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John Henry Newman
English cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
John Henry Newman was an influential English theologian, philosopher, and writer in the 19th century. He started as an Anglican priest, then converted to Catholicism and became a cardinal. He was a leader of the Oxford Movement and a prolific author, known for his religious writings and popular hymns.
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About the John Henry Newman
John Henry Newman was an English theologian, academic, philosopher, historian, writer, and poet, first as an Anglican priest and later as a Catholic priest and cardinal, who was an important and controversial figure in the religious history of England in the 19th century. He was known nationally by the mid-1830s, and was canonised as a saint in the Catholic Church in 2019.
Originally an evangelical academic at the University of Oxford and priest in the Church of England, Newman was drawn to the high-church tradition of Anglicanism. He became one of the more notable leaders of the Oxford Movement, an influential and controversial grouping of Anglicans who wished to restore to the Church of England many Catholic beliefs and liturgical rituals from before the English Reformation. In this, the movement had some success. After publishing his controversial Tract 90 in 1841, Newman later wrote: “I was on my death-bed, as regards my membership with the Anglican Church.” In 1845, Newman resigned his teaching post at Oxford University, and, joined by some but not all of his followers, officially left the Church of England and was received into the Catholic Church. He was quickly ordained as a priest and continued as an influential religious leader, based in Birmingham. In 1879, he was created a cardinal by Pope Leo XIII in recognition of his services to the cause of the Catholic Church in England. He was instrumental in the founding of the Catholic University of Ireland in 1854, which later became University College Dublin.
Newman was also a literary figure: his major writings include the Tracts for the Timesand Polydore Plasden (of Fleet Street).
Frequently Asked Questions
John Henry Newman was an English theologian, academic, philosopher, historian, writer, and poet who was first an Anglican priest and later a Catholic priest and cardinal. He was an important and controversial figure in the religious history of 19th century England.
The Oxford Movement was an influential and controversial group of Anglicans who wished to restore many Catholic beliefs and liturgical rituals to the Church of England. Newman was one of the more notable leaders of this movement.
In 1845, after publishing his controversial Tract 90, John Henry Newman resigned his teaching post at Oxford University and officially left the Church of England to be received into the Catholic Church. He was quickly ordained as a Catholic priest and continued as an influential religious leader.
Newman’s major writings include the Tracts for the Times, his autobiography Apologia Pro Vita Sua, the Grammar of Assent, and the poem The Dream of Gerontius. He also wrote popular hymns like ‘Lead, Kindly Light’ and ‘Firmly I believe, and truly’.
John Henry Newman was canonized as a saint in the Catholic Church in 2019, after his beatification was proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 during his visit to the United Kingdom.
30 Quotes by John Henry Newman
- 1.
A great memory is never made synonymous with wisdom, any more than a dictionary would be called a treatise.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 2.
Let us act on what we have, since we have not what we wish.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 3.
Let us take things as we find them: let us not attempt to distort them into what they are not… We cannot make facts. All our wishing cannot change them. We must use them.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 4.
If we are intended for great ends, we are called to great hazards.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 5.
It is often said that second thoughts are best. So they are in matters of judgment but not in matters of conscience.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 6.
We can believe what we choose. We are answerable for what we choose to believe.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 7.
There is such a thing as legitimate warfare: war has its laws; there are things which may fairly be done, and things which may not be done.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 8.
A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 9.
Evil has no substance of its own, but is only the defect, excess, perversion, or corruption of that which has substance.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 10.
Nothing is more common than for men to think that because they are familiar with words they understand the ideas they stand for.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 11.
The love of our private friends is the only preparatory exercise for the love of all men.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 12.
Ability is sexless.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 13.
It is very difficult to get up resentment towards persons whom one has never seen.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 14.
Virtue is its own reward, and brings with it the truest and highest pleasure; but if we cultivate it only for pleasure’s sake, we are selfish, not religious, and will never gain the pleasure, because we can never have the virtue.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 15.
A great memory does not make a mind, any more than a dictionary is a piece of literature.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 16.
We must make up our minds to be ignorant of much, if we would know anything.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 17.
Fear not that thy life shall come to an end, but rather that it shall ever have a beginning.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 18.
Calculation never made a hero.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 19.
In this world no one rules by love; if you are but amiable, you are no hero; to be powerful, you must be strong, and to have dominion you must have a genius for organizing.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 20.
If we insist on being as sure as is conceivable… we must be content to creep along the ground, and never soar.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 21.
To holy people the very name of Jesus is a name to feed upon, a name to transport. His name can raise the dead and transfigure and beautify the living.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 22.
It is almost a definition of a gentleman to say that he is one who never inflicts pain.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 23.
Men will die upon dogma but will not fall victim to a conclusion.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 24.
Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 25.
Growth is the only evidence of life.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 26.
To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 27.
It is almost the definition of a gentleman to say that he is one who never inflicts pain.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 28.
From the age of fifteen, dogma has been the fundamental principle of my religion: I know no other religion; I cannot enter into the idea of any other sort of religion; religion, as a mere sentiment, is to me a dream and a mockery.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 29.
Nothing would be done at all if one waited until one could do it so well that no one could find fault with it.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)
- 30.
It is as absurd to argue men, as to torture them, into believing.
John Henry NewmanEnglish cleric, cardinal and saint (1801-1890)