quote · Legacy record
Father, I will not ask for wealth or fame, Though once they would have joyed my carnal sense. I shudder not to bear a hated name, Wanting all wealth, myself my sole defence. But give me, Lord, eyes to behold the truth; A seeing sense that knows the eternal right; A heart with pity filled, and gentlest ruth; A manly faith that makes all darkness light; Give me the power to labor for mankind; Make me the mouth of such as cannot speak; Eyes let me be to groping man and blind; A conscience to the base; and to the weak Let me be hands and feet; and to the foolish, mind; And lead still farther on such as Thy Kingdom seek.
Father, I will not ask for wealth or fame, Though once they would have joyed my carnal sense. I shudder not to bear a hated name, Wanting all wealth, myself my sole defence. But give me, Lord, eyes to behold the truth; A seeing sense that knows the eternal right; A heart with pity filled, and gentlest ruth; A manly faith that makes all darkness light; Give me the power to labor for mankind; Make me the mouth of such as cannot speak; Eyes let me be to groping man and blind; A conscience to the base; and to the weak Let me be hands and feet; and to the foolish, mind; And lead still farther on such as Thy Kingdom seek.
Approximate author period: c. 1835 AD · industrial
Meaning not yet available
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Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Theodore Parker
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1835 AD · industrial
author lifetime midpoint (1810–1860)
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- The Optimist’s Good Morning (1911) (1911 AD)
Complete signed selection 34; printed byline: Theodore Parker; Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1911; printed copyright 1907
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.