Grant me, O God, thy merciful protection;
And, in protection, give me strength, I pray;
And, in my strength, O grant me wise discretion;
And, in discretion, make me ever just;
And, with my justice, may I mingle love,
And, with my love, O God, the love of thee;
And, with the love of thee, the love of all.
--From the Welsh.
O sad estate
Of human wretchedness! so weak is man,
So ignorant and blind, that did not God
Sometimes withhold in mercy what we ask,
We should be ruined at our own request.
--Hannah More.
Why win we not at once what we in prayer require?
That we may learn great things as greatly to desire.
--Richard Chenevix Trench.