# Blessings

Blessings are the infusion or bestowal of something with holiness, spiritual redemption, divine will, or one's hope or approval.

## Quotes

* May God give you...For every storm a rainbow, for every tear a smile, for every care a promise and a blessing in each trial. For every problem life sends, a faithful friend to share, for every sigh a sweet song and an answer for each prayer.
** Anonymous Irish blessing, as quoted in The Puppet Master (2009) by Jan Coffey.
** Quoted by Vin Scully in his final sign-off on October 2, 2016.
* Blessings may appear under the shape of pains, losses, and disappointments; but let him have patience, and he will see them in their proper figures.
** Joseph Addison The Guardian no. 117 25 July 1713.
* Blessings star forth forever; but a curse Is like a cloud — it passes.
** Philip James Bailey, Festus (1813), scene Hades.
* Life is a creative endeavor. It is active, not passive. We are the yeast that leavens our lives into rich, fully baked loaves. When we experience our lives as flat and lackluster, it is our consciousness that is at fault. We hold the inner key that turns our lives from thankless to fruitful. That key is "Blessing."
** Julia Cameron, Blessings : Prayers and Declarations for a Heartful Life (1998).
* The growth of one blesses all. I am committed to grow in love. All that I touch, I leave in love. I move through this world consciously and creatively.
** Julia Cameron, Blessings : Prayers and Declarations for a Heartful Life (1998).
* I honor my importance and the importance of others. None of us is dispensable, none of us is replaceable. In the chorus of life each of us brings a True Note, a perfect pitch that adds to the harmony of the whole. I act creatively and consciously to actively endorse and encourage the expansion of those whose lives I touch. Believing in the goodness of each, I add to the goodness of all. We bless each other even in passing.
** Julia Cameron, Blessings : Prayers and Declarations for a Heartful Life (1998).
* A spring of love gushed from my heart, And I bless'd them unaware.
** Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798; 1817), Part IV.
* For blessings ever wait on virtuous deeds, And though a late, a sure reward succeeds.
** William Congreve, The Mourning Bride (1697), Act V, scene 3.
* God bless us every one.
** Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol (1843), Stave 3 (saying of Tiny Tim).
* Like a led Victim, to my Death I'll go, And, dying, bless the Hand that gave the Blow.
** John Dryden, The Spanish Friar (1681), Act II, Scene I.
* I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
** Genesis 32:26 (KJV).
* Das Leben ist der Güter höchstes, und das schlimmste Übel ist der Tod.
** Life is the greatest of blessings, and death the worst of evils.
** Heinrich Heine, Ideen (1835), Das Buch Le Grand, Ch. 3.
* When God at first made man, Having a glass of blessings standing by, 'Let us,' said he, 'pour on him all we can: Let the world's riches, which dispersed lie, Contract into a span.'
** George Herbert, The Pulley (published posthumously, 1633).
* Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
** Jesus Christ as quoted in the Gospel of Matthew 5:1–12 (NIV); ofen referred to as "The Beatitudes" this is the start of "The Sermon on the Mount".
* Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
** Jesus Christ as quoted in the Gospel of John 20:29 (AKJV).
* It is more blessed to give than to receive.
** Jesus Christ as quoted in Acts 20:35 (AKJV).
* My attention was first called to this by watching the effect produced by the celebration of the Mass in a Roman Catholic church in a little village in Sicily... the quite ordinary celebration of the Mass was a magnificent display of the application of occult force.... At the moment of consecration the Host glowed with the most dazzling brightness it became in fact a veritable sun to the eye of the clairvoyant, and as the priest lifted it above the heads of the people I noticed that two distinct varieties of spiritual force poured forth from it, which might perhaps be taken as roughly corresponding to the light of the sun and the streamers of his corona. The first rayed out impartially in all directions upon all the people in the church; indeed, it penetrated the walls of the church as though they were not there, and influenced a considerable section of the surrounding country. Ch. 8
** C.W. Leadbeater, in The Hidden Side of things (1913)
* The light which I have just described poured forth impartially upon all, the just and the unjust, the believers and the scoffers. But this second force was called into activity only in response to a strong feeling of devotion on the part of an individual. At the elevation of the Host all members of the congregation duly prostrated themselves— some apparently as a mere matter of habit, but some also with a strong feeling of deep devotional feeling. The effect as seen by clairvoyant sight was most striking and profoundly impressive, for to each of these latter there darted from the uplifted Host a ray of fire, which set the higher part of the astral body of the recipient glowing with the most intense ecstasy. Ch. 8
