George MacDonald - Reflections
@gmd-reflections.bsky.social
How does the condition of mind affect our life's journey? - Engaging the help of #GeorgeMacdonald and others as a springboard for ideas and principles of living.
https://gmdreflections.substack.com
https://gmdreflections.substack.com
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George MacDonald, Scottish author from Huntly, Aberdeenshire (1824-1905), influenced many later writers, including Chesterton, Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.
Friend of Ruskin and Lewis Carroll.
Wrote fantasy and realistic fiction, including in Scots dialect, theological works and poetry.
Friend of Ruskin and Lewis Carroll.
Wrote fantasy and realistic fiction, including in Scots dialect, theological works and poetry.
"It was a glorious morning. The wind had fallen quite, and the sun was shining as if he would say, 'Keep up your hearts; I am up here still. I have not forgotten you. By and by you shall see more of me.' "
George MacDonald
(From "Warlock o' Glenwarlock", CHAPTER XXVI, LOST AND FOUND)
George MacDonald
(From "Warlock o' Glenwarlock", CHAPTER XXVI, LOST AND FOUND)
December 31, 2025 at 9:22 AM
"It was a glorious morning. The wind had fallen quite, and the sun was shining as if he would say, 'Keep up your hearts; I am up here still. I have not forgotten you. By and by you shall see more of me.' "
George MacDonald
(From "Warlock o' Glenwarlock", CHAPTER XXVI, LOST AND FOUND)
George MacDonald
(From "Warlock o' Glenwarlock", CHAPTER XXVI, LOST AND FOUND)
"...vain were the fancy, by treatise or sermon or poem or tale, to persuade a man to forget himself. He cannot if he would. Sooner will he forget the presence of a raging tooth. There is no forgetting of ourselves but in...
December 29, 2025 at 10:08 PM
"...vain were the fancy, by treatise or sermon or poem or tale, to persuade a man to forget himself. He cannot if he would. Sooner will he forget the presence of a raging tooth. There is no forgetting of ourselves but in...
" 'Never mind whether people praise you or not; you do what you ought to do. And don’t be always thinking of your rights. There are people who consider themselves very grand because they can’t bear to be interfered with...
December 28, 2025 at 10:23 AM
" 'Never mind whether people praise you or not; you do what you ought to do. And don’t be always thinking of your rights. There are people who consider themselves very grand because they can’t bear to be interfered with...
"…from this time [my uncle] began to talk to me more as if I had been a grown man. There was a simplicity in his way of looking at things, however, which made him quite intelligible to a boy as yet uncorrupted by false aims or judgments..."
December 27, 2025 at 2:00 PM
"…from this time [my uncle] began to talk to me more as if I had been a grown man. There was a simplicity in his way of looking at things, however, which made him quite intelligible to a boy as yet uncorrupted by false aims or judgments..."
"Then the great old, young, beautiful princess turned to Curdie.
'Now, Curdie, are you ready?' she said.
'Yes, ma'am,' answered Curdie.
'You do not know what for.'
'You do, ma'am. That is enough.'
...
'Now, Curdie, are you ready?' she said.
'Yes, ma'am,' answered Curdie.
'You do not know what for.'
'You do, ma'am. That is enough.'
...
December 22, 2025 at 10:14 PM
"Then the great old, young, beautiful princess turned to Curdie.
'Now, Curdie, are you ready?' she said.
'Yes, ma'am,' answered Curdie.
'You do not know what for.'
'You do, ma'am. That is enough.'
...
'Now, Curdie, are you ready?' she said.
'Yes, ma'am,' answered Curdie.
'You do not know what for.'
'You do, ma'am. That is enough.'
...
"I saw and felt the stars now, for hope had come again in my heart, and I thanked the God of hope. 'Our minds are small because they are faithless,' I said to myself. 'If we had faith in God, as our Lord tells us, our hearts would share in His greatness and peace..."
