“Christian! hence learn to do thy part,
And leave the rest to Heaven.”
John Henry Newman (1801–1890) English cleric and cardinal
St. Paul at Melita http://www.newmanreader.org/works/verses/verse70.html, st. 3 (1833).
Faites votre devoir, et laissez faire aux dieux.
Le vieil Horace, act II, scene viii.
Horace (1639)
“Christian! hence learn to do thy part,
And leave the rest to Heaven.”
John Henry Newman (1801–1890) English cleric and cardinal
St. Paul at Melita http://www.newmanreader.org/works/verses/verse70.html, st. 3 (1833).
Romain Rolland (1866–1944) French author
Jean-Christophe (1904 - 1912), Journey's End: The Burning Bush (1911)
Context: "Thou art not alone, and thou dost not belong to thyself. Thou art one of My voices, thou art one of My arms. Speak and strike for Me. But if the arm be broken, or the voice be weary, then still I hold My ground: I fight with other voices, other arms than thine. Though thou art conquered, yet art thou of the army which is never vanquished. Remember that and thou wilt fight even unto death."
"Lord, I have suffered much!"
"Thinkest thou that I do not suffer also? For ages death has hunted Me and nothingness has lain in wait for Me. It is only by victory in the fight that I can make My way. The river of life is red with My blood."
"Fighting, always fighting?"
"We must always fight. God is a fighter, even He Himself. God is a conqueror. He is a devouring lion. Nothingness hems Him in and He hurls it down. And the rhythm of the fight is the supreme harmony. Such harmony is not for thy mortal ears. It is enough for thee to know that it exists. Do thy duty in peace and leave the rest to the Gods."
“Do the best and leave the rest.”
Chinmayananda Saraswati (1916–1993) Indian spiritual teacher
Quotations from Gurudev’s teachings, Chinmya Mission Chicago
“Thwackum was for doing justice, and leaving mercy to heaven.”
Henry Fielding (1707–1754) English novelist and dramatist
Book III, Ch. 10
The History of Tom Jones (1749)
Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) 16th President of the United States
As quoted in Life on the Circuit with Lincoln (1892) by Henry Clay Witney
Posthumous attributions
“I'll do whatever I can, and leave the rest to God.”
Bernice King (1963) American minister, daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Rest satisfied with doing well, and leave others to talk of you as they please.”
Pythagoras (-585–-495 BC) ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher
As quoted in The World's Laconics: Or, The Best Thoughts of the Best Authors (1853) by Everard Berkeley
Variant: Rest satisfied with doing well, and leave others to talk of you as they will.
“Do your best and let God do the rest.”
Ben Carson (1951) 17th and current United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; American neurosurgeon
Source: Think Big (1996), p. 255
Barry Long (1926–2003) Australian spiritual teacher and writer
Knowing Yourself: The True in the False (1996)