** C.W. Leadbeater, in The Hidden Side of things (1913)
* Clearly one of the great objects, perhaps the principal object, of the daily celebration of the Mass is that everyone within reach of it shall receive at least once each day one of these electric shocks which are so well calculated to promote any growth of which he is capable. Such an outpouring of force brings to each person whatever he has made himself capable of receiving; but even the quite undeveloped and ignorant cannot but be somewhat the better for the passing touch of a noble emotion, while for the few more advanced it means a spiritual uplifting the value of which it would be difficult to exaggerate. Ch. 8
** C.W. Leadbeater, in The Hidden Side of things (1913)
* The same idea carried out in a different way shows itself to us in the blessing of the incense before it is burned. For the incense has always a dual significance. It ascends before God as a symbol of the prayers of the people; but also it spreads through the church as a symbol of the sweet savour of the blessing of God, and so once more the priest pours into it a holy influence with the idea that wherever its scent may penetrate, wherever the smallest particle of that which has been blessed may pass, it shall bear with it a feeling of peace and of purity, and shall chase away all inharmonious thoughts and sensations. Ch. 8
** C.W. Leadbeater, in The Hidden Side of things (1913)
* Blessings. Under this heading should come the various types of blessings such as are given in the Church, in Freemasonry, and by the pupils of our Masters. Blessings may be arranged in two sections—those which a man gives from himself, and those which are given through him as an official by a higher power. The first kind of blessing is merely an expression of an earnest good wish... this will depend upon the earnestness of the good wish and the amount of spiritual force put into it... If the words were uttered... without much feeling or intention behind them, the effect would be slight and transient; on the other hand, if they came from a full heart and were uttered with definite determination, their effect would be deep and lasting. The second type of blessing is that which is uttered by an official appointed for the purpose, through whom power flows from some higher source... the power of giving a definite blessing is one of those conferred upon the Priest at his ordination... he is simply a channel for the power from on high, and if it should unfortunately happen that he speaks it merely as a matter of course and as part of his ritual, that would make no difference to the spiritual power outpoured. The blessing flows equally over all, but the amount of the influences which any individual can obtain from it depends upon his receptivity.
** C.W. Leadbeater, The Masters and the Path (1925) p. 142-143
* I well remember giving each of these on different occasions to a great Angel of the neighbourhood with whom I have the honour to be well acquainted. Passing close to his territories... I gave him once as a greeting the full blessing of my Master, and it was indeed beautiful to see the way in which he received it, bowing profoundly and showing his appreciation by a lovely soft glow of holiness and uttermost devotion. Another day under similar circumstances I gave him the blessing of the Brotherhood, and instantly every power of that great Angel flashed out in glad response, and the whole of his territory lit up. It was as though a soldier had leapt to attention, as though everything, not only within himself but in all the thousands of minor creatures working under him, had suddenly been vivified and raised to its highest power. All nature instantly responded. You see, my Master, however deeply reverenced by him, is not his Master, but my King is his King, for there is but One.
** C.W. Leadbeater, The Masters and the Path, (1925) p. 173
* The Lord Buddha has his own special type of force, which he outpours when he gives his blessing to the world, and this benediction is a unique and very marvellous thing; for by his authority and position a Buddha has access to planes of nature which are altogether beyond our reach, hence he can transmute and draw down to our level the forces peculiar to those planes. Without this mediation of the Buddha these forces would be of no use to us here in physical life; their vibrations are so tremendous, so incredibly rapid, that they would pass through us unsensed at any level we can reach, and we should never even know of their existence. But as it is, the force of the blessing is scattered all over the world; and it instantly finds for itself channels through which it can pour (just as water instantly finds an open pipe), thereby strengthening all good work and bringing peace to the hearts of those who are able to receive it.
