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"In the midst of life we are in death," said one; it is more true that in the midst of death we are in life. Life is the only reality; what men call death is but a shadow — a word for that which cannot be — a negation, owing the very idea of itself to that which it would deny. But for life there could be no death. If God were not, there would not even be nothing. Not even nothingness preceded life. Nothingness owes its very idea to existence.

— George MacDonald

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More quotes by George MacDonald

Trust to God to weave your little thread into the great web, though the pattern shows it not yet.

A genuine work of art must mean many things; the truer its art, the more things it will mean.

The Fantastic Imagination (1893)

Never be discouraged because good things get on so slowly here; and never fail daily to do that good which lies next to your hand.

One difference between God's work and man's is, that, while God's work cannot mean more than he meant, man's must mean more than he meant.

The Fantastic Imagination (1893)

To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved.

The Marquis of Lossie (1877)

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To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.

Bertrand Russell Marriage and Morals (1929)

Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.

William James The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy (1897)

Reason is Life's sole arbiter, the magic Laby'rinth's single clue:
Worlds lie above, beyond its ken; what crosses it can ne'er be true.

Richard Francis Burton The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî (1870)

It is the law of life that if you are kind to someone you feel happy. If you are cruel you are unhappy. And if you hurt someone, you will be hurt back.

Cary Grant Love – That’s All Cary Grant Ever Thinks About (1964)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: George MacDonald (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.