--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Man depends on God for all things: God…" description: "\"Man depends on God for all things: God depends on man for one. Without man's love God does not exist as God, only as creator, and love is the one thing..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad4/archibald-macleish-7676_acceptance_man-depends-on-god-for-all-things-god-de_2868093.jpg" --- # Man depends on God for all things: God depends on man for… ![“Man depends on God for all things: God depends on man for one. Without man's love God does not exist as God, only as creator, and love is the one thing no one, not even God himself, can command. It is a free gift or it is nothing. And it is most itself, most free, when it is offered in spite of…” quote by Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad4/archibald-macleish-7676_acceptance_man-depends-on-god-for-all-things-god-de_2868093.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad4/archibald-macleish-7676_acceptance_man-depends-on-god-for-all-things-god-de_2868093.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad4/archibald-macleish-7676_acceptance_man-depends-on-god-for-all-things-god-de_2868093.jpg) > “Man depends on God for all things: God depends on man for one. Without man's love God does not exist as God, only as creator, and love is the one thing no one, not even God himself, can command. It is a free gift or it is nothing. And it is most itself, most free, when it is offered in spite of suffering, of injustice, and of death . . . The justification of the injustice of the universe is not our blind acceptance of God's inexplicable will, nor our trust in God's love, his dark and incomprehensible love, for us, but our human love, notwithstanding anything, for him.” [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human love is a free, reciprocal gift that transcends divine will, especially amid suffering. **In simple terms:** Love is a free, mutual gift despite hardship. Key Takeaway Offer love even when faced with injustice. Themes spirituality humanism suffering Mood hopeful serious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - conflict resolution - counseling - spiritual practice Key Concepts reciprocity free will Questions to Reflect On - Can love truly counteract systemic oppression? - What limits does suffering place on giving love? A Different Perspective The idea may overlook systemic injustice. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acceptance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acceptance/) [Blind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blind/) [Creator](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creator/) [Dark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dark/) [God'S Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god-s-love/) [Human love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-love/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Injustice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/injustice/) [Justification](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justification/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Spite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spite/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Trust in god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trust-in-god/) [Universe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/universe/) ## Related quotes > [“It’s desperate in life to be beloved of God.” “Depends on the God.” “Does it?” “Christ, I hope so.” the horse-witch and Caine”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-stover/it-s-desperate-in-life-to-be-beloved-of-god-depends-on-the-god-does/) [Matthew Stover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-stover/) > [God depends on us. It is through us that God is achieved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-gide/god-depends-on-us-it-is-through-us-that-god-is-achieved/) [Andre Gide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-gide/) > [“Changes in our lives do not depend on others or God. But it depends on ourselves and the faith we have in God”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-chin/changes-in-our-lives-do-not-depend-on-others-or-god-but-it-depends-on/) Katherine Chin > [The psychoanalysis of individual human beings, however, teaches us with quite special insistence that the god of each of them is formed in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/the-psychoanalysis-of-individual-human-beings-however-teaches-us-with/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [GODISNOWHERE This can be read as GOD IS NO WHERE Or as GOD IS NOW HERE Everything depends on how do u see anything.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/godisnowhere-this-can-be-read-as-god-is-no-where-or-as-god-is-now/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [The existence and remembrance of god depends on the ignorance of people close to your heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/the-existence-and-remembrance-of-god-depends-on-the-ignorance-of/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [The acid test of our love for God is obedience to His Word. The greatest ability is dependability. The test of your character is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-jones-sr/the-acid-test-of-our-love-for-god-is-obedience-to-his-word-the/) [Bob Jones, Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-jones-sr/) > [Marilla felt more embarrassed than ever. She had intended to teach Anne the childish classic, "Now I lay me down to sleep." But she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-maud-montgomery/marilla-felt-more-embarrassed-than-ever-she-had-intended-to-teach/) [Lucy Maud Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-maud-montgomery/) > [“The same God who loves us as we are also loves us to much to leave us as we are. Perhpas because we tend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-langford/the-same-god-who-loves-us-as-we-are-also-loves-us-to-much-to-leave-us/) Joseph Langford > [“And human love needs human meriting: How has thou merited- Of all man's clotted clay the dingiest clot? Alack, thou knowest not How little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-thompson/and-human-love-needs-human-meriting-how-has-thou-merited-of-all-man-s/) [Francis Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-thompson/) > [God has no needs. Human love, as Plato teaches us, is the child of Poverty – of want or lack; it is caused by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-has-no-needs-human-love-as-plato-teaches-us-is-the-child-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is the "where I am" that makes heaven. The life after death might become through its very endlessness a burden to our spirits,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maltbie-davenport-babcock/it-is-the-where-i-am-that-makes-heaven-the-life-after-death-might/) [Maltbie Davenport Babcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maltbie-davenport-babcock/) > [“We may give our human loves the unconditional allegiance which we owe only to God. Then they become gods: then they become demons. Then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-carroll/we-may-give-our-human-loves-the-unconditional-allegiance-which-we-owe/) [Lewis Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-carroll/) > [In civilized life, where the happiness, and indeed almost the existence, of man depends so much upon the opinion of his fellow men, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/in-civilized-life-where-the-happiness-and-indeed-almost-the-existence/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [Luck always seems to be against the man who depends on it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/luck-always-seems-to-be-against-the-man-who-depends-on-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Archibald MacLeish > [Never in all their history have men been able truly to conceive of the world as one: a single sphere, a globe, having the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/never-in-all-their-history-have-men-been-able-truly-to-conceive-of/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [How shall freedom be defended? By arms when it is attacked by arms, by truth when it is attacked by lies, by faith