A B
C D E F
G H I
J K L
M N O
P Q R
S T U
V W X
Y Z
You can't eat your cake and have it too.
Calamity is the test of integrity.
You cannot choose your calling. Your calling chooses you.
You have
been blessed with special skills that are yours alone. Use
them,
whatever they may be, and forget about wearing another's
hat. A
talented chariot driver can win gold and renown with his
skills. Let
him pick figs and he would starve.
Og Mandino
The calmest husbands make the stormiest wives.
A candle lights others and consumes itself.
Open rebuke is better than secret love.
Proverbs 27:5
There is no wisdom like frankness.
Benjamin Disraeli
The death penalty may not eliminate crime but it stops
repeaters.
Capital punishment is when
According to the best evidence available, the death
penalty is definitely a
deterrent to crime. Not one of the 162 killers executed in
anyone since.
Capital punishment is when the government taxes you to get
capital so
that it can go into business in competition with you, and
then
taxes the profit on your business in order to pay its
losses.
One sensible reason for abolishing the electric chair is
the energy it would save.
It might lessen crime if an occasional jury would suspend
the criminal
instead of the sentence.
In the old days judges would suspend the bad men instead
of the sentence.
Juvenile delinquency starts in the highchair and could end
in the electric chair.
The capitalist system does not guarantee that everybody
will become
rich, but it guarantees that
anybody can become rich.
Raul R. de Sales
The cards are ill shuffled till I have a good hand.
Jonathan Swift
Let him sing to the flute, who cannot sing to the harp.
To find out what one is fitted to do and to secure an
opportunity
to do it is the key to happiness.
John Dewey
First, say to yourself what you would be; and then do what
you have
to do.
Epictetus
Master a trade, and God will provide.
Midrash
Drive toward others as you would have others drive toward
you.
To drive carefully ‑ just drive like everybody else
is crazy.
Your wife will drive more carefully if you tell her that
in accident reports
they always give the driver's age.
Glasses can make driving a lot safer. Providing, of
course, they're
worn instead of emptied.
By driving carefully you can help preserve two of our most
valuable resources ‑ gasoline and you.
A careful driver is a guy in a car that isn't insured yet.
Sign on a florist truck, "Drive carefully. The next
load may be yours."
If we'd drive right, there would be more people left.
Often a man considers himself a careful driver if he slows
down as he
passes through a red light.
Drive carefully! Motorists can be recalled by their maker.
A good safety slogan: "Drive scared."
A gentleman driver always tips his headlights.
Driving is a lot like baseball ‑ it's the number of
times you get home
safely that counts.
Drive carefully! The life you save could be someone who
owes you money.
Better be patient on the road than a patient in the
hospital.
The careful driver stops at a railroad crossing for a
minute;
the careless one, forever.
A good driver is the one who obeys all the traffic rules
and is quick
enough to dodge those who don't.
You should drive your car as if your family was in the
other car.
A good driver keeps his eyes on two things when he comes
to
a traffic light ‑ red lights and green drivers.
Always drive so that your license will expire before you
do.
When driving near schools, open your eyes and save the
pupils.
Nothing improves your driving like a police car following
you.
Shrink your speed and stretch your life.
Safe driving will keep your car out of the junkyard and
your body
out of the graveyard.
Highway sign in
will be worth living again."
Baseball honors its no‑hit pitchers. Why shouldn't
we offer some
recognition to our no‑hit motorists?
A tip to young male drivers: Forget the girl and hug the
road.
If you drive carefully, all you need is a strong rear
bumper.
Drive with care. Life has no spare.
A light foot on the gas beats two under the grass.
The best safety device ever invented for automobiles is a
careful driver.
Drive carefully if you'd rather be than was.
Forty years ago people were amazed when someone drove
thirty
miles‑per‑hour. They still are.
A
teaching her how to drive his car: "Go on green, stop
on red,
slow down when I turn white."
Brains and brakes prevent pains and aches.
The best way to stay alive on the highway is to limit the
speed –
not speed the limit.
A careful driver is known by the fenders he keeps.
All the safety devices on a car can be replaced by one
careful driver.
What many automobiles need is not four-wheel brakes but
foresighted drivers.
Drive carefully! If motorists would give more ground,
there'd be fewer in it.
Don't drive as if you owned the road ‑ drive as if
you owned the car.
If you drive carefully you avoid the "mourning
after."
Driver! Please give the pedestrian a break instead of a
fracture.
If you want the rest of the world to go by, just drive
within the legal speed limit.
A good driver is one who, after seeing a wreck, drives
carefully for
several blocks.
Drive sensibly. The chance‑taker is the accident‑maker.
Please drive carefully ‑ the IRS needs you.
Defensive driving is looking both ways before crossing a
one‑way street.
Sign on a laundry truck: "Drive carefully. Blood
stains are the hardest to
get out."
Safety note for motorists: "Watch out for children ‑
especially if they're
driving cars."
Caution is one automobile accessory you can't buy.
A railroad crossing is a place where it's better to be
dead‑sure than sure‑dead.
The best way to stay alive on the highway is to limit the
speed –
not speed the limit.
There should be just half as much horse sense behind the
wheel as
there is horsepower under the hood.
Advice to motorists: If you want to stay in the pink,
watch the
red and the green.
It's better to be last in the traffic jam than first in
the funeral procession.
The best rule in driving through five o'clock traffic is
to try and avoid
being a part of the six o'clock news.
Throw not the child out with the bath.
Danish proverb
If you would like to buy an $18,000 car it's easy--buy a
$6,000 car
on time.
Nowadays you need a credit card to pay cash.
Every cask smells of the wine it holds.
Italian proverb
Castles in the air cost a vast deal to keep up.
When the cat's away, the mice will play.
If you play with a cat, you must not mind her scratch.
Yiddish proverb
That cause is strong, which has not a multitude, but a
strong man
behind it.
James Russell Lowell
No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to
risk his
well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great
cause.
Theodore Roosevelt
If you want to be an orator, first get your great cause.
Wendell Phillips
No one tests the depth of a river with both feet.
African proverb
Caution, though often wasted, is a good risk to take.
Josh Billings
Watch your step. Everybody else does.
Don't try to cross any bridges until you're sure one is
there.
Bumper sticker on a car in
A man never knows how careful he can be until he buys a
new car or
wears white shoes.
It's all right to be cautious ‑ but even a turtle
never gets anywhere
until he sticks his head out.
Caution is one automobile accessory you can't buy.
It is well for a girl with a future to avoid the man with
a past.
Caution is what we call cowardice in others.
A railroad crossing is a place where it's better to be
dead‑sure than sure‑dead.
A cautious man is one who hasn't let a woman pin anything
on him
since he was a baby.
Be careful as you slide down the banister of life, lest
you get a splinter
in your career.
Be cautious in choosing friends, and be even more cautious
in changing them.
Caution is a good risk to take.
A person can save himself from many hard falls by
refraining from jumping
to conclusions.
Always take plenty of time to make a snap decision.
When we're afraid we say we're cautious. When others are
afraid we say
they're cowardly.
You've reached middle age when all you exercise is
caution.
Be careful where you inquire for directions along the road
of success.
He who wants the rose must respect the thorn.
Persian proverb
Lock the stable door before the steed is stolen.
Hasten slowly.
Augustus Caesar
I don't like these cold, precise, perfect people, who, in
order not
to speak wrong, never speak at all, and in order not to do
wrong,
never do anything.
Henry Ward Beecher
Try the ice before you venture on it.
A censor is a guy who finds three meanings in a joke that
has only two.
It is the business of a censor to acquaint us with vices
we didn't know we had.
A censor has the peculiar faculty of banning just what we
want to hear, see,
and read.
Someone has described a censor as a man who knows more
than he thinks
other people ought to. know.
Nothing is certain but death and taxes.
Benjamin Franklin
It is not certain that everything is uncertain.
Blaise Pascal
There is nothing certain in a man's life but that he must
lose it.
Owen Meredith
The chain is no stronger than its weakest link.
Throw a lucky man into the sea, and he will come up with a
fish in
his mouth.
Arabian proverb
Progress is impossible without change; and those who
cannot change
their minds cannot change anything.
George Bernard Shaw
Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse
to
better.
Richard Hooker
There is a certain relief in change, even though it be
from bad to
worse; as I have found in traveling in a stage-coach, that
it is
often a comfort to shift one's position and be bruised in
a new place.
Don't ever take a fence down until you know the reason why
it was
put up.
G. K. Chesterton
Some people continue to change jobs, mates, and friends ‑
but never think of changing themselves.
Some things never change ‑ like the taste of postage‑stamp
glue.
Constant change is here to stay.
Many people hate any change that doesn't jingle in their pockets.
The world changes so fast that you couldn't stay wrong all
the time if you tried.
All some people need to make them happy is a change ‑
and most of the time that's all a baby needs.
New ideas hurt some minds the same as new shoes hurt some
feet.
One way to have a clean mind is to change it now and then.
About the only opinions that do not eventually change are
the ones we have about ourselves.
Most people are willing to change, not because they see
the light, but because they feel the heat.
What we want is progress, if we can have it without
change.
The price of progress is change, and it is taking just
about all we have.
Everybody is in favor of progress. It's the change they
don't like.
There have been many changes for the better in recent
years, and some people have been against all of them.
There's a small town in
Change is what a person wants on a vacation ‑ and a
lot of currency too.
We can only change the world by changing men.
There is no way to make people like change. You can only
make them
feel less threatened by it.
Frederick Hayes
The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has
brought
progress.
Charles Kettering
Who would be constant in happiness must often change.
Chinese proverb
The more it changes, the more it is the same thing.
French proverb
There is nothing permanent except change.
Greek proverb
Times change and we change with them.
Latin proverb
Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks
of
changing himself.
Leo Tolstoy
I've never met a person, I don't care what his condition,
in whom I
could not see possibilities. I don't care how much a man
may consider
himself a failure, I believe in him, for he can change the
thing that
is wrong in his life any time he is ready and prepared to
do it.
Whenever he develops the desire, he can take away from his
life the
thing that is defeating it. The capacity for reformation
and change
lies within.
The heroes of the Bible are people who discovered
something in God and
in themselves which was a mixture of the majestic and the
ordinary,
the divine and the human.
Tim Hansel
Be big enough to admit and admire the abilities of people
who are better than you are.
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny
matters compared to what lies within us.
Where we go and what we do advertises what we are.
The kind of ancestors we have is not as important as the
kind of descendants our ancestors have.
The size of a man is measured by the size of the thing
that makes him angry.
A long face and a broad mind are rarely found under the
same hat.
Pay attention to what a man is, not what he has been.
One evidence of the value of the Bible is the character of
those who oppose it.
A big shot is frequently an individual of small caliber
and immense bore.
It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you
carry it.
Have character ‑ don't be one!
Character is easier kept than recovered.
Reputation is precious, but character is priceless.
Many people have character who have nothing else.
The collapse of character often begins on compromise
corner.
A well‑rounded character is square in all his
dealings.
You can easily judge the character of a man by how he
treats those who can do nothing for him.
A true test of a man's character is not what he does in
the light, but what he does in the dark.
Only you can damage your character.
Character is made by many acts; it may be lost by a single
act.
There is no royal road to character ‑ but there is a
road.
Character is not made in a crisis ‑ it is only
exhibited.
Think right, act right; it is what you think and do that
makes you what you are.
To change one's character, you must begin at the control
center ‑ the heart.
It is not by a man's purse, but by his character, that he
is rich or poor.
You can buy ready‑made clothes, but you can't buy
ready‑made character.
Reputation is what you need to get a job; character is
what you need to keep it.
A good past is the best thing a man can use for a future
reference.
Character, like embroidery, is made stitch by stitch.
Many a man's reputation would not recognize his character
if they met in the dark.
Your reputation can be damaged by the opinions of others.
Only you yourself can damage your character.
No amount of riches can atone for poverty of character.
Something of a person's character may be discovered by
observing how he smiles.
Any man who is honest, fair, tolerant, charitable of
others, and well‑behaved is a success no matter what his station in life
might be.
Some men succeed by what they know, some by what they do,
and a few by what they are.
A sense of values is the most important single element in
human personality.
The real measure of a man's wealth is how much he would be
worth if he lost all his money.
One of the surest marks of good character is a man's
ability to accept personal criticism without feeling malice toward the one who
gives it.
Every man has three characters: that which he exhibits,
that which he has, and that which he thinks he has.
Brains and beauty are nature's gifts; character is your
own achievement.
A person is never what he ought to be until he is doing
what he ought to be doing.
Character is like glass ‑ even a little crack shows.
A person's character is put to a severe test when he
suddenly acquires or quickly loses a considerable amount of money.
A pat on the back will develop character if given young
enough, often enough, low enough ‑ and hard enough.
The measure of a man's character is not what he gets from
his ancestors, but what he leaves his descendants.
Character grows in the soil of experience, with the
fertilization of example, the moisture of desire, and the sunshine of satisfaction.
Much may be known of a man's character by what excites his
laughter.
A man's character and his garden both reflect the amount
of weeding that was done during the growing season.
Character cannot be purchased, bargained for, inherited,
rented, or imported from afar. It must be home‑grown.
Your character is what you have left when you've lost
everything you can lose.
Character does not reach its best until it is controlled,
harnessed, and disciplined.
Take care of your character and your reputation will take
care of itself.
Men of genius are admired; men of wealth are envied; men
of power are feared; but only men of character are trusted.
It's what you do when you have nothing to do that reveals
what you are.
You can tell a man's character by what he turns up when
offered a job ‑ his nose or his sleeves.
The measure of a man's character is what he would do if he
knew he would never be found out.
There are two very difficult things in this world. One is
to make a good name for one's self, and the other is to keep it.
Character is the one thing we make in this world and take
with us into the next.
How a man plays the game shows something of his character.
How he loses shows all of it.
The address of character is often carved on the corner of
A man may be better than his creed, his company, or his
conduct. But no man is better than his character.
There's no limit to the height a man can attain by
remaining on the level.
A man's character, like rich topsoil, can erode so
gradually he doesn't notice it until it's almost gone.
You can no more blame your circumstances for your
character than you can blame the mirror for the way you look.
The two great tests of character are wealth and poverty.
You can't see the flaw in a bridge until it falls down, or
the flaw in a man's character until he meets with temptation.
Ability will enable a man to get to the top, but it takes
character to keep him there.
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to
test a man's character, give him power.
People determine your character by observing what you
stand for, fall for, and lie for.
A person's character is like a fence. All the whitewash in
the world won't strengthen it.
Show how strong you are by not noticing how weak the other
fellow is.
It isn't what you have, but what you are, that makes life
worthwhile.
Youth and beauty fade; character endures forever.
A flaw in one's character will show up under pressure.
If a man's character is to be abused, there's nobody like
a relative to get the job done.
Few things are more dangerous to a person's character than
having nothing to do and plenty of time in which to do it.
Character, like sweet herbs, should give off its finest
fragrance when pressed.
A golden character needs no gilding.
Character is never erected on a neglected conscience.
One of the main troubles with modern civilization is that
we so often mistake respectability for character.
College is a place that's presumed to mold character, and
some of the characters turn out to be very moldy.
Contentment is something that depends a little on
position and a lot on disposition.
It is important that people know what you stand for; it is
equally important that they know what you won't stand for.
The true test of moral courage is the ability to ignore an
insult.
Courage is the quality it takes to look at yourself with
candor, your adversaries with kindness, and your setbacks with serenity.
Greatness is not found in possessions, power, position, or
prestige. It is discovered in goodness, humility, service, and character.
Happiness does not come from what you have, but from what
you are.
It's not where you are but what you are that determines
your happiness.
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
What you laugh at tells, plainer than words, what you are.
You cannot control the length of your life, but you can
control its breadth, depth, and height.
It isn't how high you go in life that counts, but how you
got there.
A man shows what he is by doing what he can with what he
has.
The true measure of a man is the height of his ideals, the
breadth of his sympathy, the depth of his convictions, and the length of his
patience.
You can usually determine the caliber of a man by
ascertaining the amount of opposition it takes to discourage him.
The measure of a man is the size of the thing it takes to
get his goat.
Another great need of this country is guns of smaller
caliber and men of larger.
The test of any man's character is how he takes praise.
It is strange that in our prayers we seldom ask for a
change in character, but always a change in circumstances.
