John Newton

"John Newton at the Cowper and Newton Museum - Amazing Grace"

"I am not what I ought to be — ah, how imperfect and deficient! I am not what I wish to be — I abhor what is evil, and I would cleave to what is good! I am not what I hope to be — soon, soon shall I put off mortality, and with mortality all sin and imperfection. Yet, though I am not what I ought to be, nor what I wish to be, nor what I hope to be, I can truly say, I am not what I once was; a slave to sin and Satan; and I can heartily join with the apostle, and acknowledge, "By the grace of God I am what I am.""

"Whether men are pleased or not, we will, we must, worship the Lamb that was slain."

"Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound) That savd a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see."

"By one hours intimate access to the throne of grace, where the Lord causes his glory to pass before the soul that seeks him, you may acquire more true spiritual knowledge and comfort, than by a day or a weeks converse with the best of men, or the most studious perusal of many folios."

"Show me what I have to do, Every hour my strength renew; Let me live a life of faith, Let me die Thy peoples death."

"Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relievd; How precious did that grace appear, The hour I first believd!"

"Thro many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; Tis grace has brought me safe thus far, And grace will lead me home."

"Zeal is that pure and heavenly flame, The fire of love supplies; While that which often bears the name, Is self in a disguise. True zeal is merciful and mild, Can pity and forbear; The false is headstrong, fierce and wild, And breathes revenge and war."

"The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, The sun forbear to shine; But God, who calld me here below, Will be forever mine."

"I look upon prayer-meetings as the most profitable exercises (excepting the public preaching) in which Christians can engage. They have a direct tendency to kill a worldly, trifling spirit, and to draw down a Divine blessing upon all our concerns, compose differences, and enkindle (at least maintain) the flames of Divine love amongst brethren."

"Outside in the harbor ... was the captain of the slave-ship, with so clear a conscience that one of them, in the intervals of waiting to enrich British capitalism with the profits of another valuable cargo, enriched British religion by composing the hymn "How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds!"