Grenfell Quotes & Sayings

The thundering line of battle stands, And in the air Death moans and sings: But Day shall clasp him with strong hands, And Night shall fold him in soft wings. — Julian Grenfell

Stately as a galleon, I sail across the floor,Doing the military two-step, as in the days of yore. — Joyce Grenfell

The word of God is the Christian soul's best weapon, and it is essential to have it with him always. In doubt it decides, in consultation it directs; in anxiety it reassures; in sorrow it comforts; in failure it encourages; in defense it protects; in offense it is mightier than the mighty. — Wilfred Grenfell

No one can write their real religious life with pen or pencil. It is written only in actions, and its seal is our character, not our orthodoxy. Whether we, our neighbor, or God is the judge, absolutely the only value of our religious life to ourselves or to anyone is what it fits us for and enables us to do. — Wilfred Grenfell

I have a theory that I did most of my observing probably before I was twenty, stored it, and am still drawing on it. — Joyce Grenfell

The privilege of prayer to me is one of the most cherished possessions, because faith and experience alike convince me that God himself sees and answers, and His answers I never venture to criticize. It is only my part to ask. If it were otherwise, I would not dare to pray at all. — Wilfred Grenfell

We can never lose anything that is good, never lose love or the memories of great happiness because they are true. — Joyce Grenfell

God hates a coward."
I don't actually believe this is true. But it's something to aim for. — Laura Ingalls Wilder

Beware as you get the octopus on board. Suddenly he relaxes his grasp, and shhots out a jet of ink, which smarts considerably. — Wilfred Grenfell

I adore war. It is like a big picnic but without the objectivelessness of a picnic. I have never been more well or more happy. — Julian Grenfell

Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men but from doing something worthwhile. — Wilfred Grenfell

Ideas are never scarce; it is only one's panic sense of limitation that blocks the way. — Joyce Grenfell

Happiness is the sublime moment when you get out of your corsets at night. — Joyce Grenfell

The thing I would wish for anybody I loved would be the possibility of never coming to the end of discovery. I think it is what makes life worth living. — Joyce Grenfell

They look quite promising in the shop; and not entirely without hope when I get them back into my wardrobe. But then, when I put them on they tend to deteriorate with a very strange rapidity and one feels so sorry for them. — Joyce Grenfell

The service we render others is the rent we pay for our room on earth. — Wilfred Grenfell

The best definition of faith that I know is that it is reason grown courageous. Moreover, that is all that Christ ever asked us for, and the reason he asked us for that was because he wants to use us. He needs our help. It is almost impossible to believe it. But God Almighty wants our help, so Christ tells us. — Wilfred Grenfell

Who do I like best, men or women? I think it really depends on what for! — Joyce Grenfell

The knowledge of this marvelous period has made faith far easier from an intellectual standpoint, and has enabled us to be more patient in waiting to see the truth, not as now — Wilfred Grenfell

Courage is always the surest wisdom. — Wilfred Grenfell

I have found more inspiration in the cottages of fishermen than in the palaces of the rich. — Wilfred Grenfell

The service we render to others is really the rent we pay for our room on this earth. It is obvious that man is himself a traveler; that the purpose of this world is not 'to have and to hold' but "to give and serve." — Wilfred Grenfell

The course of George St. Leger Grenfell's life was a continuing act of violence against the sanctities of Victorian life, and especially against its inmost essence, the family. And indeed, the large Grenfell family was an overpowering aggregation, even by the ample Victorian standard. — Stephen Z. Starr

Progress everywhere today does seem to come so very heavily disguised as Chaos. — Joyce Grenfell

I have always believed that the Good Samaritan went across the road to the wounded man just because he wanted to. — Wilfred Grenfell

And Life is Colour and Warmth and Light and a striving evermore for these; and he is dead, who will not fight; and who dies fighting has increase. — Julian Grenfell

The naked earth is warm with Spring,
And with green grass and bursting trees
Leans to the sun's kiss glorying,
And quivers in the sunny breeze. — Julian Grenfell

I have come to believe that giving and receiving are really the same. Giving and receiving - not giving and taking — Joyce Grenfell

I don't like those chiffon nighties ... they show your vest. — Joyce Grenfell

Weep if you must Parting is hell But life goes on So sing as well. — Joyce Grenfell

I'd heard Joyce Grenfell on the radio, and when Mum gave me a book of her comic routines, I just loved it. Me and my sister shared a bedroom, and every night I'd drive her mad with my version of 'George, Don't Do That' about people we knew at school. — Dorothy Atkinson

There is no such thing as the pursuit of happiness, but there is the discovery of joy. — Joyce Grenfell