Word.ws English Dictionary

there but for the grace of God go I

there but for the grace of God go I proverb: a recognition that others' misfortune could be one's own, if it weren't for the blessing of the Divine, or for fortune or fate.

Proverb

there but for the grace of God go I

  1. A recognition that others' misfortune could be one's own, if it weren't for the blessing of the Divine, or for fortune or fate.
    • I been turned out of places all over town
      My smile is a frown turned upside down
      There but for the grace of God go I2001, J. G. Thirlwell, “Grace of God”, in Flow, performed by Foetus

Origin of there but for the grace of God go I

There are several variants of this phrase, but all make reference to the same concept: an admission of humility that were it not for the work of God's grace (and perhaps also one's upbringing among those also formed in God's grace), any number of trials or tribulations could have befallen a person. The original is most often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, who may well have been quoting or paraphrasing the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:8–10, which states, "Last of all, as to one born abnormally, he appeared to me. For I am the least of the apostles, not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am..." It has also been attributed to a mid-16th-century statement by a Protestant, John Bradford: "There but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford", in reference to a group of prisoners being led to execution.

Questions about there but for the grace of God go I

What does there but for the grace of God go I mean?
There but for the grace of God go I means a recognition that others' misfortune could be one's own, if it weren't for the blessing of the Divine, or for fortune or fate.
What part of speech is there but for the grace of God go I?
There but for the grace of God go I is a proverb.

Words near there but for the grace of God go I in the dictionary

  1. there are two sides to every question
  2. there are two sides to every story
  3. there away
  4. there be
  5. there being
  6. there but for the grace of God go I
  7. there exist
  8. there exists
  9. there for all to see
  10. there for everybody to see
  11. there for everyone to see

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: there but for the grace of God go I (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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