No man is better than his principles.
If a man's character is to be smeared, there's nobody like
a relative to do the job.
You cannot make a crab walk straight.
What can you expect from a hog but a grunt.
The measure of a man's real character is what he would do
if he
knew he would never be found out.
Lord Macaulay
Character--the willingness to accept responsibility for
one's own
life--is the source from which self-respect springs.
Joan Didion
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of
principle, stand like a rock.
Thomas Jefferson
Talents are best nurtured in solitude: character is best
formed in
the stormy billows of the world.
Johann Goethe
Everyone is a moon and has a dark side which he never
shows to
anybody.
Mark Twain
Character building begins in our infancy, and continues
until
death.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Character is long-standing habit.
Plutarch
Moderation is an ostentatious proof of our strength of
character.
La Rochefoucauld
If you think about what you ought to do for other people,
your
character will take care of itself.
Woodrow Wilson
You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must
hammer and
forge yourself one.
James A. Froude
Character is what God and the angels know of us;
reputation is what
men and women think of us.
Horace Mann
If you create an act, you create a habit. If you create a
habit,
you create a character. If you create a character, you
create a
destiny.
Andre Maurois
One can acquire everything in solitude except character.
Stendhal
If I take care of my character, my reputation will take
care of
itself.
Dwight L. Moody
Everyone ought to bear patiently the results of his own
conduct.
Phaedrus
Every man has his follies--and often they are the most
interesting
things he has got.
Josh Billings
Learn to say "no"; it will be of more use to you
than to be able to
read Latin.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Every man in the world is better than some one else. And
not as
good as some one else.
William Saroyan
Listen to a man's words and look at the pupil of his eye.
How can a
man conceal his character?
Mencius
A man has no more character than he can command in a time
of
crisis.
Ralph W. Sockmann
Character is much easier kept than recovered.
Character is what you are in the dark.
Dwight L. Moody
A man shows his character by what he laughs at.
German proverb
Character is habit long continued.
Greek proverb
Good character is more to be praised than outstanding
talent. Most
talents are, to some extent, a gift. Good character, by
contrast, is
not given to us. We have to build it piece by piece--by
thought,
choice, courage and determination.
John Luther
A man never discloses his own character so clearly as when
he
describes another's.
Jean Paul Richter
The four cornerstones of character on which the structure
of this
nation was built are: Initiative, Imagination,
Individuality and
Edward Rickenbacker
Instead of saying that man is the creature of
circumstance, it
would be nearer the mark to say that man is the architect
of
circumstance. It is character which builds an existence
out of
circumstance. From the same materials one man builds
palaces, another
hovels; one warehouses, another villas; bricks and mortar
are mortar
and bricks until the architect can make them something
else.
Thomas Carlyle
Adam should have been adamant.
Adam switched off from God's design. Instead of
maintaining his
dependence on God, he took his rule over himself and
thereby
introduced sin into the world.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Adam was created to be the friend and companion of God; he
was to have
dominion over all the life in the air and earth and sea,
but one thing
he was not to have dominion over, and that was himself.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
No man ever got so much out of a surgical operation as
Adam did.
Originally one, he has fallen, and, breaking up. . . he
has filled the
whole earth with the pieces.
There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it
unspeakably
desirable. It was not that Adam ate the apple for the apple's
sake,
but because it was forbidden.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
It wasn't an apple from the tree that started the trouble
in the
Garden of
Silence, O sinner, stop! Accuse not Eve and Adam.
Without that incident, it's you who would have done it.
Angelus Silesius (1624-1677)
Caleb? Every new sunrise introduced another reminder that
his body and
rocking chair weren't made for each other. While his peers
were
yawning, Caleb was yearning.
Charles R. Swindoll (1934- )
The most enjoyable way to follow a vegetable diet is to
let the cow
eat it and take yours in roast beef.
David swung. And God made his point. Anyone who
underestimates what
God can do with the ordinary has rocks in his head.
Max L. Lucado (1955- )
Remember Eutychus who fell asleep during Paul's sermon and
fell out
the window? Could planning worship save nodding slaves
from broken
necks?
Calvin Miller
"Such a thing never entered my head before,"
said Goliath when struck
by the shot from David.
The Lord could not be on Jacob's side until he had been
disabled and
learned to use other weapons than those of his own
wrestling.
Alfred Edersheim (1825-1889)
Jeremiah refutes the popular, modern notion that the end
of religion
is an integrated personality, freed of its fears, its
doubts, and its
frustrations. Certainly Jeremiah was no integrated
personality. It is
doubtful if to the end of his tortured existence he ever
knew the
meaning of the word peace. . . . If Jeremiah had been
integrated, it
would have been at the cost of ceasing to be Jeremiah! A
man at peace
simply could not be a Jeremiah. Spiritual health is good;
mental
assurance is good. But the summons of faith is neither to
an
integrated personality nor to the laying by of all
questions, but to
the dedication of personality-with all its fears and
questions-to its
duty and destiny under God.
John Bright (1811-1889)
Job feels the rod yet blesses God.
Job flings at God one riddle, God flings back at Job a
hundred
riddles, and Job is at peace; he is comforted with
conundrums.
G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
Seeing God, Job forgets all he wanted to say, all he
thought he would
say if he could but see him.
George Macdonald (1824-1905)
Jonah felt down in the mouth when the great fish swallowed
him.
Still as of old, men by themselves are priced-
For thirty pieces Judas sold himself, not Christ.
Hester H. Cholmondeley
Ah foolish woman! who must always be,
A sight more strange than that she turn'd to see!
Abraham Cowley (1618-1667)
Methuselah lived nine hundred and sixty-nine years without
a bathtub,
without a toothbrush; he was never x-rayed, manicured, or
had his
appendix removed.
Harry Collins Spillman
By Nebo's lonely mountain,
On this side Jordan's wave,
In a vale in the
There lies a lonely grave;
But no man built that sepulcher,
And no man saw it e'er,
angels of God upturned the sod
And laid the dead man there .
Cecil Frances Alexander (1818-1895)
Moses was a great lawgiver: keeping the Ten Commandments
short and to
the point shows he was no ordinary lawyer.
Wise Nicodemus saw such light
As made him know his God by night.
Henry Vaughan (1622-1695)
I don't believe Noah could have rounded up all the animals
in one herd
without the skunk causing a stampede.
Will
Majorities mean nothing: during the Flood only one man
knew enough to
get out of the rain.
Noah told his sons to go easy on the fishing bait. He only
had two
worms.
Noah was the best financier in the Bible. He floated his
stock while
the whole world was in liquidation.
Why didn't Noah swat those two flies when he had the
chance?
Because it was not politically expedient, none of the
three judges
resolved Paul's case: Felix walked the fence like a cat,
Festus found
Paul to be as irritating as a festering sore, and Agrippa
failed to
get a grip on the situation.
Medical materialism finished up
the road of
being an epileptic."
William James (1842-1916)
Peter often looked more like a sand pile than a rock.
John Powell
Samson with his strong body had a weak head or he would
not have laid
it in a harlot's lap
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Samson was strong. One day he was out in a field, and a
lion came,
roared and sprang at him, and Samson turned around and
took the lion's
jaws in his bare hand and ripped his head open. Now, that
takes a
pretty good man to do that. Tarzan couldn't even do
that-he had to
have a knife!
Billy Graham (1918- )
Samson was the most popular actor in the Bible. He brought
the house
down.
Samson's weakness was his fondness for showing off his
strength.
There's nothing worse than a homemade haircut-look what it
did for
Samson!
Solomon got whatever he wanted, especially when it came to
symbols of
power and status. Gradually, he depended less on God and
more on the
props around him: the world's largest harem, a house twice
the size of
the temple, an army well stocked with chariots, a strong
economy.
Philip Yancey (1949- )
Solomon was famous for his wisdom, not because he knew
everything, but
because he knew how little he knew.
Charity is helping a man to help himself.
Moses Maimonides (1135-1204)
Charity is money put to interest in the other world.
Robert Southey (1774-1843)
It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Acts 20:35
God loveth a cheerful giver.
2 Corinthians 9:7
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord.
Proverbs 19:17
Giving good advice does not qualify as charity.
Giving advice to the poor is not the best form of charity.
An autobiography, like charity, covers a multitude of
sins.
Charity begins at home, and generally dies from lack of
outdoor exercise.
Many a man's idea of charity is to give advice to others
that he can't use himself.
Maybe we were better off when charity was a virtue instead
of a deduction.
Charity is twice blessed ‑ it blesses the one who
gives and the one who receives.
It is better to give than to lend, and it costs about the
same.
Charity often consists of a generous impulse to give away
something for which we have no further use.
Unless a man is a recipient of charity, he should be a
contributor to it.
Charity should begin at home, but most people don't stay
at home long enough to begin it.
Real charity doesn't care if it's deductible or not.
Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient become
independent of it.
In the old days charity was a virtue instead of an
industry.
Charity is the sterilized milk of human kindness.
Giving advice to the poor is about as close to charity as
some people get.
True charity is helping those you have every
reason to believe would not help you.
Christian charity knows no iron curtain. Feel for others ‑
in your pocketbook!
Charity begins at home and usually winds up in some
foreign country.
Sincere charity is the desire to be useful to others
without any thought of recompense.
Faith, hope, and charity ‑ if we had more of
the first two we'd need less of the last.
For a community leader, life is one big bowl of charities.
With malice toward none; with charity for all.
Abraham Lincoln
The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis,
but
rather the feeling of being unwanted.
Mother Teresa
As the purse is emptied, the heart is filled.
Victor Hugo
He who waits to do a great deal of good at once, will
never do
anything.
Samuel Johnson
Charity is never lost. It may meet with ingratitude, or be
of no
service to those on whom it was bestowed, yet it ever does
a work of
beauty and grace upon the heart of the giver.
Conyers Middleton (1683-1750)
Charity is the scope of all God's commands.
Saint John Chrysostom (C. 347-407)
If you haven't got any charity in your heart, you have the
worst kind
of heart trouble.
Bob Hope (1903- )
In charity there is no excess.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
In faith and hope the world will disagree,
But all mankind's concern is charity.
Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
Never to judge rashly; never to interpret the actions of
others in an
ill-sense, but to compassionate their infirmities, bear
their burdens,
excuse their weaknesses, and make up for their defects-to
hate their
imperfections, but love themselves, this is the true
spirit of
charity.
Nicholas Caussin (1583-1651)
The charity that hastens to proclaim its good deeds ceases
to be
charity and is only pride and ostentation.
William Hutton (1723-1815)
The highest exercise of charity is charity toward the
uncharitable.
J. S. Buckminster
This only is charity, to do all that we can.
John Donne (1572-1631)
True charity is the desire to be useful to others without
thought of
recompense.
Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772)
What is charity?
It's silence when your words would hurt
It's patience when your neighbor's hurt
It's deafness when scandal flows
It's thoughtfulness for another's woes
It's promptness when a stern duty calls
It's courage when misfortune falls.
Do not condemn your neighbor; you do not know what you
would have done
in his place.
Do not judge a man until you know his whole story.
Don't judge any man until you have walked two moons in his
moccasins.
Indian Proverb
Don't judge anyone harshly until you yourself have been
through his
experiences.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
Examine the contents, not the bottle.
Talmud
Forebear to judge, for we are sinners all.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
He who judges others condemns himself.
English Proverb
I am not judged by the light I have, but by the light I
have refused
to accept.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
If you say that man is too little for God to speak to him,
you must be
very big to be able to judge.
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
Judge a tree from its fruit; not from the leaves.
Euripides (C. 484-406 B.C.)
Jumping to conclusions seldom leads to happy landings.
Man judges from a partial view.
None ever yet his brother knew;
The eternal eye that sees the whole
May better read the darkened soul,
And find, to outward sense denied,
The flower upon its inmost side!
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892)
Most people judge men only by their success.
François, Duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680)
No man can justly censure or condemn another because no
man truly
knows another.
Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682)
No man is condemned for anything he has done: he is
condemned for
continuing to do wrong. He is condemned for not coming out
of the
darkness, for not coming to the light.
George Macdonald (1824-1905)
One cool judgment is worth a thousand hasty councils. The
thing to do
is to supply light and not heat.
Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924)
Only judge when you have heard all.
Greek Proverb
Our concept of time makes it necessary for us to speak of
the Day of
Judgment; in reality, it is a summary court in perpetual
session.
Franz Kafka (1883-1924)
Remind the religious phony that the splinter within your
eye is
between you and your Lord, and to pay attention to the
tree trunk in
his own eye.
Charles R. Swindoll (1934- )
Such was the rule of life! I worked my best, subject to
ultimate
judgment; God's, not man's.
Robert Browning (1812-1889)
The archer who overshoots misses as well as he who falls
short.
The more one judges, the less one loves.
Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850)
The unsurrendered Christian stands condemned for what he
does not do
more than for what he does.
Billy Graham (1918- )
To judge wisely, we must know how things appear to the
unwise.
George Eliot (1819-1880)
We judge ourselves by our motives and others by their
actions.
Dwight Whitney Morrow (1873-1931)
When one knows oneself well, one is not desirous of
looking into the
faults of others.
John Moschus (C. 550-619)
When rattling bones together fly
From the four corners of the sky.
John Dryden (1631-1700)
While we are coldly discussing a man's career, sneering at
his
mistakes, blaming his rashness, and labeling his
opinions-"Evangelical and narrow," or
"Latitudinarian and
Pantheistic," or "Anglican and
supercilious"-that man, in his
solitude, is perhaps shedding hot tears because his
sacrifice is a
hard one, because strength and patience are failing him to
speak the
difficult word and do the difficult deed.
George Eliot (1819-1880)
You can be certain of this: when the Day of Judgment
comes, we shall
not be asked what we have read, but what we have done; not
how well we
have spoken, but how well we have lived.
Thomas Ŕ Kempis (C. 1380-1471)
You should not say it is not good. You should say you do
not like it;
and then you're perfectly safe.
James Abbot McNeill Whistler (1834-1903)
Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above
rubies.
Proverbs 31:10
Cheap things are not good, good things are not cheap.
Chinese proverb
He that will cheat at play will cheat you any way.
A joint checking account is never overdrawn by the wife.
It is just
under-deposited by her husband.
The sign of wisdom is a continual cheerfulness.
French proverb
I exhort you to be of good cheer.
Acts 27:22
A cheerful look makes a dish a feast.
George Herbert
The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer
somebody else up.
Mark Twain
The true source of cheerfulness is benevolence.
P. Godwin
Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness, and its power of
endurance--the cheerful man will do more in the same time,
will do it
better, will preserve it longer, than the sad or sullen.
Thomas Carlyle
Cheerfulness, in most cheerful people, is the rich and
satisfying
result of strenuous discipline.
Edwin Percy Whipple
Cheerfulness is the off-shoot of goodness.
Christian Nestell Bovee
Burdens become light when cheerfully borne.
Ovid (43 B.C.-A.D. 17)
Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers and are
famous
preservers of good looks.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
Cheerfulness in most cheerful people is the rich and
satisfying result
of strenuous discipline.
Edwin Percy Whipple (1819-1886)
Cheerfulness is health; its opposite, melancholy, is
disease.
Thomas Chandler Haliburton (1796-1865)
Cheerfulness is no sin, nor is there any grace in a solemn
cast of
countenance.
John Newton (1725-1807)
Cheerfulness greases the axles of the world.
Some people are able to spread cheer wherever they don't
go.
Cheerfulness is contagious, but don't wait to catch it
from others. Be a carrier!
Lots of people get credit for being cheerful when they are
just proud of their teeth.
Your day goes the way the corners of your
mouth turn. _
The man who gets along in the world is the one who can
look cheerful and happy when he isn't.
Keep your face to the sunshine and you will never see the
shadows.
Remember the steam kettle! Though up to its neck in hot
water, it continues to sing.
Few cases of eyestrain have been developed by looking on
the bright side of things.
Cheerfulness is contagious, but it seems like some folks
have been vaccinated against the infection.
Some people grow up and spread cheer; others just grow up
and spread.
Some people grow up and spread cheer; others just grow up
and spread.
Cheerfulness is the atmosphere in which all things thrive.
Johann Paul Friedrich Richter (1763-1825)
Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind and
fills it with
a steady and perpetual serenity.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719)
Cheerfulness removes the rust from the mind, lubricates
our inward
machinery, and enables us to do our work with fewer creaks
and groans.
