Not coined by Jung — an ancient oracle he adoptedAn ancient Delphic oracle, via ErasmusOracle recorded in antiquity · Latin form fixed by Erasmus, c. 1466–1536
The line really is Carl Jung’s motto — the Latin “Vocatus atque non vocatus deus aderit” is carved over the door of his house at Küsnacht and on his gravestone — but he did not write it. Jung himself explained it is “a Delphic oracle… the translation is by Erasmus,” who recorded the adage in his Adagia in the 16th century. “Called or uncalled, God will be present” is a literal English rendering of that Latin (the future-tense “aderit” = “will be present”).
“Called or uncalled, God will be present” an ancient Delphic oracle in the Latin of Erasmus ("Vocatus atque non vocatus deus aderit"), adopted by C. G. Jung as his motto; not coined by Jung.
⚠ The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Carl Jung. Use the credit shown above instead.
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Evoking the world of Desiderius Erasmus — Dutch Renaissance humanist & scholar. Theme: "Called or uncalled, God will be present". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.
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Provenance
The adage & its source
Adage
Vocatus atque non vocatus deus aderit
Recorded in
Erasmus, Adagia (16th century)
Ultimate source
A Delphic oracle to the Spartans (cf. Thucydides)
Translation
English: “Called or uncalled, God will be present” (future-tense “aderit”)
Latin over Jung’s door and on his tomb: “Vocatus atque non vocatus deus aderit.” In English: “Called or uncalled, God will be present.” Jung on its origin: “It is a Delphic oracle… The translation is by Erasmus.”
The popular variant “God is present” softens the future tense; Jung stressed the god “will be” present — present whether or not it is invoked.
Jung had the Latin cut over his Küsnacht doorway (house built 1908) and later on his gravestone, per this Jungian analyst’s account.
Jung himself called it “a Delphic oracle… the translation is by Erasmus,” as quoted here.
Wikiquote lists the line under “Misattributed,” noting Jung found it in Erasmus, who called it an ancient proverb.
✓Public domain
The words descend from an ancient Delphic oracle and were given their famous Latin form by Erasmus in the Adagia (early 16th century) — both centuries into the public domain. “Called or uncalled, God will be present” is a short, literal English translation of that public-domain Latin, carrying no separately identifiable copyright; note that some in-copyright English editions of Jung render it differently (e.g. “Called or not called, the god will be there”).
Fact-check
Who really said it
This is an unusual case: the attribution to Jung is not a fabrication — the line truly was his motto — yet crediting him as its author is still wrong. He was quoting an ancient oracle.
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As an original Jung sayingCarl Jung real motto, borrowed words
Jung carved the Latin over his door and it appears on his tomb, so it is genuinely associated with him — but he did not compose it. Wikiquote files it under “Misattributed,” noting he found it in Erasmus.
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The Latin wordingDesiderius Erasmus translator, not originator
Erasmus supplied the Latin “Vocatus atque non vocatus deus aderit” in his Adagia, but he was recording an adage he attributed to antiquity, not inventing it — as Jung himself noted, “the translation is by Erasmus.”
✓The true source is an ancient Delphic oracle, Latinized by Erasmus and adopted — not coined — by Jung.
Context
How an oracle became ‘a Jung quote’
Carl Jung (1875–1961) had the Latin inscription cut in stone over the main door of his house at Küsnacht on Lake Zurich and, after his death, it was carved on his gravestone. Because it marks both his threshold and his grave, readers naturally assume the words are his own — but Jung was quoting, not composing.
In a much-cited late letter Jung spelled out the pedigree himself: the phrase is “a Delphic oracle” whose Latin “translation is by Erasmus,” found in “Erasmus’s collection of Adagia (XVIth cent.).” He also cared about the tense — the god “will be” present, present whether or not one invokes it, which he read as an image of the reality of the unconscious psyche.
“It is a Delphic oracle… The translation is by Erasmus.” — Jung, on his own inscription
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Filed under
More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
c. 1466–1536 · Dutch Renaissance humanist & scholar
Erasmus of Rotterdam was the leading humanist of the Northern Renaissance, whose Adagia gathered and glossed thousands of classical proverbs for Europe’s learned readers. Among them was “Vocatus atque non vocatus deus aderit” — his Latin rendering of an ancient Delphic oracle, the answer the god is said to have given the Spartans (Lacedaemonians) when they consulted Delphi. Carl Jung found the adage in an edition of Erasmus as a young man and later made it his personal motto, carving it over his doorway and onto his tomb — which is how a 16th-century humanist’s Latin came to be read as a ‘Jung quote.’
For writers & researchers
Cite this
Primary source
Desiderius Erasmus, Adagia (16th c.), rendering an ancient Delphic oracle; adopted by C. G. Jung as the inscription “Vocatus atque non vocatus deus aderit” over his Küsnacht door and on his gravestone. Cf. Jung’s Letters, Vol. 2, 1951–1961.
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Called or uncalled, God will be present’?” Last verified 10 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/called-or-uncalled-god-will-be-present