George Fox

“ Seek humility that goes before honour, exalt justice, set up righteousness and truth in judgment. Hold forth God’s sword to all people under you and not your own wills.... Seek first the Kingdom of God that he may rule in your own hearts over your pride, over your passion, over lust, over covetousness, over respect of persons and over all unrighteousness. So shall you set up the higher power in you for every soul to be subject to, which that of God in every conscience shall answer to. ”

“ Man’s pride is not the higher power. In humility we find a power above pride, higher than oppression, higher than men’s wills, higher than the lusts of the eye, yea, higher than all that in man would exalt against it. So we deny the lower that we may subject our souls to that which excelleth and which is ordained of God.
And to every ordinance of man we are subject for the Lord’s sake. But should we bow to the spirit of pride we should betray the Lord and give his honour to another and that is not for the Lord’s sake. ”

“ Unity amongst Fox and his followers is the fruit and fulfilment of separateness. In order truly to love his neighbour, a man must first love himself. He must achieve singleness of soul, must discover that within him which is of God; that which “speaks” with him only in the solitude of his inner being.
The unit, with Fox, is never, except incidentally, the group; never, except incidentally, the family; but the single human soul faced with its individual consciousness, the germ of truth, goodness, beauty, light, love, God, it bears within itself, the seed of God present in all human kind. ”

“ And all you who live in the first nature not knowing the word of God but only the letter, ye crucify the just and yet get up into the just’s place, quenching the light within you. Now I witness it by the same word as ever was. They draw people unto the letter and tell them it is the word and to hearken to them who speak their vain imaginations of it. So they bear rule by their means over the poor people, which the Lord was ever against. For God is free and will have his people so and his gospel is a free gospel and his mercies are free and his grace is free. ”

“ This reality that we ignorantly worship the mystics have declared to us as goodness, beauty and truth. Fox called it God in man, the life, the seed, the divine light latent in every son of man, and once in the life of this planet fully and completely informing a human frame. ”

“ And the God of power and love keep all friends in power, in love, that there be no surmisings, but pure refreshings in the unlimited love of God, which makes one another known in the conscience to read one another’s hearts; being comprehended into this love, it is inseparable and all are here one. And keep in the oneness and note them that cause dissension contrary to the gospel ye have received, that one pure faith may be held in all, to guide and preserve all in the unity of the spirit and bond of peace; all one family of love, children of one father and of the household of God. ”

“ Come out of the bustlings you that are bustling and in strife one against another, whose spirits are not quieted, but are fighting with words, whose hearts burn against each other with a mad blind zeal, who are up in your wantonness, lightness and pleasures who set the whole course of nature on fire, among whom the way of peace and that which is perfect is not known. ”

“ So that there in the truth stand clear and single. But such as are tender, if they should be moved to bubble forth a few words and speak in the seed and lamb’s power, suffer and bear that that is the tender. And if they should go beyond their measure bear it in the meeting for peace sake and order, that the spirits of the world be not moved against you, but that when the meeting is done then if any thing should be moved of anyone to speak to them between yourselves or one or two of you that feel it in the life and the love and wisdom that is pure ... ”

“ None must be light, out, wild. For the seed of God that is weighty and brings solid and into the wisdom of God by which is the wisdom of the creation known. Now that which runs into the imaginations and that part standing in which the imaginations come up, the pure not quite come up through to rule and reign, then that will run out, then that will glory; and so he hath spoiled that which opened to him and will boast and vapour, which is for condemnation. ”

“ The labourers are few that are faithful to God. Take heed of hurting the gift which God hath given to profit withal, whereby ye have received life through death and a measure of peace by the destruction of evil.
And all take heed to your spirits. That which is hasty discerns not the good seed. Take heed of being corrupted by flatteries. They that know their God shall be strong. But take heed of labouring to turn aside the just for a thing of naught, but know the precious from the vile, the clean from the unclean. ”

“ Walking in this light it enlightens your consciences and understandings, walking in it you have union one with another. For the light is but one which will discover all imagined light, false worships, ways and churches and draw you up to the church in God the fountain of light. ”

“ Youth should be kept under a bridle and restraint and be nurtured and trained up in the fear and wisdom of God, that the power of God and God’s truth may have its passage through all and over all, and all lightness frothiness wildness and looseness may be kept down. ”

“ I had not fellowship with any people, priests or professors or any sort of separated people, but with Christ, who hath the key, and opened the door of Light and Life unto me. I was afraid of all carnal talk and talkers, for I could see nothing but corruptions and the life lay under the burthen of corruptions. When I myself was in the deep, shut up under all, I could not believe that I should ever overcome, my troubles, my sorrows, and my temptations were so great, that I thought many times I should have despaired I was so tempted. ”

“ Stand still in that which is pure after ye see yourselves, and then mercy comes in. After thou seest thy thoughts and the temptations do not think but submit, and then power comes. Stand still in that which shows and discovers, and there doth strength immediately come. And stand still in the light, and submit to it and the other will be hushed and gone, and then content comes. And when temptations and troubles appear sink down in that which is pure and all will be hushed and fly away. ”

