quotations about miracles
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"
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!
Miracles are like angels who have sometimes been visible to men, who would much more willingly have introduced them to an acquaintance with the laws and society of heaven, than have filled them with fear and consternation. They are insulated examples of laws as boundless as the universe, and by the manner in which we are affected by them, prove how much we have to learn, and how utterly incompetent we are to judge of the ways of God.
SAMPSON REED
Observations on the Growth of the Mind
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
However portentous a fact may be, or even supernatural--if such facts exist--however solemnly a miracle may be done in sight of all, the lightning of that fact, the thunderbolt of that miracle is quickly swallowed up in the ocean of life, whose surface, scarcely stirred by the brief convulsion, returns to the level of its habitual flow.
HONORÉ DE BALZAC
Seraphita
Miracles are like small animals in the forest. Sometimes you see them, but mostly you don't.
MAXINE GAUTHIER COMBS
The Inner Life of Objects
To say that miracles don't happen is to be dogmatic without warrant. To insist that they should be normative is to be expectant without wisdom. To believe that they serve God's purpose in his time is to be reverent and worshipful.
STUART BRISCOE
The One Year Book of Devotions for Men
Miracles are like drams--ye can't stop them, once you begin.
FLORA ANNIE WEBSTER STEEL
The Hosts of the Lord
I believe miracles are like seeds. When planted and watered by our attention and appreciation, they bloom.
JAMES VAN PRAAGH
Heaven and Earth
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
The miracles of earth are the laws of heaven.
JEAN PAUL RICHTER
attributed, Dictionary of Burning Words
Truly miracles are like wine, and vastly improve with age.
LUCIANUS
Progress, August 1886
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
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
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
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
It was possible that a miracle was not something that happened to you, but rather something that didn't.
JODI PICOULT
The Tenth Circle
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 all the other phenomena of nature, viz. that they are the effects of a will that possesses a creative energy and universal sovereignty; in other respects they differ widely from the ordinary operations of nature--as the sudden stoppage or reversal of a steam engine differs from its ordinary motion. They are effects aside from common occurrences, attracting attention by their novelty. Their design is to prove that God is interposing, or has interposed; and to this end, they must bear the unmistakable divine signature.
LEMUEL PORTER
The Christian Review, June 1847
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