Cheerfulness: a habit of the mind . . . fixed and
permanent.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719)
Cheerfulness: the habit of looking at the good side of
things.
William Bernard Ullanthorne (1806-1889)
I wonder many times that ever a child of God should have a
sad heart,
considering what the Lord is preparing for him.
Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661)
If I can put one thought of rosy sunset into the life of
any man or
woman, I shall feel that I have worked with God.
George Macdonald (1824-1905)
Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the
shadow.
Helen Adams Keller (1880-1968)
Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness and its power of
endurance-the cheerful man will do more in the same time,
will do it
better; will persevere in it longer; than the sad or
sullen.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)
'Tis easy enough to be pleasant,
When life flows along like a song;
But the man worthwhile is the one who will smile
When everything goes dead wrong.
Ella Wheeler (1855-1919)
A smile costs nothing but creates much.
A smile is a curve that helps to set things straight.
If you meet a man who has no smile, give him yours.
Most smiles are started by another smile.
Nobody needs a smile as much as those who have none to
give.
There are a thousand languages, but a smile speaks them
all.
There are many kinds of smiles, each having a distinct
character. Some
announce goodness and sweetness, others betray sarcasm,
bitterness,
and pride; some soften the countenance by their
languishing
tenderness, others brighten by their spiritual vivacity.
Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741-1801)
They might not need me, yet they might.
I'll let my head be just in sight;
A smile as small as mine might be
Precisely their necessity.
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (1830-1886)
Wear a smile and have friends; wear a scowl and have
wrinkles.
George Eliot (1819-1880)
The best way to stop kids from seeing dirty movies is to
label them "Educational."
Some adolescents become bad eggs because they have been
set on too long ‑ or not long enough.
Never strike a child! You might miss and hurt yourself.
It's hard, if not impossible, to get a child to pay
attention to you, especially when you're telling him something for his own
good.
One advantage of the compact car is that when any of the
kids start acting up they can be reached by hand.
The behavior of some children suggests that their parents
embarked on the sea of matrimony without a paddle.
A boy loves a dog because it's the only thing around the
house that doesn't find fault with him.
One way to keep young boys from getting on the wrong track
is to use better switching facilities.
A boy is like a canoe ‑ he behaves better if paddled
from the rear.
It used to be when a boy couldn't learn at his mother's
knee he found himself over his father's.
A pat on the back will develop character if given young
enough, often enough, low enough ‑ and hard enough.
Some kids are like ketchup bottles. You have to slap their
bottoms a few times to get them moving.
All children don't disobey their parents. Some are never
told what to do.
The child who always complains he's getting the short end
of the stick should be given more of it.
Some children grow like weeds and are about as well cared
for.
Children brought up in Sunday school are seldom brought up
in court.
There are many "bright children" who should be
applauded with one hand.
One important way for us to help our children grow up is
for us to grow up first.
There are still a few people who can remember when a
child misbehaved to get attention ‑ and got it!
Spoiled kids soon become little stinkers.
If brushing up on manners doesn't help some children, the
brush should be moved down a bit.
Some of today's children don't smart in the right place.
Rearing children is the biggest "heir‑conditioning"
job ever undertaken.
Many children have grown up to be fairly levelheaded
because their parents couldn't find the guidance book they were looking for.
Nowadays children are called bright when they make remarks
that used to call for a good spanking.
Any child who gets raised strictly by the book is probably
a first edition.
When children get on the wrong track it's time to use the
switch.
Child training is chiefly a matter of knowing which end of
the child to pat ‑ and when.
Training a child to follow the straight and narrow way is
easy for parents ‑ all they have to do is lead the way.
In bringing up children it's best not to let them know it.
Sometimes the best way to straighten out a child is by
bending him over.
Never slap a child in the face. Remember, there's a place
for everything.
It is extremely difficult to train a boy in the way his
father does not go.
If a child annoys you, quiet him by brushing his hair ‑
if this doesn't work, use the other side of the brush on the other end of the
child.
It's better to teach children the roots of labor than to
hand them the fruits of yours.
Theories on how to rear children usually end with the
birth of the second child.
Every child has a right to be both well‑fed and well‑led.
To train children at home, it's necessary for both the
children and the parents to spend some time there.
Someone has defined spanking as "stern"
punishment.
The surest way to make it hard for your children is to
make it soft for them.
You train a child until age ten; after that you only
influence him.
Train your child in the way you now know you should have
gone yourself.
The best way to bring up children is never to let them
down.
Teaching children to count is not as important as
teaching them what counts.
Another thing a modern child learns at his mother's knee
is to watch out for cigarette ashes.
A switch in time saves crime.
Psychiatrists tell us that discipline doesn't break a
child's spirit half as often as the lack of it breaks a parent's heart.
Discipline is what you inflict on one end of a child to
impress the other.
A modern home is a place where a switch controls
everything but the children.
A typical home is where the TV set is better adjusted than
the kids.
One reason for juvenile delinquency is that many parents
are raising their children by remote control.
One of the problems of juvenile delinquency is children
running away from home. It is entirely possible they may be looking for their
parents.
Most juvenile delinquents are youngsters who have been
given a free hand, but not in the proper place.
In the days when a woodshed stood behind the American
home, a great deal of what passes as juvenile delinquency was settled out of
court.
When a youth begins to sow wild oats it's time for father
to start the threshing machine.
Juvenile delinquency is the result of parents trying to
train their children without starting at the bottom.
Juvenile delinquency was unheard of many years ago because
the problem was thrashed‑out in the woodshed.
Did the conversion of so many woodsheds into garages have
anything to do with the alarming increase in juvenile delinquency.?
The man who remembers what he learned at his mother's knee
was probably bent over at the time.
A mother should be like a quilt ‑ keep the children
warm but don't smother them.
The time to teach obedience to authority is in the playpen
instead of the State pen.
Too many parents tie up their dogs and allow their
children to run loose.
The ability to say no is perhaps the greatest gift a
parent has.
Some parents begin with giving in and end with giving up.
Some parents bring their children up, others let them
down.
Judging by what we read in the papers, the reason some
parents "spare the rod" is because Junior is carrying one.
By the time some‑parents get around to putting a
foot down, the child already has his on the accelerator.
Applied child psychology was more effective when the
applicator was a small razor strap.
We've given our youngsters too much too soon, and now it's
too late.
A child between eighteen and thirty-six months of age is a
sheer
delight, but he can also be utterly maddening. He is
inquisitive,
short-tempered, demanding, cuddly, innocent, and dangerous
at the same
time. I find it fascinating to watch him run through his
day, seeking
opportunities to crush things, flush things, kill things,
spill
things, fall off things, eat horrible things-and think up
ways to
rattle his mother.
James C. Dobson (1936- )
A child's suffering can be very real and very deep and all
the worse
since a child has neither the wisdom nor the resources of
mature men
and women. His misery fills the whole of his world, leaving
no space
for other things. He has only emotions with no cynicism or
resignation
to dull the edges of his jealousy or suffering. Those
people who think
of adolescence as a happy, carefree time either possess
deficient
emotions or inadequate memories.
Louis Bromheld (1896-1956)
Today, children of six seem to know all the questions and
at
sixteen they know all the answers.
There's one thing about children--they never go around
showing
snapshots of their grandparents.
If anything makes a child thirstier than going to bed,
it's knowing
that his parents have gone to bed too.
I've got two wonderful children--and two out of five isn't
too bad.
My kid brother was sent from heaven--they must like it
quiet up
there.
One thing a child outgrows in a hurry is your pocketbook.
Better to be driven out from among men than to be disliked
of
children.
Richard Henry Dana
A wise son maketh a glad father.
Proverbs 10:1
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is
old, he
will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
He followed in his father's footsteps, but his gait was
somewhat
erratic.
Nicolas Bentley
If children grew up according to early indications, we
should have
nothing but geniuses.
Johann Goethe
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a
child, I
thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away
childish
things.
1 Corinthians 13:11
Children have never been very good at listening to their
elders,
but they have never failed to imitate them.
James Baldwin
Ask your child what he wants for dinner only if he is
buying.
Fran Lebowitz
If a child lives with approval, he learns to live with
himself.
Dorothy Law Nolte
What's done to children, they will do to society.
Karl Menninger
There are three ways to get something done: do it
yourself, hire someone to do it, or forbid your kids to do it.
Adolescence is when children start bringing up their
parents.
Life's golden age is when the children are too old to need
baby sitters and too young to borrow the family car.
An alarm clock is a device for awakening people who don't
have small children.
Never strike a child! You might miss and hurt yourself.
The easiest way to get a kid's attention is to stand in
front of the TV set.
It's hard, if not impossible, to get a child to pay
attention to you, especially when you're telling him something for his own
good.
When a child pays attention to his parents, they're
probably whispering.
There is just as much authority in the family today as
there ever was ‑ only now the children exercise it.
Teachers in the lower grades needn't worry about
automation until someone invents a machine that can blow noses and remove
snowsuits and boots.
What the average man wants to get out of his new car is
the kids.
One advantage of the compact car is that when any of the
kids start acting up they can be reached by hand.
Nothing lengthens the life of your car like marrying‑off
the last of your children.
A baby sitter is not experienced until she knows which kid
to sit with and which kid to sit on.
A baby sitter is a teen‑ager you hire to let your
children do whatever they are big enough to do.
Most of us want other people's children to behave the way
ours should.
Some books you can't put down, and others you dare not put
down when there are children in the house.
A small boy is a pain in the neck when he's around and a
pain in the heart when he's not.
Safety note for motorists: "Watch out for children ‑
especially if they're driving cars."
Too often an abandoned child is one who is still living
with his parents.
Children love to break things ‑ especially rules.
Watch the kid who's cutting classes at school ‑ he
may be in training to be a congressman later in life.
Children are unpredictable. You never know how high up the
wall they're going to drive you.
Some kids are like ketchup bottles. You have to slap their
bottoms a few times to get them moving.
All children don't disobey their parents. Some are never
told what to do.
The child who always complains he's getting the short end
of the stick should be given more of it.
Today's kids call it "finding themselves." In
the "good old days" it was called loafing.
Reasoning with children is what gives you something to do
while discovering that you can't.
When children are seen and not heard it's apt to be
through binoculars.
A child's ear is a delicate instrument that can't hear a
parent's shout from the next room, but picks up the faintest tingle of the ice
cream
man's bell.
Children always brighten up a home. They never turn out
the lights.
Children who are reared in homes of poverty have only two
mealtime choices ‑ take it or leave it.
The school kids in some towns are getting so tough that
teachers are playing hooky.
Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes
an impression.
An unusual child is one who asks his parents questions
they can answer.
The only thing that children wear out faster than shoes
are parents and teachers.
A kid who learns the value of a dollar these days is
certain to grow up cynical.
Small children start to school these days with a big
advantage. They already know two letters of the alphabet ‑ TV.
One thing most children save for a rainy day is lots of
energy.
Children of today play a game called Zip Code. It's like
Post Office but faster.
A child, like your stomach, doesn't need all you can
afford to give it.
Some children grow like weeds and are about as well cared
for.
The reason some parents want their children to play the
piano instead of the violin is that it's harder to lose a piano.
Children may be deductible, but they're still taxing.
Modern kids are so TV‑oriented they think there are
two kinds of rainbows. One in color and the other in black and white.
The trouble with having outspoken children is that you're
frequently left holding the bag they let the cat out of.
The first thing a child learns when he gets a drum is that
he's never going to get another one.
Children disgrace us in public by behaving just like we do
at home.
It now costs more to amuse a child than it once did to
educate his father.
Children brought up in Sunday school are seldom brought up
in court.
There are many "bright children" who should be
applauded with one hand.
Children may tear up a house, but they never break up a
home.
Few children are guilty of thoughtless mischief. They
plan it.
The best time to put the children to bed is when you can.
Babies are angels whose wings grow shorter as their legs
grow longer.
Children are very much like airplanes; you hear only of
the ones that crash.
Most kids can't understand why a country that makes atomic
bombs would ban firecrackers.
Nothing seems to make children more affectionate than
sticky hands.
Not all children sass their parents. Some don't pay that
much attention.
Children will be children ‑ even after they are
fifty years old.
When parents can't or won't control their children in the
home, it's extremely difficult for the government to control them on the
streets.
If some children are as bright as their parents think
they are, they should be looked at through sunglasses.
No two children are alike ‑ particularly if one is
yours and the other one isn't.
Some children are running everything
around the house except errands.
Children are a comfort to us in our old age, and they help
us to reach it a lot sooner.
One important way for us to help our children grow up is
for us to grow up first.
There are only two things children will share willingly ‑
communicable diseases and their mother's age.
If you are disgusted and upset with your children, just
imagine how God must feel about His!
Infant prodigies are young people with highly imaginative
parents.
In the old days a father didn't have to take his kid to a
psychiatrist to find out that he was a little stinker.
There are no illegitimate children ‑ only illegitimate
parents.
The trouble with children is that when they're not
bringing a lump to your throat they're a pain in the neck.
There are still a few people who can remember when a
child misbehaved to get attention ‑ and got it!
Children are a great deal more apt to follow your lead
than the way you point.
The best time to put kids to bed is very late ‑ when
they're too tired to fight back.
It's real nice for children to have pets until the pets
start having children.
Children are unpredictable. You never know when they're
going to catch you in a lie.
Childhood is that wonderful period when all you need to do
to lose weight is take a bath.
The children of today think they have it rough in school
if they have to walk more than a block to park their cars.
Someday science may be able to explain why a child can't
walk around a mud puddle.
Spoiled kids soon become little stinkers.
There's no child so bad that he can't be used as an income‑tax
deduction.
More twins are being born these days than ever before.
Maybe kids lack the courage to come into the world alone.
A baby may not be able to lift very much, but it can hold
a marriage together.
If brushing up on manners doesn't help some children, the
brush should be moved down a bit.
One reason so many children are seen on the streets at
night is because they're afraid to stay home alone.
Children need strength to lean on, a shoulder to cry on,
and an example to learn from.
You can get any child to run an errand for you ‑ if
you ask him at bedtime.
Maybe children could keep on the straight and narrow path
if they could get information from someone who's been over the route.
Children are natural mimics; they act like their parents
in spite of every effort to teach them good manners.
Some of today's children don't smart in the right place.
Nothing grieves a child more than to study the wrong
lesson and learn something he wasn't supposed to.
The trouble with a child is that he can't grow up to be
anything but an adult.
If you don't want your children to hear what you're
saying, pretend you're talking to them.
If children didn't ask questions, they would never know
what little adults know.
Children are about the only things in a modern home that
have to be washed by hand.
Rearing children is the biggest "heir‑conditioning"
job ever undertaken.
You can tell your kids are growing up when they stop
asking where they came from and start refusing to say where they're going.
When a child listens to his mother, he's probably on the
telephone extension.
Modern parents think children should be seen, not heard;
children think parents should be neither seen nor heard.
Many children have grown up to be fairly levelheaded
because their parents couldn't find the guidance book they were looking for.
What most children learn by doing is how to drive their
parents almost crazy.
It's extremely difficult for a child to live right if he
has never seen it done.
Children these days seem to grow up bigger and faster, yet
remain children longer than ever before.
It's always charming to see little children lined up
waiting to talk to the department store Santa Claus ‑ some with parents,
some with
lists, and some with chicken pox.
Nowadays children are called bright when they make remarks
that used to call for a good spanking.
The chief trouble with children is they are human.
It's great to have your children home from school. It
takes your mind off your other troubles.
The best thing to spend on children is your time.
Telling children that school days are the happiest days
of their lives doesn't give them much to look forward to.
Any child who gets raised strictly by the book is probably
a first edition.
The latest class of underprivileged children are those
whose parents own two cars ‑ but no speedboat.
Almost every child would learn to write sooner if allowed
to do homework on wet cement.
There's nothing thirstier than a child who has just gone
to bed.
More children are spoiled because the parents won't spank
Grandma.
A "brat" is a child who acts like your own but
belongs to your neighbor.
Most children seldom misquote you; they repeat what you
shouldn't have said word for word.
We can't understand why today's children are complaining
so much. They're not old enough to remember what prices
used to be.
Among the best home furnishings are children.
Infant care is another thing that has to be learned from
the bottom up.
Many children would take after their parents if they knew
where they went.
When children get on the wrong track it's time to use the
switch.
Little Willie is at the awkward age ‑ too young to
leave him home alone, and too old to trust with baby sitters.
Children always know when company is in the living room ‑
they can hear their mother laughing at their father's jokes.
It's very difficult to teach children the alphabet these
days. They think V comes right after T.
Children are so tough in big cities they no longer use
bunnies for Easter ‑ they use porcupines.
Parents are embarrassed when their children tell lies, but
sometimes it's even worse when they tell the truth.
A child's definition of a torture chamber is a living room
or den without a TV set.
If the church neglects the children, it is certain the
children will neglect the church.
Cleanliness may be next to godliness, but in childhood
it's next to impossible.
A modern son is one who finishes college and his dad at
the same time.
Sending your child to college is like sending your clothes
to the laundry. You get what you put in, but sometimes you can
hardly recognize it.
With the world in such a confused state, no wonder babies
cry when they come into it.
Most kids think a balanced diet is a hamburger in each
hand.
Every father should remember that one day his son will
follow his example instead of his advice.
A great‑many children face the hard problem of
learning good table manners without seeing any.
We learn from experience. A man never wakes up his second
baby just to see it smile.
In some families it would be best if the children were
properly spaced ‑ about one hundred yards apart:
The advantage of a large family is that at least one of
the children may not turn out like the others.
As the gardener is responsible for the products of his
garden, so the family is responsible for the character and conduct of
its children.
Families with babies and families without babies are sorry
for each other.
Every part of the family constitutes a part of the family
tree. Father is the rough bark and fiber, the rugged part which
supports and protects it. Mother is the heart, which must
be sound and true or the tree will die. The daughter may be
likened to the leaves and flowers that adorn it. The son
is almost always the sap.
A lucky farmer is one who has raised a bumper crop of good
boys.
There's a new baby food on the market. It's half orange
juice and half garlic. It not only makes the baby healthier, but also
easier to find in the dark.
Jelly is a food usually found on bread, children, and
piano keys.
No family should have less than three children. If there
is one genius among them, there should be two to support him.
Playing golf is like raising children ‑ you keep
thinking you'll do better next time.
All some people need to make them happy is a change ‑
and most of the time that's all a baby needs.
The best possible infant care is to keep one end full and
the other end dry.
Nothing creates a firmer belief in heredity than having a
good‑looking child.
Home is a man's refuge, a place of quiet and rest, says a
certain writer. That's true except for the telephone, the children, the vacuum
cleaner, and the salesman at the door.
The honeymoon is definitely over when all the baby talk
around the house is done only by the baby.
If you plan to teach your children the value of a dollar,
you'll have to do it awfully fast.
A much‑needed invention for the American scene is an
automatic child washer.
We need tougher child abuse laws ‑ parents have
taken enough abuse from their children.
A real family man is one who looks at his new child as an
addition rather than a deduction.
Children often hold a marriage together by keeping their
parents so busy they don't have time to quarrel.
A "miracle drug" is any medicine you can get the
kids to take without screaming.
Another reason men don't live as long as women is that
they suffer so much waiting around in hospitals for their wives to have babies.
A mother in
There are still a few old‑fashioned mothers who
would like to tuck their children in bed, but they can't stay awake that late.
When it comes to music lessons, most kids make it a
practice not to practice.
Who said kids aren't obedient? They'll obey any TV
commercial about buying a new toy.
You are quite old if you can remember when children were
strong enough to walk to school.
When all the kids have grown up, married, and moved away,
many parents experience a strange new emotion; it's called ecstacy.
All a parent has to do to make a child thirsty is to fall
asleep.
Parents would not have to worry so much about how a kid
turns out if they worried more about when he turns in.
You have to give American parents credit ‑they know
how to obey their children.
People who say they sleep like a baby haven't got one.
There's only one perfect child in the world and every
mother has it.
A good way for your daughter to be popular is for you to
be rich.
A major problem facing housewives is that ovens are self‑cleaning
but kids aren't.
Psychiatry has certainly changed things. The kid who used
to be just a chatterbox is now a "compulsive talker."
It's incredible when we think how little our parents knew
about child psychology and how wonderful we turned out to be!
Child psychology is what children manage their parents
with.
Where do kids get all those questions parents can't
answer?
Little Junior brought home what is now remembered as his
Watergate report card. First, he denied there was one; then he couldn't find
it. When he finally located it, three grades had been
erased.
The hardest people to convince that they're ready to
retire are children at bedtime.
If your youngster asks how Santa Claus gets into your
house, tell him he comes in through a hole in daddy's wallet.
It's invariably the little devil in your neighborhood who
starts the fight with your little angel.
Sleep is something that science cannot abolish ‑
but babies can.
Efficient school teachers may cost more, but poor school
teachers cost the most.
A teacher's constant task is to take a roomful of live
wires and see to it that they're grounded.
Nothing improves a television program as much as getting
the children to bed.
Children who watch television every night will go down in
history ‑ not to mention arithmetic, geography, and science.
You don't know what trouble is until your kids reach the
age of consent, dissent, and resent ‑ all at the same time.
The guy whose troubles are all behind him is probably a
school bus driver.
The child who knows the value of a dollar these days must
be terribly discouraged.
The trouble with teaching a child the value of a dollar is
you have to do it almost every week.
Every child comes into the world endowed with liberty,
opportunity, and a share of the war debt.
The two agencies now being used to redistribute wealth
are taxation and offspring.
Things are pretty well evened up in this world. Other
people's troubles are not as bad as ours, but their children are a lot worse.
The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners
without
seeing any.
Fred Astaire
All children wear the sign: "I want to be important
NOW." Many of
our juvenile delinquency problems arise because nobody
reads the sign.
Dan Pursuit
Children need love, especially when they do not deserve
it.
Harold S. Hulbert
Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them
not;
for of such is the
Mark 10:14
Even a child is known by his doings.
Proverbs 20:11
A spoilt child never loves its mother.
Bachelors' wives and maids' children are well taught.
Children pick up words as pigeons peas.
Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined.
Alexander Pope
You can do anything with children if you only play with
them.
German proverb
Childhood sometimes does pay a second visit to man; youth
never.
Anna Jameson
My mother loved children--she would have given anything if
I had
been one.
Groucho Marx
A rose can say I love you,
Orchids can enthrall,
But a weed bouquet in a chubby fist,
Oh my, that says it all!
A spoiled child never loves its mother.
Sir Henry Taylor (1800-1886)
A world without children is a world without newness,
regeneration,
color; and vigor.
James C. Dobson (1936- )
All children talk with integrity up to about the age of
five, when
they fall victim to the influences of the adult world and
mass
entertainment. It is then they begin, all unconsciously,
to become
plausible actors. The product of this process is known as
maturity, or
you and me.
Childhood: that happy period when nightmares occur only
during sleep.
Children are God's apostles, day by day sent forth to
preach of love,
and hope, and peace.
James Russell Lowell (1819-1891)
Children are like clocks; they must be allowed to run.
James C. Dobson (1936- )
Children are natural mimics who act like their parents in
spite of
every attempt to teach them good manners.
There are three ways to get something done: do it
yourself, hire someone to do it, or forbid your kids to do it.
Adolescence is when children start bringing up their
parents.
Life's golden age is when the children are too old to need
baby sitters and too young to borrow the family car.
An alarm clock is a device for awakening people who don't
have small children.
Never strike a child! You might miss and hurt yourself.
The easiest way to get a kid's attention is to stand in
front of the TV set.
It's hard, if not impossible, to get a child to pay
attention to you, especially when you're telling him something for his own
good.
When a child pays attention to his parents, they're
probably whispering.
There is just as much authority in the family today as
there ever was ‑ only now the children exercise it.
Teachers in the lower grades needn't worry about
automation until someone invents a machine that can blow noses and remove
snowsuits and boots.
What the average man wants to get out of his new car is
the kids.
One advantage of the compact car is that when any of the
kids start acting up they can be reached by hand.
Nothing lengthens the life of your car like marrying‑off
the last of your children.
A baby sitter is not experienced until she knows which kid
to sit with and which kid to sit on.
A baby sitter is a teen‑ager you hire to let your
children do whatever they are big enough to do.
Most of us want other people's children to behave the way
ours should.
Some books you can't put down, and others you dare not put
down when there are children in the house.
A small boy is a pain in the neck when he's around and a
pain in the heart when he's not.
Safety note for motorists: "Watch out for children ‑
especially if they're driving cars."
Too often an abandoned child is one who is still living
with his parents.
Children love to break things ‑ especially rules.
Watch the kid who's cutting classes at school ‑ he
may be in training to be a congressman later in life.
Children are unpredictable. You never know how high up the
wall they're going to drive you.
Some kids are like ketchup bottles. You have to slap their
bottoms a few times to get them moving.
All children don't disobey their parents. Some are never
told what to do.
The child who always complains he's getting the short end
of the stick should be given more of it.
Today's kids call it "finding themselves." In
the "good old days" it was called loafing.
Reasoning with children is what gives you something to do
while discovering that you can't.
When children are seen and not heard it's apt to be
through binoculars.
A child's ear is a delicate instrument that can't hear a
parent's shout from the next room, but picks up the faintest tingle of the ice
cream
man's bell.
Children always brighten up a home. They never turn out
the lights.
Children who are reared in homes of poverty have only two
mealtime choices ‑ take it or leave it.
The school kids in some towns are getting so tough that
teachers are playing hooky.
Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes
an impression.
An unusual child is one who asks his parents questions
they can answer.
Children are not casual guests in our home. They have been
loaned to
us temporarily for the purpose of loving them and
instilling a
foundation of values on which their future lives will be
built.
James C. Dobson (1936- )
Children begin by loving their parents. As they grow older
they judge
them; sometimes they forgive them.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
Children have never been very good at listening to their
elders, but
they have never failed to imitate them.
James Baldwin (1924- )
Children in a family are like flowers in a bouquet:
there's always one
determined to face in an opposite direction from the way
the arranger
desires.
Marcelene Cox
Children learn what they observe.
If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn and
be
judgmental.
If children live with hostility, they learn to be angry
and fight.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to be shy and
withdrawn.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with tolerance, they learn to be patient.
If children live with encouragement, they learn
confidence.
If children live with praise, they learn to appreciate.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith.
If children live with approval, they learn to like
themselves.
If children live with acceptance and friendship, they
learn to find love in the world.
Dorothy Knolte
Children must be valued as our most priceless possession.
James C. Dobson (1936- )
Children possess an uncanny ability to cut to the core of
the issue,
to expose life to the bone, and strip away the barnacles
that cling to
the hull of our too sophisticated pseudo-civilization. One
reason for
this, I believe, is that children have not mastered our
fine art of
deception that we call "finesse." Another is
that they are so "lately
come from God" that faith and trust are second nature
to them. They
have not acquired the obstructions to faith that come with
education;
they possess instead unrefined wisdom, a gift from God.
Gloria Gaither
Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,
Look upon a little child,
Pity my simplicity,
Suffer me to come to thee.
Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
Give me the children until they are seven and anyone may
have them
afterwards.
Saint Francis Xavier (1506-1552)
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have a thankless child!
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
In praise of little children I will say
God first made man, then found a better way
For woman, but his third way was the best.
Of all created things, the loveliest
And most divine are children.
William Canton
Kids are not a short-term loan, they are a long-term
investment!
Know you what it is to be a child? . . . It is to believe
in love, to
believe in loveliness, to believe in belief; it is to be
so little
that the elves can reach to whisper in your ear; it is to
turn
pumpkins into coaches, and mice into horses, lowness into
loftiness,
and nothing into everything, for each child has its fairy
godmother in
its soul.
Francis Thompson Shelley (1859-1927)
Sleep, my child, and peace attend thee,
All through the night;
Guardian angels God will lend thee,
All through the night;
Soft the drowsy hours are creeping,
Hill and dale in slumber steeping,
Love alone his watch is keeping-
All through the night.
Old Welsh Air
The childhood shows the man
As morning shows the day.
John Milton (1608-1674)
The difficult child is the child who is unhappy. He is at
war with
himself; and in consequence, he is at war with the world.
A. S. Neill
The little world of childhood with its familiar
surroundings is a
model of the greater world. The more intensively the
family has
stamped its character upon the child, the more it will
tend to feel
and see its earlier miniature world again in the bigger
world of adult
life. Naturally, this is not a conscious, intellectual
process.
Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961)
The Lord made Adam from the dust of the earth, but when
the first
toddler came along, he added electricity!
The most deprived children are those who have to do
nothing in order
to get what they want.
Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986)
The toddler is the world's most hard-nosed opponent of law
and order.
James C. Dobson (1936- )
There are millions of Americans who are clever and
fearless . . . they
are four years old.
There are no illegitimate children-only illegitimate
parents.
Leon R. Yankwich (1888- )
Unlike grown-ups, children have little need to deceive
themselves.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
We can hardly be surprised if children feel fairly soon
that they have
outgrown the "tender Shepherd" and find their
heroes elsewhere.
J. B. Phillips (1906-1982)
What a child is taught on Sunday, he will remember on
Monday.
Welsh Proverb
When childhood dies, its corpses are called adults and
they enter
society, one of the politer names of hell.
Brian Aldiss (1925- )
William daily reenacts the feeding of the 5,000. We give
him one small
rice cake, and when he's finished, we clean up twelve
baskets full of
the remnants.
Kenneth L. Draper (1957- )
Chivalry is a man's inclination to defend a woman against
every man but himself.
The age of chivalry is certainly not dead. If a college
girl drops one of her books, almost any boy in her class will be delighted to
kick it back to her.
Chivalry is what a husband displays toward somebody else's
wife.
In the "good old days" men stood up for women ‑
but there were
Chivalry is when a man picks up a girl's handkerchief,
even if she's not pretty.
Chivalry is opening the door and standing aside so some
female can rush in and get the job you're after.
no buses then.
Be entirely tolerant or not at all; follow the good path
or the evil
one. To stand at the crossroads requires more strength
than you
possess.
Heinrich Heine (1797-1856)
Choose to love-rather than hate
Choose to smile-rather than frown
Choose to build-rather than destroy
Choose to persevere-rather than quit
Choose to praise-rather than gossip
Choose to heal-rather than wound
Choose to give-rather than grasp
Choose to act-rather than delay
Choose to forgive-rather than curse
Choose to pray-rather than despair.
God always gives his very best to those who leave the
choice with him.
James Hudson
God asks no one whether he will accept life. This is not
the choice.
The only choice you have as you go through life is how you
will live it.
Bernard Meltzer
Regardless of circumstances, each man lives in a world of
his own
making.
Josepha Murray Emms
Between two evils, choose neither; between two goods,
choose both.
Tryon Edwards
Patience may be simply the inability to make decisions.
God gave us a free choice because there is no significance
to love
that knows no alternative.
James C. Dobson (1936- )
Sign on a businessman's desk: "My decision is maybe ‑and
that's final."
Few people make a deliberate choice between good and evil;
the choice is between what we want to do and what we ought to do.
Choice, not chance, determines destiny.
When you need to make a choice and don't make it, that in
itself is a choice.
The choice is simple ‑ you can either stand up and
be counted, or lie down and be counted out.
It is much wiser to choose what you say than to say what
you choose.
There comes a time when a nation, as well as an
individual, must choose between tightening the belt or losing the pants.
A conference is a meeting to decide when and where the
next meeting will be held.
A conference is nothing more than an organized way of
postponing a decision.
Generally speaking, a conference is a gathering of people
who singly can do nothing but together can decide that nothing can be done.
When a man decides to marry, it may be the last decision
he'll ever be allowed to make.
No one can grow by allowing others to make his decisions.
Nothing great was ever done without an act of decision
Always take plenty of time to make a snap decision.
It's pretty hard for the Lord to guide a man if he hasn't
made up his mind which way he wants to go.
A man can't go anywhere while he's straddling a fence.
If you're going to pull decisions out of a hat, be sure
you're wearing the right hat.
Almost everybody knows the difference between right and
wrong, but some hate to make decisions.
Current events are so grim that we can't decide whether to
watch the six o'clock news and not be able to eat, or the ten o'clock news
and not be able to sleep.
Many a woman's final decision is not the last one she
makes.
Be cautious in choosing friends, and be even more cautious
in changing them.
A good executive is one who can make decisions quickly ‑
and sometimes correctly.
