--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I count this thing to be grandly true…" description: "\"I count this thing to be grandly true: That a noble deed is a step toward God-- Lifting the soul from the common clod To a purer air and a broader view..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/j-g-holland-3221_air_i-count-this-thing-to-be-grandly-true-th_2363708.png" --- # I count this thing to be grandly true: That a noble deed… ![“I count this thing to be grandly true: That a noble deed is a step toward God-- Lifting the soul from the common clod To a purer air and a broader view.” quote by J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/j-g-holland-3221_air_i-count-this-thing-to-be-grandly-true-th_2363708.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/j-g-holland-3221_air_i-count-this-thing-to-be-grandly-true-th_2363708.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/19b/j-g-holland-3221_air_i-count-this-thing-to-be-grandly-true-th_2363708.png) > “I count this thing to be grandly true: That a noble deed is a step toward God-- Lifting the soul from the common clod To a purer air and a broader view.” [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Noble actions lift the soul, moving it toward higher, purer realms beyond ordinary life. **In simple terms:** Good deeds elevate the spirit. Key Takeaway Strive for virtuous deeds. Themes morality spiritual growth aspiration self‑improvement Mood inspired reflective hopeful Type philosophical motivational spiritual When to use this quote - daily choices - personal development - community service Key Concepts Virtue ethics transcendence inner elevation Questions to Reflect On - What actions feel most uplifting? - How does humility influence noble deeds? A Different Perspective Virtue alone may not guarantee spiritual uplift. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Deeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deeds/) [Lifting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lifting/) [Noble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noble/) [Noble deeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noble-deeds/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) ## Related quotes > [I count this thing to be grandly true: That a noble deed is a step toward God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/i-count-this-thing-to-be-grandly-true-that-a-noble-deed-is-a-step-2/) [Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/) > [A noble deed is a step towards heaven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/a-noble-deed-is-a-step-towards-heaven/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [A noble deed is a step toward God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/a-noble-deed-is-a-step-toward-god/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [When a noble deed is done, who is likely to appreciate it? They who are noble themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/when-a-noble-deed-is-done-who-is-likely-to-appreciate-it-they-who-are/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Don't undo a brave and noble deed. Don't rob yourself of your own virtue.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-lee-burke/don-t-undo-a-brave-and-noble-deed-don-t-rob-yourself-of-your-own/) [James Lee Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-lee-burke/) > [Every noble deed dieth, if suppressed in silence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pindar/every-noble-deed-dieth-if-suppressed-in-silence/) [Pindar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pindar/) > [Where'er a noble deed is wrought, Where'er is spoken a noble thought, Our hearts in glad surprise To higher levels rise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/where-er-a-noble-deed-is-wrought-where-er-is-spoken-a-noble-thought/) [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/) > [“The soul without a center finds its identity in externals. My temptation when my soul is not centered in God is to try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ortberg/the-soul-without-a-center-finds-its-identity-in-externals-my/) [John Ortberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ortberg/) > [Through the higher love the whole life of man is to be elevated from temporal selfishness to the spring of all love, to God:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meister-eckhart/through-the-higher-love-the-whole-life-of-man-is-to-be-elevated-from/) [Meister Eckhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meister-eckhart/) > [I am young, it is true; but in noble souls valor does not wait for years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-corneille/i-am-young-it-is-true-but-in-noble-souls-valor-does-not-wait-for-years/) [Pierre Corneille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-corneille/) > [To make the public sentiment on the side of all that is just and true and noble is the highest use of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-stone/to-make-the-public-sentiment-on-the-side-of-all-that-is-just-and-true/) [Lucy Stone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-stone/) > [“A noble deed is a dream before it is reality. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg; and in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-allen/a-noble-deed-is-a-dream-before-it-is-reality-the-oak-sleeps-in-the/) [James Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-allen/) > [Fine words are traded. Noble deeds gain respect. But people who are not good, why abandon them?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/fine-words-are-traded-noble-deeds-gain-respect-but-people-who-are-not/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [To do an evil action is base; to do a good action without incurring danger is common enough; but it is the part of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/to-do-an-evil-action-is-base-to-do-a-good-action-without-incurring/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) > [It is part of a good man to do great and noble deeds, though he risk everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plutarch/it-is-part-of-a-good-man-to-do-great-and-noble-deeds-though-he-risk/) [Plutarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plutarch/) ## More by J. G. Holland > [That which grows fast, withers as rapidly. That which grows slow, endures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/that-which-grows-fast-withers-as-rapidly-that-which-grows-slow-endures/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [The faculty of self-help is that which distinguished man from animals; that it is the Godlike element, or holds within itself the Godlike element,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/the-faculty-of-self-help-is-that-which-distinguished-man-from-animals/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [Poet, forger of ideals, dreamer among the possibilities of life, prophet of the millenium, do you get impatient with the prosaic life around you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/poet-forger-of-ideals-dreamer-among-the-possibilities-of-life-prophet/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [In my judgment, a great mistake has been made by well meaning and zealous men, through treating error and infidelity with altogether too much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/in-my-judgment-a-great-mistake-has-been-made-by-well-meaning-and/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [I stand by my kind; and I thank God for the temptations that have brought me into sympathy with them, as I do for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/i-stand-by-my-kind-and-i-thank-god-for-the-temptations-that-have/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [No man ever feels the restraint of law so long as he remains within the sphere of his liberty -- a sphere, by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/no-man-ever-feels-the-restraint-of-law-so-long-as-he-remains-within/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [All who become men of power reach their estate by the same self-mastery, the same self-adjustment to circumstances, the same voluntary exercise and discipline…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/all-who-become-men-of-power-reach-their-estate-by-the-same-self/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [Preceptive wisdom that has not been vivified by life has in itself no affinity for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/preceptive-wisdom-that-has-not-been-vivified-by-life-has-in-itself-no/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [Scholarship, save by accident, is never the measure of a man's power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/scholarship-save-by-accident-is-never-the-measure-of-a-man-s-power/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [“God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest. ~ J.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/god-gives-every-bird-its-food-but-he-does-not-throw-it-into-its-nest-j/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [Humanity is constitutionally lazy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/humanity-is-constitutionally-lazy/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [It is the life in literature that acts upon life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/it-is-the-life-in-literature-that-acts-upon-life/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [A fortune won in a day is lost in a day; a fortune won slowly, and slowly compacted, seems to acquire from the hand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/a-fortune-won-in-a-day-is-lost-in-a-day-a-fortune-won-slowly-and/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [I account the office of benefactor, or almoner, to which God appoints all those whom he has favored with wealth, one of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/i-account-the-office-of-benefactor-or-almoner-to-which-god-appoints/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) > [Who never walks save where he sees men's tracks makes no discoveries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-g-holland/who-never-walks-save-where-he-sees-men-s-tracks-makes-no-discoveries/) [J. G. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-g-holland/) [Explore all 136 J. G. 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