George Fox
1624-1691 17th century
Inward listening preferred to every authority, and light found inside the night itself.
Who was George Fox?
A Leicestershire weaver's son apprenticed to a shoemaker, he left everything at nineteen and walked England for years looking for someone who could speak to his condition. He came to preach that anyone may be taught inwardly, without clergy or sacrament, which earned him eight imprisonments and many beatings. Out of that stubborn refusal came the Society of Friends, who would not swear oaths, uncover before the great, or bear arms.
In their own words
When all my hopes in them and in all men were gone, so that I had nothing outwardly to help me, nor could I tell what to do; then, O! then I heard a voice which said, "There is one, even Christ Jesus, that can speak to thy condition"; and when I heard it, my heart did leap for joy.
I saw also, that there was an ocean of darkness and death; but an infinite ocean of light and love, which flowed over the ocean of darkness.
Be patterns, be examples in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come; that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one.