The light comes at the same time as the Voice. … I will not tell you all; I have not leave; my oath does not touch on that. My Voice is good and to be honored. I am not bound to answer you about it. I request that the points on which I do not now answer may be given me in writing. … You shall not know yet. There is a saying among children, that 'Sometimes one is hanged for speaking the truth.'" [She is asked : Do you know if you are in the grace of God?] If I am not, may God place me there; if I am, may God so keep me. I should be the saddest in all the world if I knew that I were not in the grace of God. But if I were in a state of sin, do you think the Voice would come to me? I would that every one could hear the Voice as I hear it." - Meaning and context.">
QuotesCosmos
Third public examination (24 February 1431); part of this testimony has sometimes been paraphrased: '''If I am not in the state of grace, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me.
“

The light comes at the same time as the Voice. … I will not tell you all; I have not leave; my oath does not touch on that. My Voice is good and to be honored. I am not bound to answer you about it. I request that the points on which I do not now answer may be given me in writing. … You shall not know yet. There is a saying among children, that 'Sometimes one is hanged for speaking the truth.'" [She is asked : Do you know if you are in the grace of God?] If I am not, may God place me there; if I am, may God so keep me. I should be the saddest in all the world if I knew that I were not in the grace of God. But if I were in a state of sin, do you think the Voice would come to me? I would that every one could hear the Voice as I hear it.

— Joan of Arc

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The light comes at the same time as the Voice. … I will not tell you all; I have not leave; my oath does not touch on that. My Voice is good and to be honored. I am not bound to answer you about it. I request that the points on which I do not now answer may be given me in writing. … You shall not know yet. There is a saying among children, that 'Sometimes one is hanged for speaking the truth.'" [She is asked : Do you know if you are in the grace of God?] If I am not, may God place me there; if I am, may God so keep me. I should be the saddest in all the world if I knew that I were not in the grace of God. But if I were in a state of sin, do you think the Voice would come to me? I would that every one could hear the Voice as I hear it." in the context of "Third public examination (24 February 1431); part of this testimony has sometimes been paraphrased: '''If I am not in the state of grace, may God put me there; and if I am, may God so keep me." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Quote Image
Source: Wikiquote: "Joan of Arc" (Quotes, Trial records (1431): Saint Joan of Arc's Trials edited by T. Douglas Murray (1903) updated into modern English usage by Mathias Gabel and Carlyn Iuzzolino ) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app

Tags

#Joan of Arc#voice#god#may#answer#grace#hear#sometimes#children#speaking#honored#request
Joan of Arc

About Joan of Arc

Jehanne Darc also known as Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc) (c. 1412 – 30 May 1431) was a religious visionary, martyr, saint and heroine of France. Burned at the stake as a heretic after sentencing by a tribunal of pro-English clergy, she was later cleared of the charges during an appellate trial of the Inquisition on 7 July 1456, and canonized as a saint of the Catholic Church on 16 May 1920.