quotations about Providence
The march of God's Providence is slow; it's the devil who always hurries.
RUSSELL KIRK
attributed, Deseret News, March 12, 2016
We can't see everything. We don't know what God is doing, except that he is at work bringing the best out of the worst and redeeming all things. The problem is, he doesn't always do this the way we think is best. God's providence is often a severe mercy. Because we do not have all the information we cannot provide all the answers.
DWIGHT LONGENECKER
"When Bad Things Happen to Good People", National Catholic Register, December 29, 2016
What we are, and where we are is God's providential arrangement -- God's doing, though it may be man's misdoing; and the manly and the wise way is to look your disadvantages in the face, and see what can be made our of them.
WILL SCHWALBE
The End of Your Life Book Club
God moderates all at His pleasure.
FRANÇOIS RABELAIS
Pantagruel
Round about what is, lies a whole mysterious world of might be -- a psychological romance of possibilities and things that do not happen. By going out a few minutes sooner or later, by stopping to speak with a friend at a corner, by meeting this man or that, or by turning down this street instead of the other, we may let slip some great occasion of good, or avoid some impending evil, by which the whole current of our lives would have been changed. There is no possible solution to the dark enigma but the one word, "Providence."
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW
Table-Talk
We are apt to believe in Providence so long as we have our own way; but if things go awry, then we think, if there is a God, he is in heaven, and not on earth.
HENRY WARD BEECHER
Life Thoughts
We sometimes had those little rubs which Providence sends to enhance the value of its favours.
OLIVER GOLDSMITH
The Vicar of Wakefield
And now ... farewell to kindness, humanity and gratitude. I have substituted myself for Providence in rewarding the good; may the God of vengeance now yield me His place to punish the wicked.
ALEXANDRE DUMAS
The Count of Monte Cristo
He that doth the ravens feed,
Yea, providently caters for the sparrow,
Be comfort to my age!
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
As You Like It
Let us hope ... that a kind Providence will put a speedy end to the acts of God under which we have been laboring.
PETER DE VRIES
The Tunnel of Love
Our highest assurance of the goodness of Providence seems to me to rest in the flowers. All other things, our powers, our desires, our food, are all really necessary for our existence in the first instance. But this rose is an extra.
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
The Naval Treaty
Perhaps Providence by some happy change will restore these things to their proper places.
HORACE
Epodi
I go the way that Providence dictates with the assurance of a sleepwalker.
ADOLF HITLER
speech in Munich, Germany, March 15, 1936
And, while Jessica had faith enough in Providence, she preferred to seek help from more accessible sources.
LORETTA CHASE
Lord of Scoundrels
Much of life appears mundane at the time. Yet in God's providence every moment includes significant details arranged by His divine hand.
DILLON BURROUGHS
Thirst No More
We mustn't be in a hurry to fix and choose our own lot; we must wait to be guided.
GEORGE ELIOT
Adam Bede
The hand of Providence creeps among the stars, giving Slothrop the finger.
THOMAS PYNCHON
Gravity's Rainbow
I am a God not to be traced. Sometimes providences, like Hebrew letters, must be read backward.
JOHN FLAVEL
Navigation Spiritualized
The thing about believing in God's providence is that our belief His providence exists is equally as important as our belief He will deliver on His promises. The act of believing in His promises aids the fulfillment of those very promises.
JACKIE STAMMEN
"Believing in God's Providence", Catholic Online, May 18, 2016
Someone described Providence as the baptismal name of chance; no doubt some pious person will retort that chance is the nickname of Providence.
SEBASTIEN CHAMFORT
The Cynic's Breviary