Prayer: Quotations from Cyclopedia of Practical Quotations
Nearer, my God, to Thee- Nearer to Thee! E'en though it be a cross That raiseth me; Still all my song shall be Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee! C.— SARAH FLOWER ADAMS — Nearer, my
God, to Thee! Yet then from all my grief, O Lord, Thy mercy set me free, Whilst in the confidence of pray'r My soul took hold on thee.— ADDISON — Miscellaneous Poems.
Divine Ode, made by a Gentleman on the Conclusion of his Travels. Verse 6. My favoured temple is an humble heart.— BAILEY — Festus. Sc. Colonnade and
Lawn. Prayer is the spirit speaking truth to Truth.— BAILEY — Festus. Sc. Elsewhere.
And from the prayer of Want, and plaint of Woe, O never, never turn away thine ear! Forlorn, in this bleak wilderness below, Ah! what were man, should Heaven refuse to hear!— BEATTIE — Minstrel. Bk. I. St. 29.
God answers sharp and sudden on some prayers, And thrusts the thing we have prayed for in our face, A gauntlet with a gift in 't.— E. B. BROWNING — Aurora Leigh. Bk. II.
Hope, he called, belief In God, work, worship *** therefore let us pray!— E. B. BROWNING — Aurora Leigh. Bk. III.
Just my vengeance complete, The man sprang to his feet, Stood erect, caught at God's skirts, and prayed! So, I was afraid!— ROBERT BROWNING — Instans Tyrannus.
They never sought in vain that sought the Lord aright!— BURNS — The Cotter's Saturday Night. St. 6.
Father! no prophet's laws I seek, - Thy laws in Nature's works appear ;- I own myself corrupt and weak, Yet will I pray, for thou wilt hear.— BYRON — The Prayer of Nature.
Father of Light! great God of Heaven! Hear'st thou the accents of despair? Can guilt like man's be e'er forgiven? Can vice atone for crimes by prayer?— BYRON — The Prayer of Nature.
Be not afraid to pray-to pray is right. Pray, if thou canst, with hope; but ever pray, Though hope be weak or sick with long delay; Pray in the darkness, if there be no light.— HARTLEY COLERIDGE — Poems.
(Posthumous.) Prayer. Pray to be perfect, though material leaven Forbid the spirit so on earth to be; But if for any wish thou darest not pray, Then pray to God to cast that wish away.— HARTLEY COLERIDGE — Poems.
(Posthumous.) Prayer. He prayeth best who loveth best All things, both great and small.— COLERIDGE — The Ancient Mariner. Pt. VII.
He prayeth well who loveth well Both man and bird and beast.— COLERIDGE — The Ancient Mariner. Pt. VII.
The saints will aid if men will call: For the blue sky bends over all.— COLERIDGE — Christabel. Conclusion to Pt. I.
And Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon his knees.— S. COWPER — Hymns. Exhortation to
Prayer. I ask not a life for the dear ones, All radiant, as others have done, But that life may have just enough shadow To temper the glare of the sun; I would pray God to guard them from evil, But my prayer would bound back to myself; Ah! a seraph may pray for a sinner, But a sinner must pray for himself.— CHARLES M. DICKINSON — The Children.
Our vows are heard betimes! and Heaven takes care To grant, before we can conclude the prayer.— DRYDEN — Britannia Rediviva. L. 1.
Grant folly's prayers that hinder folly's wish, And serve the ends of wisdom.— GEORGE ELIOT — The Spanish Gypsy. Bk. IV.
Almighty Father! let thy lowly child, Strong in his love of truth, be wisely bold, - A patriot bard, by sycophants reviled, Let him live usefully, and not die old!— EBENEZER ELLIOTT — Corn Law Rhymes.
A Poet's Prayer. Though I am weak, yet God, when prayed, Cannot withhold his conquering aid.— EMERSON — The Nun's Aspiration.
