there but for the grace of God go I

Idioms

I also could be in that terrible situation, as in Seeing him with two flat tires on the highway, she said “There but for the grace of God go I.” This expression has been attributed to John Bradford, who so remarked on seeing criminals being led to their execution (c. 1553) and who in fact was executed himself as a heretic a few years later. A number of religious leaders, including John Bunyan, have been credited with it as well.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

While most parents sigh that "there but for the grace of God go I," the press now daily inflates incidents suggesting that hell hath no fury like a scornful child.

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023