Quotes about God
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“All gods are homemade, and it is we who pull their strings, and so, give them the power to pull ours”

Aldous Huxley book Island

Source: Vijaya in Island (1962)

“I could not believe in a God that would challenge faith like this.”

Jonathan Safran Foer book Everything Is Illuminated

Source: Everything Is Illuminated

Faith

“God, as a loving Father, will stretch our souls at times. The soul is like a violin string: it makes music only when it is stretched…. God will tutor us by trying us because He loves us, not because of indifference!”

Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) Mormon leader

Love, Music, Soul, Time

“The greatest honor we can give Almighty God is to live gladly because of the knowledge of his love.”

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

Love, Knowledge

“yesterday someone sent a message that was signed GOD! bernard said.
really? dap said. i didn't know he was signed onto the system”

Orson Scott Card book Ender's Game

Source: Ender's Game

“To be a god can ultimately become boring and degrading. There'd be reason enough for the invention of free will! A god might wish to escape into sleep and be alive only in the unconscious projections of his dream-creatures.”

Frank Herbert (1920–1986) American writer

Dreams, Sleep

“O God, make me good, but not yet”

Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966) British writer

Part 1, start of chapter 5
Brideshead Revisited (1945)
Source: Brideshead Revisited: The Sacred and Profane Memories of Captain Charles Ryder

“Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish.”

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity

“We were like gods at the dawning of the world, & our joy was so bright we could see nothing else but the other.”

Madeline Miller book The Song of Achilles

Source: The Song of Achilles

World, Joy

“God seldom calls us for an easier life, but always calls us to know more of him and drink more deeply of His sustaining grace.”

John Piper (1946) American writer

Source: Don't Waste Your Life

Life, Drink

“God weeps with us so that we may one day laugh with him.”

Jürgen Moltmann (1926) German Reformed theologian

“I want to be with God all the time. But I don't want to be a monk, or totally give up worldly pleasures. I guess what i want to learn is how to live in this world and enjoy its delights, but also devote myself to God.”

Elizabeth Gilbert (1969) American writer

Pleasure, World, Learning, Time

“I am the god Apostolos. The Harbinger of Telikos. The Final Fate of all. Beloved son of Apollymi the Great Destroyer. My will makes the will of the universe. [Apostolos / Acheron Parthenopaeus]”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Source: Acheron

Fate, Universe

“The greatest gift God gave us is the power to make decisions.”

Paulo Coelho book Manuscript Found in Accra

Source: Manuscript Found in Accra

Decision

“Beli at thirteen believed in love like a seventy-year-old widow who's been abandoned by family, husband, children and fortune believes in God.”

Junot Díaz book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Source: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Love, Children, Family

“He said, "I am a man," and that meant certain things to Juana. It meant that he was half insane and half god.”

John Steinbeck book The Pearl

Source: The Pearl (1947), Ch. V
Context: He had said, "I am a man," and that meant certain things to Juana. It meant that he was half insane and half god. It meant that Kino would drive his strength against a mountain and plunge his strength against the sea. Juana, in her woman's soul, knew that the mountain would stand while the man broke himself; that the sea would surge while the man drowned in it. And yet it was this thing that made him a man, half insane and half god, and Juana had need of a man; she could not live without a man. Although she might be puzzled by these differences between man and woman, she knew them and accepted them and needed them. Of course she would follow him, there was no question of that. Sometimes the quality of woman, the reason, the caution, the sense of preservation, could cut through Kino's manness and save them all.

“He couldn't offend the gods with a pointed stick.”

Megan Whalen Turner (1965) American children's writer

“Many religions have attempted to make statues of their gods very large, and the idea, I suppose, is to make us feel small. But if that's their purpose, they can keep their paltry icons. We need only look up if we wish to feel small.”

Carl Sagan (1934–1996) American astrophysicist, cosmologist, author and science educator

Source: The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God (2006)

Religion, Feeling, Idea

“Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods."

[Preface to(1794)]”

Edmund Burke (1729–1797) Anglo-Irish statesman

Source: On Empire, Liberty, and Reform: Speeches and Letters

Truth, Knowledge, Laughter

“God creates, I do not create. I assemble and I steal everywhere to do it – from what I see, from what the dancers can do, from what others do…”

George Balanchine (1904–1983) Georgian choreographer, dancer and ballet master (1904-1983)

“This is so American, man: either make something your god and cosmos and then worship it, or else kill it.”