** C.W. Leadbeater, The Masters and the Path (1925) p. 284-5
* What is the greatest blessing?
    Not to serve the foolish,
    But to serve the wise;
    To honour those worthy of honour;
    This is the greatest blessing...
    To have a soul filled with right desire...
    Pleasant words that are well spoken...
    To support father and mother,
    To cherish wife and child,
    To follow a peaceful calling...
    To abhor and cease from sin,
    To abstain from strong drink,
    Not to be weary in well-doing...
    To be long-suffering and meek...
    The knowledge of the Four Great Truths...
    Invincible on every side
    Is he who acteth thus;
    On every side he walks in safety;
    And his is the greatest blessing.
* Mangala Sutta by Guatama Buddha, translated thus by Professor Rhys Davids (with slight modifications introduced from other sources, when they seemed decided improvements by CWL) as Quoted in The Masters and the Path by C.W. Leadbeater, (1925) p. 291
* The blest to-day is as completely so, As who began a thousand years ago.
** Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man (1733-34), Epistle I, line 75.
* Suffer not thy wrongs to shroud thy fate, But turn, my soul, to blessings which remain.
** Anna Seward, "Sonnet XII" (1773), in Poetical Works, ed. Walter Scott, Vol. III (Edinburgh: John Ballantyne and Co., 1810), p. 133.
* Steal immortal blessing from her lips.
** William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (1595), Act III, scene 3, line 37.
* The benediction of these covering heavens Fall on their heads like dew!
** William Shakespeare, Cymbeline (1611), Act V, scene 5, line 350.
* In vita itaque apprime utile est, intellectum seu rationem, quantum possumus, perficere, et in hoc uno summa hominis feticitas seu beatitudo consistit; quippe beatitudo nihil aliud est, quam ipsa animi acquiescentia, quae ex Dei intuitiva cognitione oritur.
** Thus in life it is before all things useful to perfect the understanding, or reason, as far as we can, and in this alone man's highest happiness or blessedness consists, indeed blessedness is nothing else but the contentment of spirit, which arises from the intuitive knowledge of God.
** Baruch Spinoza, Ethics (1677), Part IV, Appendix, IV.
* Blessedness is not the reward of virtue, but virtue itself. We do not enjoy blessedness because we keep our lusts in check. On the contrary, it is because we enjoy blessedness that we are able to keep our lusts in check.
** Baruch Spinoza, Ethics (1677), Book 5, Proposition 42, as translated by Samuel Shirley, Complete Works (2002), p. 382
* Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas.
** Blessed is he who has been able to win knowledge of the causes of things.
** Virgil, Georgics (c. 37 BC), Book II, line 490.
* For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes. But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course that’s Moses, not Jesus. I haven’t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere. "Blessed are the merciful" in a courtroom? "Blessed are the peacemakers" in the Pentagon? Give me a break!
** Kurt Vonnegut, Cold Turkey at In These Times (10 May 2004).
* Like birds, whose beauties languish half concealed, Till, mounted on the wing, their glossy plumes Expanded, shine with azure, green and gold; How blessings brighten as they take their flight.
** Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1742-1745), Night II, line 589.
* Amid my list of blessings infinite, Stands this the foremost, "That my heart has bled."
** Edward Young, Night Thoughts (1742-1745), Night IX, line 497.

### Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations

    Quotes reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 71-72.
* 'Tis not for mortals always to be blest.
** John Armstrong, The Art of Preserving Health (1744), Book IV, line 260.
* Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; Adversity is the blessing of the New.
** Francis Bacon, Of Adversity.
* Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.
** Deuteronomy, XXVIII. 5.
* O close my hand upon Beatitude! Not on her toys.
** Louise Imogen Guiney, Deo Optimo Maximo.
* To heal divisions, to relieve the oppress'd, In virtue rich; in blessing others, bless'd.
** Homer, The Odyssey, Book VII, line 95. Pope's translation.
* A man's best things are nearest him, Lie close about his feet.
** Monckton Milnes, The Men of Old, Stanza 7.
* God bless us every one, prayed Tiny Tim, Crippled and dwarfed of body yet so tall Of soul, we tiptoe earth to look on him, High towering over all.
** James Whitcomb Riley, God Bless Us Every One.

## See also

* Ageless Wisdom
* Beatitudes
* Bhagavad Gita
* Bible
* Four Noble Truths
* Koran
* Meditation
* Prayer