John Bunyan Quotes on Grace, Prayer and Heaven, with Sources
John Bunyan had little schooling, but he had a gift for a sentence. He was a tinker who mended pots for a living, and he wrote the way a working man talks: short, sharp and full of pictures. The Pilgrim's Progress is packed with lines people still repeat, and so are his sermons, his own life story and the sayings his friends gathered after his death.
Many Bunyan quotes passed around online have no source, and some aren't his at all. Every quotation below is copied word for word from his books in TheWay Library, with the book and section it comes from. The lines from the first part of The Pilgrim's Progress are on their own page, Pilgrim's Progress quotes, so this page draws on everything else. For his life, see who was John Bunyan. For a guide to his books, see John Bunyan books.
On his own rescue
Bunyan spent years afraid he was beyond saving. In Grace Abounding he tells how Bible verses broke in on his fear, one at a time, until he rested in Christ.
these words did with great power suddenly break in upon me; My grace is sufficient for thee, My grace is sufficient for thee, My grace is sufficient for thee, three times together: And oh! methought that every word was a mighty word unto me
Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, section 206
suddenly this sentence fell upon my soul, Thy righteousness is in heaven; and methought withal, I saw with the eyes of my soul, Jesus Christ at God's right hand: there, I say, was my righteousness
Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, section 229
for my righteousness was Jesus Christ Himself, The same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.
Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, section 229
I never saw those heights and depths in grace, and love, and mercy, as I saw after this temptation; great sins to draw out great grace
Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, section 252
The Bible was precious to me in those days.
Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, section 45
On sin
He didn't make sin small. He'd felt its weight too long for that.
Sin is the great block and bar to our happiness, the procurer of all miseries to man, both here and hereafter; take away sin, and nothing can hurt us
Miscellaneous Pieces, Bunyan's Dying Sayings
No sin against God can be little, because it is against the great God of heaven and earth; but if the sinner can find out a little God, it may be easy to find out little sins.
Miscellaneous Pieces, Bunyan's Dying Sayings
One leak will sink a ship; and one sin will destroy a sinner.
The Riches of Bunyan, Man
He that hath not seen his lost condition, hath not seen a safe condition; he that did never see himself in the devil's snare, did never see himself in Christ's bosom.
The Riches of Bunyan, Conviction of Sin
The law out of Christ is terrible as a lion; the law in him is meek as a lamb.
The Riches of Bunyan, The Law
On mercy for the worst of sinners
One of the last books Bunyan wrote was a sermon on Christ's command to preach the gospel "beginning at Jerusalem," the city that crucified Him. He saw in it the heart of Christ.
Therefore, in reason, when mercy is sent down from heaven to men, the worst of men should have the first offer of it.
The Jerusalem Sinner Saved
I am persuaded, did men believe that there is that grace and willingness in the heart of Christ to save sinners, as the word imports there is, they would come tumbling into his arms
The Jerusalem Sinner Saved
He that thinketh that there is more in sin, in the law, in death, and the devil, to destroy, than there is in Christ to save, comes not.
Works of John Bunyan, Volume 1, Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ
A returning penitent, though formerly bad as the worst of men, may by grace become as good as the best.
Miscellaneous Pieces, Bunyan's Dying Sayings
it is better to apply ourselves to God's mercy than to trust to ourselves that we are righteous.
The Pharisee and the Publican
On Christ
In The Holy War, Prince Emmanuel tells the town of Mansoul how he redeemed it, and what he wants it to believe while he is away.
So, when the time appointed was come, I gave body for body, soul for soul, life for life, blood for blood, and so redeemed my beloved Mansoul.
The Holy War, A Relation of the Holy War
Thou must believe, O my Mansoul, when I am from thee, that yet I love thee, and bear thee upon mine heart for ever.
The Holy War, A Relation of the Holy War
God is love; Christ is God; therefore Christ is love, love naturally.
Works of John Bunyan, Volume 2, The Saints' Knowledge of Christ's Love
Christ did not only come into our flesh, but also into our condition, into the valley and shadow of death, where we were, and where we are, as we are sinners.
