QuoteProject
God is better served in resisting a temptation to evil than in many formal prayers.
William Penn
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Resisting evil is more meaningful than simply praying about it.

William Penn highlights the importance of action over ritualistic behavior. He suggests that when individuals choose to resist temptation and act morally, they are serving a higher purpose more effectively than by merely performing prayers or religious rites without true commitment to virtue.

Themes

TemptationEvilPrayerActionMoralityVirtue

In practice

Example use cases

During a discussion on ethical decision-making, one could quote this to emphasize the importance of personal integrity.

More from William Penn

Sense shines with a double luster when it is set in humility. An able yet humble man is a jewel worth a kingdom.
William PennRead
Where thou art Obliged to speak, be sure speak the Truth: For Equivocation is half way to Lying, as Lying, the whole way to Hell.
William PennRead
Man, being made reasonable, and so a thinking creature, there is nothing more worthy of his being than the right direction and employment of his thoughts; since upon this depends both his usefulness to the public, and his own present and future benefit in all respects.
William PennRead
Do good with what thou hast, or it will do thee no good.
William PennRead
To be a man's own fool is bad enough, but the vain man is everybody's.
William PennRead
Unless virtue guide us our choice must be wrong.
William PennRead

Similar quotes

What makes revolutionary thought unique is its clarity and dignity, and its clear grasp of freedom and justice: simple, clear words that are understood without the need for any help from elite writers or thinkers.
Nawal El SaadawiRead
The different ness of races, moreover, is no evidence of superiority or of inferiority. This merely indicates that each race has certain gifts which the others do not possess.
Carter G. WoodsonRead
Even when nothing happens, everything seems too much for me. What can be said, then, in the presence of an event, any event?
Emile M. CioranRead
The lie is so vile, that even if it were in speaking well of godly things, it would take off something from God's grace; and Truth is so excellent, that if it praises but small things they become noble.
Leonardo Da VinciRead
Be careful not to turn others' lives into the mold for your own...we have a #β€Ž God who is a #β€Ž Creator not a #β€Ž Duplicator .
Francis ChanRead
Freedom and Justice are twin sisters.
Friedrich EbertRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.