Quotes from George MacDonald


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Age is not all decay; it is the ripening, the swelling, of the fresh life within, that withers and bursts the husk.


Friends, if we be honest with ourselves, we shall be honest with each other.


Forgiveness is the giving, and so the receiving, of life.


You can't live on amusement. It is the froth on water - an inch deep and then the mud.


There are thousands willing to do great things for one willing to do a small thing.


The first thing a kindness deserves is acceptance, the second, transmission.


It is our best work that God wants, not the dregs of our exhaustion. I think he must prefer quality to quantity.


Anything large enough for a wish to light upon, is large enough to hang a prayer upon.


It matters little where a man may be at this moment; the point is whether he is growing.


Man finds it hard to get what he wants, because he does not want the best; God finds it hard to give, because He would give the best, and man will not take it.


The more I work with the body, keeping my assumptions in a temporary state of reservation, the more I appreciate and sympathize with a given disease. The body no longer appears as a sick or irrational demon, but as a process with its own inner logic and wisdom.


We die daily. Happy those who daily come to life as well.


Where there is no choice, we do well to make no difficulty.


The best preparation for the future is the present well seen to, and the last duty done.


Love is the opener as well as closer of eyes.


To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.


To keep a lamp burning we have to keep putting oil in it.


Attitudes are more important than facts.


I find that doing of the will of God leaves me no time for disputing about His plans.


If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.