Skip to content

Judge not the preacher; for he is thy judge:
If thou mislike him, thou conceiv'st him not.
God calleth preaching folly. Do not grudge
To pick out treasures from an earthen pot.
The worst speak something good. If all want sense,
God takes a text, and preaches patience.

— George Herbert The Temple (1633)

Another quote →

Topics

Religion

More quotes by George Herbert

A verse may finde him,who a sermon flies
And turns delight into a sacrifice.

The Temple (1633)

Knowledge is folly unless grace guide it.

The worst speak something good; if all want sense,
God takes a text, and preacheth Pa-ti-ence.

The Temple (1633)

Wit's an unruly engine, wildly striking
Sometimes a friend, sometimes the engineer.

The Temple (1633)

Love your neighbor, yet pull not down your hedge.

Jacula Prudentum (1651)

All George Herbert quotes →

You may also like

All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and leading the individual towards freedom.

Albert Einstein Moral Decay (1937)

Science and religion are two human enterprises sharing many features.

Freeman Dyson Infinite in All Directions (1988)

The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the law of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.

John Adams A Defence of the Constitutions of Government (1787)

The Puritan hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators.

Thomas Babington Macaulay History of England (1849)

Attribution

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