God helps those who help themselves
Encyclopedia
The phrase "God helps those who help themselves" is a popular motto that emphasizes the importance of self-initiative.
The phrase originated in ancient Greece
, occurring in approximately equivalent form as the moral to one of Aesop's Fables
, Hercules and the Waggoner, and later in the great tragedy
authors of ancient Greek drama
. Although it has been commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin
, the modern English
wording appears earlier in Algernon Sidney's work.
The phrase is often mistaken for a Bible
quote, but it appears nowhere in the Bible. Some Christians
have criticized the expression as being contrary to the Bible's message of God's grace
.
in his play The Persians
wrote, "Whenever a man makes haste, God too hastens with him." Sophocles
wrote, "No good e'er comes of leisure purposeless; And heaven ne’er helps the men who will not act." Euripides
wrote "Try first thyself, and after call in God; For to the worker God himself lends aid." The Greek proverb "Along with Athena
, move also your hand" (Greek
, Sỳn Athēnâi kaì kheîra kinei) is similar.
The same concept is found in the fable of "Hercules and the Wagoner", first recorded by Babrius
in the 1st century CE. In it, a wagon becomes stuck, or falls into a ravine, but when its driver appeals to Hercules
for help, he is told to get to work himself. The French author Jean de La Fontaine
also adapted the story in one of his fables, Le chartier embourbé (VI.18), which draws the moral Aide-toi, le ciel t'aidera. (Help yourself and Heaven will help you too).
The poet George Herbert
published a collection of proverbs, Jacula Prudentum (1651), which included "Help thyself, and God will help thee." But it was the English political theorist Algernon Sidney who originated the now familiar version, "God helps those who help themselves", apparently the first exact rendering of the phrase. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States
, used it in his almanac in 1736 and has been widely quoted. As a deist
, Franklin believed in God but that God did not intervene in earth's affairs, so all responsibility was incumbent upon people.
The beliefs of Americans
regarding this phrase and the Bible has been studied by Christian demographer and pollster George Barna
of The Barna Group
. To the statement "The Bible teaches that God helps those who help themselves"; 53% of Americans agree strongly, 22% agree somewhat, 7% disagree somewhat, 14% disagree strongly, and 5% stated they don't know. Of "born-again" Christians 68% agreed, and 81% of non "born-again" Christians agreed with the statement. In a February 2000 poll, 53% strongly agreed and 22% agreed somewhat that the Bible teaches the phrase. Of the 14 questions asked, this was the least biblical response, according to Barna. A poll in the late 1990s showed the majority (81%) believe the concept is taught by the Bible, another stating 82%.
Despite being of non-Biblical origin, the phrase topped a poll of the most widely known Bible verses. Seventy-five percent of American teenagers said they believed that it was the central message of the Bible.
Barna critiques this as evidence of Americans' unfamiliarity with the Bible and believes that the statement actually conflicts with the Bible's view of God's kindness towards people, none of whom deserve it – "grace". It "suggests a spiritual self-reliance inconsistent with Christianity" according to David Kinnaman, vice president of the Barna Research Group. Christian minister Erwin Lutzer
argues there is some support for this saying in the Bible , however much more often God helps those who cannot help themselves, which is what grace is about . The statement is often given as an example of the heresy
of Semi-Pelagianism
The phrase has featured in United States popular culture. In a "Jaywalking" sketch on The Tonight Show
, comedian host Jay Leno
asked random people on the street to name one of the Ten Commandments
. The most popular response (at least, as edited by the producers), was "God helps those who help themselves." Political commentator Bill O'Reilly
employed the phrase, in responding to Jim McDermott
who argued, "This is Christmas time. We talk about Good Samaritans
, the poor, the little baby Jesus
in the cradle and all this stuff. And then we say to the unemployed we won't give you a check to feed your family. That's simply wrong." O'Reilly argued for a more selective approach to unemployment benefits, and the importance of individual responsibility, concluding "while Jesus promoted charity at the highest level, he was not self-destructive. The Lord helps those who help themselves. Does he not?" Political comedian Stephen Colbert
parodied him in response, concluding in character
, "if this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we've got to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that he commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition; and then admit that we just don't want to do it."
The phrase originated in ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, occurring in approximately equivalent form as the moral to one of Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables or the Aesopica are a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. The fables remain a popular choice for moral education of children today...
, Hercules and the Waggoner, and later in the great tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
authors of ancient Greek drama
Theatre of Ancient Greece
The theatre of Ancient Greece, or ancient Greek drama, is a theatrical culture that flourished in ancient Greece between c. 550 and c. 220 BC. The city-state of Athens, which became a significant cultural, political and military power during this period, was its centre, where it was...
. Although it has been commonly attributed to Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin
Dr. Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A noted polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat...
