The Cord prints the exact sentence and identifies Admonition XIX.2, citing Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, volume 1, page 135. Daniel Horan’s article supplies the 1999 New City Press edition reference. That modern translation was not independently opened as a book; the checked 1906 Robinson translation has different wording and numbering.
“For what a person is before God, that he is and no more” Francis of Assisi, Admonition XIX.2, modern English rendering quoted from Early Documents (1999); book passage cited through scholarship, not independently inspected.
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Evoking the world of Francis of Assisi — Italian religious founder. Theme: "For what a person is before God, that he is and no more". 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 source
Evidence
Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, volume 1, Admonition XIX.2
Status
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Translation
Modern English in Early Documents (1999), cited through scholarly quotations
For what a person is before God, that he is and no more.
The Cord prints the exact sentence and identifies Admonition XIX.2, citing Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, volume 1, page 135. Daniel Horan’s article supplies the 1999 New City Press edition reference. That modern translation was not independently opened as a book; the checked 1906 Robinson translation has different wording and numbering. The Cord scholarly quotation ↗
Cites Admonition XIX.2 to Early Documents, edited by Armstrong, Hellmann and Short, New City Press 1999, p 135. Horan’s scholarly citation ↗
This English wording is cited to the 1999 Early Documents translation. Francis’s medieval Latin does not make this modern rendering public domain.
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Context
The setting behind the words
In Robinson’s 1906 English translation, Admonition 20 contrasts a servant’s conduct when praised with conduct when dismissed or looked down upon. Its point is humility before God rather than dependence on public esteem. That related passage differs in wording and numbering from the modern Early Documents translation quoted above. Robinson’s 1906 translation ↗
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More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.
Francis of Assisi founded the religious movement that became the Franciscan order. His surviving rules, letters and admonitions address life together, humility and service. English quotations from those writings depend on the particular translator; the medieval author did not write these English sentences.
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Source consulted
Francis of Assisi. Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, volume 1, Admonition XIX.2. 1999. Source and limits described above.
This verification page
Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘For what a person is before God, that he is and no more’?” Last verified 9 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/for-what-a-person-is-before-god-that-he-is-and-no-more/