I often see quotes attributed to St. Francis of Assisi that he did not say. The words capture what he thought or was conveying, but some liberty has been taken.
I saw this the other day: "What you are before God, that you are and nothing more." I like it and I will use it because it is gender neutral. However, it not exactly what Francis said.
Francis didn't write a lot and that makes it easy to check out a quote.
Check out Admonition XIX: A Humble Servant of God. Here are two different translations.
"...for what a person is before God that he is and nothing more." FOA Early Documents, Vol. 1, page 135
"...for what a man is before God that he is and nothing more." Francis and Clare - The Complete Works, page 33.
By the way, here is how Saint Bonaventure phrased it: "[Saint Francis] often used to make this statement 'What a man is in God's eye, that he is and nothing more.' " (Legend Major Vol 1, 1.)
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