David Foster Wallace (1962–2008) American fiction writer and essayist

“God does not know whether a skin is black or white, He sees only souls.”

Katherine Anne Porter book The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter

Source: The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter

Soul

“Profound hearts, wise minds, take life as God makes it; it is a long trial, and unintelligible preparation for the unknown destiny.”

Victor Hugo book Les Misérables

Source: Les Misérables

Life, Heart

“What is a god? A god is a personification of a motivating power of a value system that functions in human life and in the universe.”

Joseph Campbell The Power of Myth

Source: The Power of Myth (book), p. 28
Context: Now, what is a myth? The dictionary definition of a myth would be stories about gods. So then you have to ask the next question: What is a god? A god is a personification of a motivating power or a value system that functions in human life and in the universe - the powers if your own body and of nature.

Life, Motivation, Universe

“However many blessings we expect from God, His infinite liberality will always exceed all our wishes and our thoughts.”

John Calvin (1509–1564) French Protestant reformer

“Whenever there is stillness there is the still small voice, God's speaking from the whirlwind, nature's old song, and dance…”

Annie Dillard (1945) American writer

Source: Teaching a Stone to Talk: Expeditions and Encounters

Nature, Dance

“The tiny Lilliputians surmise that Gulliver's watch may be his god, because it is that which, he admits, he seldom does anything without consulting.”

Jonathan Swift book Les Voyages de Gulliver

Source: Gulliver's Travels

“Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.”

Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) British missionary

Faith, Way, Confidence, Understanding

“Hell is—other people!”

Jean Paul Sartre No Exit

Variant: Hell is others.
Source: No Exit

People, Hell

“Those who preach god, need god
Those who preach peace do not have peace
Those who preach love do not have love”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

Source: The Roominghouse Madrigals: Early Selected Poems, 1946-1966

Love, Peace

“God knows what I thought! Your brain does amazing acrobatics when it doesn't want to believe something.”

Elizabeth Wein book Rose Under Fire

Source: Rose Under Fire

“Feelings are facts. Look straight at 'em and deal with 'em. Work it through, as honestly as you can. If God is anything like a middle-class white chick from the suburbs, which I admit is a long shot, it's what you do about what you feel that matters.”

Mary Doria Russell The Sparrow

Source: The Sparrow

Feeling

“And I thought, there was no God, there was only what you wanted.”

Janet Fitch book White Oleander

Source: White Oleander

“Through my tears
I found god in myself
and I loved her fiercely”

Ntozake Shange (1948–2018) Contemporary African American writer and performance artist

for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf (1976)
Variant: i found god in myself
& i loved her/i loved her fiercely

Love, Tear

“There was my name up in lights. I said, 'God, somebody's made a mistake.' But there it was, in lights. And I sat there and said, 'Remember, you're not a star.' Yet there it was up in lights.”

Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962) American actress, model, and singer

Source: Fragments: Poems, Intimate Notes, Letters

Star, Light

“don't be ashamed of
anything; I guess God meant it all
like
locks on
doors.”

Charles Bukowski (1920–1994) American writer

“God doesn't give people burdens they can't handle.”

Jodi Picoult book Handle With Care

Source: Handle with Care

People

“Hell […] is the absence of God and the presence of Time.”

Glen Duncan book I, Lucifer

Source: I, Lucifer

Hell, Time

“It must be a great disappointment to God if we are not dazzled at least ten times a day.”

Mary Oliver (1935–2019) American writer

Source: Blue Horses

Disappointment, Time

“I believe in God, but I don't think you have to go crazy to prove it.”

Fannie Flagg book Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Source: Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Thinking

“I am the son of the road, my country is a caravan and my life is the most unexpected of voyages. i belong to earth and to the god and it is to them that I will one day soon return”

Amin Maalouf (1949) Francophone Lebanese writer based in France

Life, Country

“God, what a ghastly enterprise to be in, though--and what an odd way to achieve success. I'm an exhibitionist who wants to hide, but is unsuccessful at hiding; therefore, somehow I succeed.”

