Skip to content
quotesby

There is one great God and power that has made the world and all things therein, to whom you and I and all people owe their being and well-being, and to whom you and I must one day give an account for all that we do in this world. This great God has written his law in our hearts, by which we are taught and commanded to love and help and do good to one another, and not to do harm and mischief one unto another. Now this great God has been pleased to make me concerned in your parts of the world, and the king of the country where I live has given unto me a great province therein, but I desire to enjoy it with your friends, else what would the great God say to us, who has made us not to devour and destroy one another, but live soberly and kindly together in the world. Now I would have you well observe, that I am very sensible of the unkindness and injustice that has been too much exercised towards you by the people of these parts of the world, who have sought themselves, and to make great advantages by you, rather than be examples of justice and goodness unto you; which I hear has been matter of trouble to you and caused great grudgings and animosities, sometimes to the shedding of blood, which has made the great god angry. But I am not such man as is well known in my own country. I have great love and regard toward you, and I desire to win and gain your love and friendship by a kind just, and peaceable life; and the people I send are of the same mind, and shall in all things behave themselves accordingly.

William Penn#3

PennFaithCommunityKindness

About this quote

What does it mean?
Penn argues that all people owe a duty to God to treat each other kindly and avoid harm.
In plain terms
God made us to live kindly together, not to destroy one another.
What can you take from it?
Respect others as creations of God.

Where it applies

  • community building
  • resolving conflict
  • religious outreach

Putting it to work

  • treat neighbors well
  • avoid harm

Questions to consider

  • How should we treat others?
  • What is our duty to God?

Another view

Not everyone shares this religious framework.

More from William Penn

  1. You are now fixed at the mercy of no governor that comes to make his fortune great; you shall be governed by laws of your own making and live a free, and if yo…

    Permalink to quote #2
  2. Men being born with a title to perfect freedom and uncontrolled enjoyment of all the rights and privileges of the law of nature... no one can be put out of his…

    Permalink to quote #4
  3. My prison shall be my grave before I will budge a jot; for I owe my conscience to no mortal man.

    Permalink to quote #1

Related quotes

  1. Mankind was never so happily inspired as when it made a cathedral.

    Robert Louis StevensonRobert Louis Stevenson quote #1
  2. 'I believe if we all have faith in what we want to achieve, there's no doubt we will achieve it together as a community.'

    Ratu Viliame RovabokolaRatu Viliame Rovabokola quote #2
  3. In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most merciful. Invite all to the way of thy Lord with the wisdom and beautiful preaching, and argue with them in ways that a…

    Saddam HusseinSaddam Hussein quote #3