British editor, hymn writer, and poet 1771–1854

Related quotes

Joseph Murphy photo

“Prayer is the soul's sincere desire. Your desire is your prayer. It comes out of your deepest needs and it reveals the things you want in life.”

Joseph Murphy The Power of Your Subconscious Mind

Source: The Power of Your Subconscious Mind

John Ogilby photo

“Mean time the Queen wounded with deep desire,
Bleeds inward, and consumes in hidden Fire.”

John Ogilby (1600–1676) Scottish academic

The Works of Publius Virgilius Maro (2nd ed. 1654), Virgil's Æneis

Harryette Mullen photo

“I regret to say I'm
unable to reply to your unexpressed desires.”

Harryette Mullen (1953) American writer

Mwanandeke Kindembo photo

“Nicknames are only used in a friendly manner and not when making a sincere prayer or dedicating your prayers to the Creator.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

Angela of Foligno photo

“By prayer I mean not merely prayer from the mouth, but of the mind and heart, of all the powers of the soul and senses of the body. This is the prayer prayed by the soul who wills and desires to find this divine light, studying, meditating and reading without cease in the Book and the more-than-a-book of Life. This Book of Life is the entire life of Christ while he lived as a mortal on earth.”

Angela of Foligno (1248–1309) Italian saint

Source: The Memorial and Instructions, p. 302

François de La Rochefoucauld photo

“It is difficult to define love. In the soul it is a passion to rule; in the mind it is sympathy; and in the body it is only a hidden and tactful desire to possess what we love after many mysteries.”

François de La Rochefoucauld book Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims

Il est difficile de définir l'amour. Dans l'âme c'est une passion de régner, dans les esprits c'est une sympathie, et dans le corps ce n'est qu'une envie cachée et délicate de posséder ce que l'on aime après beaucoup de mystères.
Maxim 68.
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665–1678)

Tom Waits photo

“There's no prayer like desire.”

Tom Waits (1949) American singer-songwriter and actor

Felix Adler photo

“Somehow the secret of the universe is hidden in our breast. Somehow the destinies of the universe depend upon our exertions.”

Felix Adler (1851–1933) German American professor of political and social ethics, rationalist, and lecturer

Section 2 : Religion
Founding Address (1876), Life and Destiny (1913)
Context: Of the origin of things we know nothing, and can know nothing. Perfection does not reveal itself to us as existent in the beginning; but as something that ought to be, something new which we are to help create. Somehow the secret of the universe is hidden in our breast. Somehow the destinies of the universe depend upon our exertions.

“WE HAVE SEEN that hunger and breathing are desires of the body. There are other desires that are not of the body, but again man seldom pauses to observe these desires in himself. For us who are observers of ourselves there can never be a hidden desire or hidden motivation. If we are always observing ourselves nothing hidden can come in without being spotted, and nothing hidden can get done, because we (the master) are always there.”

Barry Long (1926–2003) Australian spiritual teacher and writer

Knowing Yourself: The True in the False (1996)

Related topics