PROPHET QUOTES II
quotations about prophets and prophecy
In general it may be said that the so-called prophecies are little more than allegorical fables, too feeble for human credence.
A. COLLINS
attributed, Day's Collacon
Prophecy is the gift of the gods.
EPIMENIDES
attributed, Day's Collacon
Every single text of prophecy is to be considered as a part of an entire system, and to be interpreted in that sense which may best connect it with the whole.
SAMUEL HORSLEY
Sermons
The prophet's mantle, ere his flight began,
Dropt on the world -- a sacred gift to man.
THOMAS CAMPBELL
Pleasures of Hope
For every prophet there are a thousand interpreters to distort the essence of the religion, to replace the bright flame with the heat of the inquisitors' pyres.
SERGEI LUKYANENKO
Night Watch
All religions, with their gods, their demi-gods, and their prophets, their messiahs and their saints, were created by the prejudiced fancy of men who had not attained the full development and full possession of their faculties.
MIKHAIL BAKUNIN
God and the State
Prophecy is the philosophy of history; it is the key that admits us into the arena of Providence; it places us in the midst of great verities; it places us behind the scenes, and shows us these verities in their origin, in their order, and in their progression; it permits man, whose short lifetime makes him the witness of only a small portion of the actual drama, to behold under the veil of symbol the whole series from the first incipient act which eludes his eye, to the great crowning event which fills a world, and fixes the gaze of nations.
ANDREW WYLIE
attributed, Day's Collacon
False prophets come in sheep's clothing, borrow a garb of truth to conceal their ultimate design, and render their falsehoods palatable, knowing that if they were to appear in their true character they would be repelled.
A. CAMERON
attributed, Day's Collacon
The most detestable wickedness, the most horrid cruelties, and the greatest miseries, that have afflicted the human race have had their origin in this thing called revelation, or revealed religion. It has been the most dishonourable belief against the character of the divinity, the most destructive to morality, and the peace and happiness of man, that ever was propagated since man began to exist. It is better, far better, that we admitted, if it were possible, a thousand devils to roam at large, and to preach publicly the doctrine of devils, if there were any such, than that we permitted one such impostor and monster as Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and the Bible prophets, to come with the pretended word of God in his mouth, and have credit among us.
THOMAS PAINE
The Age of Reason
Prophets have a way of dying by violence.
FRANK HERBERT
Dune
Interpreters of prophecy during the last few centuries have been, most of them, childish and nonsensical; the fact is, when fancy is their guide men wander as in a maze; they see, like children gazing into the fire, not what is really before them, but what is in their own heads.
C. H. SPURGEON
attributed, Day's Collacon
If I have eschewed the word prophet, I do not wish to attribute to myself such lofty title at the present time, for whoever is called a prophet now was once called a seer; since a prophet, my son, is properly speaking one who sees distant things through a natural knowledge of all creatures. And it can happen that the prophet bringing about the perfect light of prophecy may make manifest things both human and divine, because this cannot be done otherwise, given that the effects of predicting the future extend far off into time.
NOSTRADAMUS
The Prophecies
Woe to the nation whose prophets become myopic fanatics, whose would-be reformers become buffoons, and whose needed reformations become annihilations.
WALLACE HENLEY
"How Today's Liberals Are Like the Puritans and Pharisees of Old", Christian Post, May 29, 2016
Prophecy, that universal and perpetual torch by which faith is enlightened.
HENRI-DOMINIQUE LACORDAIRE
God and Man: Conferences Delivered at Notre Dame in Paris by the Rev. Père Lacordaire
Prophets are dastardly pessimists.
JANNY WURTS
Traitor's Knot
We don't know anything about silent sages, buried knowledge, the eye of the mute poet, serene seers, yet how many talkative destroyers, prophets and ideologues, teachers and beautifiers there are on the other side.
DEJAN STOJANOVIC
The Shape
Death makes a prophet's voice louder.
FRANK HERBERT
Chapterhouse: Dune
There is no consolation in the ambiguous language of the prophets; it leads the mind into confusion, darkness, and doubt.
JAMES ELLIS
attributed, Day's Collacon
It is the seekers ... who make the prophet.
ROBERT K. GREENLEAF
The Servant as Leader
A serious prophet upon predicting a flood should be the first man to climb a tree.
STEPHEN CRANE
The Red Badge of Courage