December 17, 2025 at 11:31 PM
"I saw and felt the stars now, for hope had come again in my heart, and I thanked the God of hope. 'Our minds are small because they are faithless,' I said to myself. 'If we had faith in God, as our Lord tells us, our hearts would share in His greatness and peace..."
"….his was a nature which, foiled in one direction, must, absolutely helpless against its own vitality, straightway send out its searching roots in another. Of all forces, that of growth is the one irresistible, for it is the creating power of God, the law of life and of being."
George MacDonald
George MacDonald
December 14, 2025 at 6:44 AM
"….his was a nature which, foiled in one direction, must, absolutely helpless against its own vitality, straightway send out its searching roots in another. Of all forces, that of growth is the one irresistible, for it is the creating power of God, the law of life and of being."
George MacDonald
George MacDonald
"It was not long before his cogitations came to the point of action; for with men of Mr. Fuller's kind all their meditations have action for their result."
George MacDonald
(From "Guild Court," CHAPTER XXXIII, MR. FULLER IN HIS CHURCH)
George MacDonald
(From "Guild Court," CHAPTER XXXIII, MR. FULLER IN HIS CHURCH)
December 13, 2025 at 7:41 AM
"It was not long before his cogitations came to the point of action; for with men of Mr. Fuller's kind all their meditations have action for their result."
George MacDonald
(From "Guild Court," CHAPTER XXXIII, MR. FULLER IN HIS CHURCH)
George MacDonald
(From "Guild Court," CHAPTER XXXIII, MR. FULLER IN HIS CHURCH)
"…As Wordsworth prophesied for his Lucy that "beauty born of murmuring sound 'should' pass into her face," so it seemed as if the harmonies which flowed from her father's fingers had molded her form and face, her motions and thoughts, after their own fashion, even to a harmony which soothed..."
December 12, 2025 at 12:01 AM
"…As Wordsworth prophesied for his Lucy that "beauty born of murmuring sound 'should' pass into her face," so it seemed as if the harmonies which flowed from her father's fingers had molded her form and face, her motions and thoughts, after their own fashion, even to a harmony which soothed..."
“Ye’ll never be thinkin’ o’ gauin’ yersel’, mem!” he said.
“What for no, Watty, I wad like to ken,” growled Miss Horn from the vaulted depths of her bonnet.
“The like was never hard tell o’!” returned Watty, with the dismay of an orthodox undertaker, righteously jealous of all innovation.
“What for no, Watty, I wad like to ken,” growled Miss Horn from the vaulted depths of her bonnet.
“The like was never hard tell o’!” returned Watty, with the dismay of an orthodox undertaker, righteously jealous of all innovation.
December 9, 2025 at 6:12 PM
“Ye’ll never be thinkin’ o’ gauin’ yersel’, mem!” he said.
“What for no, Watty, I wad like to ken,” growled Miss Horn from the vaulted depths of her bonnet.
“The like was never hard tell o’!” returned Watty, with the dismay of an orthodox undertaker, righteously jealous of all innovation.
“What for no, Watty, I wad like to ken,” growled Miss Horn from the vaulted depths of her bonnet.
“The like was never hard tell o’!” returned Watty, with the dismay of an orthodox undertaker, righteously jealous of all innovation.
"My intention was to avoid cities, and, wandering from village to village, lay my soul bare to the healing influences of nature. As to any healing in the power of Time, I despised the old bald-pate as a quack who performed his seeming cures at the expense of the whole body..."
December 8, 2025 at 12:23 PM
"My intention was to avoid cities, and, wandering from village to village, lay my soul bare to the healing influences of nature. As to any healing in the power of Time, I despised the old bald-pate as a quack who performed his seeming cures at the expense of the whole body..."