The Riches of Bunyan, Christ
On prayer
Bunyan went to jail rather than give up praying and preaching as the Spirit led him. These are some of his plainest words on prayer.
A sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of the soul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of the Spirit, for such things as God hath promised.
The Riches of Bunyan, Prayer
When thou prayest, rather let thy heart be without words than thy words without heart.
Miscellaneous Pieces, Bunyan's Dying Sayings
Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.
Miscellaneous Pieces, Bunyan's Dying Sayings
Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan.
Miscellaneous Pieces, Bunyan's Dying Sayings
The best prayers have often more groans than words.
The Riches of Bunyan, Prayer
It is the Spirit that showeth us our sins, and the Spirit that showeth us a Saviour
Grace Abounding, A Relation of my Imprisonment
On faith
Faith is the mother-grace, the root-grace, the grace that has all others in the bowels of it, and that from which all others flow.
The Riches of Bunyan, Christian Graces
On affliction
Twelve years in Bedford jail, away from a wife and four children, taught Bunyan what he says here.
The school of the cross is the school of light; it discovers the world's vanity, baseness, and wickedness, and lets us see more of God's mind. Out of dark affliction comes a spiritual light.
Miscellaneous Pieces, Bunyan's Dying Sayings
In times of affliction we commonly meet with the sweetest experiences of the love of God.
Miscellaneous Pieces, Bunyan's Dying Sayings
Mercy seems to be asleep when we are sinking; for then we are as if all things were careless of us; but it is but as a lion couchant, it will awake in time for our help.
The Riches of Bunyan, Security of Christians
On preaching
Bunyan preached out of what he'd lived through, and he said so.
I preached what I felt, what I smartingly did feel; even that under which my poor soul did groan and tremble to astonishment.
Grace Abounding, A Brief Account of the Author's Call to the Work of the Ministry
I went myself in chains, to preach to them in chains; and carried that fire in my own conscience, that I persuaded them to be aware of.
Grace Abounding, A Brief Account of the Author's Call to the Work of the Ministry
On running the race
The Heavenly Footman is a short book with one point, taken from 1 Corinthians 9:24.
THEY THAT WILL HAVE HEAVEN, MUST RUN FOR IT.
The Heavenly Footman, chapter 1
If thou shouldst lose but a limb, a child, or a friend, it would not be so much; but poor man, it is THY SOUL!
The Heavenly Footman, The Author's Epistle to All Slothful and Careless People
From Part Two of The Pilgrim's Progress
The second part follows Christian's wife, Christiana, and her children on the same road. It has some of Bunyan's best-loved lines.
He that is down needs fear no fall; He that is low, no pride; He that is humble, ever shall Have God to be his guide.
Works of John Bunyan, Volume 3, The Pilgrim's Progress, Second Part
Who would true valour see, Let him come hither; One here will constant be, Come wind, come weather.
Works of John Bunyan, Volume 3, The Pilgrim's Progress, Second Part
My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me, that I have fought His battles, who now will be my Rewarder.
Works of John Bunyan, Volume 3, The Pilgrim's Progress, Second Part
So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.
Works of John Bunyan, Volume 3, The Pilgrim's Progress, Second Part
I have formerly lived by hearsay and faith; but now I go where I shall live by sight, and shall be with Him in whose company I delight myself.
Works of John Bunyan, Volume 3, The Pilgrim's Progress, Second Part
On heaven
There is no good in this life but what is mingled with some evil: honours perplex, riches disquiet, and pleasures ruin health. But in heaven we shall find blessings in their purity
Miscellaneous Pieces, Bunyan's Dying Sayings
If you would be better satisfied what the beatifical vision means, my request is, that you would live holily and go and see.
Miscellaneous Pieces, Bunyan's Dying Sayings
Where to read more Bunyan
If you haven't read The Pilgrim's Progress, start there. Then read Grace Abounding, where many of the lines above come from. For short sayings to read a few at a time, try The Riches of Bunyan or the dying sayings in Miscellaneous Pieces. All his books are on the John Bunyan author page.