--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: prayer must be, in its own nature, absurd…" description: "\"prayer must be, in its own nature, absurd and impertinent.\" — Mary Collyer" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/mary-collyer-36836_absurd_prayer-must-be-in-its-own-nature-absurd_214073.jpg" --- # prayer must be, in its own nature, absurd and impertinent. ![“prayer must be, in its own nature, absurd and impertinent.” quote by Mary Collyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/mary-collyer-36836_absurd_prayer-must-be-in-its-own-nature-absurd_214073.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/mary-collyer-36836_absurd_prayer-must-be-in-its-own-nature-absurd_214073.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/mary-collyer-36836_absurd_prayer-must-be-in-its-own-nature-absurd_214073.jpg) > “prayer must be, in its own nature, absurd and impertinent.” [Mary Collyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-collyer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Prayer, by nature, should be bold and unconventional, challenging norms rather than conforming. **In simple terms:** Prayer is intentionally absurd and bold. Key Takeaway Practice daring, honest prayer. Themes spirituality rebellion authenticity Mood thoughtful provocative Type theological philosophical When to use this quote - personal meditation - public worship - interfaith dialogue - creative rituals Key Concepts theology existentialism Questions to Reflect On - How can absurd prayer deepen faith? - When is impertinence appropriate in worship? A Different Perspective Absurdity may be misunderstood. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Absurd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Prayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prayer/) ## Related quotes > [We must keep our freedom of mind, ... and must believe that in nature what is absurd, according to our theories, is not always impossible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-bernard/we-must-keep-our-freedom-of-mind-and-must-believe-that-in-nature-what/) [Claude Bernard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-bernard/) > [Labor is the only prayer that Nature answers: It is the only prayer that deserves an answer—good, honest, noble work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/labor-is-the-only-prayer-that-nature-answers-it-is-the-only-prayer/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Prayer by its nature is communion and union of man with God; by its action it is the reconciliation of man with God, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ignatius-bryanchaninov/prayer-by-its-nature-is-communion-and-union-of-man-with-god-by-its/) [Ignatius Bryanchaninov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ignatius-bryanchaninov/) > [Labor is the only prayer that Nature answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/labor-is-the-only-prayer-that-nature-answers/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [“Predation is so fundamental to nature that it seems absurd to demonize it for any animal, including humans.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-landers/predation-is-so-fundamental-to-nature-that-it-seems-absurd-to/) Jackson Landers > [ “As Feynman once wrote, "\[Quantum mechanics\] describes nature as absurd from the point of view of common sense. And it fully agrees with experiment.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-greene/as-feynman-once-wrote-quantum-mechanics-describes-nature-as-absurd/) [Brian Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-greene/) > [ \[Quantum mechanics\] describes nature as absurd from the point of view of common sense. And yet it fully agrees with experiment. So I hope… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-p-feynman/quantum-mechanics-describes-nature-as-absurd-from-the-point-of-view/) [Richard P. Feynman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-p-feynman/) > [That is the essence of science: ask an impertinent question, and you are on the way to a pertinent answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/that-is-the-essence-of-science-ask-an-impertinent-question-and-you/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) > [One must not make oneself cheap here - that is a cardinal point - or else one is done. Whoever is most impertinent has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/one-must-not-make-oneself-cheap-here-that-is-a-cardinal-point-or-else/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [“Hardly out of mortal danger and already he gets impertinent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelika-rust/hardly-out-of-mortal-danger-and-already-he-gets-impertinent/) [Angelika Rust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelika-rust/) > [... it's vastly more irksome to give up one's own way, than to hear a few impertinent remarks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fanny-burney/it-s-vastly-more-irksome-to-give-up-one-s-own-way-than-to-hear-a-few/) [Fanny Burney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fanny-burney/) > [Whoever is most impertinent has the best chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/whoever-is-most-impertinent-has-the-best-chance/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [It is not the writer's task to answer questions but to question answers. To be impertinent, insolent, and, if necessary, subversive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/it-is-not-the-writer-s-task-to-answer-questions-but-to-question/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [One must not make oneself cheap herethat is a cardinalpointor else one is done. Whoever is most impertinent has the best chance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/one-must-not-make-oneself-cheap-herethat-is-a-cardinalpointor-else/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [Ask an impertinent question and you are on the way to the pertinent answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacob-bronowski/ask-an-impertinent-question-and-you-are-on-the-way-to-the-pertinent/) [Jacob Bronowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacob-bronowski/) ## More by Mary Collyer > [How tedious is time, when his wings are loaded with expectation!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-collyer/how-tedious-is-time-when-his-wings-are-loaded-with-expectation/) [Mary Collyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-collyer/) > [I am strangely addicted to the writing of long letters, which, I am afraid, tire you; and for the future, I believe, I must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-collyer/i-am-strangely-addicted-to-the-writing-of-long-letters-which-i-am/) [Mary Collyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-collyer/) > [What the eye does not see, the heart does not rue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-collyer/what-the-eye-does-not-see-the-heart-does-not-rue/) [Mary Collyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-collyer/) > [Virtue is the music of the soul, the harmony of the passions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-collyer/virtue-is-the-music-of-the-soul-the-harmony-of-the-passions/) [Mary Collyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-collyer/) > [Virtue is the music of the soul, the harmony of the passions; it is the order, the symmetry, the interior beauty of the mind;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-collyer/virtue-is-the-music-of-the-soul-the-harmony-of-the-passions-it-is-the/) [Mary Collyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-collyer/) > [swearing is, as I have said, learning to the ignorant, eloquence to the blockhead, vivacity to the stupid, and wit to the