“If you cannot be great, be willing to serve God in that which is small. If you cannot do great things for Him, cheerfully do little ones. If you cannot be an Aaron to serve at the altar, or a Moses to guide the tribes, consent to be "a little maid" to Naaman the Syrian, for the honor of God's prophets, or a little child, for Christ's sake, to be set by Him in the midst of the people, as an illustration of the sweetness of humility.”

— Samuel Francis Smith

Reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895), p. 123.

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 "If you cannot be great, be willing to serve God in that which is small. If you cannot do great things for Him, cheerful…" by Samuel Francis Smith?

Samuel Francis Smith 3

Protestant Christian Minister Patriotic hymn writer 1808–1895

P. C. Cast book Burned

Source: Burned

“Those who cannot feel the littleness of great things in themselves are apt to overlook the greatness of little things in others.”

Kakuzo Okakura (1862–1913) Japanese scholar, author of The Book of Tea

“You are afraid of life, Little Man, deadly afraid. You will murder it in the belief of doing it for the sake of "socialism," or "the state," or "national honor," or "the glory of God."”

Wilhelm Reich book Listen, Little Man!

Listen, Little Man! (1948)

“Remake the wild, a little at a time, each in your own corner of the world. You cannot wait for anyone else, even a god, to do that for you.”

Rick Riordan book The Battle of the Labyrinth

Source: The Battle of the Labyrinth

“I do profess to be no less than I seem; to serve him truly that will put me in trust: to love him that is honest; to converse with him that is wise, and says little; to fear judgment; to fight when I cannot choose; and to eat no fish.”

William Shakespeare King Lear

Source: King Lear

“Start by learning to love God by beginning to love those whom you cannot. You will find that in serving others you are serving yourself.”

Meher Baba (1894–1969) Indian mystic

44 : God Alone Is, p. 72.
The Everything and the Nothing (1963)
Context: Before he can know Who he is, man has to unlearn the mass of illusory knowledge hehas burdened himself with on the interminable journey from unconsciousness to consciousness. It is only through love that you can begin to unlearn, and, eventually, put an end to all that you do not know. God-love penetrates all illusion, while no amount of illusion can dim God-love. Start by learning to love God by beginning to love those whom you cannot. You will find that in serving others you are serving yourself. The more you remember others with kindness and generosity, the less you remember yourself; and when you completely forget yourself, you find me as the Source of all Love.