when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/how-shall-freedom-be-defended-by-arms-when-it-is-attacked-by-arms-by/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [Around, around the sun we go: The moon goes round the earth. We do not die of death: We die of vertigo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/around-around-the-sun-we-go-the-moon-goes-round-the-earth-we-do-not/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [What you really have to know is one: yourself. And the only way you can know that one is in the mirror of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/what-you-really-have-to-know-is-one-yourself-and-the-only-way-you-can/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [Poets... are literal-minded men who will squeeze a word till it hurts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/poets-are-literal-minded-men-who-will-squeeze-a-word-till-it-hurts/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [“American foreign policy was a mirror image of Russian foreign policy: whatever the Russians did, we did in reverse. American domestic policies were conducted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/american-foreign-policy-was-a-mirror-image-of-russian-foreign-policy/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [To separate journalism and poetry, therefore-history and poetry-to set them up at opposite ends of the world of discourse, is to separate seeing from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/to-separate-journalism-and-poetry-therefore-history-and-poetry-to-set/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [You burned the city of London in our houses and we felt the flames.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/you-burned-the-city-of-london-in-our-houses-and-we-felt-the-flames/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [The infantile cowardice of our time which demands an external pattern, a nonhuman authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/the-infantile-cowardice-of-our-time-which-demands-an-external-pattern/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [Races didn't bother the Americans. They were something a lot better than any race. They were a People. They were the first self-constituted, self-declared,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/races-didn-t-bother-the-americans-they-were-something-a-lot-better/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [Young poets are advised by their elders to avoid the practice of journalism as they would wet socks and gin before breakfast.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/young-poets-are-advised-by-their-elders-to-avoid-the-practice-of/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [There are those, I know, who will reply that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and mind, is nothing but a dream.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/there-are-those-i-know-who-will-reply-that-the-liberation-of-humanity/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [“What is freedom? Freedom is the right to choose: the right to create for oneself the alternatives of choice. Without the possibility of choice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/what-is-freedom-freedom-is-the-right-to-choose-the-right-to-create/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [A poem should not mean but be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/a-poem-should-not-mean-but-be/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) > [What once was cuddled must learn to kiss The cold wonn's mouth. That's all the mystery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/archibald-macleish/what-once-was-cuddled-must-learn-to-kiss-the-cold-wonn-s-mouth-that-s/) [Archibald MacLeish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) [Explore all 88 Archibald MacLeish quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/archibald-macleish/) ## More Acceptance quotes > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [You dont choose your life; it chooses you. Theres no point asking why life has reserved certain joys or griefs, you just accept them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/you-dont-choose-your-life-it-chooses-you-theres-no-point-asking-why/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Losing someone is easy, but accepting it is hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/losing-someone-is-easy-but-accepting-it-is-hard/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When one fib becomes due as it were, you must forge another to take up the old acceptance; and so the stock of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/when-one-fib-becomes-due-as-it-were-you-must-forge-another-to-take-up/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) > [Acceptance of death when it arrives is one thing, but to allow it to upstage the joys of living is ingratitude.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-blythe/acceptance-of-death-when-it-arrives-is-one-thing-but-to-allow-it-to/) [Ronald Blythe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-blythe/) > [“Loving someone who does not love you back hurts, alot, i know. It is liking seeing these pair of shoes at the retail store…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nomthandazo-tsembeni/loving-someone-who-does-not-love-you-back-hurts-alot-i-know-it-is/) [Nomthandazo Tsembeni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nomthandazo-tsembeni/) > [Take responsibily for your past, the bad memories of poor decisions you took were your choices once, and you liked them for the moment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aruho-marvin/take-responsibily-for-your-past-the-bad-memories-of-poor-decisions/) [Aruho Marvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aruho-marvin/) > [Let us learn to accept and appreciate things now, and we'll find more happiness in every moment we live. Happiness comes when we stop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-rambharack/let-us-learn-to-accept-and-appreciate-things-now-and-we-ll-find-more/) [Glen Rambharack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-rambharack/) > [“Love first; ask questions later.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-courtney/love-first-ask-questions-later/) [Jeremy Courtney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-courtney/) > [“There was beauty in chaos, she'd just never known it before.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amanda-linsmeier/there-was-beauty-in-chaos-she-d-just-never-known-it-before/) [Amanda Linsmeier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amanda-linsmeier/) > [Accepting the challenges in life makes it interesting and overcoming them makes it eloquent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/accepting-the-challenges-in-life-makes-it-interesting-and-overcoming/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Acceptance is the only thing you should teach. Be it Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Dalit, you must inculcate acceptance, not tolerance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamal-haasan/acceptance-is-the-only-thing-you-should-teach-be-it-christian-muslim/) [Kamal Haasan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamal-haasan/) > [There just seems to be more acceptance now of other kinds of British films, than the picture-postcard ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-roth/there-just-seems-to-be-more-acceptance-now-of-other-kinds-of-british/) [Tim Roth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-roth/) > [You should never hate anyone, even your worst enemies. Everyone has something good about them. You have to find the redeeming quality and love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/you-should-never-hate-anyone-even-your-worst-enemies-everyone-has/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sense-that-in-this-universe-we-are-treated-as-strangers-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 3,960 Acceptance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acceptance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Man depends on God for all things: God depends on man for one. Without man's love God does not exist as God, only as creator, and love is the one thing no one, not even God himself, can command. It is a free gift or it is nothing. 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