I prayed for freedom for twenty years, but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.
Frederick Douglass (1817-1895) American abolitionist, orator, writer
(Attributed)
Mentioned frequently as being part of his earlier speeches, but unsourced. Also found as "failed to see the slightest scintillation of an answer until I prayed with my legs."
Quotations about:
self-help
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You cannot push anyone up the ladder unless he is willing to climb.
Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) American industrialist and philanthropist
(Attributed)
Most common form of an adage Carnegie frequently used regarding charity. Variants:
- "It is of no use to boost a man up a ladder unless he is willing to climb himself." -- In Cyrus Holdridge, "A Millionaire and His Hobby," Our Day (Jan 1900).
- "You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he is willing to climb a little himself." -- Elbert Hubbard, Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Business Men, Vol. 25 (1909).
Helpe thy selfe, and God will helpe thee.
George Herbert (1593-1633) Welsh priest, orator, poet.
Jacula Prudentum, or Outlandish Proverbs, Sentences, &c. (compiler), # 537 (1640 ed.)
(Source)
For more discussion of this and other closely related quotations: God helps those who help themselves - Wikipedia
Heaven ne’er helps the men who will not act.
Sophocles (496-406 BC) Greek tragic playwright
Philoctetes, fragment 288 (c. 409 BC)
(Source)
As translated in Edward Plumptre, The Tragedies of Sophocles, "Fragments," frag. 288 (2d ed., 1878), based on Karl Wilhelm Dindorf's numbering.
Common variant: "Heaven helps not the men who will not act."
The sentiment is a frequently repeated one. For more discussion of this family of quotations, see: God helps those who help themselves - Wikipedia.
Spuriously attributed to Sydney Smith, William Shakespeare, and Cicero. See George Herbert.
