Divine Will Quotes

• In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong.

  Abraham Lincoln

  God, Party, Civil War

  "Meditation on the DivineWill," ca. 2 Sept. 1862

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• In the present civil war it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party.

  Abraham Lincoln

  War, Party, Different

  Ulysses S. Grant, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Stephen Crane, Jefferson Davis, Abraham Lincoln (2012). “The Modern Library Civil War Bookshelf 5-Book Bundle: Personal Memoirs, Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Red Badge of Courage, Jefferson Davis: The Essential Writings, The Life and Writings of Abraham Lincoln”, p.2780, Modern Library

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• God can not be for, and against the same thing at the same time.

  Abraham Lincoln

  God, Civil War, Can Not

  "Meditation on the DivineWill," ca. 2 Sept. 1862

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• The will of God prevails. In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war it is quite possible that God's purpose is something different from the purpose of either party - and yet the human instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best adaptation to effect His purpose.

  Abraham Lincoln

  Time, War, Party

  "Meditation on the DivineWill," ca. 2 Sept. 1862

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• Faith consists, not in ignorance, but in knowledge, and that, not only of God, but also of the divine will.

  John Calvin

  Ignorance, Divine

  John Calvin (2009). “Institutes of the Christian Religion Vol. 1: Translated from the Original Latin, and Collated With the Author's Last Edition in French”, p.491, Wipf and Stock Publishers

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• Just as at sea those who are carried away from the direction of the harbor bring themselves back on course by a clear sign, on seeing a tall beacon light or some mountain peak coming into view, so Scripture may guide those adrift on the sea of the life back into the harbor of the divine will.

  Gregory of Nyssa

  Light, Mountain Peaks, Views

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• Be comforted with this divine thought that your spiritual and physical pains are the test of the Divine Will.

  Pio of Pietrelcina

  Spiritual, Pain, Tests

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• For God's will gave men their form, their essence and their abilities. Anyone who destroys His work is declaring war on the Lord's creation, the divine will.

  Adolf Hitler

  War, Men, Essence

  Adolf Hitler (1998). “Mein Kampf”, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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• It is man's duty to live in conformity with the divine will, and this means, firstly, bringing his life into line with 'nature's laws', and secondly, resigning himself completely and uncomplainingly to whatever fate may send him. Only by living thus, and not setting too high a value on things which can at any moment be taken away from him, can he discover that true, unshakeable peace and contentment to which ambition, luxury and above all avarice are among the greatest obstacles.

  Seneca the Younger

  Taken, Mean, Ambition

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• What discord we should bring into the universe if our prayers were all answered. Then we should govern the world and not God. And do you think we should govern it better? It gives me only pain when I hear the long, wearisome petitions of people asking for they know not what. . . . Thanks-giving with a full heart-and the rest silence and submission to the divine will!

  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

  Prayer, Pain, Heart

  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1888). “Longfellow's Days: The Longfellow Prose Birthday Book : Extracts from the Journals and Letters of H. W. Longfellow”

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• It is my unmistakable belief that not a blade of grass moves but by the divine will.

  Mahatma Gandhi

  God, Moving, Belief

  Mahatma Gandhi (1974). “Collected Works”

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• It is very much easier to work than to pray. Most of the missionaries are earnest workers. But are we all that we should be in the matter of prayer? Let us not suppose that just any sort of praying will do for China. We must all wrestle with God. 'I will not let Thee go unless Thou bless China.' It must come to this if the conversion of the Chinese is ever to be an accomplished fact. Such is my conviction. Let me remind you that the greatest importunity is not incompatible with the profoundest submission to the Divine will.

  Griffith John

  Prayer, Chinese, Matter

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• One of the most interesting and harmful delusions to which men and nations can be subjected is that of imagining themselves special instruments of the Divine Will.

  Bertrand Russell

  Men, Interesting, Ego

  Bertrand Russell (2009). “Unpopular Essays”, p.146, Routledge

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• Contentment, then, is the product of a heart resting in God. It is the soul’s enjoyment of that peace that passes all understanding. It is the outcome of my will being brought into subjection to the Divine will. It is the blessed assurance that God does all things well, and is, even now, making all things work together for my ultimate good.

