I am only one, but I am one. I can’t do everything, but I can do something. The something I ought to do, I can do. And by the grace of God, I will

/ I am only one, But still I am one. I cannot do everything, But still I can do something; And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. Neither of these appear in the printed works of Hale. However, the following appears in a book by John Angell James: I am but one — but I am one. I cannot do much, but I can do something: and all I can do, I ought to do; and by God’s grace will do. — John Angell James, The Church in Earnest (1848), p. 28 This got quoted here and there in the following decades, often without attribution. By the 1880’s, a variant began to appear. Here is one example: I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I ought to do, and what I ought to do, by the grace of God I will do. —Proceedings at the 22nd Annual Convention of the Grand Lodge of Vermont (1885), Independent Order of Good Templars, p. 19 And then, in 1890, the “I will not refuse” variant given above appeared in Abbie H. Fairfield’s book of daily quotations and affirmations, Starting Points: How to Make a Good Beginning, now attributed to Hale. There is a clear lineage of these quotations starting from James’s 1848 original, and no evidence that Hale ever wrote these words. More information can be found on the Unitarian Universalist Association’s entry for this quotation.