An executive is a fellow who can take as long as he wants
to make a snap decision.
If fate throws a knife at you, there are two ways of
catching it ‑ by the blade or by the handle.
If fate hands you a lemon, try to make lemonade.
Wise people sometimes change their minds ‑ fools,
never.
Nature gives man corn, but man must grind it; God gives
man a will, but man must make the right choices.
Intuition is that gift which enables a woman to arrive
instantly at an infallible, irrevocable decision without the aid of reason,
judgment, or discussion.
In most marriages the husband is the provider and the wife
is the decider.
Nine out of ten people who change their minds are wrong
the second time too.
God has no need of marionettes. He pays men the compliment
of allowing
them to live without him if they choose. But if they live
without him
in this life, they must also live without him in the next.
Leon Morris
God regenerates us and puts us in contact with all his
divine
resources, but he cannot make us walk according to his
will.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
In darkness there is no choice. It is light that enables
us to see the
differences between things; and it is Christ who gives us
light.
Augustus W. Hare (1792-1834)
It is this way. The Lord, he is always voting for a man;
and the
devil, he is always voting against him. Then the man
himself votes and
that breaks the tie.
No man need stay the way he is.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969)
One day there came along that silent shore,
While I my net was casting in the sea,
A Man who spoke as never man before,
I followed him; new life began in me.
Mine was the boat, but his the voice,
And his the call, yet mine the choice.
George Macdonald (1824-1905)
One's philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is
expressed in
the choices one makes. . . . In the long run, we shape our
lives and
we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die.
And the
choices we make are ultimately our responsibility.
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)
Our destiny is not determined for us, but it is determined
by us.
Man's free will is part of God's sovereign will. We have
freedom to
take which course we choose, but not freedom to determine
the end of
that choice. God makes clear what he desires, we must
choose, and the
result of the choice is not the inevitableness of law, but
the
inevitableness of God.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The choices of time are binding in eternity.
Jack MacArthur
The crossroads are down here: which way to pull the rein?
The left
brings you but loss, the right nothing but gain.
Angelus Silesius (1624-1677)
The difficulty in life is the choice.
George Moore (1852-1933)
The disciple who is in the condition of abiding in Jesus
is in the
will of God, and his apparent free choices are God's
foreordained
decrees. Mysterious? Logically absurd? But a glorious
truth to a
saint.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The teachings of Christ reveal him to be a realist in the
finest
meaning of that word. Nowhere in the Gospels do we find
anything
visionary or overoptimistic. He told his hearers the whole
truth and
let them make up their minds. He might grieve over the
retreating form
of an inquirer who could not face up to the truth, but he
never ran
after him to try to win him with rosy promises. He would
have men
follow him, knowing the cost, or he would let them go
their ways.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
To every soul there openeth
A high way and a low;
And every man decideth
Which way his soul shall go.
John Oxenham (1861-1941)
We put one foot on God's side and one on the side of human
reasoning;
then God widens the space until we either drop down in
between or jump
on to one side or the other.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
When you have to make a choice and don't make it, that is
in itself a
choice.
William James (1842-1910)
Where there is no choice, we do well to make no
difficulty.
George Macdonald (1824-1905)
Whoever is on God's side is on the winning side and cannot
lose;
whoever is on the other side is on the losing side and
cannot win.
Here there is no chance, no gamble. There is freedom to
choose which
side we shall be on but no freedom to negotiate the
results of the
choice once it is made. By the mercy of God we may repent
a wrong
choice and alter the consequences by making a new and
right choice.
Beyond that we cannot go.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
You can't do anything about the length of your life, but
you can do
something about its width and depth.
Evan Esar
If we are ever in doubt about what to do, it is a good
rule to ask
ourselves what we shall wish on the morrow that we had
done.
Sir John Lubbock (1834-1913)
Men must be decided on what they will not do, and then
they are able
to act with vigor in which they ought to do.
Meng-Tzu (C. 371-C. 289 B.C.)
No one learns to make right decisions without being free
to make wrong ones.
Kenneth Sollitt
Not to decide is to decide.
Harvey Cox (1929- )
Nothing is so exhausting as indecision and nothing is so
futile.
Bertrand Arthur William Russell (1872-1970)
Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide,
In the strife
of truth and falsehood, for the good or evil side.
James Russell Lowell (1819-1891)
The phrase "Decide for Christ" which we so
frequently hear is too
often an emphasis on the thing our Lord never trusted. Our
Lord never
asks us to decide for him: he asks us to yield to him-a
very different
matter.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
There is a time when we must firmly choose the course we
will follow,
or the relentless drift of events will make the decision.
Herbert V. Prochnow
Tough decision: when to discard a toothbrush.
When God says today, the devil says tomorrow.
German Proverb
You are facing a dilemma; you are not quite sure which of
two
decisions to make. Apply the test of universality. Suppose
your
personal decision should become a universal custom, would
it bring the
world happiness or unhappiness?
Joseph R. Sizoo
A man who can read the New Testament and not see that
Christ claims to
be more than a man can look all over the sky at high noon
on a
cloudless day and not see the sun.
William Edward Biederwolf (1867-1939)
A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things
Jesus said
wouldn't be a great moral teacher. He'd be either a
lunatic-on a level
with a man who says he's a poached egg-or else he'd be the
devil of
hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and
is, the Son
of God, or else a madman or something worse.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded
empires; but upon
what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force.
Jesus Christ
alone founded his empire upon love, and at this hour
millions of men
would die for him.
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)
All his glory and beauty come from within, and there he
delights to
dwell, his visits there are frequent, his conversations
sweet, his
comforts refreshing, and his peace passing all
understanding.
Thomas Ŕ Kempis (C. 1380-1471)
All the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that
ever were
built, and all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the
kings that
ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of
man upon
this earth as powerfully as has this one solitary life.
All we want in Christ, we shall find in Christ. If we want
little, we
shall find little. If we want much, we shall find much;
but if, in
utter helplessness, we cast our all on Christ, he will be
to us the
whole treasury of God.
Henry Benjamin Whipple (1822-1901)
As the print of the seal on the wax is the express image
of the seal
itself, so Christ is the express image-the perfect
representation-of God.
Saint Ambrose (C. 340-397)
Assail'd by scandal and the tongue of strife, His only answer
was, a
blameless life.
William Cowper (1731-1800)
Because eternity
was closeted in time,
he is my open door
to forever.
Luci Shaw (1928- )
Because Jesus was not wanted, he was driven to a life of
silence,
solitude, and simplicity.
Charles R. Swindoll (1934- )
Besides belonging to eternity, Christ belonged to his
times; on the
outskirts of a dying civilization he spoke of dying in
order to live.
Today, when our civilization is likewise dying, his words
have the
same awe-inspiring relevance as they had then.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
By a Carpenter mankind was made, and only by that
Carpenter can
mankind be remade.
Desiderius Erasmus (C. 1466-1536)
By his first work he gave me to myself; and by the next he
gave
himself to me. And when he gave himself, he gave me back
myself that I
had lost.
Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)
Caesar was more talked about in his time than Jesus, and
Plato taught
more science than Christ. People still discuss the Roman
ruler and the
Greek philosopher, but who nowadays is hotly for Caesar or
against
him; and who now are the Platonists and the
anti-Platonists? There are
still people who love him and who hate him.... The fury of
so many
against him is a proof that he is not dead.
Giovanni Papini (1923- )
Christ ... combines within himself ... the qualities of
every race.
Charles Freer Andrews (1871-1940)
Christ as God is the fatherland where we are going. Christ
as man is
the way by which we go.
Christ died to save us, not from suffering, but from
ourselves; not
from injustice, far less than justice, but from being
unjust. He died
that we might live-but live as he lives, by dying as he
died who died
to himself.
George Macdonald (1824-1905)
Christ either deceived mankind by conscious fraud
[regarding an early
end of the world], or he was himself deluded, or he was
divine. There
is no getting out of this trilemma.
J. Duncan (B. 1870)
Christ has not lost a battle yet-not one.
Richard Owen Roberts (1931- )
Christ has turned all our sunsets into dawns.
Clement of
Christ himself is living at the heart of the world; and
his total
mystery-that of creation, incarnation, redemption, and
resurrection-embodies and animates all of life and all of
history.
Michel Quoist (1921- )
Christ is full and sufficient for all his people. He is
bread, wine,
milk, living waters, to feed them; he is a garment of
righteousness to
cover and adorn them; a Physician to heal them; a Counselor
to advise
them; a Captain to defend them; a Prince to rule; a
Prophet to teach;
a Priest to make atonement for them; a Husband to protect;
a Father to
provide; a Brother to relieve; a Foundation to support; a
Root to
quicken; a Head to guide; a Treasure to enrich; a Sun to
enlighten;
and a Fountain to cleanse.
John Spencer (1630-1693)
Christ is God acting like God in the lowly raiments of
human flesh.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Christ is not one of many ways to approach God, nor is he
the best of
several ways; he is the only way.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Christ is the aperture through which the immensity and
magnificence of
God can be seen.
J. B. Phillips (1906-1982)
Christ is the bread for men's souls. In him the church has
enough to
feed the whole world.
Ian Maclaren (1850-1907)
Christ made it clear that his coming, far from meaning
peace, meant
war. His message was a fire that would set society ablaze
with
division and strife.
Billy Graham (1918- )
Christ's life outwardly was one of the most troubled lives
that was
ever lived: tempest and tumult, tumult and tempest, the
waves breaking
over it all the time. But the inner life was a sea of
glass. The great
calm was always there.
Henry Drummond (1851-1897)
Christ's message was revolutionizing; his words simple,
yet profound.
And his words provoked either happy acceptance or violent
rejection.
Men were never the same after listening to him.
Billy Graham (1918- )
Earth grows into heaven, as we come to live and breathe in
the
atmosphere of the Incarnation. Jesus makes heaven wherever
he is.
Frederick William Faber (1814-1863)
Every character has an inward spring; let Christ be that
spring. Every
action has a keynote; let Christ be that note to which
your whole life
is attuned.
Henry Drummond (1851-1897)
Every passage in the history of our Lord and Savior is of
unfathomable
depth and affords inexhaustible matter for contemplation.
All that
concerns him is infinite, and what we first discern is but
the surface
of that which begins and ends in eternity.
Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Feed on Christ, and then go and live your life, and it is
Christ in
you that lives your life, that helps the poor, that tells
the truth,
that fights the battle, and that wins the crown.
Phillips Brooks (1835-1893)
Follow me: I am the way, the truth, and the life.
Without the way there is no going;
Without the truth there is no knowing;
Without the life there is no living.
Thomas Ŕ Kempis (C. 1380-1471)
For the Lord Jesus, there was no fellowship in suffering.
For the
Lord, there was only the wooden insensitivity of his
disciples-from
the first day right up to the end of his ministry. For
him, there was
only that awful climax of isolation on the cross, even to
the point of
being forsaken by the Father and abandoned to God's
blazing wrath.
Joni Eareckson Tada
From his
road the prophets had marked out, knowing that it would
end on
end asked whether, after all, he might be let off the
final sacrifice
and left a little longer in a world he must have loved, or
he could
not have described and explained it so exquisitely, he
always returned
to his ultimate prayer: Not what I will, but what thou
wilt. This was
the theme of his life, the essence of the drama he lived
out in order
to guide all who came after him in the ways of truth; to
give us hope
in our despair, and light in our darkness, enabling us to
look out
from time, our prison, on to the mercy of eternity, our
liberty.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
From morning to night keep Jesus in your heart, long for
nothing,
desire nothing, hope for nothing, but to have all that is
within you
changed into the spirit and temper of the Holy Jesus.
William Law (1686-1761)
God has himself gone through the whole of human
experience, from the
trivial irritations of family life and the cramping
restrictions of
hard work and lack of money to the worst horrors of pain
and
humiliation, defeat, despair, and death.
Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957)
God never gave a man a thing to do concerning which it
were irreverent
to ponder how the Son of God would have done it.
George Macdonald (1824-1905)
Had there been a lunatic asylum in the suburbs of
Christ would infallibly have been shut up in it at the
outset of his
public career. That interview with Satan on a pinnacle of
the
would alone have damned him, and everything that happened
after could
but have confirmed the diagnosis.
He did not come to conquer by force of armies and physical
weapons but
by love planted in the hearts of individuals.
W. W. Melton
He has entered little into the depths of our Master's
character who
does not know that the settled tone of his disposition was
a peculiar
and subdued sadness.
Frederick William Robertson (1816-1853)
He is a path, if any be misled;
He is a robe, if any naked be;
If any chance to hunger, he is bread;
If any be a bondman, he is free;
If any be but weak, how strong is he!
To dead men, life is he; to sick men, health;
To blind men, sight; and to the needy, wealth;
A pleasure without loss; a treasure without stealth.
Giles Fletcher (1584-1623)
He tore through the temple courts like a mad man.
Flavius Josephus (C. 37-100)
He wrestled with justice, that thou mightest have rest; he
wept and
mourned, that thou mightest laugh and rejoice; he was
betrayed, that
thou mightest go free; was apprehended, that thou mightest
escape; he
was condemned, that thou mightest be justified, and was
killed, that
thou mightest live; he wore a crown of thorns, that thou
mightest wear
a crown of glory; and was nailed to the cross with his
arms wide open,
to show with what freeness all his merits shall be
bestowed on the
coming soul, and how heartily he will receive it into his
bosom.
John Bunyan (1628-1688)
He wrote no book, and yet his words and prayer
Are intimate on many myriad tongues,
Are counsel everywhere.
Therese Lindsey
How widely Jesus had become known is difficult to judge.
The Gospels,
very naturally, imply that his words and miracles were on
everyone's
lips, but it is significant that Pilate had never heard of
Jesus when
he was brought before him, even though it was his business
to keep
track of agitators and wandering evangelists liable to
stir up the
excitable populace in his turbulent province.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
I am much struck with the contrast between Christ's mode
of gathering
people to himself and the way practiced by Alexander the
Great, by
Julius Caesar, and by myself. The people have been
gathered to us by
fear; they were gathered to Christ by love. Alexander,
Caesar, and I
have been men of war, but Christ was the Prince of Peace.
The people
have been driven to us; they were drawn to him. In our
case there has
been forced conscription; in his there was free obedience.
Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)
I am the Way unchangeable; the Truth infallible; the Life
everlasting.
Thomas Ŕ Kempis (C. 1380-1471)
I cannot row it myself,
My boat on the raging sea;
But beside me sits another,
Who pulls or steers with me;
And I know that we too shall come into port-
His child and he.
Dan Crawford
I have a great need for Christ; I have a great Christ for
my need.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
I have one passion only: It is he! It is he!
Count Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf (1700-1760)
I must know Jesus Christ as Savior before his teaching has
any meaning
for me other than that of an ideal which leads to despair.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
If all Jesus Christ came to do was to upset me, make me
unfit for my
work, upset my friendships and my life, produce
disturbance and misery
and distress, then I wish he had never come. But that is
not all he
came to do. He came to lift us up to "the heavenly
places" where he is
himself. The whole claim of the redemption of Jesus is
that he can
satisfy the last aching abyss of the human soul, not
hereafter only,
but here and now.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
If Jesus Christ is only a teacher, then all he can do is
to tantalize
us, to erect a standard we cannot attain to; but when we
are born
again of the Spirit of God, we know that he did not come
only to teach
us, he came to make us what he teaches we should be.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
If Jesus Christ were not virgin born, then, of course, he
had a human
father; if he had a human father, then he inherited the
nature of the
father; as that father had a nature of sin, then he
inherited his
nature of sin; then Jesus himself was a lost sinner, and
he himself
needed a Savior from sin. Deny the virgin birth of Jesus
Christ and
you paralyze the whole scheme of redemption by Jesus
Christ.
I. M. Haldeman (1845-1933)
If Jesus Christ were to come today, people would not even
crucify him.
They would ask him to dinner, and hear what he had to say,
and make
fun of it.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881)
If Shakespeare should come into this room, we would all
rise; but if
Jesus Christ should come in, we would all kneel.
Charles Lamb (1775-1834)
If we have never been hurt by a statement of Jesus, it is
questionable
whether we have ever really heard him speak. Jesus Christ
has no
tenderness whatever toward anything that is ultimately
going to ruin a
man for the service of God. If the Spirit of God brings to
our mind a
word of the Lord that hurts, we may be perfectly certain
there is
something he wants to hurt to death.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
If you wish to be disappointed, look to others. If you
wish to be
downhearted, look to yourself. If you wish to be
encouraged ... look
upon Jesus Christ.
