Malcolm Muggeridge Quotes
Born: March 24, 1903
Malcolm Muggeridge was a towering British journalist, satirist, and social critic who, in his later years, became an unexpected prophet of mindfulness and inner peace. Once a cynical observer of modern absurdity, he underwent a profound spiritual transformation, rejecting the hollow promises of materialism and progress. His philosophy centered on the paradoxical truth that true contentment arises not from acquisition, but from surrender. Muggeridge’s quotes resonate deeply because they strip away illusion, urging us to find stillness amid chaos. He taught that peace is not a destination, but a quiet rebellion against the noise of the world, making his words a timeless balm for the restless soul.
Malcolm Muggeridge Quotes (22)
"Never forget that only dead fish swim with the stream."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"I can say that I never knew what joy was like until I gave up pursuing happiness, or cared to live until I chose to die. For these two discoveries I am beholden to Jesus."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"This horror of pain is a rather low instinct and... if I think of human beings I've known and of my own life, such as it is, I can't recall any case of pain which didn't, on the whole, enrich life."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"History will see advertising as one of the real evil things of our time. It is stimulating people constantly to want things, want this, want that."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"The trouble with kingdoms of heaven on earth is that they're liable to come to pass, and then their fraudulence is apparent for all to see. We need a kingdom of heaven in Heaven, if only because it can't be realized."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"Every happening, great and small, is a parable whereby God speaks to us, and the art of life is to get the message."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"Sex is the mysticism of materialism and the only possible religion in a materialistic society."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"One of the peculiar sins of the twentieth century which we've developed to a very high level is the sin of credulity. It has been said that when human beings stop believing in God they believe in nothing. The truth is much worse: they believe in anything."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"People do not believe lies because they have to, but because they want to."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"Few men of action have been able to make a graceful exit at the appropriate time."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"One of the many pleasures of old age is giving things up."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"St. Teresa of Avila described our life in this world as like a night at a second-class hotel."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"Bad humor is an evasion of reality; good humor is an acceptance of it."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"Surely the glory of journalism is its transience."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"It was a somber place, haunted by old jokes and lost laughter. Life, as I discovered, holds no more wretched occupation than trying to make the English laugh."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"My opinion, my conviction, gains immensely in strength and sureness the minute a second mind as adopted it."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"He was not only a bore; he bored for England."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"Travel, of course, narrows the mind."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"There is no such thing as darkness; only a failure to see."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"Sex is the ersatz or substitute religion of the 20th Century."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"The pursuit of happiness, which American citizens are obliged to undertake, tends to involve them in trying to perpetuate the moods, tastes and aptitudes of youth."
— Malcolm Muggeridge"One of the many pleasures of old age is giving things up."
— Malcolm Muggeridge