David Foster Wallace (1962–2008) American fiction writer and essayist

Way, Success

“God has privileged us in Christ Jesus to live above the ordinary human plane of life. Those who want to be ordinary and live on a lower plane can do so, but as for me, I will not.”

Smith Wigglesworth (1859–1947) British evangelist

Life, Christ

“What gave you this idea of an imperfect god?'

'I don't know. It seems quite feasible to me. That is the only god I could imagine believing in, a god whose passion is not a redemption, who saves nothing, fulfills no purpose--a god who simply is.”

Stanisław Lem book Solaris

Source: Solaris

Imagination, Idea, Passion

“God, I miss you,” he said in a voice that cracked. “Every night. Every day…”

Jessica Bird (1969) U.S. novelist

Source: Lover Reborn

Night

“At the age of 25 most people were finished. A whole god-damned nation of assholes driving automobiles, eating, having babies, doing everything in the worst way possible, like voting for the presidential candidate who reminded them most of themselves.”

Charles Bukowski book Ham on Rye

Ham On Rye (1982)
Source: Ham on Rye
Context: The problem was you had to keep choosing between one evil or another, and no matter what you chose, they sliced a little more off you, until there was nothing left. At the age of 25 most people were finished. A whole goddamned nation of assholes driving automobiles, eating, having babies, doing everything in the worst way possible, like voting for the presidential candidate who reminded them most of themselves. I had no interests. I had no interest in anything. I had no idea how I was going to escape. At least the others had some taste for life. They seemed to understand something that I didn't understand. Maybe I was lacking. It was possible. I often felt inferior. I just wanted to get away from them. But there was no place to go.

People, Age, Way, Baby

“Isn’t it only through laughter that we become one with the gods and thus can endure life and can overcome all the horror and waste and suffering here on earth? …Isn’t it only through laughter we can stay human?”

James Clavell book Shōgun

Source: Shōgun

Life, Laughter, Suffering

“All around the world, we are gazing skyward waiting for God…
Never realizing that God is waiting for us.”

Dan Brown (1964) American author

World, Waiting

“Religion is based on the idea that God is an imbecile.”

Noam Chomsky (1928) american linguist, philosopher and activist

Religion, Idea

“i am like a survivor
of the flood
walking through the streets
drenched with
God
surprised that all of the
drowned victims
are still walking and talking”

Saul Williams (1972) American singer, musician, poet, writer, and actor

Source: , said the shotgun to the head.

“[I]f you believe in God omnipresent, then you must believe everything that comes into your life, person or event, must have something of God in it to be experienced and loved; not hated.”

Elizabeth Goudge book Green Dolphin Street

Source: Green Dolphin Street

Love, Life, Hate, Personality

“If we will but let our God and Father work His will with us, there can be no limit to His enlargement of our existence”

George MacDonald (1824–1905) Scottish journalist, novelist

Source: Unspoken Sermons: Series I, II, III

“How can I believe in God when just last week I got my tongue caught in the roller of an electric typewriter?”

Woody Allen (1935) American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright, and musician

As quoted in Love, Sex, Death & The Meaning of Life : The Films of Woody Allen (2001) by Foster Hirsch, p. 50.

“A woman had to choose her own particular unhappiness carefully. That was the only happiness in life: to choose the best unhappiness. An unwise move, good God, you could squander everything.”

Lorrie Moore (1957) American writer

Source: Bark: Stories

Life, Happiness

“My prayers, my God, flow from what I am not;
I think thy answers make me what I am.”

George MacDonald (1824–1905) Scottish journalist, novelist

Source: The Diary of an Old Soul & the White Page Poems

Thinking

“We are women, and my plea is Let me be a woman, holy through and through, asking for nothing but what God wants to give me, receiving with both hands and with all my heart whatever that is.”

Elisabeth Elliot (1926–2015) American missionary

Women, Heart

“It is impossible to meet God without abandon, without exposing yourself, being raw.”

Bono (1960) Irish rock musician, singer of U2

Source: Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas

“Given the world that he created, it would be an impiety against God to believe in him.”

John Banville The Sea

Source: The Sea

World

“When Eve ate the apple her knowledge increased. But God liked dumb women so Paradise ceased. Gwen Goodnight. Her Work.”

Jennifer Crusie (1949) American writer

Source: Faking It

Women, Knowledge

“When you are in the dark, listen, and God will give you a very precious message.”