Erich Sauer
Immortal Love, forever full,
Forever flowing free,
Forever shared, forever whole,
A never-ebbing sea!
John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892)
In his life, Christ is an example, showing us how to live.
In his
death, he is a sacrifice, satisfying for our sins. In his
resurrection, he is a conqueror. In his ascension, he is a
king. In
his intercession, he is a high priest.
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
In Jesus Christ there was nothing secular and sacred, it
was all real,
and he makes his disciples like himself.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
In Jesus we have ... the holiest man who ever lived, and
yet it was
the prostitutes and lepers and thieves who adored him, and
the
religious who hated his guts.
Rebecca Manley Pippert
In most trials, people are tried for what they have done,
but this was
not true of Christ's. Jesus was tried for who he was.
Josh McDowell
essence of sin. There was no independence in our Lord, the
great
characteristic of his life was submission to his Father.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Is Christ thy advocate to plead thy cause? Art thou his
client? Such
shall never slide. He never lost his case.
Edward Taylor (C. 1645-1729)
It is a profound irony that the Son of God visited this
planet, and
one of the chief complaints against him was that he was
not religious
enough.
Rebecca Manley Pippert
It is, in my experience, the people who have never troubled
seriously
to study the four Gospels who are loudest in their protest
that there
was no such person as Jesus.
J. B. Phillips (1906-1982)
It was love that kept Jesus from calling 12,000 angels who
had already
drawn their swords to come to his rescue.
Billy Graham (1918- )
It was those luminous words of his, sealed with his death
on the
cross, that led to his being recognized as God. After all,
who but God
would have dared to ask of men what he asked of them?
Demanding
everything and enduring everything, he set in train a
great creative
wave of love and sacrifice such as the world had never
before seen or
dreamed of.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
contempt the personal powers of
despised and rejected! Yet he was their Peace for time and
eternity,
and the things that belonged to their peace were all
connected with
him.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Jesus appeared in
definite personality. One is obliged to say: "Here
was a man." This
could not have been invented. He was like some terrible
moral huntsman
digging mankind out of the snug burrows in which they had
lived
hitherto. For to take him seriously was to enter upon a
strange and
alarming life, to abandon habits, to control instincts and
impulses,
and to essay an incredible happiness.
J. B. Phillips (1906-1982)
Jesus Christ always speaks from the source of things; consequently
those who deal only with the surface find him an offense.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Jesus Christ came into my prison cell last night, and
every stone
flashed like a ruby.
Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661)
Jesus Christ came to do what no human being can do: he
came to redeem
men, to alter their disposition, to plant in them the Holy
Spirit, to
make them new creatures. Christianity is not the
obliteration of the
old, but the transfiguration of the old. Jesus Christ did
not come to
teach men to be holy, he came to make men holy. His
teaching has no
meaning for us unless we enter into his life by means of
his death.
The cross is the great central point.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Jesus Christ exhibited a divine paradox of the lion and the
lamb. He
was the Lion in majesty, rebuking the winds and demons. He
was the
Lamb in meekness, "who when he was reviled, reviled
not again." He was
the Lion in power, raising the dead. He was the Lamb in
patience who
was "brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a
sheep before her
shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." He
was the Lion in
authority, "Ye have heard that it hath been said ...
but I say unto
you." He was the Lamb in gentleness, "Suffer the
little children to
come unto me."
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Jesus Christ had a twofold personality: he was the Son of
God
revealing what God is like and Son of Man revealing what
man is to be like.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Jesus Christ is God's everything for man's total need.
Richard C. Halverson (1916- )
Jesus Christ is the Completer
of unfinished people
with unfinished work
in unfinished times.
Lona M. Fowler
Jesus Christ is the divine Physician and Pharmacist, and
his
prescriptions are never out of balance.
Vance Havner
Jesus Christ is the sternest and the gentlest of Saviors.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Jesus Christ never asks anyone to define his position or
to understand
a creed, but "Who am I to you?" ... Jesus Christ
makes the whole of
human destiny depend on a man's relationship to himself.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Jesus Christ reveals, not an embarrassed God, not a
confused God, not
a God who stands apart from the problems, but one who
stands in the
thick of the whole thing.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Jesus Christ served others first; he spoke to those to
whom no one
spoke; he dined with the lowest members of society; he
touched the
untouchable. He had no throne, no crown, no bevy of
servants or
armored guards. A borrowed manger and a borrowed tomb
framed his
earthly life.
Charles Colson (1931- )
Jesus Christ set a window in the tiny dark dungeon of the
ego in which
we all languish, letting in a light, providing a vista,
and offering a
way of release from the servitude of the flesh and the
fury of the will.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
Jesus Christ was not a conservative.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983)
Jesus Christ was not a recluse. He did not cut himself off
from
society, he was amazingly in and out among the ordinary
things of
life; but he was disconnected fundamentally from it all.
He was not
aloof, but he lived in another world. His life was so
social that men
called him a glutton and a wine-bibber, a friend of
publicans and
sinners. His detachments were inside toward God.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Jesus Christ will be Lord of all or he will not be Lord at
all.
Jesus Christ will never strong-arm his way into your life.
Grady B. Wilson
Jesus Christ's outward life was densely immersed in the
things of the
world, yet he was inwardly disconnected. The one
irresistible purpose
of his life was to do the will of his Father.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Jesus Christ's teaching never beats about the bush.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Jesus Christ: the condescension of divinity and the
exaltation of
humanity.
Phillips Brooks (1835-1893)
Jesus differs from all other teachers; they reach the ear,
but he
instructs the heart; they deal with the outward letter,
but he imparts
an inward taste for the truth.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Jesus fulfills all the procedures of the prophecies, duly
riding into
victory lies in defeat, his glory in obscurity, his
acclaim in
ridicule.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
Jesus had things to say about how we should behave that
captivated his
listeners and have continued to captivate succeeding
generations. This
is not because the standards he proposed were lax and
easy-going, like
today's permissiveness. Far from it. They asked more of
his followers
than any other teacher ever has ... not just to refrain
from adultery,
but to refrain from desiring, which amounts to the same
thing, and not
just to refrain from killing, but from being angry or
calling someone
a fool, these being also mortal sins-alas!
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
Jesus is God spelling himself out in language that man can
understand.
Samuel Dickey Gordon (1859-1936)
Jesus is God with the skin on.
Jesus is the prophet of the losers' not the victors' camp,
the one who
proclaims that the first will be last, that the weak are
the strong,
and the fools are the wise.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
Jesus leaps in a unique way across the changing centuries
because he
spoke to the unchanging needs of the heart of man. Jesus
speaks to us,
not as an antiquated first-century theologian, but as one
who knew
what was in the heart of man. He expounded no doctrines
but lived
great life convictions and hence speaks to the living
experience of
all time.
Clarence T. Craig
Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more
millions
than Alexander, Caesar, Muhammad, and Napoleon; without
science and
learning, he shed more light on things human and divine
than all the
philosophers and scholars combined; without the eloquence
of the
school, he spoke words of life such as were never spoken
before nor
since and produced effects that lie beyond the reach of
orator or
poet; without writing a single line, he has set more pens
in motion
and furnished themes for more sermons, orations,
discussions, works of
art, learned volumes, and sweet songs of praise than the
whole army of
great men of ancient and modern times.
Philip Schaff (1819-1893)
Jesus offends men because he lays emphasis on the unseen
life, because
he speaks of motives rather than of actions.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Jesus was ... a simple rural figure. He talked about the
sparrows and
the lilies to fishermen and peasants, lepers and outcasts.
His radical
personalization of all ethical problems is only possible
in a village
sociology where knowing everyone and having time to treat
everyone as
a person is culturally an available possibility. The
rustic
"face-to-face model of social relations" is the
only one he cared
about. There is thus in the ethic of Jesus no intention to
speak
substantially to the problems of complex organization, of institutions
and offices, cliques and power and crowds.
John Howard Yoder
Jesus was a radical.... His religion has been so long
identified with
conservatism-often with conservatism of the obstinate and
unyielding
sort-that it is almost startling for us sometimes to
remember that all
of the conservatism of his own times was against him; that
it was the
young, free, restless, sanguine, progressive part of the
people who
flocked to him.
Phillips Brooks (1835-1893)
Jesus' guilt is our innocence; as his captivity is our
freedom, and
his death our life.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
Let all be loved for Jesus' sake, but Jesus for himself.
Thomas Ŕ Kempis (C. 1380-1471)
Life passes, riches fly away, popularity is fickle, the
senses decay,
the world changes. One alone is true to us; one alone can
be all
things to us; one alone can supply our need.
Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Little Jesus, was thou shy
Once, and just so small as I?
And what did it feel like to be
Out of heaven, and just like me?
Francis Thompson (1859-1907)
Love has a clear eye; but it can see only one thing-it is
blind to
every interest but that of its Lord; it sees things in the
light of
his glory and weighs actions in the scales of his honor;
it counts
royalty but drudgery if it cannot reign for Christ, but it
delights in
servitude as much as in honor, if it can thereby advance
the Master's
kingdom; its end sweetens all its means; its object
lightens its toil
and removes its weariness.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Men overlooked a baby's birth
When love unnoticed came to earth;
And later, seeking in the skies,
Passed by a man in workman's guise.
Only children paused to stare
While God Incarnate made a chair.
Mary Tatlow
Mr. Webster, can you comprehend how Jesus Christ could be
both God and
man? No sir, I cannot comprehend it; and I would be
ashamed to
acknowledge him as my Savior if I could comprehend it. If
I could
comprehend him, he could be no greater than myself, and
such is my
conviction of accountability to God, such is my sense of
sinfulness
before him, and such is my knowledge of my own incapacity
to recover
myself, that I feel I need a superhuman Savior.
Daniel Webster (1782-1852)
No one need be downcast, for Jesus is the joy of heaven,
and it is his
joy to enter into sorrowful hearts.
Frederick William Faber (1814-1863)
Not only do we know God through Jesus Christ, we only know
ourselves
through Jesus Christ.
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
Of all the epithets that could be applied to Christ, mild
seems one of
the least appropriate.
J. B. Phillips (1906-1982)
Once chosen he's no chance But certainty.
Luci Shaw (1928- )
Once I was visited by someone who told me, in the greatest
confidence,
that he was Jesus Christ, and that it had been revealed to
him that I
was the Apostle Paul, my acceptance of this role being my
reward for
acknowledging my visitor as being indeed Jesus. To get rid
of such
awkward intruders I easily decided they were mad.
Subsequently, I had
qualms of conscience, thinking: Suppose it was Jesus! And
I sent him
away! After all, this was just how Jesus would have
appeared during
his ministry to unbelievers-as a megalomaniac crackpot,
prattling of
being God's Son, and authorized to speak on his behalf.
Had I lived in
the time of Jesus, I fear I should have been among the
scoffers and
missed the glory of those who heard and saw him and
believed.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
Once it was the blessing,
Now it is the Lord;
Once it was the feeling,
Now it is his Word.
Once his gifts I wanted,
Now the Giver own;
Once I sought for healing,
Now himself alone.
Albert Benjamin Simpson (1843-1919)
Our great High Priest is in glory, exalted above all
created angels.
But he is the same Jesus we knew in the days of his flesh.
He is the
same Jesus in heaven as he was on earth, as he was before
the world
began. The face shining above the brightness of the sun is
the face
that drew sinners to his feet. The hand that holds the
seven stars is
the hand that was laid in blessing upon little children.
The breast
girt about with a golden girdle is the breast upon which
the beloved
disciple laid his head at the last supper.
A. D. Foreman, Jr.
Our society has taken Jesus and recreated him in our own
cultural
image. When I hear Jesus being proclaimed from the
television stations
across our country, from pulpits hither and yon, he comes
across not
as the biblical Jesus, not as the Jesus described in the
Bible, but as
a white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant Republican.... God
created us in his
image, but we have decided to return the favor and create
a God who is
in our image.
Tony Campolo
Rest of the weary,
Joy of the sad,
Hope of the dreary,
Light of the glad,
Home of the stranger,
Strength to the end,
Refuge from danger,
Savior and Friend!
John Samuel Bewley Monsell (1811-1875)
Since Jesus died for all men, he might be said to have
died even for
Judas. The thought so delighted me that I kept on
repeating to myself:
Jesus died even for Judas! as though I had made some
extraordinary
discovery. Perhaps in a way I had.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
The Christ child stood at Mary's knee,
His hair was like a crown,
And all the flowers looked up at him,
And all the stars looked down.
G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
The cross for the first time revealed God in terms of
weakness and
lowliness and suffering; even, humanly speaking, of
absurdity. He was
seen thenceforth in the image of the most timid, most
gentle and most
vulnerable of all living creatures-a lamb. Agnus Dei!
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
The death of Jesus was not the death of a martyr, it was
the
revelation of the eternal heart of God.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The dying Jesus is the evidence of God's anger toward sin;
but the
living Jesus is the proof of God's love and forgiveness.
Lorenz Eifert
The essential teachings of Jesus ... were literally
revolutionary and
will always remain so if they are taken seriously.
Herbert J. Muller (1905-1967)
The first and also last is solely Christ himself From him
all come to
be, in him all comes to rest.
Angelus Silesius (1624-1677)
The life of Jesus of Nazareth cannot be discussed in the
same way as
the life of any other man, however famous. Men like Caesar
or
Napoleon, for example, had a profound effect on their own
age and may
properly be said to have altered the course of history,
but none of
them ever claimed to give the final and definitive
explanation of all
that has happened, or will happen, in the course of time.
Other men,
like the Pharaohs of Egypt, have insisted on being
worshipped as gods
during their lifetime; but no one takes their claims to
divinity
seriously today. Quite the contrary is true when we
consider the life
of Jesus.
Xavier Leon-Dufour (1963- )
The Lord appeared in the flesh, that he might arouse us by
his
teaching, kindle us by his example, redeem us by his
death, and renew
us by his resurrection.
Pope Gregory the Great (540-604)
The Lord has turned all our sunsets into sunrise.
Clement of
The miracles of Jesus were the ordinary works of his
Father, wrought
small and swift that we might take them in.
George Macdonald (1824-1905)
The more you know about Christ, the less you will be
satisfied with
superficial views of him.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
The most perfect being who has ever trod the soil of this
planet was
called the Man of Sorrows.
James Anthony Froude (1818-1894)
The Sermon on the Mount is Christ's biography. Every
syllable he had
already written down in deeds. The sermon merely
translated his life
into language.
Thomas Wright (1810-1877)
The simple record of three short years of active life has
done more to
regenerate and soften mankind than all the disquisitions
of
philosophers and all the exhortations of moralists.
William Edward Hartpole Lecky (1838-1903)
The Son no more thought of his own goodness than an honest
man thinks
of his honesty.
George Macdonald (1824-1905)
The strange thing about Jesus is that you can never get
away from him.
The teaching of Jesus Christ does not appear at first to
be what it
is. At first it appears to be beautiful and pious and lukewarm;
but
before long it becomes a ripping and tearing torpedo which
splits to
atoms every preconceived notion a man ever had.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The teachings of Christ alone can solve our personal
difficulties and
the world's problems. Every man is a miniature world.
Christ enters
that world to heal its wounds. We know that all the
various schemes of
world reconstruction from the beginning of history to our
time have
failed. Christ's method of making a better world by making
better men
alone succeeds.
Max I. Reich
The Transfiguration was the "Great Divide" in
the life of our Lord. He
stood there in the perfect, spotless holiness of his
manhood; then he
turned his back on the glory and came down from the Mount
to be
identified with sin.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The whole life of Christ was a continual passion; others
die martyrs,
but Christ was born a martyr. He found a
crucified) even in
then, the straws were almost as sharp as the thorns after,
and the
manger as uneasy at first as his cross at last. His birth
and his
death were but one continual act, and his Christmas Day
and his Good
Friday are but the evening and morning of one and the same
day.
John Donne (1572-1631)
There is no discovery of the truth of Christ's teaching,
no
unanswerable inward endorsement of it, without committing
oneself to
his way of life.
J. B. Phillips (1906-1982)
There is one source of power that is stronger than every
disappointment, bitterness or ingrained mistrust, and that
power is
Jesus Christ, who brought forgiveness and reconciliation
to the world.
