The Bishop's Wife Quotes

“She was named Juliet, after his wife, the bishop thought, but that was not what Julia meant at all. She was far too modest to think of calling her child after herself. Juliet, for her, was the name of that young girl of Verona whose tragic love has everywhere helped make youth and sorrow better friends.”
― Robert Nathan, The Bishop's Wife

“My duties led me into the darkest cellars as well as the most beautiful cathedrals; often I found the cellar illuminated with a holy light, and the cathedral dark.”
― Robert Nathan, The Bishop's Wife

“I grieve for your grandparents,” continued Michael. “But after all, that was in another land, and in a different time. I need not point out to you the advantages of the Church to this country in which you operate. It is the Church which saves the home, by confronting with a determined mien the practices of immorality. The home, following the Church, conforms to design, and consists of the father, the mother, and the child. That home, Mr. Cohen, furnishes the basis for your credit in the markets of the world. The father produces, the mother buys, the child consumes. I ask you: can you do without it? Do you wish to see this country sunk in wickedness, the father drunk, the mother divorced, the child debauched? Would you like to see the mills idle, the mines closed, the farms overgrown with weeds?”
― Robert Nathan, The Bishop's Wife

“No, my friend; if I do not turn Christian like so many others, it is not because of the religious practices. It is because I do not want my grandchildren to hate the Jews. There is too much hate in the world as it is; in this country it flourishes like the weed. Here even the poets hate one another. Very well, I stay a Jew, I do not go over on the side of the haters. I do not buy my way up, so that I too, can spit down on my people. Do you think I love the Jews so much? How can I tell, when I am one? But I am sick of those who hate them, because I am sick of hate. What we need is more politeness in the world. Let people shake hands and say, Come in.”
― Robert Nathan, The Bishop's Wife

“These differences were of a practical nature. That is to say people were not obliged to suffer discomfort any longer. As a matter of fact, the entire country groaned with comfort, although it had not yet reached its full development. This gave rise to an extraordinary state of mind. At the moment that whole cities were being torn down in order to make room for something larger, it was generally conceded that everything was perfect. So it was possible to admire the country’s perfection, and at the same time to assist in its improvement.”
― Robert Nathan, The Bishop's Wife

“have not lived through Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, and the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament for nothing; not to mention the twenty-seven books of the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation, the Apocrypha, the Talmud, the Code of Justinian, the Augsburg Confession, and modern Exegesis. … It has been a stirring experience. But you cannot expect me, after being present at the Garden of Gethsemane, to trouble myself with problems of transubstantiation. … Or can you?”
― Robert Nathan, The Bishop's Wife

“During this period, the legendary Louis B. Mayer contracted him to Hollywood to become a screenwriter. Nathan ultimately didn’t enjoy the experience, though the movie industry continually craved his work. Five of his novels have been made into films. The aforementioned “Portrait of Jennie” and “The Bishop’s Wife,” as well as “One More Spring,” “Wake Up and Dream” (from the novel “The Enchanted Voyage”) and “Color of Evening.”
― Robert Nathan, The Bishop's Wife

“Now a new era had dawned upon the world, which quivered with the impact of tremendous forces, of discoveries and inventions. Man rode upon the air, sent his voice across the seas, divided the indivisible, and penetrated the impenetrable. Audacious, optimistic, and indefatigable, he might even forget God altogether, and raise his limitless towers like altars to none other than himself.”
― Robert Nathan, The Bishop's Wife

“At that moment I saw my duty. ‘I will assist.’ I exclaimed, ‘this good divine in his struggle to uphold those domestic virtues without which the arts decay, religions decline, and nations disappear.”
― Robert Nathan, The Bishop's Wife

“Through their history ran the strong golden thread of the Bible and the miracles. . . . Ah, the miracles; that was it, that was what he was coming to. Why were there no more miracles, he wondered. Was it because they were no longer necessary? No; for the world was as badly off as ever. Men needed light, as always. And he rehearsed in his mind the miracles in order, from the parting of the waters of the Red Sea, to the healing properties of the bones of certain saints in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. These bones did not interest him; what interested him was the visit of angels to the earth. They used to come, he thought, long ago, to assist and to strive with mankind. There were the two angels who visited Lot; and there was the angel who wrestled with Jacob. Heaven was full of those sons of light: they came and went between Heaven and earth. Their divine presences made fragrant the homes of the Jews.”
― Robert Nathan, The Bishop's Wife

“His mother on the other hand, drawing his head down to her bosom, exclaimed with a sigh, “My poor son.” And she remained silent, lost in mysterious thoughts which troubled and perplexed him. Presently she added, “I can assure you that what you imagine to be so important, is not important at all.” And because she was of a devout turn of mind, she concluded mysteriously, “Faith alone will help you to bear the disappointments of life. The Church is a great refuge. Never forget to say your prayers.”
― Robert Nathan, The Bishop's Wife

“There were many candidates for this office, but none, thought the bishop, of the stuff of which an archdeacon is made. And he went over in his mind the qualities he wished to find in his assistant. In the first place, the archdeacon of St. Timothy’s must be a man of firm and fundamental views. He must believe in Heaven and Hell, and in the miracles. He must believe that God was watching . . . that was no reason, the bishop thought, for him to be tactless. God, he reflected, and the bankers, love a tactful man. For himself, he had, he felt sure, piety enough for both; but he needed help with his accounts. A good hand at figures, a tongue of fire in the pulpit, a healing way with the doubtful, a keen eye for the newspapers”
― Robert Nathan, The Bishop's Wife

“In the morning of the world," he said, "when the dew still lay upon the Garden, man was created so that there might be some one to enjoy it. In order that he might relish beauty, he was given a soul; and having a soul, he was given speech, since without speech, it is impossible to understand such abstractions as the soul. That was a mistake, but I do not see how it could have been avoided.”
― Robert Nathan, The Bishop's Wife

“The moment when the battle ends is not always a happy one: to fret and strain against evil is an act itself dear to a hearty spirit with convictions.”
― Robert Nathan, The Bishop's Wife

“There was nothing meek about her. She supposed that God loved her, but in a personal way; she took it for granted that He admired her.”
― Robert Nathan, The Bishop's Wife