What do you think?
The Unselfishness of God and How I Discovered It
Hannah Whitall Smith was a Christian author during the Holiness movement in the United States and the Higher Life Movement in the United Kingdom. Smith was also a key figure in the Women’s suffrage movement and still remains a popular author among Christians today. In 1903, Smith published a spiritual biography called The Unselfishness of God and How I Discovered It.
118 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1988
About the author
Hannah Whitall Smith
219 books35 followersHannah Whitall Smith, 1832-1911
Hannah Whitall Smith was a speaker and author in the Holiness movement in the United States and the Higher Life movement in the United Kingdom. She was also active in the Women's suffrage movement and the Temperance movement, helping found the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.
Hannah was no stranger to the difficulties of life. Although she had seven children in all, only three survived to adulthood.
Hannah Whitall Smith was a speaker and author in the Holiness movement in the United States and the Higher Life movement in the United Kingdom. She was also active in the Women's suffrage movement and the Temperance movement, helping found the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.
Hannah was no stranger to the difficulties of life. Although she had seven children in all, only three survived to adulthood.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 9, 2018
Feelings in all things must always depend upon facts. Quotes from Hannah Whitall Smith's writing is timeless. It has raised many questions about how I see my faith and how I see God?? I pray studying her writing will give me a better revelation of my personal truth. It will teach how to put things in perspective so I can walk this Christian walk on a daily basis.
I am enjoying this book almost as much as the Christians Secret to a Happy Life. Her writing is totally timeless and very practical.
I am enjoying this book almost as much as the Christians Secret to a Happy Life. Her writing is totally timeless and very practical.
January 3, 2017
A wonderful and encouraging book. Hannah Smith is one of my favorite Christian/spiritual authors! Every page is full of encouragement in how to trust a trustworthy God.
January 31, 2025
If you're reading this book (and you should) please be sure not to miss these three chapters, which were omitted from the edition I read, but can be found here: https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&...
Oddly, those were the three chapters I first read, amid a glorious ramble through the dated but earnest Tentmaker website, and the ones which sent me looking, several years later, for this book to fulfil a Brighter Winter reading challenge: Read a book about a woman you admire.
I found it a difficult challenge; I don't think about who I admire so much as I think about who I see Christ in. And Hannah Smith is hardly the obvious latter. She is often sweet, relentlessly passionate, and occasionally annoying. The page can obscure Christ, and I never met Hannah in person. It's how we relate to real live people that tells who lives in our hearts.
Anyone recommend a good biography of her?
Reading Smith's memoir in conjunction with present-day preacher Sarah Bessey's—Miracles and Other Reasonable Things—made for some intriguing comparisons.
Overall, it's good book, and one I recommend. But I did (being also occasionally annoying and sometimes passionate) print off the three excised chapters above, and stuck them, looseleaf, into the copy of the book I was reading. Here's hoping that the local library will let them remain there. Publishers shouldn't so casually burglarize such integral chapters in a woman's story.
Oddly, those were the three chapters I first read, amid a glorious ramble through the dated but earnest Tentmaker website, and the ones which sent me looking, several years later, for this book to fulfil a Brighter Winter reading challenge: Read a book about a woman you admire.
I found it a difficult challenge; I don't think about who I admire so much as I think about who I see Christ in. And Hannah Smith is hardly the obvious latter. She is often sweet, relentlessly passionate, and occasionally annoying. The page can obscure Christ, and I never met Hannah in person. It's how we relate to real live people that tells who lives in our hearts.
Anyone recommend a good biography of her?
Reading Smith's memoir in conjunction with present-day preacher Sarah Bessey's—Miracles and Other Reasonable Things—made for some intriguing comparisons.
Overall, it's good book, and one I recommend. But I did (being also occasionally annoying and sometimes passionate) print off the three excised chapters above, and stuck them, looseleaf, into the copy of the book I was reading. Here's hoping that the local library will let them remain there. Publishers shouldn't so casually burglarize such integral chapters in a woman's story.
May 15, 2017
This is Hannah Whitall Smith's spiritual autobiography and focuses largely on her discovery of how Christ daily sanctifies us.
August 10, 2020
This is Hannah Whitehall Smith's spiritual diary of how she was raised in the Quaker faith, came to saving faith in Christ, and was led on to experience the rest of faith.
February 6, 2026
Well-written, engaging read. The first half of the book details a lot about her Quaker background and was informative and the second half is more about her personal journey of faith and was encouraging / convicting!
December 31, 2024
En meget inderlig, åndelig selvbiografi, af en af de største kvinder i Amerika, og i kristendommen i de sidste tohundrede år. Læste med ekstra opmærksomhed på hendes opdagelse af den universalistiske lære i Det Nye Testamente, der af hendes oplæg blev censureret i årene efter hendes død. Blev noget lang i spyttet til sidst, der blev meget repeterende, i det hun også opdagede helliggørelsen i dette liv.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews