“Serving God is doing good to man, but praying is thought an easier service and therefore more generally chosen. ”

— Benjamin Franklin

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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Benjamin Franklin 183

American author, printer, political theorist, politician, p… 1706–1790

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“Who God doth late and early pray,
More of his grace than gifts to send,
And entertains the harmless day
With a well-chosen book or friend.”

Henry Wotton (1568–1639) English ambassador

The Character of a Happy Life (1614), stanza 5.

“To see that He doeth it, and to pray forthwithal, — so is He worshiped and we sped. All-thing that our Lord hath ordained to do, it is His will that we pray therefor, either in special or in general.”

Julian of Norwich (1342–1416) English theologian and anchoress

The Fourteenth Revelation, Chapter 42
Context: To see that He doeth it, and to pray forthwithal, — so is He worshiped and we sped. All-thing that our Lord hath ordained to do, it is His will that we pray therefor, either in special or in general. And the joy and the bliss that it is to Him, and the thanks and the worship that we shall have therefor, it passeth the understanding of creatures, as to my sight. For prayer is a right understanding of that fulness of joy that is to come, with well-longing and sure trust.

“The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.”

Sun Tzu (-543–-495 BC) ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher from the Zhou Dynasty

Source: The Art of War, Chapter X · Terrain

“It is easier to know man in general than to know one man.”

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

Il est plus aisé de connaître l'homme en général que de connaître un homme en particulier.
Variant translation: It is much easier to know men generally, than to know a particular man.
Maxim 436.
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665–1678)

“Prayer oneth the soul to God. For though the soul be ever like to God in kind and substance, restored by grace, it is often unlike in condition, by sin on man’s part. Then is prayer a witness that the soul willeth as God willeth; and it comforteth the conscience and enableth man to grace. And thus He teacheth us to pray, and mightily to trust that we shall have it. For He beholdeth us in love and would make us partners of His good deed, and therefore He stirreth us to pray for that which it pleaseth him to do. For which prayer and good will, that we have of His gift, He will reward us and give us endless meed.”

Julian of Norwich (1342–1416) English theologian and anchoress

The Fourteenth Revelation, Chapter 43

“Women of America! You can give and serve and pray. You can give self-denyingly. You can serve lovingly. You can pray conqueringly. The best example of self-denying liberality in the Bible is recorded of woman. The best example of loving service in the Bible is recorded of woman. The best example of conquering prayer in the Bible is recorded of woman. It was no great gift, no great service, no great prayer. The gift was a widow's mite. The service was the anointing of Jesus with a box of ointment. The prayer was a mother's prayer for a daughter possessed with a devil. But the gift and service and prayer were in self-denial and love and faith. And so in the sight of God they were of great price.”

Herrick Johnson (1832–1913) American clergyman

Source: Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), P. 617.

“This thought had led to the fear that I might pick the wrong God to pray to. I thought that, because praying to the wrong God was expressly a sin, and because a merciful God might forgive me for forgetting to pray, it therefore followed that, even without knowing which one was the right one, my best chances lay in staying quiet and hoping for the best. That strategy worked in class when I didn’t know the answer, so I supposed it might work in the arena of theology, also.”

John C. Wright book Orphans of Chaos

Source: Orphans of Chaos (2005), Chapter 3, “The First of the Secrets” Section 8 (p. 48)

“The Mass is Idolatry. All worshipping, honouring, or service invented by the brain of man in the religion of God, without his own express commandment, is idolatry. The Mass is invented by the brain of man, without any commandment of God; therefore it is idolatry.”

John Knox (1514–1572) Scottish clergyman, writer and historian

John Knox, A Vindication of the Doctrine that the Sacrifice of the Mass is Idolatry http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/vindicat.htm, 1550; as quoted in Selected Writings of John Knox: Public Epistles, Treatises, and Expositions to the Year 1559

“Be good, love the Lord, pray for those who do not know Him. What a great grace it is to know God!”

Josephine Bakhita (1868–1947) Italian saint and former slave

Quoted in "Josephine Bakhita (1869-1947)", The Holy See https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20001001_giuseppina-bakhita_en.html.

“Good books, like good friends, are few and chosen; the more select, the more enjoyable.”

Amos Bronson Alcott (1799–1888) American teacher and writer

Source: Tablets

“Serving God is doing good to man, but praying is thought an easier service and therefore more generally chosen. ”

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Benjamin Franklin 183

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