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O that we could take that simple view of things, as to feel that the one thing which lies before us is to please God! What gain is it to please the world, to please the great, nay, even to please those whom we love, compared with this? What gain is it to be applauded, admired, courted, followed,—compared with this one aim of "not being disobedient to the heavenly vision?"

— John Henry Newman

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More quotes by John Henry Newman

In a higher world it is otherwise; but here below to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.

An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (1845)

Good is never done except at the expense of those who do it: truth is never enforced except at the sacrifice of its propounders.

Lectures on the Present Position of Catholics in England (1851)

Nothing would be done at all, if a man waited till he could do it so well, that no one could find fault with it.

Lectures on the Present Position of Catholics in England (1851)

It is almost a definition of a gentleman to say he is one who never inflicts pain.

The Idea of a University (1873)

Where good and ill together blent,
Wage an undying strife.

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Men accept servility in order to acquire wealth; as if they could acquire anything of their own when they cannot even assert that they belong to themselves.

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The confusion of marriage with morality has done more to destroy the conscience of the human race than any other single error.

George Bernard Shaw Man and Superman (1903)

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.

C. S. Lewis God in the Dock (1970)

Affectation hides three times as many virtues as charity does sins.

Horace Mann Thoughts Selected from the Writings of Horace Mann (1867)

Attribution

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