Pope John Paul II (1920- )
They should have known that he was God. His patience
should have
proved that to them.
Tertullian (C. 160-After 220)
Thinking of Jesus, I suddenly understand that I know
nothing, and for
some reason begin to laugh hilariously, which brings me to
the
realization that I understand everything I need to
understand.
Malcolm
Muggeridge (1903-1990)
To become like Christ is the only thing in the world worth
caring for,
the thing before which every ambition of man is folly and
all lower
achievement vain. Those only who make this quest the
supreme desire
and passion of their lives can even begin to hope to reach
it.
John Drummond (1851-1897)
To forsake Christ for the world is to leave a treasure for
a trifle
... eternity for a moment, reality for a shadow.
William Jenkyn
To tear your name from this world would shake it to its
foundations.
Joseph Ernest Renan (1823-1892)
To the dead he sayeth: Arise!
To the living: Follow me!
And that voice still soundeth on
From the centuries that are gone,
To the centuries that shall be!
Henry
True have his promises been; not one has failed. I want
none beside
him. In life he is my life, and in death he shall be the
death of
death; in poverty, Christ is my riches; in sickness, he
makes my bed;
in darkness, he is my star, and in brightness, he is my
sin; he is the
manna of the camp in the wilderness, and he shall be the
new corn of
the host when they come to
wrath, all truth and no falsehood; and of truth and grace
he is full,
infinitely full.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Unspeakably wise,
He is wisely speechless.
Virtually all the miracles attributed to Jesus are
directly associated
with some lesson he was trying to teach or some insight he
wanted to
give to his disciples. The real question to be asked about
any miracle
is not how it happened but why: what was God saying to us
in this
significant act?
Louis Cassels (1922-1974)
We are taken up with interesting details; Jesus Christ was
not. His
insulation was on the inside, not the outside; his
dominating interest
was hid with God. His kingdom was on the inside;
consequently he took
the ordinary social life of his time in a most unobtrusive
way. His
life externally was oblivious of details; he spent his
time with
publicans and sinners and did the things that were
apparently
unreligious. But one thing he never did-he never
contaminated his
inner kingdom.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
We get no deeper into Christ than we allow him to get into
us.
John Henry Jowett (1864-1923)
We marvel, not that he performed miracles, but rather that
he
performed so few. He who could have stormed the citadels
of men with
mighty battalions of angels, let men spit upon him and
crucify him.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
We must not have Christ Jesus, the Lord of Life, put any
more in the
stable amongst the horses and asses, but he must now have
the best
chamber.
George Fox (1624-1691)
We shall never understand anything of our Lord's preaching
and
ministry unless we continually keep in mind what exactly
and
exclusively his errand was in this world. Sin was his
errand in this
world, and it was his only errand. He would never have
been in this
world, either preaching or doing anything else, but for
sin. He could
have done everything else for us without coming down into
this world
at all; everything else but take away our sin.
Alexander Whyte (1836-1921)
We should all like life to be free from suffering, and our
love to be
free from pain. But there is no true love without
suffering. So the
highest love of all, the love of Christ for men, showed
unforgettably
how deeply he must suffer in order to bring men to
himself.
J. B. Phillips (1906-1982)
What Christ had to say was too simple to be grasped, too truthful
to
be believed.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
What stands out most ... in the picture of Jesus is his
aloneness....
Free of family, he remained alone. He had neither wife nor
children.
He never clung to any of the companions of his youth, his
colleagues,
the friends with whom he talked at the doors of the towns
he passed.
He did not enter into any part, nor any faction. He was
not an Essene,
not a Pharisee, he would not let himself be classified. He
was a
solitary man.
José Comblin
Whatever he laid aside to come to us, to whatever
limitations, for our
sake, he stooped his regal head, he dealt with the things
about him in
such lordly, childlike manner as made it clear they were
not strange
to him, but the things of his father.
George Macdonald (1824-1905)
When he came, there was no light. When he left, there was
no darkness.
When Jesus Christ utters a word, he opens his mouth so
wide that it
embraces all heaven and earth, even though that word be
but in a
whisper.
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
When Jesus is present, all is good and nothing seems
difficult; but
when Jesus is absent, all is hard.
Thomas Ŕ Kempis (C. 1380-1471)
When Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding feast in
year by year in vineyards.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
When Jesus walked on earth, he was a man acting like God:
but equally
wonderful is it that he was also God acting like himself
in man and in
a man.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
When we try to understand Jesus Christ's teaching with our
heads, we
get into a fog. What Jesus Christ taught is only
explainable to the
personality of the mind in relation to the personality of
Jesus
Christ. It is a relationship of life, not of intellect.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Wherever [Jesus] went he produced a crisis. He compelled
individuals
to decide, to make a choice. In fact, he struck me as the
most
crisis-producing individual I had ever encountered....
Nearly everyone
clashed with Jesus, whether they loved him or hated him.
Rebecca Manley Pippert
Who stumbles upon Christ (who is a granite stone)
Lies shattered; grasp him and be led securely home.
Angelus Silesius (1624-1677)
Why is it that you can talk about God and nobody gets
upset, but as
soon as you mention Jesus, people often want to stop the
conversation?
Why have men and women down through the ages been divided
over the
question, Who is Jesus?
Josh McDowell
With infinite love and compassion our Lord understood the
human
predicament. He had deep empathy with people; he saw their
needs,
their weaknesses, their desires, and their hurts. He
understood and
was concerned for people. Every word he spoke was uttered
because he
saw a need for that word in some human life. His concern
was always to
uplift and never to tear down, to heal and never hurt, to
save and not
condemn.
Charles L. Allen (1913- )
You are wisdom
You are peace
You are beauty
You are eternal life.
Saint Francis of
You can have it all-everything-on the wire called Jesus
Christ. That
wire will never snap. Not for a lifetime. Not for
eternity.
Charles R. Swindoll (1934- )
You can read a much more detailed and intimate account of
the thoughts
and teachings of Marcus Aurelius who lived at roughly the
same time.
But, although many have admired him, his influence upon
human life is
not one-ten-millionth part of that of the One of whom,
alas, we know
so little.
J. B. Phillips (1906-1982)
You never get to the end of Christ's words. There is
something in them
always behind. They pass into proverbs; they pass into
laws; they pass
into doctrines; they pass into consolations; but they
never pass away,
and after all the use that is made of them they are still
not
exhausted.
Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (1815-1881)
At his ascension our Lord entered heaven, and he keeps the
door open
for humanity to enter.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
If upward you can soar and let God have his way,
Then this has in your spirit become Ascension Day.
Angelus Silesius (1624-1677)
Jesus departed from our sight that he might return to our
heart. He
departed, and behold, he is here.
The Ascension placed Jesus Christ back in the glory which
he had with
the Father before the world was. The Ascension, not the
Resurrection,
is the completion of the Transfiguration.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Where every angel as he sings
Keeps time with his applauding wings.
Joseph Beaumont (1615-1699)
Authority is God-ordained, but authoritarianism and raw
power; in
almost all forms, is dangerous.
James C. Dobson (1936- )
If you accept the authority of Jesus in your life, then
you accept the
authority of his words.
Colin Urquhart (1940- )
Our world is fast becoming a madhouse, and the inmates are
trying to
run the asylum. It is a strange time when the patients are
writing the
prescriptions, the students are threatening to run the
schools, the
children to manage the homes, and church members-not the
Holy
Spirit-to direct the churches.
Vance Havner
Self-chosen authority is an impertinence. Jesus said that
the great
ones in this world exercise authority but that in his
kingdom it is
not so; no one exercises authority over another because in
his kingdom
the king is servant of all. If a saint tries to exercise
authority, it
is a proof that he is not rightly related to Jesus Christ.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Who overcomes by force, hath overcome but half his foe.
John Milton (1608-1674)
Ah! dearest Jesus, Holy Child,
Make thee a bed, soft, undefiled,
Within my heart, that it may be
A quiet chamber kept for thee.
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs and
desires of
little children; to remember the weaknesses and loneliness
of people
who are growing old; to stop asking how much your friends
love you,
and to ask yourself whether you love them enough; to bear
in mind the
things that other people have to bear on their hearts; to
trim your
lamp so that it will give more light and less smoke, and
to carry it
in front so that your shadow will fall behind you; to make
a grave for
your ugly thoughts and a garden for your kindly feelings,
with the
gate open? Are you willing to do these things for a day?
Then you are
ready to keep Christmas!
Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933)
Christmas began in the heart of God. It is complete only
when it
reaches the heart of man.
Christmas is based on an exchange of gifts: the gift of
God to man-his
Son; and the gift of man to God-when we first give
ourselves to God.
Vance Havner
Christmas is not a date. It is a state of mind.
Mary Ellen Chase (1887-1973)
Christmas is the day that holds all time together.
Alexander Smith (1830-1867)
Give the earth to Christ,
A little boy of heavenly birth,
But far from home today,
Comes down to find his ball, the earth
That sin has cast away.
O comrades, let us one and all
Join in to get him back his ball.
John Bannister Tabb (1845-1909)
God grant you the light in Christmas, which is faith; the
warmth of
Christmas, which is love; the radiance of Christmas, which
is purity;
the righteousness of Christmas, which is justice; the
belief in
Christmas, which is truth; the all of Christmas, which is
Christ.
Wilda English
How proper it is that Christmas should follow Advent. For
him who
looks toward the future, the manger is situated on
cross has already been raised in
Dag Hammarskjold (1905-1961)
It is Christmas every time you let God love others through
you . . .
yes, it is Christmas every time you smile at your brother
and offer
him your hand.
Mother Teresa of
Let us . . . make a compact that, if we are both alive
next year;
whenever we write to one another it shall not be at
Christmastime.
That period is becoming a sort of nightmare to me-it means
endless
quill-driving!
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
Oh! the million Christmas mornings
When you'd lie, a babe again,
Beneath a million million trees
And hear the countless tongues chanting your name.
Ah . . . will they remember crimson
Dripping from the iron nails
And will they pray, and will they know
A whiter white than snow?
Keith Patman
Once in the year and only once, the whole world stands
still to
celebrate the advent of a life. Only Jesus claims this
worldwide,
undying remembrance.
Or consider Christmas-could Satan in his most malignant
mood have
devised a worse combination of graft plus bunkum than the
system
whereby several hundred million people get a billion or so
gifts for
which they have no use, and some thousands of shop clerks
die of
exhaustion while selling them, and every other child in
the Western
world is made ill from overeating-all in the name of the
lowly Jesus?
Upton Beall Sinclair (1878-1968)
Some say that ever 'gainst that season comes
Wherein our Savior's birth is celebrated,
The bird of dawning singeth all night long;
And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad;
The nights are wholesome; then no planets strike,
No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm,
So hallow'd and so gracious is the time.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Thanks be to God for his unspeakable Gift-
indescribable
inestimable
incomparable
inexpressible
precious beyond words.
Lois Lebar
The simple shepherds heard the voice of an angel and found
their Lamb;
the wise men saw the light of a star and found their
Wisdom.
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979)
Though Christ a thousand times in
If he's not born in thee thy soul is still forlorn.
Angelus Silesius (1624-1677)
We rejoice in the light,
And we echo the song
That comes down through the night
From the heavenly throng.
Ay! we shout to the lovely evangel they bring,
And we greet in his cradle our Savior and King.
Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819-1881)
What can I give him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd,
I would bring a lamb;
If I were a wise man,
I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give him-Give my heart.
Christina
A spider spins her silver still within your darkened
stable shed:
In asterisks her webs are spread to ornament your manger
bed.
Luci Shaw (1928- )
Advent. The coming of quiet joy. Arrival of radiant light
in our
darkness.
Breath, mouth, ears, eyes
he is curtailed who overflowed all skies, all years.
Older than eternity, now he is new.
Now native to earth as I am, nailed to my poor planet,
caught that
I might be free.
Luci Shaw (1928- )
Christ did not only come into our flesh, but also into our
condition,
into the valley and shadow of death, where we were, and
where we are,
as we are sinners.
John Bunyan (1628-1688)
Filling the world he lies in a manger.
For lo! the world's great Shepherd now is born,
A blessed babe, an infant full of power.
Edmund Bolton (C. 1575-C. 1633)
Girded for war, humility his mighty dress,
He moves into the battle wholly weaponless.
Madeleine L'Engle (1918- )
God became man; the divine Son became a Jew; the Almighty
appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and
stare
and wriggle and make noises, needing to be fed and changed
and taught
to talk like any other child. And there was no illusion or
deception
in this: the babyhood of the Son of God was a reality. The
more you
think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in
fiction is so
fantastic as is this truth of the Incarnation.
J. I. Packer (1926- )
God clothed himself in vile man's flesh so he might be
weak enough to
suffer.
John Donne (1572-1631)
God plans and engineers a personal visit to his own world
and the
reaction of the world is to get rid of him.
J. B. Phillips (1906-1982)
God, who had fashioned time and space in a clockwork of
billions of
suns and stars and moons, in the form of his beloved Son
became a
human being like ourselves. On the microscopic midge of
planet he
remained for thirty-three years. He became a real man, and
the only
perfect one. While continuing to be the true God, he was
born in a
stable and lived as a workingman and died on a cross. He
came to show
us how to live, not for a few years but eternally.
Hark, hark, the wise eternal Word
Like a weak infant cries,
In form of servant is the Lord,
And God in cradle lies.
T. Pestel (1584-1659)
He clothed himself with our lowliness in order to invest
us with his
grandeur.
He stretched skin over spirit
like a rubber glove,
aligning Trinity with bone,
twining through veins
until Deity square-knotted flesh.
Marjorie Maddox Phifer
His life is the highest and the holiest entering in at the
lowliest door.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
I saw a stable, low and very bare,
A little child in a manger.
The oxen knew him, had him in their care,
To men he was a stranger.
The safety of the world was lying there,
And the world's danger.
Mary Coleridge (1861-1907)
I'll wrap him warm with love,
well as I'm able,
in my heart stable.
Luci Shaw (1928- )
In the humanity of Jesus, God was truly speaking our
language.
John Powell
Jesus' coming is the final and unanswerable proof that God
cares.
William Barclay (1907-1978)
No one could ever have found God; he gave himself away.
Meister Eckhart (C. 1260-C. 1327)
Prepare the way! A God, a God appears
A God, a God! the vocal hills reply,
The rocks proclaim th' approaching Deity
Lo, earth receives him from the bending skies!
Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
Quiet he lies
whose vigor hurled
a universe.
Luci Shaw (1928- )
Run, shepherds run, and solemnize his birth
This is that night-no, day, grown great with bliss,
In which the power of Satan broken is.
William Henry Drummond (1854-1907)
Shine out, O Blessed Star,
Promise of the dawn;
Glad tidings send afar,
Christ the Lord is born.
Small-folded in a warm dim female space-
the Word stern-sentenced to be nine months dumb-
infinity walled in a womb until the next enormity-
the Mighty, after submission to a woman's pains
helpless on a barn-bare floor
first-tasting bitter earth.
Luci Shaw (1928- )
Swift fly the years, and rise th' expected morn!
Oh spring to light, auspicious Babe, be born!
Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
The Christian faith is founded upon ... a well attested
sober fact of
history; that quietly, but with deliberate purpose, God
himself has
visited this little planet.
J. B. Phillips (1906-1982)
The coming of Christ by way of a
stunning. But when we take him out of the manger and
invite him into
our hearts, then the meaning unfolds and the strangeness
vanishes.
C.
The coming of Jesus into the world is the most stupendous
event in
human history.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
The shepherds didn't ask God if he was sure he knew what
he was doing.
Had the angel gone to the theologians, they would have
first consulted
their commentaries. Had he gone to the elite, they would
have looked
around to see if anyone was watching. Had he gone to the
successful,
they would have first looked at their calendars.
So he went to the shepherds. Men who didn't have a
reputation to
protect or an ax to grind or a ladder to climb. Men who
didn't know
enough to tell God that angels don't sing to sheep and
that messiahs
aren't found wrapped in rags and sleeping in a feed
trough.
Max L. Lucado (1955- )
Through the black space of death to baby life
Came God, planting the secret genes of God.
Today,
A shed that's thatched
(Yet straws can sing)
Holds God.
Clement Paman (C. 1660)
Trumpets! Lightnings!
