Discovering Wisdom: David Livingstone Quotes on Exploration, Adventure, and Humanity

David Livingstone (1813–1873) was a Scottish missionary and explorer who played a significant role in the exploration and mapping of Africa during the 19th century. Here are some key points about his life and contributions:

1. Early Life and Education:

- Livingstone was born on March 19, 1813, in Blantyre, Scotland, in a working-class family.

- Despite growing up in poverty, he managed to educate himself and studied medicine and theology at the University of Glasgow.

2. Missionary Work:

- Livingstone's initial interest was in missionary work, and he aimed to spread Christianity in Africa while also working as a medical missionary.

3. African Exploration:

- Livingstone embarked on his first journey to Africa in 1841, arriving in Cape Town. He then traveled north, exploring regions that were largely unknown to Europeans.

4. Victoria Falls:

- In 1855, Livingstone became the first European to see and document the magnificent Victoria Falls, which he named in honor of Queen Victoria.

5. Anti-Slavery Advocacy:

- Livingstone was an outspoken critic of the African slave trade, and he believed that the development of commerce and Christianity in Africa could help eradicate the slave trade.

6. Search for the Source of the Nile:

- One of Livingstone's most famous endeavors was his attempt to discover the source of the Nile River. In 1866, he set out on an expedition with the goal of finding the origin of the Nile.

7. Meeting with Henry Morton Stanley:

- In 1869, Livingstone's prolonged absence from the public eye raised concerns. Journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley was sent by the New York Herald to find him. The famous meeting between Stanley and Livingstone occurred in 1871 in the town of Ujiji on the shores of Lake Tanganyika.

8. Death and Legacy:

- David Livingstone died on May 1, 1873, in Chief Chitambo's village in present-day Zambia. His body was mummified, and his heart was buried beneath a tree at the spot where he died.

- Livingstone's contributions to African exploration, his anti-slavery stance, and his commitment to combining missionary work with scientific inquiry had a lasting impact. His explorations and writings significantly increased European knowledge of the African continent.

9. Commemoration:

- Livingstone is remembered through various monuments and place names, including Livingstone in Zambia. His legacy also lives on in the works of subsequent explorers and writers inspired by his adventures.

David Livingstone's life and work continue to be subjects of historical study and inspiration, with his legacy extending beyond his exploration to his humanitarian and anti-slavery efforts in Africa.

While David Livingstone is more known for his explorations and writings rather than a vast collection of quotes, here are some quotes attributed to him or reflective of his thoughts:

1. "I will place no value on anything I have or may possess except in relation to the kingdom of Christ."

2. "I determined never to stop until I had come to the end and achieved my purpose."

3. "Sympathy is no substitute for action."

4. "People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege."

5. "If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all."

6. "I am prepared to go anywhere, provided it be forward."

7. "The only way to find out what God has given you is to use it."

8. "I am immortal until my work is accomplished."

9. "I am a missionary, heart and soul. God had an only Son, and He was a missionary and a physician. I am a poor, poor imitation of Him, or wish to be."

10. "Fear God and work hard."

11. "I am a servant of the living God: to him, I have committed myself; his servant I am, and will remain."

12. "The nearer I approach to the end of my pilgrimage, the clearer is the evidence of the divine origin of the Bible, the grandeur and subtlety of God's remedy for fallen man are more appreciated, and the future is illumined with hope and joy."

13. "I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house."

14. "I place no value on anything I have or may possess, except in relation to the kingdom of God."

15. "I will go anywhere, provided it be forward."

16. "Nothing earthly will make me give up my work in despair."

17. "God had an only Son, and He made Him a missionary."

18. "Africa is not a continent; it is a country. I should be sorry to live in Africa if it were."

19. "God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours."

20. "The man who does not think too much of himself is much more esteemed than he imagines."

21. "I never made a sacrifice. We ought not to talk of 'sacrifice' when we remember the great sacrifice which He made who left His Father's throne on high to give Himself for us."

22. "It is the future and everlasting welfare of one such soul, that is worth all the ridicule and opposition which worldly men can give."

23. "Faith is a living, daring confidence in God's grace, so sure and certain that a man could stake his life on it a thousand times."

24. "Lord, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. Sever any ties except the tie that binds me to Yourself."

25. "We are immortal until our work on earth is done."

26. "I go to prepare a place for you."

27. "If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all."

28. "I shall open up a path to the interior or perish."

29. "The smoke of a thousand villages is going up to heaven."

30. "May heaven's rich blessing come down on every one - American, English, Turk - who will help to heal this open sore of the world."