Who said and this too shall pass

As an aphorism, it is roughly equivalent to "time heals all wounds" or, one of my favorites, "a quid is still a quid," from the late British novelist P.

To me, Wodehouse is saying that no matter how crummy things seem for you at the moment, the world is still more or less unchanged so it pays to keep things in perspective. The Wodehouse quote, which I've intoned to myself at difficult times over the years, may not be exact.

But Ditka's quotation wasn't exact either. The former coach wanted to attribute it to the Bible: "Scripture tells you that all things shall pass," he said by way of a lead-in. Yet the words "all things shall pass" do not appear in the Bible according to several concordances and a computer search conducted by the Moody Bible Institute.

The closest is in Matthew 24, where Jesus says "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. He was talking about the apocalypse and not, not even allegorically, about the firings of irascible football coaches. The Lincoln quote, however, reveals that Lincoln didn't claim the saying for his own:.

Often, sayings that evoke wisdom from the Psalms or the Sermon on the Mount become Biblical, not because they are, but because they seem Biblical to those who do not read the Bible or do not read it frequently. Let's take a look at some common misconceptions about the meaning and origin behind the phrase "this too shall pass".

But the phrase is far older than the 19th century, and the older an expression is, the more difficult it is to attribute it to the correct source. The idea is also a theme in Sufi Islamic mysticism writings, mostly on wealth and temporary state of power and status. There is another school of thought that roots the saying in Jewish literature where King Solomon requests a wise man seek a magic ring.

It is not unusual for common sense pieces of wisdom to arise in different cultures. The saying is an acceptance of the temporal nature of man. The saying accepts that tragedy comes and goes in human existence. While the mantra is not from the Bible , nor should it be used in place of scriptural truth, it is not an entirely untrue statement. In the Book of Ecclesiastes, the writer - King Solomon , son of David - contemplates the state of man, and how the things of this world are temporal.

The most famous of these meditations is found in the third chapter:. In these verses, Solomon meditates on how the phases of life do not last. After this passing away, the old shall truly have gone away, and eternity in heaven will be spent joyfully glorifying the Lord. In the Bible, believers are called to endure for a purpose. Endurance is necessary to overcome the trials of this life. It is necessary to spread the Gospel. It is important because if the believer endures to the end, there is glory with the Savior in eternity.

Often, the Bible discusses suffering and endurance together. To develop and cultivate one, a person must experience the other, but it is all for a purpose. Verses about suffering and endurance do acknowledge that hard moments pass, but their context is different. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. A lot of the times we are afraid of the outcome of circumstances.

If we don't obey or heed God's voice, then we are following our own voice. We fear God, but we also fear man. God is slow to anger, but swift to show mercy.

It is his delight to bless. In some ways, we all hope that things in life will come to pass. Sometimes things in life we don't want to come pass come about anyway. Our hope may be so focused on how things will come to pass. We have this perspective on how we see certain circumstances coming to pass.