Inspirational Quotes by Hannah Whitall Smith
“We ought to heartily put our whole trust in God once and for all, and make a total surrender of ourselves to Him, secure in the faith that He would not deceive us.”
“Please remember that I have recommended that you meditate often on God, day and night, during business and recreation. He is always near you and with you; do not leave Him alone. You would consider it rude to ignore a friend who came to visit you. Then why neglect God? Do not forget Him. Meditate on Him often. Adore Him continually. Live and die with Him. This is the glorious vocation of a Christian. You could say that this is our profession.”
“He had noticed a tree stripped of its leaves. He realized that in a little while the leaves would return, and the flowers and fruit would appear.”
“They consider sickness as a curse of nature and not as a blessing from God. Seeing it only in that light, they find no redeeming value in it - only grief and distress. But those who consider sickness as coming from the hand of God see it as part of His mercy. They see it as the means that He employs for their salvation. Consequently they experience great sweetness and consolation in it.”
“That our sanctification did not depend upon changing our works, but in doing that for GOD's sake, which we commonly do for our own.”
“the trust we put in GOD, honors Him much, and draws down great graces.”
“We should love our friends, but not so much that it encroaches upon our love of God, which must be primary.”
“If He left me alone for one moment, I would be the most wretched person alive. Yet I do not know how He could possibly leave me alone. Faith gives me a strong conviction, stronger than my senses ever could, that He never forsakes us, unless we first forsake Him. Let us fear to leave Him. Let us be always with Him. Let us live and die in His presence.”
“He believed it was a serious mistake to think of our prayer time as being different from any other. Our actions should unite us with God when we are involved in our daily activities, just as our prayer unites us with Him in our quiet time.”
“This troubled state of mind lasted four years, during which he suffered greatly. But since that time he has lived his life in perfect liberty and continual joy. He placed his sins between him and God, as it were, telling God that he did not deserve His kindnesses. But God still continued to bestow them upon him in abundance.”
“The sorest afflictions never appear intolerable, except when we see them in the wrong light. When we see them as dispensed by the hand of GOD, when we know that it is our loving FATHER who abases and distresses us, our sufferings will lose their bitterness, and become even matter of consolation.”
“Recently he had been sent into Burgundy to buy a quantity of wine for the monastery. This was a very unwelcome task for him, because he had no head for business. Furthermore he was lame, and he could not move around the boat except by rolling himself over the casks. However he did not bother himself about it, nor about the purchase of the wine. He said to God that it was His business he was on, and then he found that he did the job very well.”
“That we should establish ourselves in a sense of GOD’s Presence, by continually conversing with Him. That it was a shameful thing to quit His conversation to think of trifles and fooleries.”
“All things are possible to him who believes. They are less difficult to him who hopes. They are easier to him who loves. And they are easiest to him who perseveres in the practice of all three virtues.”
“When we understand that it is the hand of God that dispenses them, and we know that it is our loving Father who humbles and wounds us, then our sufferings lose their bitterness. They even become sources of consolation.”
“He said it was impossible that God would deceive. He also said that God would not allow a soul, which is perfectly surrendered to Him and committed to endure everything for His sake, to suffer long.”
“That with him the set times of prayer were not different from other times; that he retired to pray, according to the directions of his Superior, but that he did not want such retirement, nor ask for it, because his greatest business did not divert him from GOD.”
“He said that we should establish ourselves in a sense of God’s Presence by continually communing with Him.”
“In the beginning of the spiritual life, we ought to be faithful in doing our duty and denying ourselves. After that, unspeakable pleasures followed. In difficulties we only need to turn to Jesus Christ and beg His grace, and then everything became easy.”
Group of Brands
© 2026 Bibleportal.com All rights reserved.
Hannah Whitall Smith (1832 - 1911)
Was a lay speaker and author in the Holiness movement in the United States and the Higher Life movement in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. She was also active in the Women's suffrage movement and the Temperance movement. Hannah Whitall Smith’s book The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life (1875) is an extremely popular book of Christian mysticism and practical Holiness theology. It is still widely read today. She wrote her spiritual autobiography, The Unselfishness of God And How I Discovered It, in 1903.In 1870 Hannah Whitall Smith wrote what has become a classic of joyous Christianity, The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life. The title barely hints at the depths of that perceptive book. It is no shallow "four easy steps to successful living." Studiously, the writer defines the shape of a full and abundant life hid in God. Then she carefully reveals the difficulties to this way and finally charts the results of a life abandoned to God. What is the Christian's secret to a happy life? It is best summed up by her chapter entitled "The Joy of Obedience." Joy comes through obedience to Christ, and joy results from obedience to Christ. Without obedience joy is hollow and artificial.
Hannah Whitall Smith1832-1911
Hannah Tatum Whitall Smith was a lay speaker and author in the Holiness movement in the United States and the Higher Life movement in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. She was also active in the Women's suffrage movement and the Temperance movement.
Hannah Whitall Smith's book The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life (1875) is an extremely popular book of Christian principles and practical Holiness theology. It is still widely read today. She wrote her spiritual autobiography, The Unselfishness of God And How I Discovered It, in 1903. Many publications of that book omit the three chapters which explain how she became a Christian universalist.
Hannah Whitall Smith was a Quaker born in Philadelphia in 1832. Her book 'The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life' has become a classic. Published in 1870, it was a beacon of encouragement in the age in which it was written, and continues to inspire men and women to a more joyful life with Christ. It has sold nearly 2 million copies.
Smith was by no means a dour servant of Christ but rather, her life expressed the joy found in complete surrender. The 'secret' to a happy life, is to trust implicitly in the promises of the Bible. Her goal was not to impress the scholar but to elevate the simple man or woman who longed for a more consecrated way of living.
On a theological level, the sad climax of Hannah's life and ministry was similar to that of her husband. She was raised in the Society of Friends (Quakerism), and for some time was associated with the Plymouth Brethren. She was probably saved under their influence, and thus came to know something of the growth truths.
US evangelist, reformer, suffragist, author. She championed feminist causes and the right of young women to attend college; co-founded Women's Christian Temperance Union. Deeply practical, her writings deal directly with the day to day struggles of ordinary people. She weaves her scriptural theology in and out of the stories of people's lives.