"When faith and hope fail, as they do sometimes, we must try charity, which is love in action. We must speculate no more on our duty, but simply do it. When we have done it, however blindly, perhaps Heaven will show us why"
About this Quote
The sharpest move is her impatience with moral self-consciousness. “Speculate no more on our duty” skewers a familiar habit: outsourcing ethics to endless rumination. Mulock treats overthinking as a form of delay that flatters the ego while starving the world. The subtext is disciplinary: decency isn’t a mood, it’s a practice, and the time you spend auditioning your virtue could have been spent helping.
Then she offers a theologically clever consolation: act first, understand later. “However blindly” grants that you may not feel certain, pure, or even particularly inspired. That’s not disqualifying; it’s normal. “Perhaps Heaven will show us why” isn’t triumphalist certainty but a wager - meaning arrives as a consequence of commitment. In a century anxious about doubt, Mulock proposes a moral workaround: when metaphysics won’t cooperate, let conduct carry you.
Quote Details
| Topic | Kindness |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Mulock, Dinah Maria. (2026, January 15). When faith and hope fail, as they do sometimes, we must try charity, which is love in action. We must speculate no more on our duty, but simply do it. When we have done it, however blindly, perhaps Heaven will show us why. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-faith-and-hope-fail-as-they-do-sometimes-we-169985/
Chicago Style
Mulock, Dinah Maria. "When faith and hope fail, as they do sometimes, we must try charity, which is love in action. We must speculate no more on our duty, but simply do it. When we have done it, however blindly, perhaps Heaven will show us why." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-faith-and-hope-fail-as-they-do-sometimes-we-169985/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"When faith and hope fail, as they do sometimes, we must try charity, which is love in action. We must speculate no more on our duty, but simply do it. When we have done it, however blindly, perhaps Heaven will show us why." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/when-faith-and-hope-fail-as-they-do-sometimes-we-169985/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.