Oswald Chambers (1874–1917) British missionary

“Calamity is a blessing when it brings one to God.
--- Hadassah”

Francine Rivers book A Voice in the Wind

Source: A Voice in the Wind

“But there are still the hours, aren't there? One and then another, and you get through that one and then, my god, there's another.”

Michael Cunningham book The Hours

Source: The Hours

“I have never understood why people who can swallow the enormous improbability of a personal God boggle at a personal Devil.”

Graham Greene (1904–1991) English writer, playwright and literary critic

People, Personality

“God does not play dice with the universe.”

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity

Source: The Born-Einstein Letters 1916-55

Universe

“To look away from the world, or to stare at it, does not help a man to reach God; but he who sees the world in Him stands in His presence.”

Martin Buber book I and Thou

Source: I and Thou

World, Help

“God wants us to live consistently, He wants us to enjoy every single day of our lives.”

Joel Osteen (1963) American televangelist and author

Source: Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential

“Sometimes we get caught up in trying to glorify God by praising what He can do and we lose sight of the practical point of what He actually does do.”

Dallas Willard (1935–2013) American philosopher

“God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.”

Madeleine L'Engle book A Wrinkle in Time

Source: A Wrinkle in Time

World

“The presence of God is the finest of rewards.”

Yann Martel book Life of Pi

Source: Life of Pi

“If you married me, it would be scandalous and innapropriate, and doors would be closed to you."
"Good God, woman, I let two of my sisters marry Gypsies. Those doors have already been closed, bolted, and nailed shut.”

Lisa Kleypas (1964) American writer

Source: Married By Morning

Sister

“I’m the god of funerals. I know every death custom in the world—how to die properly, how to prepare the body and soul for the afterlife. I live for death.”
“You must be fun at parties,” I said.”

Rick Riordan book The Red Pyramid

Source: The Red Pyramid

Death, World, Soul

“The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love. That's the message we're brought up with, isn't it? Believe or die! Thank you, forgiving Lord, for all those options.”

Bill Hicks (1961–1994) American comedian

Rant in E-Minor (1997)
Variant: The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love. That's the message we're brought up with, isn't it? Beleive or die! Thank you, forgiving Lord, for all those options.

Love, Forgiveness, Question, Suffering

“When the sins of our fathers visit us
We do not have to play host.
We can banish them with forgiveness
As God, in his His Largeness and Laws.”

August Wilson Fences

Source: Fences

Law, Forgiveness

“The sorrow of God lies in our fear of Him, our fear of life, and our fear of ourselves. He anguishes over our self-absorption and self-sufficiency… God's sorrow lies in our refusal to approach Him when we sinned and failed.”

Brennan Manning (1934–2013) writer, American Roman Catholic priest and United States Marine

Source: Abba's Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging

Life, Fear

“Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.”

William Wordsworth The World Is Too Much with Us

The World Is Too Much with Us, l. 9 (1806).

Sea

“You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them.”

Desmond Tutu (1931) South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner

Address at his enthronement as Anglican archbishop of Cape Town (7 September 1986)

Family, Family, Cute

“Percy, lesser beings do many horrible things in the name of the gods. That does not mean we gods approve. The way our sons and daughters act in our names… well, it usually says more about THEM than it does about us.”

Rick Riordan book The Battle of the Labyrinth

Source: The Battle of the Labyrinth

Way, Daughters

“I run blindly through the madhouse… And I cannot even pray… For I have no God.”

Grant Morrison (1960) writer

Source: Batman: Arkham Asylum - A Serious House on Serious Earth

“Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?" Dionysus asked.

Yes, Lord Dionysus."

Mr. D nodded. "Just checking. You're right, of course. Carry on.”

Rick Riordan book The Titan's Curse

Source: The Titan's Curse

“Science tells me God must exist. My mind tells me I will never understand God. And my heart tells me I am not meant to.”

Dan Brown book Angels & Demons

Variant: Science tells me God must exist.
My mind tells me I'll never understand God.
My heart tells me I'm not meant to.

[Vittoria Vetra]
Source: Angels & Demons

Understanding, Science, Heart

“Dear Child of God, I am sorry to say that suffering is not optional.”

Desmond Tutu (1931) South African churchman, politician, archbishop, Nobel Prize winner

Suffering