Thomas Brooks

Thomas Brooks (1608–1680) was an English Puritan preacher and writer, educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. After serving as a chaplain at sea during the Civil War, he ministered in London, latterly at St. Margaret's, Fish Street Hill, until he was ejected from his pulpit in 1662 under the Act of Uniformity.

He stayed in the city through the plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of 1666, preaching to his scattered flock wherever he could gather them. His books are famous for their warmth and their sheer density of illustration — homely similitudes, histories, and proverbs pressed into the service of the soul. Among the best known are Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices, The Mute Christian Under the Smarting Rod, Heaven on Earth, An Ark for All God's Noahs, and The Privy Key of Heaven. Spurgeon reckoned him one of the most quotable of all the Puritans.