As I journey through my Masonic career, my reading and research highlight a tremendous number of quotes that are right on the money for how I see Freemasonry.

As many readers of this blog will know, I have been in Freemasonry since 2007 (almost 10 years now!) and have enjoyed every minute of it. When I say ‘Masonic career’ I don’t mean that it is like a job or a treadmill type path, but an acknowledgement that my decision to join Freemasonry is one for the long term. I sincerely hope that my love of and involvement with Freemasonry will be life long.

Anyway, I don’t wish to digress and what I have done is compile a list of some of my favourite quotes about Freemasonry. In doing so, one or two quotes may resonate with some and also give an insight to those people thinking about joining Freemasonry in the future.

Masonic Quotes

“The strength of Freemasonry is in its loyalty to each other.” – Vasilios Karpos “There are no strangers in Freemasonry, only friends you’ve yet to meet.” – Author Unknown “To enlarge the sphere of social happiness is worthy of the benevolent design of a Masonic institution; and it is most fervently to be wished, that the conduct of every member of the fraternity, as well as those publications, that discover the principles which actuate them, may tend to convince mankind that the grand object of Masonry is to promote the happiness of the human race.” – George Washington “Many writers and thinkers have tried to define Freemasonry but it really defeats definition. It is too complex, too profound in conception, to easily expressed in words. Perhaps the simplest and best definition of all is the phrase ‘the brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of God.’ Our Masonic forefathers had an understanding of human needs and human aspirations. They may never have dreamed of the mindless computer which governs our lives, or the fission of matter which threatens our lives, but they understood human nature and what motivates the spirit of man. Thus from a simple process of using stone and mortar for building they progressed to the most important of life’s functions, the building of character.” – Louis L. Williams “Growing old is no more than a bad habit which a busy man has no time to form.” – Ande Maurois “God hides some ideal in every human soul. At some time in our life we feel a trembling, fearful longing to do some good thing. Life finds its noblest spring of excellence in this hidden impulse to do our best.” – Robert Collyer “The Society or Fraternity of Freemasons is more in the nature of a system of Philosophy or of moral and social virtues taught by symbols, allegories, and lectures based upon fundamental truths, the observance of which tends to promote stability of character, conservatism, morality and good citizenship.” – H. W. Coil “Freemasonry is ‘veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols’ because these are the surest way by which moral and ethical truths may be taught. It is not only with the brain and with the mind that the initiate must take Freemasonry but also with the heart.” – C. H. Claudy “It has not been my fortune to know very much of Freemasonry, but I have had the great fortune to know many Freemasons and have been able in that way to judge the tree by its fruit. I know of your high ideals. I have seen that you hold your meetings in the presence of the open Bible, and I know that men who observe that formality have high sentiments of citizenship, of worth, and character. That is the strength of our Commonwealth and nation.” – Calvin Coolidge “So far as I am acquainted with the principles and doctrines of Freemasonry, I conceive it to be founded in benevolence and to be exercised only for the good of mankind.” – George Washington “All that is essential for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” – Edmund Burke “Masonry aims at the promotion of morality and higher living by the cultivation of the social side of man, the rousing in him of the instincts of charity and love of his kind. It rests surely on the foundation of the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God.” – William Howard Taft “Courage is the first of human qualities, because it is the quality which guarantees all the others.” – Winston Churchill “I ask of each Mason, of each member, of each brother, that he shall remember ever that there is upon him a peculiar obligation to show himself in every respect a good citizen; for after all, the way he can best do his duty by the ancient order to which he belongs is by reflecting credit upon that order by way in which he performs his duty as a citizen of the United States.” – Theodore Roosevelt “Freemasonry has promoted fellowship, it has nurtured brotherhood, it has practiced charity. It has education, it has been founded on truth and the cardinal virtues. But what is Masonry’s greatest mission in life today? What should be the thrust of modern Masonry? Those are the answers we are presently seeking, and on our success in finding the answer depends the future of our Fraternity.” – L. L. Williams “Masonry was not made to divide men, but to unite them, leaving