John Wilhelm Rowntree
Quotes of: John Wilhelm Rowntree
"Life from the Center is a life of unhurried peace and power.
It is simple. It is serene. It is amazing. It is triumphant. It is radiant.
It takes no time, but it occupies all our time, And it makes our life
programs new and overcoming. We need not get frantic.
He is at the helm. And when our little day is done we lie down
quietly in peace, for all is well."
-John Wilhelm Rowntree
Among the most remarkable of Quaker leaders was John Wilhelm Rowntree (1868-1905), English business man, minister, author, teacher, and friend of humanity. Despite his death at the early age of thirty-six, he had already done much to transform and revitalize the Society of Friends of his day. He is an outstanding example of Quakerism and Christianity.
At the age of twenty-five, Rowntree sprang into leadership as a young Friend determined to devote his life "to making the Society of Friends a real and living force in the world." Hardly had he begun to translate this resolve into a practical program when he became aware of his failing sight and hearing. Upon consulting a specialist, his fears of eventual total blindness and deafness were confirmed. Emerging from the doctor's office where he had received this tragic news, he felt the invading love of God surround him and he was buoyed up in his faith. Life became even more meaningful to him than before this experience.
Triumphing over personal tragedy, he threw all his energy, all his intellect, all his creative imagination, and all his Christ-like spirit into the furtherance of the Kingdom of God. He assumed active leadership in the Adult School Movement, projected and began a monumental History of Quakerism, developed the famed Summer Schools of Friends, edited a periodical entitled Present-Day Papers, and helped to found the Woodbrooke Settlement for Religious and Social Study.
His observations on the message of the Society of Friends to the world are unusually timely today as he speaks: