“Beware when making a woman cry. God is counting her tears.”
Paulo Coelho book Adultery
Source: Adultery
Quotes about God
A collection of quotes on the topic of life, christ, religion, christmas.
Best quotes about god
“To love another person is to see the face of God.”
Victor Hugo book Les Misérables
Variant: And remember, the truth that once was spoken: To love another person is to see the face of God.
Source: Les Misérables
“God is in everything I do and all my work glorifies Him.”
Dolly Parton (1946) American singer-songwriter and actress
“I shed more tears than God could ever have required.”
Arthur Rimbaud book Illuminations
Source: Illuminations
“To you I'm an atheist; to God, I'm the Loyal Opposition.”
Woody Allen (1935) American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright, and musician
Stardust Memories (1980).
“Faith activates God - Fear activates the Enemy.”
Joel Osteen (1963) American televangelist and author
“I would believe only in a God that knows how to dance.”
Friedrich Nietzsche book Thus Spoke Zarathustra
Variant: I would only believe in a god who could dance.
Source: Thus Spoke Zarathustra
“He who kneels before God, can stand before any man.”
Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994) President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
“Black holes are where God divided by zero.”
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
“The love of books is among the choicest gifts of the gods.”
Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) Scottish physician and author
Quotes about God
Tupac Shakur book The Rose That Grew from Concrete
Variant: Only God can judge me.
Source: The Rose That Grew from Concrete
“Bless yourself first before expecting God to bless you.”
Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author
Robert Baden-Powell (1857–1941) lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, founder and Chief Scout of the Scout Movement
Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976) German theoretical physicist
“Der erste Trunk aus dem Becher der Naturwissenschaft macht atheistisch, aber auf dem Grund des Bechers wartet Gott.” in 15 Jahrhunderte Würzburg: e. Stadt u. ihre Geschichte [15 centuries Würzburg. A city and its history] (1979), p. 205, by Heinz Otremba. Otremba does not declare his source, and the quote per se cannot be found in Heisenberg's published works.
The journalist Eike Christian Hirsch PhD, a personal acquaintance of Heisenberg, whom he interviewed for his 1981 book Expedition in die Glaubenswelt, claimed in de.wikiquote.org on 22 June 2015, that the content and style of the quote was completely foreign to Heisenberg's convictions and the way he used to express himself, and that Heisenberg's children, Dr. Maria Hirsch and Prof. Dr. Martin Heisenberg, did not recognize their father in this quote.
Statements similar to the quote were made by Francis Bacon, in "Of Atheism" (1601): "A little philosophy inclineth man’s mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men’s minds about to religion", and Alexander Pope, in "An Essay on Criticism" (1709): "A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: there shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again."
There is a passage in a lengthy essay written by Heisenberg in 1942, "Ordnung der Wirklichkeit” ("Reality and Its Order"), published in Collected Works. Section C: Philosophical and Popular Writings. Volume I. Physics and Cognition. 1927-1955 (1984), that parallels the ideas expressed in the quote (albeit in a much expanded form):
"The first thing we could say was simply: 'I believe in God, the Father, the almighty creator of heaven and earth.' The next step — at least for our contemporary consciousness — was doubt. There is no god; there is only an impersonal law that directs the fate of the world according to cause and effect... And yet [today], we may with full confidence place ourselves into the hands of the higher power who, during our lifetime and in the course of the centuries, determines our faith and therewith our world and our fate." (English translation by M.B.Rumscheidt and N. Lukens, available at http://www.heisenbergfamily.org/t-OdW-english.htm)
Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker, a protégé of Heisenberg, did publish a version of the quote itself in Die Geschichte der Natur (The History of Nature) (1948), appearing to consider it an adage:
"Aus dem Denken gibt es keinen ehrlichen Rückweg in einen naiven Glauben. Nach einem alten Satz trennt uns der erste Schluck aus dem Becher der Erkenntnis von Gott, aber auf dem Grunde des Bechers wartet Gott auf den, der ihn sucht. Wenn es so ist, dann gibt es einen Weg des Denkens, der vorwärts zu religiösen Wahrheiten führt, und nur diesen Weg zu suchen ist lohnend. Wenn es nicht so ist, wird unsere Welt auf die Religion ihre Hoffnungen vergeblich setzen." ("From thinking there is no honest way back into a naive belief. According to an old phrase, the first sip from the cup of knowledge separates us from God, but at the bottom of the cup God is waiting for the one who seeks him. If so, then there is a way of thinking that leads to religious truths, and to seek only that way is rewarding. If it is not so, our world will put its hopes to religion in vain.")
