quote · Legacy record
Take whatever is good in man, and argue that God is not only that, but infinitely better than that. In fashioning your conception of God, make it as resplendent in justice, as august in truth, as noble and pure in love, as radiant and wondrous in pity, as enduring as you please. Never be afraid that you will overdraw the divine character. God is never better in your thought or imagination than He is in Himself.
Take whatever is good in man, and argue that God is not only that, but infinitely better than that. In fashioning your conception of God, make it as resplendent in justice, as august in truth, as noble and pure in love, as radiant and wondrous in pity, as enduring as you please. Never be afraid that you will overdraw the divine character. God is never better in your thought or imagination than He is in Himself.
Approximate author period: c. 1850 AD · industrial
Meaning not yet available
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Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Henry Ward Beecher
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1850 AD · industrial
Approximate author-period anchor from life dates 1813 to 1887; Wikidata Q1607404, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1607404 (accessed 2026-10-08). Not a quotation composition date.
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 362; printed byline: Henry Ward Beecher; Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1911; printed copyright 1907
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.