each man free to think his own thoughts and fashion his own system of ultimate truth. All its emphasis rests upon two extremely simple and profound principles, love of God and love of man.” – J. F. Newton “Masonic ideas are the precious jewels of Speculative Masons; the should be kept bright and sparkling for all the brethren to see and to admire. As such, they should be the special care of Masonic leaders particularly those who teach and interpret the philosophy of Freemasonry.” – Conrad Hahn “Nowhere does one become more convinced of the strong hold which Freemasonry takes upon the minds and lives of those aging workers in the Craft who have attained its highest honors and of their firm belief in the power of its teachings to purify the soul of men and raise them to a new dignity and to greater heights of spirituality and practical morality.” – H. W. Coil “The underlying principle of Masonry is the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. In this war we are engaging in upholding these principles and our enemies are attacking them.” – William Howard Taft “One thing and only one thing a Masonic Lodge can give its members which they can get nowhere else in the world. That one thing is Masonry.” – Carl H. Claudy “Being persuaded that a just application of the principles, on which the Masonic Fraternity is founded, must be promotive of private virtue and public prosperity, I shall always be happy to advance the interests of the Society, and to be considered by them as a deserving brother.” – George Washington “The secrecy of Masonry is an honourable secrecy; any good man may ask for her secrets; those who are worthy will receive them. To give them to those who do not seek, or who are not worthy, would but impoverish the Fraternity and enrich not those who received them.” – Author Unknown “We Masons are among the fortunate ones who are taught to meet together with others opposing convictions or competitive ideas and yet respect each other as Brothers.” – Author Unknown “The importance of improvement, setting an example, and shouldering responsibility for the future are our Masonic goals. And where will it all end? In brotherhood. What we build today will endure. That is our hope and our faith.” – Stanley F. Maxwell “We are committed to excellence in our lives and we are not willing to compromise ourselves for the sake of popularity. One time, the great German mathematician, Karl Gustav Jacobi, was asked why he decided to spend his life at work in such an obscure field. He replied, ‘For the honor of the human spirit.’ That is the reason why we, as Masons, give our lives affirming our beliefs in moral conduct, brotherhood and compassion. We do it for the honor of the human spirit.” – Stanley F. Maxwell “Masonry is too great an institution to have been made in a day, much less by a few men, but was a slow evolution through long time, unfolding its beauty as it grew. Indeed, it was like one of its own cathedrals which one generation of builders wrought and vanished, and another followed, until, amidst vicissitudes of time and change, of decline and revival, the order itself became a temple of Freedom and Fraternity.” – J. F. Newton “As we continue to improve ourselves in Masonry, we are indeed improving life. We know from history that without ideals to guide us, the garden of a man’s life will not grow into a place of beauty.” – Stanley F. Maxwell “We can only know the fullest joys of Masonry when we truly walk the paths of service and of hard work in the quarries.” – George E. Burow “I would say there are three steps in Masonry. The first step is the ritual; the second step would be the fellowship to be taken and enjoyed; and the third step would be Masonic information for enlightenment or education.” – William K. Bailey “Freemasonry must stand upon the Rock of Truth, religion, political, social, and economic. Nothing is so worthy of its care as freedom in all its aspects. ‘Free’ is the most vital part of Freemasonry. It means freedom of thought and expression, freedom of spiritual and religious ideals, freedom from oppression, freedom from ignorance, superstition, vice and bigotry, freedom to acquire and possess property, to go and come at pleasure, and to rise or fall according to will of ability.” – H. W. Coil “With our only certain reward being a good conscience, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth together leading those whom have not yet become Free Masons but are truly Masons at heart.” – WRF “That one things we have to teach, that one thing we Masons have as the key to our secret, the end-all and the be-all of Freemasonry is, you are my brother and I am yours.” – Conrad Hahn

Thank You For Reading

I hope you have enjoyed these quotes and if so then please share or link this page to your Brethren and friends. If you have any quotes yourself then please add them to the comments box below.

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Yours, sincerely and fraternally

WBro. RICHARD HARTLEY

Secretary King Edward 7 Lodge No.3329

Province of East Lancashire.

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