36+ James Martineau Quotes On Education, Socialism And Social Justice

James Martineau was an English philosopher and theologian who lived from 1805 to 1900. He was a Unitarian minister who wrote extensively on philosophy, theology, and social reform. He was a major influence on the development of 19th century British liberalism. Following is our collection on famous quotes by James Martineau on education, leadership, socialism.

Top 10 James Martineau Quotes

1. The pinafore of the child will be more than a match for the frock of the bishop and the surplice of the priest.
2. The incarnation is true, not of Christ exclusively, but of Man universally, and God everlastingly.
3. Every man's highest, nameless though it be, is his 'living God'.
4. There is no human life so poor and small as not to hold many a divine possibility.
5. We are each of us responsible for the evil we may have prevented.
6. We should count time by heart-throbs.
7. The scepticism which men affect towards their higher inspirations is often not an honest doubt, but a guilty negligence, and is a sign of narrow mind and defective wisdom.
8. There is no room in the universe for the least contempt or pride; but only for a gentle and a reverent heart.
9. We can neither change nor overpower God's eternal suffrage against selfishness and meanness.
10. Grief is only the memory of widowed affection. The more intense the delight in the presence of the object, the more poignant must be the impression of the absence.

James Martineau Short Quotes

• Grief is only the memory of widowed affections.
• All beneficent and creative power gathers itself together in silence, ere it issues out in might.
• The health of a community is an almost unfailing index of its morals.

James Martineau Quotes About Minds

Religion is the belief in an ever-living God, that is, in a Divine Mind and Will ruling the Universe and holding moral relations with mankind. — James Martineau

All that is noble in the world's past history, and especially the minds of the great and the good, are never lost. — James Martineau

Trust arises from the mind's instinctive feeling after fixed realities, after the substance of every shadow, the base of all appearance, the everlasting amid change. — James Martineau

James Martineau Famous Quotes And Sayings

High hearts are never long without hearing some new call, some distant clarion of God, even in their dreams; and soon they are observed to break up the camp of ease, and start on some fresh march of faithful service. — James Martineau

The mere lapse of years is not life. To eat, to drink, and sleep; to be exposed to darkness and the light; to pace around in the mill of habit, and turn thought into an instrument of trade-this is not life. Knowledge, truth, love, beauty, goodness, faith, alone can give vitality to the mechanism of existence. — James Martineau

I bow in reverence before the emotions of every melted heart....The more intense the delight in their presence, the more poignant the impression of their absence....When the tears of bereavement have had their natural flow, they lead us again to life and love's generous joy. — James Martineau

All spiritual strength for ourselves, all noble ties to one another, have their real source in that inner sanctuary where God denies His lonely audience to none. Its secrets are holy; its asylum, inviolate; its consolations, sure; and all are open to the simple heart-word, "Thou art my hiding-place. — James Martineau

Religion is no more possible without prayer than poetry without language, or music without atmosphere. — James Martineau

God is infinite; and the laws of nature, like nature itself, are finite. These methods of working, therefore, - which correspond to the physical element in us, - do not exhaust His agency. There is a boundless residue of disengaged energy beyond. — James Martineau

There is no surer mark of a low and unregenerate nature than this tendency of power to loudness and wantonness instead of quietness and reverence. To souls baptized in Christian nobleness the largest sphere of command is but a wider empire of obedience, calling them, not to escape from holy rule, but to its full impersonation. — James Martineau

Human character is never found "to enter into its glory," except through the ordeal of affliction. Its force cannot come forth without the offer of resistance, nor can the grandeur of its free will declare itself, except in the battle of fierce temptation. — James Martineau

The heavens, with their everlasting faithfulness, look down on no sadder contradiction than the sluggard and the slattern in their prayers. — James Martineau

If it is permitted to the enlightened but baffled Statesman, when deserted and fallen from his place, to appeal from the voices of the moment to the judgment of more impartial times, with what right can we call in question the loftier form of the same prophetic trust which looks to a present God rather than to future men? — James Martineau

God has so arranged the chronometry of our spirits, that there shall be thousands of silent moments between the striking hours. — James Martineau

We cannot embrace His cross, and yet refuse our own. We cannot raise the cup of His remembrance to our lips, without a secret pledge to Him, to one another, to the great company of the faithful in every age that we, too, hold ourselves at God's disposal, that we will ask nothing on our own account, that we will pass simply into the Divine hand to take us whither it will. — James Martineau

It was in His parting sorrow--that Jesus asked His disciples to remember Him; and never was entreaty of affection answered so; for ever since has His name been breathed in morning and evening prayers that none can count, and has brought down some gift of sanctity and peace on the anguish of bereavement, and the remorse of sin. — James Martineau

If we listen to our self-love, we shall estimate our lot less by what it is than by what it is not; shall dwell upon its hindrances and be blind to its possibilities; and, comparing it only with imaginary lives, shall indulge in flattering dreams of what we should do if we had but power, and give if we had but wealth, and be if we had no temptations. — James Martineau

Heaven and God are best discerned through tears; scarcely perhaps are discerned at all without them. The constant association of prayer with the hour of bereavement and the scenes of death suffice to show this. — James Martineau

When speech is given to a soul holy and true, time, and its dome of ages, becomes as a mighty whispering-gallery, round which the imprisoned utterance runs, and reverberates forever. — James Martineau

When the blessed Spirit, that bloweth where it listeth, visits you and stirs the plumage of the soul, seek no cowardly shelter from it, but fling yourself upon it, and, though its sweep be awful, you shall be sustained. Only do this, do all, not in presumptuous daring, but in divine submission; in dependence, not on any strength that can be spent, but on the ever-living stay of all that trust in Him. — James Martineau

The secret belief that the Lord of conscience loves and accepts each faithful sacrifice is the ultimate and sufficient support of all goodness; dispensing with the chorus of approving voices; replacing all vain self-reliance with a Divine strength; and with the peace of a reconciled nature consoling the inevitable sorrows of a devoted life. — James Martineau

Nothing less than the majesty of God, and the powers of the world to come, can maintain the peace and sanctity of our homes, the order and serenity of our minds, the spirit of patience and tender mercy in our hearts. Then will even the merest drudgery of duty cease to humble us, when we transfigure it by the glory of our own spirit. — James Martineau

To Him let us but cleave in all ouv strife; and the Tempte1 will flee; the wilderness will be desolate no more; angels will come and minister unto us; and when we pass from them to the ministry of life, be it to the glory of a transfiguration, the sorrows of a Gethsemane, or the sacrifice of the cross, the tran- quilizing peace of God will never be far from us. — James Martineau

Life Lessons by James Martineau

1. James Martineau taught that life should be lived with a sense of purpose, that it is important to live with integrity and to strive for the highest ideals.
2. He also believed that we should strive to be tolerant and understanding of others, and to be open to new ideas and experiences.
3. Finally, Martineau encouraged us to take responsibility for our actions and to strive to be the best version of ourselves that we can be.