“None so blind as those that will not see.”

THE OLD BIBLICAL QUOTE THAT’S NOT IN THE BIBLE: “None so blind as those that will not see.”        Matthew Henry (1662-1714)        English Presbyterian minister and writer        A saying popularized by Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708)        Contrary to common belief, this is not a quote from the Bible. It’s a proverbial English saying. But Matthew Henry helped popularize the line by frequently using it in his widely-read book of explanatory comments about the Bible. It was probably inspired by some similar Bible verses, including Matthew 13:13 (“Therefore I speak to them in parables: because they seeing see not…”) and Jeremiah 5:21 (“Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not…”).

THE LAME EXCUSE VARIATION: “There are none so lame as those who will not walk.”        Sir James Marchant (1867-1956)        British philanthropist and author        In the book If I Had Only One Sermon to Preach (1928)

THE LAME JERK VARIATION: “There are no jerks so blind as those who can’t see destructive behavior.”        Reader comment posted by “Syd”         His opinion about Charlie Sheen, responding to a recent article about Sheen on the Entertainment Weekly site

THE TRUE BELIEVER PRINCIPLE: “There are none so positive as those who are but half right.”        William McDonnell (1814-1900)        Canadian writer        In his novel Family Creeds (1879)

RAY STEVENS’ SYRUPY SONG LYRICS: “There is none so blind as he who will not see We must not close our minds, we must let our thoughts be free... We shouldn’t care about the length of his hair or the color of his skin Don’t worry about what shows from without but the love that lives within.”        Ray Stevens        American singer and songwriter        In his hit song “Everything Is Beautiful” (1970)

BIG JOE SHELTON’S MORE PROVOCATIVE SONG LYRICS: “Big boss man in that White House, lyin’ through his teeth Ain’t none so blind as them who can’t see... God’s chillun’ in that desert, dyin’ in that war Jesus don’t like killin’ no matter what for.”        Big Joe Shelton        Mississippi blues musician        In the song “Hope We Live To See The Day” from his album Black Prairie Blues (2008)

THE EMPATHY VERSION: “There are none so tender as those who have been skinned themselves.”         Rev. C.H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)        British Baptist preacher        From a sermon included in his book Sermons: Volume 6 (1859)

THE UNWORTHY WISH LIST VERSION: “There are none so bitterly disappointed as those who have got what they wanted, because human nature is so sadly prone to want such things as are unworthy.”        Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler (1860-1929)        British poet and novelist        In her novel Place and Power (1903)

THE LEARNED DOCTOR’S OBSERVATION: “None so empty as those who are full of themselves.”        Benjamin Whichcote (1609–1683)        British Puritan divine and scholar        Quoted in the book Moral and Religious Aphorisms Collected from the Manuscript Papers of the Reverend and Learned Doctor Whichcote (1753)

THE UNIMAGINATIVE CRITIC PRINCIPLE: “There’s none so bland as can’t see.”        Editorial comment in a 1994 issue of the Theatre Record        Regarding a critic’s negative review of an avant-garde adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard III

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Further reading: books of religious quotations...