" 'A heap o’ things comes to me as I’m takin’ a daunder by mysel’ i’ the gloamin’. I’ll no say a thing’s wrang till I hae tried it ower an’ ower; for maybe I haena a richt grip o’ the thing ava.' "
George MacDonald
(From "David Elginbrod," CHAPTER IV. THE COTTAGE)
George MacDonald
(From "David Elginbrod," CHAPTER IV. THE COTTAGE)
December 6, 2025 at 3:49 PM
" 'A heap o’ things comes to me as I’m takin’ a daunder by mysel’ i’ the gloamin’. I’ll no say a thing’s wrang till I hae tried it ower an’ ower; for maybe I haena a richt grip o’ the thing ava.' "
George MacDonald
(From "David Elginbrod," CHAPTER IV. THE COTTAGE)
George MacDonald
(From "David Elginbrod," CHAPTER IV. THE COTTAGE)
" 'Few people know their own deeper minds. The more potent a power in us, I suspect it is the more hidden from our scrutiny.’ "
George MacDonald
(From "Wilfrid Cumbermede," CHAPTER XXXV. A TALK WITH CHARLEY)
George MacDonald
(From "Wilfrid Cumbermede," CHAPTER XXXV. A TALK WITH CHARLEY)
December 6, 2025 at 9:26 AM
" 'Few people know their own deeper minds. The more potent a power in us, I suspect it is the more hidden from our scrutiny.’ "
George MacDonald
(From "Wilfrid Cumbermede," CHAPTER XXXV. A TALK WITH CHARLEY)
George MacDonald
(From "Wilfrid Cumbermede," CHAPTER XXXV. A TALK WITH CHARLEY)
"…all lovely sights tend to keep the soul pure, to lift the heart up to God, and above, not merely what people call low cares, but what people would call reasonable cares, although our great Teacher teaches us that such cares are unjust towards our Father in Heaven..."
December 5, 2025 at 7:46 PM
"…all lovely sights tend to keep the soul pure, to lift the heart up to God, and above, not merely what people call low cares, but what people would call reasonable cares, although our great Teacher teaches us that such cares are unjust towards our Father in Heaven..."
"His measure of success, and his sense of utter failure, would together lift him toward the One Good."
George MacDonald
(From "Paul Faber, Surgeon," CHAPTER XLVII, THE BLOWING OF THE WIND)
George MacDonald
(From "Paul Faber, Surgeon," CHAPTER XLVII, THE BLOWING OF THE WIND)
December 3, 2025 at 10:35 PM
"His measure of success, and his sense of utter failure, would together lift him toward the One Good."
George MacDonald
(From "Paul Faber, Surgeon," CHAPTER XLVII, THE BLOWING OF THE WIND)
George MacDonald
(From "Paul Faber, Surgeon," CHAPTER XLVII, THE BLOWING OF THE WIND)
"Nothing is so ruinous to progress in which effort is needful, as satisfaction with apparent achievement; that ever sounds a halt; but Wingfold's experience was that no sooner did he set his foot on the lowest hillock of self-congratulation than some fresh difficulty came that threw him prostrate...
December 2, 2025 at 2:25 PM
"Nothing is so ruinous to progress in which effort is needful, as satisfaction with apparent achievement; that ever sounds a halt; but Wingfold's experience was that no sooner did he set his foot on the lowest hillock of self-congratulation than some fresh difficulty came that threw him prostrate...
" 'Why know the name of a thing when the thing itself you do not know? Whose work is it but your own to open your eyes? But indeed the business of the universe is to make such a fool of you that you will know yourself for one, and so begin to be wise!’"
George MacDonald
George MacDonald
December 1, 2025 at 9:22 AM
" 'Why know the name of a thing when the thing itself you do not know? Whose work is it but your own to open your eyes? But indeed the business of the universe is to make such a fool of you that you will know yourself for one, and so begin to be wise!’"
George MacDonald
George MacDonald
"…Dr. Ruthwell…was one of the few in the profession, whose love of science and love of their fellows combined, would be enough to chain them to the art of healing, irrespective of its emoluments. He was one of the few, also, who see the marvellous in all science..."