  Arthur W. Pink

  Blessed, Heart, Understanding

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• In one of the Upanishads it says, when the glow of a sunset holds you and you say 'Aha,' that is the recognition of the divinity. And when you say 'Aha' to an art object, that is a recognition of divinity. And what divinity is it? It is your divinity, which is the only divinity there is. We are all phenomenal manifestations of a divine will to live, and that will and the consciousness of life is one in all of us, and that is what artwork expresses.

  Joseph Campbell

  Art, Sunset, Divinity

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• There is a fundamental difference between the Jewish idea of creation and that of Islam. The creation according to Islam is not a unique act in a given time but a perpetual and constant event; and God supports and sustains all existence at every moment by His will and His thought. Outside His will, outside His thought, all is nothing, even the things which seem to us absolutely self-evident such as space and time. Allah alone wishes: the Universe exists; and all manifestations are as a witness of the Divine will.

  Aga Khan III

  Unique, Differences, Space

  "Memoirs of Aga Khan: World Enough & Time". Book by Aga Khan III, 1954.

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• Whatever was in the human nature of Christ was moved at the bidding of the divine will; yet it does not follow that in Christ there was no movement of the will proper to human nature, for the good wills of other saints are moved by God's will... For although the will cannot be inwardly moved by any creature, yet it can be moved inwardly by God.

  Thomas Aquinas

  Doe, Saint, Bidding

  St Thomas Aquinas (2013). “Summa Theologica, Volume 4 (Part III, First Section)”, p.2120, Cosimo, Inc.

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• In all the events of life, you must recognize the Divine will. Adore and bless it, especially in the things which are the hardest for you.

  Pio of Pietrelcina

  Events, Bless, Adore

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• Total surrender to the will of God actually is sacrificing oneself as a burnt offering to God. The proof of this state is dying to oneself, - to one's own opinions, wishes and feelings or tastes, in order to live by Divine intellect, in conformity with the Divine will and in partaking of God. In the forefront of this endeavor is our Lord and Savior. He surrendered the whole of Himself to God the Father, and us in Himself, 'For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones' (Eph. 5:30). So let us hasten in His footsteps?

  Lorenzo Scupoli

  Christian, Father, Sacrifice

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• The growth of all the plants of the garden from seeds and roots keep us mindful, in accordance with of the Parable of the Sower, of the need for our loving, mortified reception and cultivation in our hearts and souls of the seeds and roots of the supernatural gifts and virtues necessary for progress in the ascetical/mystical ascent of our souls toward union with God and with the divine will for Creation and Kingdom

  John Stokes

  Heart, Garden, Roots

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• The ultimate binding element in the medieval order was subordination to the divine will and its earthly representatives, notably the pope.

  Irving Babbitt

  Order, Elements, Pope

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• Let's just call things what they are. When a man's love of finery clouds his moral judgment, that is vanity. When he lets a demanding palate make his moral choices, that is gluttony. When he ascribes the divine will to his own whims, that is pride. And when he gets angry at being reminded of animal suffering that his own daily choices might help avoid, that is moral cowardice.

  Matthew Scully

  Pride, Animal, Men

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• Limp along until your legs are spent, and you fall flat and your energy is drained. Then the grace of the Divine will lift you.

  Rumi

  Spiritual, Fall, Grace

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• Only one thing is necessary in your anguish: bear everything with resignation to the Divine Will; for this will help you to attain your eternal salvation. Hope with a lively faith and you will receive everything from Almighty God.

  Gerard Majella

  Sympathy, Bears, Helping

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• The Bread that we need each day to grow in eternal life, makes of our will a docile instrument of the Divine Will; sets the Kingdom of God within us; gives us pure lips, and a pure heart with which to glorify his holy name

  Edith Stein

  Heart, Holy Eucharist, Names

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