William Wilberforce Quotes

“Africa, your sufferings have been the theme that has arrested & engaged my heart.”

“As much pains were taken to make me idle as were ever taken to make me studious.”

“Can one serve God and one's nation in parliament?”

“Can you tell a plain man the road to heaven? Certainly, turn at once to the right, and then go straight forward.”

“Christianity has been successfully attacked and marginalized because those who professed belief were unable to defend the faith from attack, even though its attackers’ arguments were deeply flawed.”

“God Almighty has set before me two great objects, the suppression of the slave trade and the reformation of morality.”

“God has so made the mind of man that a peculiar deliciousness resides in the fruits of personal industry.”

“How can we judge fairly of the characters and merits of men, of the wisdom or folly of actions, unless we have an accurate knowledge of all particulars, so that we may live as it were in the times, and among the persons, of whom we read, see with their eyes, and reason and decide on their premises?”

“I am disturbed when I see the majority of so-called Christians having such little understanding of the real nature of the faith they profess. Faith is a subject of such importance that we should not ignore it because of the distractions or the hectic pace of our lives.”

“I continually find it necessary to guard against that natural love of wealth and grandeur which prompts us always, when we come to apply our general doctrine to our own case, to claim an exception.”

“I mean not to accuse any one, but to take the shame upon myself, in common, indeed, with the whole parliament of Great Britain, for having suffered this horrid trade to be carried on under their authority.

We are all guilty — we ought all to plead guilty, and not to exculpate ourselves by throwing the blame on others; and I therefore deprecate every kind of reflection against the various descriptions of people who are more immediately involved in this wretched business.”

“I must secure more time for private devotions. I have been living far too public for me. The shortening of devotions starves the soul, it grows lean and faint. I have been keeping too late hours.”

“If a principle of true Religion should gain ground, there is no estimating the effects on public morals, and the consequent influence on our political welfare.”

“If there is no passionate love for Christ at the center of everything, we will only jingle and jangle our way across the world, merely making a noise as we go.”

“If to be feelingly alive to the sufferings of my fellow-creatures is to be a fanatic, I am one of the most incurable fanatics ever permitted to be at large.”

“If you love someone who is ruining his or her life because of faulty thinking, and you don't do anything about it because you are afraid of what others might think, it would seem that rather than being loving, you are in fact being heartless.”

“In an age in which infidelity abounds, do we observe parents carefully instructing their children in the principles of faith which they profess? Or do they furnish their children with arguments for the defense of that faith?

It is not surprising to see them abandon a position which they are unable to defend.”

“Let everyone regulate his conduct by the golden rule of doing to others as in similar circumstances we would have them do to us, and the path of duty will be clear before him.”

“Let it not be said that I was silent when they needed me.”

“Life as we know it, with all its ups and downs, will soon be over. We all will give an accounting to God of how we have lived.”

“Lovely flowers are the smiles of god's goodness.”

“May God enable me to have a single eye and a simple heart, desiring to please God, to do good to my fellow creatures, and testify my gratitude to my adorable Redeemer.”

“Measure your progress by your experience of the love of God and its exercise before men.”

“Men of authority and influence may promote good morals. Let them in their several stations encourage virtue. Let them favor and take part in any plans which may be formed for the advancement of morality.”

“No matter how loud you shout, you will not drown out the voice of the people!”

“O what a blessing is Sunday, interposed between the waves of worldly business like the divine path of the Israelites through the sea! There is nothing in which I would advise you to be more strictly conscientious than in keeping the Sabbath day holy. I can truly declare that to me the Sabbath has been invaluable.”

“Of all things, guard against neglecting God in the secret place of prayer.”

“Oh Lord, purify my soul from all its stains. Warm my heart with the love of thee, animate my sluggish nature and fix my inconstancy, and volatility, that I may not be weary in well doing.”

“Our motto must continue to be perseverance. And ultimately I trust the Almighty will crown our efforts with success.”

“Read the Bible, read the Bible! Let no religious book take its place. Through all my perplexities and distresses, I seldom read any other book, and I as rarely felt the want of any other.”