November 30, 2025 at 9:39 AM
"…Dr. Ruthwell…was one of the few in the profession, whose love of science and love of their fellows combined, would be enough to chain them to the art of healing, irrespective of its emoluments. He was one of the few, also, who see the marvellous in all science..."
"Some of our thoughts are worth nothing, because they've got no soul in them. The brain puts them into the mind, not the mind into the brain."
George MacDonald
(From "At the Back of the North Wind," CHAPTER XXXVII, ONCE MORE)
George MacDonald
(From "At the Back of the North Wind," CHAPTER XXXVII, ONCE MORE)
November 29, 2025 at 1:13 PM
"Some of our thoughts are worth nothing, because they've got no soul in them. The brain puts them into the mind, not the mind into the brain."
George MacDonald
(From "At the Back of the North Wind," CHAPTER XXXVII, ONCE MORE)
George MacDonald
(From "At the Back of the North Wind," CHAPTER XXXVII, ONCE MORE)
"…I heard a friend once remark that it is not the cares of to-day, but the cares of to-morrow, that weigh a man down. For the day we have the corresponding strength given, for the morrow we are told to trust; it is not ours yet."
George MacDonald
George MacDonald
November 28, 2025 at 8:16 AM
"…I heard a friend once remark that it is not the cares of to-day, but the cares of to-morrow, that weigh a man down. For the day we have the corresponding strength given, for the morrow we are told to trust; it is not ours yet."
George MacDonald
George MacDonald
"…little Davie, who had been looking very solemn and thoughtful for some time, said, not in a questioning, but in a concluding tone—
“ 'God didn’t make the fees, Kirsty!'
“ 'Oh yes, Davie! God made everything. God did make the fleas,' said Kirsty.
"Davie was silent for a while..."
“ 'God didn’t make the fees, Kirsty!'
“ 'Oh yes, Davie! God made everything. God did make the fleas,' said Kirsty.
"Davie was silent for a while..."
November 27, 2025 at 9:07 AM
"…little Davie, who had been looking very solemn and thoughtful for some time, said, not in a questioning, but in a concluding tone—
“ 'God didn’t make the fees, Kirsty!'
“ 'Oh yes, Davie! God made everything. God did make the fleas,' said Kirsty.
"Davie was silent for a while..."
“ 'God didn’t make the fees, Kirsty!'
“ 'Oh yes, Davie! God made everything. God did make the fleas,' said Kirsty.
"Davie was silent for a while..."
"Perhaps the best thing for the princess would have been falling in love. But how a princess who had no gravity at all, could fall into anything, is a difficulty—perhaps THE difficulty…"
November 25, 2025 at 1:48 PM
"Perhaps the best thing for the princess would have been falling in love. But how a princess who had no gravity at all, could fall into anything, is a difficulty—perhaps THE difficulty…"
"They did not reckon what strength the additional motive, what heart the new love, what uplifting the hope of help from on high, kindled by their righteous deed, might give them—..."
November 24, 2025 at 7:45 AM
"They did not reckon what strength the additional motive, what heart the new love, what uplifting the hope of help from on high, kindled by their righteous deed, might give them—..."
"A gentle wind, laden with pine odours from the sun-heated trees behind him, flapped its light wing in his face: the humanity of the world smote his heart; the great sky towered up over him, and its divinity entered his soul..."
November 23, 2025 at 7:51 AM
"A gentle wind, laden with pine odours from the sun-heated trees behind him, flapped its light wing in his face: the humanity of the world smote his heart; the great sky towered up over him, and its divinity entered his soul..."
“Strange to think…that the sun himself there is only a great fire, and knows nothing about it! There must be a sun to that sun, or the whole thing is a vain show. There must be one to whom each is itself, yet the all makes a whole—one who is at once both centre and circumference to all.”
November 20, 2025 at 12:48 PM
“Strange to think…that the sun himself there is only a great fire, and knows nothing about it! There must be a sun to that sun, or the whole thing is a vain show. There must be one to whom each is itself, yet the all makes a whole—one who is at once both centre and circumference to all.”