quotations about miracles
Miracles are marvelous works, but that which is marvelous to one, may not be so to another.
THOMAS HOBBES
Leviathan
Miracles are propitious accidents, the natural causes of which are too complicated to be readily understood.
GEORGE SANTAYANA
introduction, The Ethics of Spinoza
How do we make sense of these miracles? Are they literal or figurative? Real or fantasy? Random coincidences or divinely preordained events? Miracles often defy logical and rational explanation precisely because their occurrence is not something that can be reproduced, scientifically studied, or fully understood. Yet during the winter holidays, we celebrate the miracles, welcome the magic of the season, and yearn to believe in Santa Claus.
ANNA YUSIM
"The Role Holiday Traditions Play In Mental Health", Mind Body Green, December 25, 2017
Miracles are like drams--ye can't stop them, once you begin.
FLORA ANNIE WEBSTER STEEL
The Hosts of the Lord
It was possible that a miracle was not something that happened to you, but rather something that didn't.
JODI PICOULT
The Tenth Circle
To deny that a miracle is capable of proof, or to deny that it may be proved by evidence of the same nature as establishes the truth of other events, is, in effect, as I have said, to deny the existence of God. A miracle can be incapable of proof only because it is physically or morally impossible, since what is possible may be proved. To deny that the truth of a miracle may be established involves the denial of creation, for there can be no greater miracle than creation. It equally implies that no species of being that propagates its kind ever had a commencement; for if there was a first plant that grew without seed, or a first man without parents, or if of any series of events there was a first without such antecendents as the laws of nature require, then there was a miracle.
ANDREWS NORTON
"A Discourse on the Latest Form of Infidelity"
I don't believe in miracles, but if the need is great, a girl might make her own miracle.
JULIE BERRY
All the Truth That's in Me
Miracles don't have to be huge and dramatic. They can be small and beautiful like flowers blooming in March, right after a snowfall. They can be a snowflake falling during a summer rain storm. It could be a lost cat finding refuge at your home.
STEPHEN J. NAPOLITANO
Bob Frost
The miracles of earth are the laws of heaven.
JEAN PAUL RICHTER
attributed, Dictionary of Burning Words
From a scientific standpoint, a miracle is anything that is statistically improbable. Miracles are the opposite of traditions. Traditions are predictable and repetitive, something you can count on with certainty year after year. In contrast, miracles are unpredictable, unexpected, and unanticipated. The more unlikely an event, the more miraculous. In this way, a tradition of miracles is an oxymoron.
ANNA YUSIM
"The Role Holiday Traditions Play In Mental Health", Mind Body Green, December 25, 2017
Truly miracles are like wine, and vastly improve with age.
LUCIANUS
Progress, August 1886
In our advanced technological age, most people deny the possibility of miracles.... Miracles don't happen, we are told, because they contravene the laws of nature and worse, they sound religious! Yet we live and move in a sea of miracle.
JAMES BROWN
You Shall See His Glory in the Morning!
If you have been asking for a miracle with no results, remember that God still loves you and hasn't forgotten you. Nor is he indifferent to your suffering. Don't let your faith depend on miracles, but instead, ask God to accomplish his purposes even if he doesn't answer your prayers in precisely the way you hope he will.
ANN SPANGLER
When You Need a Miracle
Like the biblical Christ who sometimes comes in the stranger's guise, or the angels who visit us unawares, some of the miracles are unrecognizable when they come into our lives, but if we're lucky, they remain with us long enough so we finally know the magnitude of the gift and the courage of the giver.
CATHY CASH SPELLMAN
"A Christmas Story", Huffington Post, December 22, 2017
If you hold this
Dazzling emerald
Up to the sky,
It will shine a billion
Beautiful miracles
Painted from the tears
Of the Most High.
SUZY KASSEM
Rise Up and Salute the Sun
Unfortunately, miracles are hard to come by in this thing we call life, but if the opening of a sea turtle nest doesn't make you a believer, precious little ever will.
KEVIN RAUB
"A perfect day in Brazil's aquatic Eden", CNN, January 4, 2018
A miracle is when the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. A miracle is when one plus one equals a thousand.
FREDERICK BUECHNER
The Alphabet of Grace
Miracles don't just happen for some and not for others. They occur when specific conditions are nurtured. Like a seed, with the right minerals, water, air, and sunshine, anyone, no matter who you are or what you have done in the past, can begin creating practical miracles.
JOHN GRAY
Practical Miracles for Mars and Venus
For we cannot listen to those who maintain that the invisible God works no visible miracles; for even they believe that He made the world, which surely they will not deny to be visible. Whatever marvel happens in this world, it is certainly less marvelous than this whole world itself.
ST. AUGUSTINE
The City of God
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.
ALBERT EINSTEIN
attributed, Wisdom for the Soul: Five Millennia of Prescriptions for Spiritual Healing