“ Now when the seed is up in every particular then there is no danger. But now when there is an opening and prophecy and the power stirs before the seed comes up, then there is something that will rash out and run out. There is the danger and there must be the fear and the patience. ”

“ And so I called all people to the true teacher out of the hirelings, such as teach for the fleece and makes a prey upon the people, for the Lord was come to teach his people himself by his spirit and Christ saith, Learn of me I am the way which doth enlighten every man that cometh into the world, that all through him might believe, and so to learn of him who had enlightened them, who was the light, and so had a brave meeting in the steeple-house and the priest of the parish foamed like a pig through rage and madness but the truth and the power of the Lord came over all their heads. ”

“ You that cannot own the prophesying of the daughters, the women-labourers in the gospel, you are such as the apostle speaks of in the same chapter, which serve not the Lord Jesus Christ but your own bellies, and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
Be ashamed for ever and let all your mouths be stopped for ever that despise the spirit of prophecy in the daughters, and do cast them into prison and do hinder the women-labourers in the gospel. ”

“ And now I do in humility desire you to consider did ever Christ and His apostles force any to be of his true religion and worship, and if that they would not then to give forth orders to take away their goods and their very beds and their corn which should make them bread, their cattle which should help to maintain them and their cows which should give them milk, their clothes they should wear to keep them warm and their tools they should work withal to get their living? Did not Christ on the contrary exhort Christians to love one another and to love enemies? ”

“ For now though one may have openings when they are abroad to minister to others, but as for their own particular growth is to dwell in the life which doth open. And it will keep down that which will boast; for the minister comes into the death to that which is in the death and in prison, and to return up again into the life and into the power and into the wisdom to preserve him clean. ”

“ So I declared to the people that I came not to hold up their idols, temple, tithes nor priests but to declare against them and opened to the people all their traditions and that piece of ground was no more holy than another piece of ground and that they should know that their bodies were to be the temples of God and Christ and so to bring them off all the world’s hireling teachers to Christ their free teacher and directing them to the spirit and grace, and the light of Jesus that they might know both God and Christ and the Scriptures. ”

“ So who can witness their souls brought out of death are come into the beginning, but thou that hast nothing but the letter and art spending thy money and thy labour and not satisfied, thou art following the greedy dumb dog which can never have enough. ”

“ And let no man live to self, but to the Lord, as they will die in him and seek the peace of the church of Christ, and the peace of all men in him, for blessed are the peacemakers. And dwell in the pure peaceable heavenly wisdom of God that is gentle and easy to be entreated, that is full of mercy; all striving to be of one mind, heart, soul and judgment in Christ, having his mind and spirit dwelling in you, building up one another in the love of God. ”

“ Now when the mind is got into the flesh and into death, the accuser gets within and the law of sin and death gets into the flesh. Then the life suffers under the law of sin and death, and then there is straightness and failings.
Take heed of conforming to the world, and of reasoning with flesh and blood, for that bringeth disobedience. But the obedience of faith destroyeth imaginations and questionings and all the temptations in the flesh and buffettings and lookings forth and fetching up things that are past. ”

“ So you that are in place to rule and seek for honour, seek first that which is honourable and none can hold you from honour. And know it is the gift of God only to such as honour him and not themselves. Seek that glory and honour that hath immortality and eternal life, which is obtained of God by continuance in well-doing. ”

“ Live in the Lord’s power and life, then to thee he will give wisdom and the pure feeling thou wilt come into whereby thy soul will be refreshed.... Things all will be made plain before thee, for thee and to thee from the Lord God. ”

“ III. This particularist genius and his fellows represent the keenest moment in one of those periods in its religious experience when humanity becomes aware of the wider life to which it belongs, when working on, God-led and God-inspired, part blind, part seeing, making in dark and desert places the uttermost venture of faith, suddenly, on an instant, it finds God. ”

“ All Friends everywhere take heed of printing anything more than ye are required of the Lord God. And all Friends everywhere take heed of wandering up and down about needless occasions for there is danger of getting into the careless words out of seriousness weightiness and savouriness. ”

“ Man, born of Woman. And some men may say man must have the power and superiority over the woman, because God says, “The man must rule over his wife” and that “man is not of the woman, but the woman is of the man.”
Indeed, after man fell, that command was; but before man fell there was no such command. For they were both meet-helps and they were both to have dominion over all that God made. And, as the apostle saith, “for as the woman is of the man,” his next words are, “so is the man also by the woman; but all things are of God.” ”

“ And every one mind the light that God hath commanded to shine out of darkness and hath shined into your hearts, “to give you the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, (your saviour) that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of yourselves,” in this you are sensible of His heavenly treasure in your earthly vessels. And every one have water in your wells and cisterns, and heavenly fruit on your trees which God hath planted. ”

“ So, friends, the word of the Lord to you all in all meetings you come into when they are sitting silent. They are many times in their own. Now a man when he is come out of the world he cometh out of the dirt, then he must not be rash, for now when he cometh into a silent meeting, that is another state; then he must come and feel his own spirit how it is when he cometh to them that sit silent, for if he be rash then they will judge him. When he had been in the world and among the world the heat is not out of him for he may come in the heat of his spirit out of the world. ”