coxcomb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-collyer/swearing-is-as-i-have-said-learning-to-the-ignorant-eloquence-to-the/) [Mary Collyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-collyer/) > [I am to consider the many advantages arising from a frequent use of oaths, curses, and imprecations. In the first place, this genteel accomplishment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-collyer/i-am-to-consider-the-many-advantages-arising-from-a-frequent-use-of/) [Mary Collyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-collyer/) > [Oaths and curses are a proof of a most heroic courage, at least in appearance, which answers the same end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-collyer/oaths-and-curses-are-a-proof-of-a-most-heroic-courage-at-least-in/) [Mary Collyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-collyer/) > [Avarice, with all its black attendants, is confessedly a crime of old age, and seldom arrives at maturity till accompanied with gray hairs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-collyer/avarice-with-all-its-black-attendants-is-confessedly-a-crime-of-old/) [Mary Collyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-collyer/) > [The most savage and voracious animal never kills to increase his wealth, or open a way to grandeur. It slays to satisfy his hunger,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-collyer/the-most-savage-and-voracious-animal-never-kills-to-increase-his/) [Mary Collyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-collyer/) > [... those, who from an immoderate and false self-love, study to keep their humanity under, always take care, for their own sakes, to represent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-collyer/those-who-from-an-immoderate-and-false-self-love-study-to-keep-their/) [Mary Collyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-collyer/) [Explore all 12 Mary Collyer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-collyer/) ## More Absurd quotes > [“It seem absurd to me that they don't know, haven't felt any change or tremor, even as my life has been completely turned upside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-oliver/it-seem-absurd-to-me-that-they-don-t-know-haven-t-felt-any-change-or/) [Lauren Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-oliver/) > [When a person’s tongue is extensively wrong, it is absurd, no less than unscriptural, to say that their heart is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/when-a-person-s-tongue-is-extensively-wrong-it-is-absurd-no-less-than/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [It is human nature to think wisely and to act in an absurd fashion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatole-france/it-is-human-nature-to-think-wisely-and-to-act-in-an-absurd-fashion/) [Anatole France](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatole-france/) > [It is a dangerous and fateful presumption, besides the absurd temerity that it implies, to disdain what we do not comprehend. For after you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-a-dangerous-and-fateful-presumption-besides-the-absurd-temerity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I thought to myself: if it’s true that every person has a star in the sky, mine must be distant, dim, and absurd. Perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sadegh-hedayat/i-thought-to-myself-if-it-s-true-that-every-person-has-a-star-in-the/) [Sadegh Hedayat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sadegh-hedayat/) > [If, indeed, a firearm were more dangerous to its possessors than to potential aggressors, would it not make sense for the government to arm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mamet/if-indeed-a-firearm-were-more-dangerous-to-its-possessors-than-to/) [David Mamet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mamet/) > [“You were torturing a cat," she says. "With a freaking prod." "A prod I built myself in metal shop," he says. "But of course…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/you-were-torturing-a-cat-she-says-with-a-freaking-prod-a-prod-i-built/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [I have never heard enough classical music to be able to enjoy it; & the simple truth is, I detest it. Not mildly, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-have-never-heard-enough-classical-music-to-be-able-to-enjoy-it-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [To deprecate human reason by saying that none of us is or can be omniscient is absurd, for it takes an impossible standard as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/to-deprecate-human-reason-by-saying-that-none-of-us-is-or-can-be/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [“Rachel got up and did this happy little shuffle, like she was some cheerful farmer chick who'd just stepped outside to find the hick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/rachel-got-up-and-did-this-happy-little-shuffle-like-she-was-some/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [The absurd duty, too often inculcated, of obeying a parent only on account of his being a parent, shackles the mind, and prepares it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-wollstonecraft/the-absurd-duty-too-often-inculcated-of-obeying-a-parent-only-on/) [Mary Wollstonecraft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-wollstonecraft/) > [The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. But it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/the-workman-of-today-works-every-day-in-his-life-at-the-same-tasks/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [I was once part of a Christmas cabaret. I sang 'I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.' I tap-danced. I had a ten-gallon hat. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-dinklage/i-was-once-part-of-a-christmas-cabaret-i-sang-i-saw-mommy-kissing/) [Peter Dinklage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-dinklage/) > [Solitude produces originality, bold and astonishing beauty, poetry. But solitude also produces perverseness, the disproportianate, the absurd and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mann/solitude-produces-originality-bold-and-astonishing-beauty-poetry-but/) [Thomas Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mann/) [Browse all 1,644 Absurd quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/absurd/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "prayer must be, in its own nature, absurd and impertinent.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Collyer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-collyer/prayer-must-be-in-its-own-nature-absurd-and-impertinent/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Absurd" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-collyer/prayer-must-be-in-its-own-nature-absurd-and-impertinent/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/mary-collyer-36836_absurd_prayer-must-be-in-its-own-nature-absurd_214073.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/mary-collyer-36836_absurd_prayer-must-be-in-its-own-nature-absurd_214073.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/mary-collyer-36836_absurd_prayer-must-be-in-its-own-nature-absurd_214073.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“prayer must be, in its own nature, absurd and impertinent.” — Mary Collyer", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Mary Collyer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-collyer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "prayer must be, in its own...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-collyer/prayer-must-be-in-its-own-nature-absurd-and-impertinent/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-collyer/prayer-must-be-in-its-own-nature-absurd-and-impertinent/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```