John Wesley — "I have often thought, that if I were to choose a companion to travel with, it sh…"
I have often thought, that if I were to choose a companion to travel with, it should be one that would talk little.
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More from John Wesley
"I set myself on fire, and people come to watch me burn."
"I am as much a High-Churchman as ever I was. And I hope to live and die so."
"I am as much a High-Churchman as ever I was."
"I have been reading a book of travels. I do not know when I have been so much amused. It is a pity that so few of our travellers write like rational creatures."
"I have learned to suffer in silence, and not to make my complaints known to any but God."
About John Wesley (1703-1791)
English Anglican cleric and founder of Methodism, whose open-air preaching and class-meeting structure created the largest 18th-century evangelical revival. Closely associated with Charles Wesley (his hymn-writing brother) and George Whitefield (early co-revivalist, later doctrinal opponent). For an intellectual contrast, see George Whitefield, Calvinist evangelical revivalist — Whitefield's predestinarian Calvinism vs Wesley's free-grace Arminian theology split the early Methodist movement permanently in the 1739-41 break. The founding evangelical Calvinist-Arminian schism — the two parallel evangelical traditions American Christianity descends from.
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Understanding this quote
What it means
When choosing a travel companion, Wesley would prefer someone quiet over someone talkative. He valued silence and inner reflection over constant conversation, finding that a person who speaks little creates better conditions for thought, prayer, and observation during long journeys together.
Relevance to John Wesley
Wesley traveled roughly 250,000 miles on horseback across Britain preaching, often journaling and composing sermons mentally during rides. As a disciplined Methodist who structured every hour for spiritual purpose, constant chatter would have disrupted prayer, sermon preparation, and the contemplative practice central to his faith and ministry.
The era
In 18th-century Britain, travel was arduous and weeks-long, largely on horseback or by coach. The Enlightenment prized rational self-improvement and disciplined thought, while Wesley's evangelical revival emphasized personal holiness through structured reflection. Long journeys offered rare unstructured time, making a companion's conversational habits a genuine determinant of productive spiritual and intellectual work.
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