, the modern English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
wording appears earlier in Algernon Sidney's work.
The phrase is often mistaken for a Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
quote, but it appears nowhere in the Bible. Some Christians
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
have criticized the expression as being contrary to the Bible's message of God's grace
Grace (Christianity)
In Christian theology, grace is God’s gift of God’s self to humankind. It is understood by Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to man - "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved" - that takes the form of divine favour, love and clemency. It is an attribute of God that is most...
.
Origin
The concept is found in many Greek tragedies. AeschylusAeschylus
Aeschylus was the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived, the others being Sophocles and Euripides, and is often described as the father of tragedy. His name derives from the Greek word aiskhos , meaning "shame"...
in his play The Persians
The Persians
The Persians is an Athenian tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus. First produced in 472 BCE, it is the oldest surviving play in the history of theatre...
wrote, "Whenever a man makes haste, God too hastens with him." Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
wrote, "No good e'er comes of leisure purposeless; And heaven ne’er helps the men who will not act." Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
wrote "Try first thyself, and after call in God; For to the worker God himself lends aid." The Greek proverb "Along with Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
, move also your hand" (Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, Sỳn Athēnâi kaì kheîra kinei) is similar.
The same concept is found in the fable of "Hercules and the Wagoner", first recorded by Babrius
Babrius
Babrius was the author of a collection of fables written in Greek. He collected many of the fables that are known to us today simply as Aesop's fables .Practically nothing is known of him...
in the 1st century CE. In it, a wagon becomes stuck, or falls into a ravine, but when its driver appeals to Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
for help, he is told to get to work himself. The French author Jean de La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine
Jean de La Fontaine was the most famous French fabulist and one of the most widely read French poets of the 17th century. He is known above all for his Fables, which provided a model for subsequent fabulists across Europe and numerous alternative versions in France, and in French regional...
also adapted the story in one of his fables, Le chartier embourbé (VI.18), which draws the moral Aide-toi, le ciel t'aidera. (Help yourself and Heaven will help you too).
The poet George Herbert
George Herbert
George Herbert was a Welsh born English poet, orator and Anglican priest.Being born into an artistic and wealthy family, he received a good education that led to his holding prominent positions at Cambridge University and Parliament. As a student at Trinity College, Cambridge, Herbert excelled in...
published a collection of proverbs, Jacula Prudentum (1651), which included "Help thyself, and God will help thee." But it was the English political theorist Algernon Sidney who originated the now familiar version, "God helps those who help themselves", apparently the first exact rendering of the phrase. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States
Founding Fathers of the United States
The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were political leaders and statesmen who participated in the American Revolution by signing the United States Declaration of Independence, taking part in the American Revolutionary War, establishing the United States Constitution, or by some...
, used it in his almanac in 1736 and has been widely quoted. As a deist
Deism
Deism in religious philosophy is the belief that reason and observation of the natural world, without the need for organized religion, can determine that the universe is the product of an all-powerful creator. According to deists, the creator does not intervene in human affairs or suspend the...
, Franklin believed in God but that God did not intervene in earth's affairs, so all responsibility was incumbent upon people.
Other historic uses
- The CanadianCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
society Aide-toi, le Ciel t’aidera (Help yourself and Heaven will help you too) is credited with introducing the celebration of Saint-Jean-Baptiste DayFête nationale du QuébecQuebec's National Holiday is celebrated annually on June 24, St. John the Baptist DayIn Quebec, the national holiday is a paid statutory public holiday covered under the Act Respecting Labour Standards...
for French Canadians, and was founded by Louis-Victor SicotteLouis-Victor SicotteLouis-Victor Sicotte was a lawyer, judge and politician in Lower Canada.He was born Louis Cicot in Boucherville, Lower Canada in 1812. He studied law and was called to the bar in 1839... - Aide-toi et Dieu t'aidera (God helps those who help themselves) was the motto on the ship's wheel of the famous UK-built Confederate sea raider CSS AlabamaCSS AlabamaCSS Alabama was a screw sloop-of-war built for the Confederate States Navy at Birkenhead, United Kingdom, in 1862 by John Laird Sons and Company. Alabama served as a commerce raider, attacking Union merchant and naval ships over the course of her two-year career, during which she never anchored in...
, captained by Raphael SemmesRaphael SemmesFor other uses, see Semmes .Raphael Semmes was an officer in the United States Navy from 1826 - 1860 and the Confederate States Navy from 1860 - 1865. During the American Civil War he was captain of the famous commerce raider CSS Alabama, taking a record sixty-nine prizes...
during the American Civil WarAmerican Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. - Trust in God But Tie Your Camel is an Arab proverb with a similar meaning. It is also one of the reported sayings of the Islamic prophetProphets of IslamMuslims identify the Prophets of Islam as those humans chosen by God and given revelation to deliver to mankind. Muslims believe that every prophet was given a belief to worship God and their respective followers believed it as well...
MuhammadMuhammadMuhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
. According to TirmidhiShamaail TirmidhiThe Shamā'il Muhammadiyyah, often referred to as Shamā'il al-Tirmidhi or simply Shamā'il, is a collection of ahadith compiled by the ninth-century Muslim scholar Tirmidhi regarding the intricate details of the Islamic prophet Muhammad's appearance, belongings, manners and life...
, one day Mohammed noticed a BedouinBedouinThe Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
leaving his camel without tying it. He asked the Bedouin, "Why don't you tie down your camel?" The Bedouin answered, "I placed my trust in Allah." At that, Mohammed said, "Tie your camel and place your trust in Allah."
Prevalence and assessment
The phrase is often quoted to emphasize the importance of taking initiative.The beliefs of Americans
People of the United States
The people of the United States, also known as simply Americans or American people, are the inhabitants or citizens of the United States. The United States is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
regarding this phrase and the Bible has been studied by Christian demographer and pollster George Barna
George Barna
George Barna is the founder of The Barna Group, a market research firm specializing in studying the religious beliefs and behavior of Americans, and the intersection of faith and culture...
of The Barna Group
The Barna Group
The Barna Group is an evangelical Christian polling firm based in Ventura, California.-Overview:It consists of five divisions focusing on primary research ; communications tools ; printed resources ; leadership development for young people ; and church facilitation and enhancement...
. To the statement "The Bible teaches that God helps those who help themselves"; 53% of Americans agree strongly, 22% agree somewhat, 7% disagree somewhat, 14% disagree strongly, and 5% stated they don't know. Of "born-again" Christians 68% agreed, and 81% of non "born-again" Christians agreed with the statement. In a February 2000 poll, 53% strongly agreed and 22% agreed somewhat that the Bible teaches the phrase. Of the 14 questions asked, this was the least biblical response, according to Barna. A poll in the late 1990s showed the majority (81%) believe the concept is taught by the Bible, another stating 82%.
Despite being of non-Biblical origin, the phrase topped a poll of the most widely known Bible verses. Seventy-five percent of American teenagers said they believed that it was the central message of the Bible.
Barna critiques this as evidence of Americans' unfamiliarity with the Bible and believes that the statement actually conflicts with the Bible's view of God's kindness towards people, none of whom deserve it – "grace". It "suggests a spiritual self-reliance inconsistent with Christianity" according to David Kinnaman, vice president of the Barna Research Group. Christian minister Erwin Lutzer
Erwin Lutzer
Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer is an evangelical Christian pastor, teacher and author. He is currently the senior pastor of Moody Church, in Chicago, Illinois.- Career :...
argues there is some support for this saying in the Bible , however much more often God helps those who cannot help themselves, which is what grace is about . The statement is often given as an example of the heresy
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
of Semi-Pelagianism
The phrase has featured in United States popular culture. In a "Jaywalking" sketch on The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
, comedian host Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
asked random people on the street to name one of the Ten Commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
. The most popular response (at least, as edited by the producers), was "God helps those who help themselves." Political commentator Bill O'Reilly
Bill O'Reilly (political commentator)
William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television...
employed the phrase, in responding to Jim McDermott
Jim McDermott
James Adelbert "Jim" McDermott is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1989. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The 7th District includes most of Seattle and Vashon Island, and portions of Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Tukwila, SeaTac, and Burien.He serves on the House Ways and Means...
who argued, "This is Christmas time. We talk about Good Samaritans
Parable of the Good Samaritan
The parable of the Good Samaritan is a parable told by Jesus and is mentioned in only one of the Canonical gospels. According to the Gospel of Luke a traveller is beaten, robbed, and left half dead along the road. First a priest and then a Levite come by, but both avoid the man. Finally, a...
, the poor, the little baby Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
in the cradle and all this stuff. And then we say to the unemployed we won't give you a check to feed your family. That's simply wrong." O'Reilly argued for a more selective approach to unemployment benefits, and the importance of individual responsibility, concluding "while Jesus promoted charity at the highest level, he was not self-destructive. The Lord helps those who help themselves. Does he not?" Political comedian Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Tyrone Colbert is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.Colbert originally studied to be an...
parodied him in response, concluding in character
Stephen Colbert (character)
The Reverend / Sir / Dr. / Stephen T. Colbert, D.F.A., brain-child of Google, is the persona of political satirist Stephen Colbert, as portrayed on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report. Described as a "well-intentioned, poorly informed high-status idiot", the character is a self-obsessed right-wing...
, "if this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we've got to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that he commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition; and then admit that we just don't want to do it."