To pray, *** is to desire; but it is to desire what God would have us desire. He who desires not from the bottom of his heart, offers a deceitful prayer. C.— FÉNELON — Pious Thoughts. Advice
Concerning Prayer. Mrs. Mant's trans. Ejaculations are short prayers darted up to God on emergent occasions.— FULLER — Good Thoughts in Bad Times.
Meditations on all Kinds of Prayers. Ejaculations, their Use. V. So a good prayer, though often used, is still fresh and fair in the ears and eyes of Heaven.— FULLER — Good Thoughts in Bad Times.
Meditations on all Kinds of Prayers.
Not what we wish, but what we want, Oh! let thy grace supply, The good unask'd, in mercy grant; The ill, though ask'd, deny.— MERRICK — Hymn.
And if by prayer Incessant I could hope to change the will Of Him who all things can, I would not cease To weary Him with my assiduous cries.— MILTON — Paradise Lost. Bk. XI. L. 307.
But that from us aught should ascend to heav'n So prevalent as to concern the mind Of God high-bless'd, or to incline his will, Hard to belief may seem, yet this will prayer.— MILTON — Paradise Lost. Bk. XI. L. 143.
Hear his sighs though mute; Unskilful with what words to pray, let me Interpret for him.— MILTON — Paradise Lost. Bk. XI. L. 31.
Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, Uttered or unexpressed, The motion of a hidden fire That trembles in the breast.— MONTGOMERY — Original Hymns.
What is Prayer? As down in the sunless retreats of the ocean Sweet flowers are springing no mortal can see, So deep in my soul the still prayer of devotion Unheard by the world, rises silent to Thee.— MOORE — Song. As Down in the Sunless
Retreats. O sad estate Of human wretchedness; so weak is man, So ignorant and blind, that did not God Sometimes withhold in mercy what we ask, We should be ruined at our own request. S.— HANNAH MORE — Moses in the Bulrushes. Pt. I.
Lo! all life this truth declares, Laborare est orare; And the whole earth rings with prayers.— D. M. MULOCK — Labour is Prayer. St. 4.
Whose very looks are prayers.— D. M. MULOCK — An Evening Hymn. A Sketch. St. 3.
Now I lay me down to take my sleep, I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep; If I should die before I wake, I pray thee, Lord, my soul to take. u. From the New England Primer. 1814. He pray'd by quantity, And with his repetitions, long and loud, All knees were weary.— POLLOK — Course of Time. Pt. VIII. L. 628.
Father of All! in every age, In every clime ador'd, By saint, by savage, and by sage, Jehovah, Jove, or Lord!— POPE — Universal Prayer.
If I am right, Thy grace impart, Still in the right to stay; If I am wrong, O teach my heart To find that better way!— POPE — Universal Prayer.
In all thou dost first let thy Prayers ascend, And to the Gods thy Labours first commend, From them implore Success, and hope a prosperous End. C.— PYTHAGORAS — Golden Verses. L. 49.
See M. DACIER'S Life of Pythagoras. The first petition that we are to make to Almighty God is for a good conscience, the next for health of mind, and then of body.— SENECA — Epistle XIV.
All his mind is bent to holiness, To number Ave-Maries on his beads.— Shakespeare — Henry VI. Pt. II. Act I. Sc. 3. L. 58.
"Amen" Stuck in my throat.— Shakespeare — Macbeth. Act II. Sc. 2. L. 32.
Bow, stubborn knees! and heart with strings of steel Be soft as sinews of the new-born babe.— Shakespeare — Hamlet. Act III. Sc. 3. L. 70.
Go with me, like good angels, to my end; And, as the long divorce of steel falls on me, Make of your prayers one sweet sacrifice, And lift my soul to heaven.— Shakespeare — Henry VIII. Act II. Sc. 1. L. 75.
His worst fault is, that he is given to prayer; he is something peevish that way; but nobody but has his fault; but let that pass.— Shakespeare — Merry Wives of Windsor. Act I. Sc. 4. L. 13.
If you bethink yourself of any crime Unreconcil'd as yet to heaven and grace, Solicit for it straight.— Shakespeare — Othello. Act V. Sc. 2. L. 26.
My prayers Are not words duly hallow'd nor my wishes More worth than empty vanities; yet prayers and wishes Are all I can return.— Shakespeare — Henry VIII. Act II. Sc. 3. L. 67.
Rather let my head Stoop to the block than these knees bow to any Save to the God of heaven and to my king.— Shakespeare — Henry VI. Pt. II. Act IV. Sc. 1. L. 124.
Well, if my wind were but long enough to say my prayers, I would repent.— Shakespeare — Merry Wives of Windsor. Act IV. Sc. 5. L. 104.
When I would pray and think, I think and pray To several subjects; Heaven hath my empty words.— Shakespeare — Measure for Measure. Act II. Sc. 4. L. 1.
Earth bears no balsams for mistakes; Men crown the knave, and scourge the tool That did his will: but thou, O Lord, Be merciful to me, a fool.— EDWARD ROWLAND SILL — The Fool's
Prayer. Four things which are not in thy treasury, I lay before thee, Lord, with this petition :- My nothingness, my wants, My sins, and my contrition.— SOUTHEY — Occasional Pieces. XIX.
Imitated from the Persian. Prayers are heard in heaven very much in proportion to our faith. Little faith will get very great mercies, but great faith still greater.— SPURGEON — Gleanings Among the
Sheaves. Believing Prayer. To pray together, in whatever tongue or ritual, is the most tender brotherhood of hope and sympathy that men can contract in this life. MADAME DE STAËL Corinne. Bk. X. Ch. V. Labor, you know, is Prayer. S.— BAYARD TAYLOR — Improvisations. 11.
Battering the gates of heaven with storms of prayer.— TENNYSON — St. Simeon Stylites. L. 7.
More things are wrought by prayer Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice Rise like a fountain for me night and day. For what are men better than sheep or goats That nourish a blind life within the brain, If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer Both for themselves and those who call them friend?— TENNYSON — Morte D' Arthur. L. 247.
"'Twas then belike," Honorious cried, "When you the public fast defied, Refused to heav'n to raise a prayer, Because you'd no connections there."— JOHN TRUMBULL — McFingal. Canto I. L. 541.
Prayer is The world in tune, A spirit-voyce, And vocall joyes, Whose Eccho is heaven's blisse.— HENRY VAUGHAN — The Morning Watch.
Prayer moves the Hand which moves the world.— JOHN AIKMAN WALLACE — There is an Eye that Never Sleeps. L. 19.
Who is this before whose presence idols tumble to the sod? While he cries out-" Allah Akbar! and there is no god but God!" WM. Ross WALLACE-El Amin. The Faithful. Making their lives a prayer.— WHITTIER — To A. K. on Receiving a
Basket of Sea Mosses. The bells of Rylstone seemed to say, While she sat listening in the shade, With vocal music, "God us ayde!" And all the hills were glad to bear Their part in this effectual prayer.— WORDSWORTH — The White Doe of Rylstone. Canto VII. St. 11.
The imperfect offices of prayer and praise.— WORDSWORTH — The Excursion. Bk. I.
"What is good for a bootless bene?" With these dark words begins my Tale; And their meaning is, whence can comfort spring When Prayer is of no avail?— WORDSWORTH — Force of Prayer.
Prayer ardent opens heaven.— YOUNG — Night Thoughts. Night VIII. L. 721.
Orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano. Our prayers should be for a sound mind in a healthy body.— JUVENAL — Satiræ. X. 356.
In vota miseros ultimus cogit timor. Fear of death drives the wretched to prayer.— SENECA — Agamemnon. 560.
Nulla res carius constat quam quæ precibus empta est. Nothing costs so much as what is bought by prayers. S.— SENECA — De Beneficiis. II. 1.
Die Gabe zu beten ist nicht immer in un serer Gewalt. The gift of prayer is not always at our command.— LESSING — Emilia Galotti. II. 6.