Misattributed
“All the gods, all the heavens, all the hells, are within you.”
Joseph Campbell (1904–1987) American mythologist, writer and lecturer
“I am still far from being what I want to be, but with God's help I shall succeed.”
Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890) Dutch post-Impressionist painter (1853-1890)
Ed Warren (1926–2006) American paranormal investigator, demonologist, exorcist, ghost hunter
“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”
Corrie ten Boom (1892–1983) Dutch resistance hero and writer
“I believe in equal rights for everyone. I think God loves all”
Harry Styles (1994) English singer, songwriter, and actor
Twitter response to anti-gay religious group Westboro Baptist Church picketing a One Direction concert (19 July 2013) https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/westboro-baptist-church-one-direction_n_3634663 <br class="br">Context: Despite the company outside, I believe in equal rights for everyone. I think God loves all. Thanks for coming to the show though.
Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer
"The Meaning of Life: The Big Picture", Life Magazine (December 1988)
Interviews
Genghis Khan (1162–1227) founder and first emperor of the Mongol Empire
As quoted in Ta'Rikh-i-Jahan Gusha [History of the World Conqueror] by 'Ala-ad-Din 'Ata-Malik Juvaini (ca. 1252-1260), translated by J.A. Boyle (1958), p. 105
Context: O people, know that you have committed great sins, and that the great ones among you have committed these sins. If you ask me what proof I have for these words, I say it is because I am the punishment of God. If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.
“Don't use the same mouth to lie and pray to God at the same time.”
Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author
“A woman's heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her.”
Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American author and poet
Michael Jackson (1958–2009) American singer, songwriter and dancer
and that's not what I wanted.
The Michael Jackson Interview: The Footage You Were Never Meant to See (2002)
“Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, leave the rest to God.”
Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American politician, 40th president of the United States (in office from 1981 to 1989)
“From God we have come and to God we must return.”
Omar Mukhtar (1858–1931) Libyan resistance leader
Response after receiving the sentence of death.
Trial proceedings (15 September 1931)
“Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open.”
Corrie ten Boom (1892–1983) Dutch resistance hero and writer
Ted Bundy book The Stranger Beside Me
Quoted by Bill Hagmaier. Rule, Ann (2009). The Stranger Beside Me (Paperback; updated 2009 ed.). New York: Pocket Books pages 380–96.
“God is everywhere, and you can find him everywhere.”
Genghis Khan (1162–1227) founder and first emperor of the Mongol Empire
Mohammad Habib and Khaliq Ahmad Nizami (ed.), A Comprehensive History of India, New Delhi, 1970, Volume V, The Sultanat, First Reprint, 1982. Quoted from Sita Ram Goel, The Calcutta Quran Petition (1999) ISBN 9788185990583 Chapter 10.
Anthony the Great (251–357) Christian saint, monk, and hermit
Book II, Chapter 10
From St. Athanasius' Life of St. Antony
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
Give All to Love, st. 4
1840s, Poems (1847)
“I looked and looked but I didn't see God.”
Yuri Gagarin (1934–1968) Soviet pilot and cosmonaut, the first human in space
As quoted in To Rise from Earth (1996) by Wayne Lee; some websites quote him as saying "I looked and looked and looked but I didn't see God." on 14 April 1961, a couple days after his historic flight, but the authenticity of such statements have been disputed; Colonel Valentin Petrov stated in 2006 http://www.interfax-religion.ru/orthodoxy/?act=interview&div=73&domain=1 that the cosmonaut never said such words, and that the quote originated from Nikita Khrushchev's speech at the plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU about the state's anti-religion campaign, saying "Gagarin flew into space, but didn't see any god there." Gagarin himself was a member of the Russian Orthodox Church. <br class="br">As quoted in What's Missing Inside You? (2006) by Paul Schlieker, p. 17 <br class="br">Disputed <br class="br">Variant: No I didn't see God. I looked and looked but I didn't see God.
“A woman's heart should be so hidden in God that a man has to seek Him just to find her.”
Max Lucado (1955) American clergyman and writer
“What one man calls God, another calls the laws of physics.”
Nikola Tesla (1856–1943) Serbian American inventor
“God is the one who always remembers those whom history has forgotten.”
Bartolomé de las Casas (1474–1566) Spanish Dominican friar, historian, and social reformer
“Nature is my manifestation of God.
I go to nature every day for inspiration in the day's work.”
Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959) American architect (1867-1959)
Muhammad Ali (1942–2016) African American boxer, philanthropist and activist
Response to Harold Bell, question about his view on friendship in an Interview (video) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InSFYdFaS3E.
Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) Medieval saint, prophetise, mystic and Doctor of Church
Letter to the Monk Guibert, 1176
Protagoras (-486–-411 BC) pre-Socratic Greek philosopher
Opening lines of Concerning the Gods (DK 80 B4).
Variant translation: "As to the Gods, I have no means of knowing either that they exist or that they do not exist, or if they do, what they are like."
“God has seen your tears and heard your prayers. Fear not, the child will not die.”
Grigori Rasputin (1869–1916) Russian mystic
As quoted in the opening of The Chalice of Immortality - Page xi - Google Books Result https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1402215037
“The universe itself is God and the universal outpouring of its soul”
Chrysippus (-281–-208 BC) ancient Greek philosopher
As quoted in De Natura Deorum by Cicero, i. 15.
“I don't know if God exists, but it would be better for His reputation if He didn't. ”
Jules Renard (1864–1910) French author (1864-1910)
Ram Dass (1931–2019) American contemporary spiritual teacher and the author of the 1971 book Be Here Now
“I play the notes as they are written, but it is God who makes the music.”
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) German late baroque era composer
“There is no panic in Heaven! God has no problems, only plans.”
Corrie ten Boom (1892–1983) Dutch resistance hero and writer
Charles Manson (1934–2017) American criminal and musician
As quoted in 101 People You Won't Meet in Heaven: The Twisted Achievements of the Most Brutal and Sadistic Individuals the World Has Ever Known (2007) by Michael Powell, p. 148
50 Cent (1975) American rapper, actor, businessman, investor and television producer
I'm Supposed to Die Tonight
Song lyrics, The Massacre (2005)
“The farther men get from God, the farther they advance into the knowledge of religions.”
Emil M. Cioran book The Trouble With Being Born
The Trouble With Being Born (1973)
“There is no reality but God,
says the completely surrendered sheik, who is an ocean for all beings.”
Rumi (1207–1273) Iranian poet
"The Grasses" in Ch. 4 : Spring Giddiness, p. 44
Disputed, The Essential Rumi (1995)
“God knows no religion. God belongs to mankind. I realized this while playing at the Balaji temple.”
Bismillah Khan (1916–2006) Indian musician
Quote, Encyclopedia of Bharat Ratnas
LeBron James (1984) American basketball player
LeBron James sees 'karma' in Cavs rout, Steve Ginsburg, ESPN, January 12, 2011 http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/truehoop/miamiheat/news/story?id=6014004, <br class="br">James on Twitter after the Cleveland Cavaliers lost 112–57 to the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Kings are not elected. Gods are not elected.”
Cleopatra VII (-69–-30 BC) last active pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt
Cleopatra as portrayed by Elizabeth Taylor, in Cleopatra (1963)
Misattributed
Suleiman (1494–1566) Sultan of the Ottoman Empire
Mansel, Philip, Constantinople: city of the world's desire 1453-1924 (1995), p. 84
Poetry
Mahavatar Babaji Hindu Yogi
Source: Autobiography of a Yogi (1946), Ch. 34 : Materializing a Palace in the Himalayas
“Thank God, I have done my duty.”
Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) Royal Navy Admiral
Statement among his final dying words. [citation needed]
The Battle of Trafalgar (1805)
“Stop telling God what to do with his dice.”
Niels Bohr (1885–1962) Danish physicist
A response to Einstein's assertion that "God doesn't play dice"; a similar statement is attributed to Enrico Fermi
Disputed
Variant: Einstein, don't tell God what to do.
Variant: Don't tell God what to do with his dice.
Variant: You ought not to speak for what Providence can or can not do. – As described in The Physicists: A generation that changed the world (1981) by C. P. Snow, p. 84
Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895–1986) Indian spiritual philosopher
Vol. VI, p 5, "First Talk in Rajahmundry (20 November 1949) http://www.jkrishnamurti.com/krishnamurti-teachings/view-text.php?tid=335&chid=4655&w=%22You+cannot+find+truth+through+anybody+else%22, J.Krishnamurti Online, JKO Serial No. 491120 <br class="br">Posthumous publications, The Collected Works <br class="br">Context: You cannot find truth through anybody else. How can you? Surely, truth is not something static; it has no fixed abode; it is not an end, a goal. On the contrary, it is living, dynamic, alert, alive. How can it be an end? If truth is a fixed point, it is no longer truth; it is then a mere opinion. Sir, truth is the unknown, and a mind that is seeking truth will never find it. For mind is made up of the known; it is the result of the past, the outcome of time — which you can observe for yourself. Mind is the instrument of the known; hence it cannot find the unknown; it can only move from the known to the known. When the mind seeks truth, the truth it has read about in books, that "truth" is self-projected, for then the mind is merely in pursuit of the known, a more satisfactory known than the previous one. When the mind seeks truth, it is seeking its own self-projection, not truth. After all, an ideal is self-projected; it is fictitious, unreal. What is real is what is, not the opposite. But a mind that is seeking reality, seeking God, is seeking the known. When you think of God, your God is the projection of your own thought, the result of social influences. You can think only of the known; you cannot think of the unknown, you cannot concentrate on truth. The moment you think of the unknown, it is merely the self-projected known. So, God or truth cannot be thought about. If you think about it, it is not truth. Truth cannot be sought; it comes to you. You can go after only what is known. When the mind is not tortured by the known, by the effects of the known, then only can truth reveal itself. Truth is in every leaf, every tear; it is to be known from moment to moment. No one can lead you to truth; and if anyone leads you, it can only be to the known.
“Never dream of forcing men into the ways of God. Think yourself, and let think.”
John Wesley (1703–1791) Christian theologian
Sermon 37 "The Nature of Enthusiasm"
Sermons on Several Occasions (1771)
Context: Beware you are not a fiery, persecuting enthusiast. Do not imagine that God has called you (just contrary to the spirit of Him you style your Master) to destroy men’s lives, and not to save them. Never dream of forcing men into the ways of God. Think yourself, and let think. Use no constraint in matters of religion. Even those who are farthest out of the way never compel to come in by any other means than reason, truth, and love.
“Success in life consists of standing without shame before God.”
Charbel Makhlouf (1828–1898) Lebanese Maronite monk and saint
Love is a Radiant Light: The Life & Words of Saint Charbel (2019)
“My name is Linus Torvalds and I am your god.”
Linus Torvalds (1969) Finnish-American software engineer and hacker
As quoted in: Young, Robert; Goldman Rohm, Wendy (1999), Under the Radar: How Red Hat Changed the Software Business – and Took Microsoft by Surprise, p. 111
Jokingly introducing himself, at the 1998 Linux Expo in Durham, North Carolina
2000s, (2001)
“Don't give up on God because God will not give up on you!”
Nick Vujicic (1982) Serbian Australian evangelist and motivational speaker
Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952) Yogi, a guru of Kriya Yoga and founder of Self-Realization Fellowship
Mary Oliver (1935–2019) American writer
"So every day"
Red Bird (2008)
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806–1861) English poet, author
Aurora Leigh http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/barrett/aurora/aurora.html (1857) <br class="br">Context: And truly, I reiterate,.. nothing's small!<br>No lily-muffled hum of a summer-bee,<br>But finds some coupling with the spinning stars;<br>No pebble at your foot, but proves a sphere;<br>No chaffinch, but implies the cherubim:<br>And, — glancing on my own thin, veined wrist, —<br>In such a little tremour of the blood<br>The whole strong clamour of a vehement soul<br>Doth utter itself distinct. Earth's crammed with heaven,<br>And every common bush afire with God:<br>But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,<br>The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries,<br>And daub their natural faces unaware<br>More and more, from the first similitude.<br><br>Bk. VII, l. 812-826.
Marcus Garvey (1887–1940) Jamaica-born British political activist, Pan-Africanist, orator, and entrepreneur
Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889–1951) Austrian-British philosopher
Source: Letters to Russell, Keynes and Moore
Marilyn Manson (1969) American rock musician and actor
Variant: I think art is the only thing that's spirtual in the world. And I refuse to be forced to believe in other people's interpretations of God. I don't think anybody should be. No one person can own the copyright to what God means.
Meister Eckhart (1260–1328) German theologian
Sermon IV : True Hearing
Meister Eckhart’s Sermons (1909)
Context: The man who abides in the will of God wills nothing else than what God is, and what He wills. If he were ill he would not wish to be well. If he really abides in God's will, all pain is to him a joy, all complication, simple: yea, even the pains of hell would be a joy to him. He is free and gone out from himself, and from all that he receives, he must be free. If my eye is to discern colour, it must itself be free from all colour. The eye with which I see God is the same with which God sees me. My eye and God's eye is one eye, and one sight, and one knowledge, and one love.
“How to make God laugh? Tell Him your plans.”
Marian Keyes (1963) Irish writer
Source: The Other Side of the Story
Erma Bombeck (1927–1996) When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent le…