The earth trembles!
But into the virgin's womb
thou didst descend with noiseless tread.
Agathias Scholasticus
We know how God would act if he were in our place-he has
been in our place.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
We saw thee in thy balmy nest,
Bright dawn of our eternal day!
We saw thee; and we blest the sight,
We saw thee by thine own sweet light.
-The Nativity
Richard Crashaw (C. 1613-1649)
Welcome, all wonders in one sight!
Eternity shut in a span.
Summer in winter. Day in night.
Heaven in earth, and God in man.
Great little one! whose all-embracing birth
Lifts earth to heaven, stoops heaven to earth.
Richard Crashaw (C. 1613-1649)
What a terrific moment in history that was ... when men
first saw
their God in the likeness of the weakest, mildest and most
defenseless
of all living creatures!
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
When is the time for love to be born?
The inn is full on the planet earth,
And by greed and pride the sky is torn-
Yet Love still takes the risk of birth.
Madeleine L'Engle (1918- )
Yet if we celebrate, let it be that he
has invaded our lives with purpose.
Luci Shaw (1928- )
"Crucified" is the only really definitive
adjective by which to
describe the Christian life.
J. Furman Miller
A great deal of what passes for current Christianity
consists in
denouncing other people's vices and faults.
Henry H. Williams
Apart from Christ the life of man is a broken pillar; the
race of man
an unfinished pyramid. One by one in sight of eternity all
human
ideals fall short; one by one before the open grave all
hopes
dissolve.
Henry Drummond (1851-1897)
Christian: one who believes that the New Testament is a
divinely
inspired book admirably suited to the spiritual needs of
his
neighbour.
Ambrose Bierce
If there are any good traits about the atheist, he got
them from Christianity.
The Bible is the constitution of Christian civilization.
Christian charity knows no iron curtain.
If your Christianity won't work where you are, it won't
work anywhere.
One of the best things about Christianity is that it must
function or fizzle.
If you want to convince others of the value of
Christianity ‑ live it!
A genuine Christian is the best evidence of the
genuineness of Christianity.
An empty tomb proves Christianity; an empty church denies
it.
Christianity is a way of walking as well as a way of
talking.
The true expression of Christianity is not a sigh, but a
song.
If you want to defend Christianity, practice it.
Christianity is a roll‑up‑your‑sleeves
religion.
A
Christianity is not a life insurance policy from which one
benefits only by dying.
Those who say they believe in Christianity and those who
practice it are not always the same people.
Christianity requires the participants to come down out of
the grandstand and onto the playing field.
The better we understand Christianity, the less satisfied
we are with our practice of it.
Christianity has been studied and practiced for ages, but
it has been studied far more than it has been practiced.
The spirit of Christianity is not to impose some kind of a
creed, but to share a life.
Christianity, like a watch, needs to be wound regularly if
it is to be kept running.
Satan is perfectly willing to have a person confess
Christianity as long as he does not practice it.
Christianity helps us face the music, even when we don't
like the tune.
Some people can talk Christianity by the yard but they
can't, or won't, walk it by the inch.
Foreign missionaries will be more successful when they can
show Christianity to the heathen and not merely tell them about it.
Too much of the Christian faith has become trimming on the
dress of life instead of a part of the fabric.
The hope is that some day the Christian ideal will be put
into practice.
Christ was one child who knew more than His parents ‑
yet He obeyed them.
People always get into trouble when they think they can
handle their lives without God.
The sermon will be better if you listen to it as a
Christian rather than a critic.
When tempers grow hot, Christianity grows cold.
Christianity is a battle, not a dream.
Wendell Phillips
The doctrine of the
of Jesus, is certainly one of the most revolutionary
doctrines that
ever stirred and changed human thought.
H. G. Wells
Christianity can be condensed into four words: admit,
submit, commit,
and transmit.
Samuel Wilberforce (1805-1873)
Christianity does not teach a doctrine of weakness. But
the strength
it gives a man is quite different from his natural
strength. It is a
God-directed strength, doing what God wills. It wins great
victories,
but they are only over evil and self, not the destructive
victories
that are won over others.
Paul Tournier (1898-1986)
Christianity has made martyrdom sublime, and sorrow
triumphant.
Edwin Hubbel Chapin (1814-1880)
Christianity is a battle-not a dream.
Wendell Phillips (1811-1884)
Christianity is an invitation to true living, and its
truth is only
endorsed by actual experience. When a man becomes a
committed
Christian, he sooner or later sees the falsity, the
illusions, and the
limitations of the humanist geocentric way of thinking. He
becomes
(sometimes suddenly, but more often gradually) aware of a
greatly
enhanced meaning in life and of a greatly heightened
personal
responsibility. Beneath the surface of things as they seem
to be, he
can discern a kind of cosmic conflict in which he is now
personally
and consciously involved. He has ceased to be a spectator
or a
commentator and a certain small part of the battlefield is
his alone.
He also becomes aware . . . of the forces ranged against
him.
J. B. Phillips (1906-1982)
Christianity is bread for daily use, not cake for special
occasions.
Christianity is more than a doctrine. It is Christ
himself.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968)
Christianity is more than a list of don'ts.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
Christianity is neither a creed nor a ceremonial, but life
vitally
connected with a loving Christ.
Josiah Strong (1847-1916)
Christianity is neither contemplation nor action. It is
participation.
Contemplation is looking at God as if he were an object.
But if you
participate in God in the sense that you let yourself be
penetrated by
him, you will go to the cross like him, you will go to
work like him,
you will clean shoes, do the washing up and the cooking,
all like him.
You cannot do otherwise because you will have become part
of him. You
will do what he loves to do.
Louis Evely (1910- )
Christianity is not "an idea in the air." It is
feet on the ground
going God's way.
Frederick W Brink
Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship.
Robert B. Thieme
Christianity is not devotion to work, or to a cause, or a
doctrine,
but devotion to a person, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Christianity is the good man's text; his life, the
illustration.
Joseph Parrish Thompson (1819-1879)
Christianity is the land of beginning again.
W. A. Criswell (1909- )
Christianity is the power of God in the soul of man.
Robert Boyd Munger (1910- )
Christianity isn't only going to church on Sunday. It is
living
twenty-four hours of every day with Jesus Christ.
Billy Graham (1918- )
Christianity seems at first to be all about morality, all
about duties
and rules and guilt and virtue, yet it leads you on, out
of all that,
into something beyond. One has a glimpse of a country
where they do
not talk of those things, except perhaps as a joke. Everyone
there is
filled full with what we should call goodness as a mirror
is filled
with light. But they do not call it goodness. They do not
call it
anything. They are not thinking of it. They are too busy
looking at
the source from which it comes.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
Christianity takes for granted the absence of any
self-help and offers
a power which is nothing less than the power of God.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Christianity taught men that love is worth more than
intelligence.
Jacques Maritain (1882-1973)
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and, if true,
of infinite
importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately
important.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
Christianity. We cannot speak against it without anger;
nor speak for
it without love.
Joseph Joubert (1754-1824)
Churchianity is an organization; Christianity is an
organism.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Civil society was renovated in every part by the teachings
of
Christianity. In the strength of that renewal, the human race
was
lifted up to better things. Nay, it was brought back from
death to
life.
Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903)
Critics often complain that, if the world is in its
present state
after nineteen centuries of Christianity, then it cannot
be a very
good religion. They make two mistakes. In the first place
Christianity-the real thing-has never been accepted on a
large scale
and has therefore never been in a position to control
"the state of
the world," though its influence has been far from
negligible. In the
second place, they misunderstand the nature of
Christianity. It is not
to be judged by its success or failure to reform the world
which
rejects it. It is a revelation of the true way of living,
the way to
know God, the way to live life of eternal quality.
J. B. Phillips (1906-1982)
Deity indwelling men! That, I say, is Christianity!
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Enemy-occupied territory-that is what this world is.
Christianity is
the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might
say landed in
disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great
campaign of
sabotage. When you go to church, you are really listening
in to the
secret wireless from our friends: that is why the enemy is
so anxious
to prevent us from going. He does it by playing on our
conceit and
laziness and intellectual snobbery.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
Evil repay with good, if wronged do no one slight,
Thank for ingratitude, that is the Christian life.
Angelus Silesius (1624-1677)
God has never had on his side a majority of men and women.
He does not
need a majority to work wonders in history, but he does
need a
minority fully committed to him and his purpose.
Ernest Fremont Tittle (1885-1949)
God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than of any
other slackers.
If you are thinking of becoming a Christian, I warn you
you are
embarking on something which is going to take the whole of
you, brains
and all. But, fortunately, it works the other way round.
Anyone who is
honestly trying to be a Christian will soon find his intelligence
being sharpened. One of the reasons why it needs no
special education
to be a Christian is that Christianity is an education
itself. That is
why an uneducated believer like Bunyan was able to write a
book that
has astonished the whole world.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
God's demands are so great that only he can supply what he
demands.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what
he cannot
lose.
Jim Elliot (1927-1956)
He who shall introduce into public affairs the principles
of primitive
Christianity will change the face of the world.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has
risen not only
because I see it but because by it I see everything else.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
I believe it to be a grave mistake to present Christianity
as
something charming and popular with no offense in it.
Dorothy Sayers (1893-1957)
I have now disposed of all my property to my family. There
is one
thing more I wish I could give them and that is the
Christian
religion. If they had that, and I had not given them one
shilling,
they would have been rich; and if they had not that, and I
had given
them all the world, they would be poor.
Patrick Henry (1736-1799)
I know some muddle-headed Christians have talked as if
Christianity
thought that sex, or the body, or pleasure, were bad in
themselves.
But they were wrong. Christianity is almost the only one
of the great
religions which thoroughly approves of the body-which
believes that
matter is good, that God himself once took on a human
body, that some
kind of body is going to be given to us even in heaven and
is going to
be an essential part of our happiness, our beauty, and our
energy.
Christianity has glorified marriage more than any other
religion; and
nearly all the greatest love poetry in the world has been
produced by
Christians.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
If Christianity has never disturbed us, we have not yet
learned what it is.
Sir William Temple (1628-1699)
If Christianity were small enough for our understanding,
it would not
be large enough for our needs.
In science we have been reading only the notes to a poem;
in
Christianity we find the poem itself.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
Is your Christianity ancient history or current events?
Samuel M. Shoemaker (1893-1963)
It is. . . startling to discover how many people there are
who
heartily dislike and despise Christianity without having
the faintest
notion what it is. If you tell them, they cannot believe
you. . . .
They simply cannot believe that anything so interesting,
so exciting,
and so dramatic can be the orthodox creed of the church.
Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957)
It is absurd to call Christianity a system of
nonresistance; the great
doctrine of Christianity is resistance "unto
blood" against sin.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
It is human to demand justice; it is Christian to give it.
It is human
to keep what one has; it is Christian to share it.
E. W. Cross
It is no fault of Christianity that a hypocrite falls into
sin.
It is unnatural for Christianity to be popular.
Billy Graham (1918- )
Jesus invited us, not to a picnic, but to a pilgrimage;
not to a
frolic, but to a fight. He offered us, not an excursion,
but an
execution. Our Savior said that we would have to be ready
to die to
self, sin, and the world.
Billy Graham (1918- )
Let us not be shocked by the suggestion that there are disadvantages
to the life in Christ. There most certainly are. Abel was
murdered,
Joseph was sold into slavery, Daniel was thrown into the
den of lions,
Stephen was stoned to death, Paul was beheaded, and a
noble army of
martyrs was put to death by various painful methods all
down the long
centuries. And where the hostility did not lead to such
violence (and
mostly it did not and does not) the sons of this world
nevertheless
managed to make it tough for the children of God in a
thousand cruel
ways.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Mother Teresa sees it differently. When I asked her once
what was the
difference, in her eyes, between the welfare services and
what her
Missionaries of Charity do, she said that welfare workers
do for an
idea, a social purpose, what she and the Missionaries of
Charity do
for a person. What we will do for a person is quite
different from
what we will do as a duty to the society we live in, or in
fulfillment
of a social idea or ideal.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
My chief reason for choosing Christianity was because the
mysteries
were incomprehensible. What's the point of revelation if
we could
figure it out ourselves? If it were wholly comprehensible,
then it
would be just another philosophy.
Mortimer Jerome Adler (1902- )
My experience is that Christianity dispels more mystery
than it
involves. With Christianity it is twilight in the world;
with out it, night.
Madame Anne Sophie Soymanov Swetchine (1782-1857)
No kingdom has ever had as many civil wars as the
Charles de Secondat Montesquieu (1689-1755)
One of the greatest attractions of Christianity to me is
its sheer
absurdity. I love all those crazy sayings in the New
Testament-which,
incidentally, turn out to be literally true-about how
fools and
illiterates and children understand what Jesus was talking
about
better than the wise, the learned, and the venerable;
about how the
poor; not the rich, are blessed, the meek, not the
arrogant, inherit
the earth, and the pure in heart, not the strong in mind,
see God.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
One of the marks of a certain type of bad man is that he
cannot give
up a thing himself without wanting every one else to give
it up. That
is not the Christian way. An individual Christian may see
fit to give
up all sorts of things for special reasons-marriage, or
meat, or beer;
or the cinema; but the moment he starts saying the things
are bad in
themselves, or looking down his nose at other people who
do use them,
he has taken the wrong turning.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
Prosperity has often been fatal to Christianity, but
persecution never.
Amish Bishop
Religion is humans trying to work their way to God through
good works.
Christianity is God coming to men and women through Jesus
Christ
offering them a relationship with himself.
Josh McDowell
The Christian faith has not been tried and found wanting.
It has been
found difficult and left untried.
G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
The Christian life is never automatic.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
The Christian life is not a way out, but a way through
life.
Billy Graham (1918- )
The Christian life is stamped all through with
impossibility. Human
nature cannot come anywhere near what Jesus Christ
demands, and any
rational being facing his demands honestly, says, "It
can't be done,
apart from a miracle." Exactly.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The Christian religion is like a vast cathedral with dimly
lighted
windows: standing without, you see no beauty nor can you
possibly
imagine any. Standing within, every ray of light reveals a
harmony of
splendor.
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)
The constant challenge in this life we call Christian is
the
translation of all we believe to be true into our
day-to-day
life-style.
Tim Hansel
The deeper Christian life . . . is the willingness to quit
trying to
use the Lord for our ends and to let him work in us for
his glory.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
The greatest test of Christianity is the wear and tear of
daily life.
It is like the shining of silver; the more it is rubbed
the brighter
it grows.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The primary declaration of Christianity is not "This
do!" but "This
happened!"
The purpose of Christianity is not to avoid difficulty,
but to produce
a character adequate to meet it when it comes. It does not
make life
easy; rather it tries to make us great enough for life.
James L. Christensen (1922- )
The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among
us. In its
stead are programs, methods, organizations, and a world of
nervous
activities which occupy time and attention.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
The Spirit-filled life is not a special, deluxe edition of
Christianity. It is part and parcel of the total plan of
God for his
people.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
There have been, and still are, religions which are
concerned with the
worship of a god or gods, but which have no influence on
man's
behavior toward man. Christianity is not like this. The
fact that the
infinite God focused himself in a man is the best proof
that God cares
about people. In the teaching of that man, Jesus Christ,
we find
repeated again and again, an insistence on love to God and
love to men
being inseparably linked. He violently denounced those who
divorced
religion from life. He had no use at all for those who put
up a screen
of elaborate ceremonial and long prayers, and exploited
their
fellowmen behind it.
J. B. Phillips (1906-1982)
There is no greater and more dangerous enemy of
Christianity than all
that makes it small and narrow.
Henri Huvelin (1838-1910)
There is no provision for a "privileged class"
in genuine Christianity.
J. B. Phillips (1906-1982)
There is simply no room for passivity in the Christian
faith. Life in
Christ is one long string of action verbs: grow . . .
praise . . .
love . . . learn . . . stretch . . . reach . . . put on .
. . put off
. . . press on . . . follow . . . hold . . . cleave . . .
run . . .
weep . . . produce . . . stand . . . fight.
Joni Eareckson Tada
To hold on to the plough while wiping our tears-this is
Christianity.
Watchman Nee (1903-1972)
To lift up the hands in prayer gives God glory, but a man
with a
dungfork in his hand, a woman with a slop pail, gives him
glory too.
He is so great that all things give him glory if you mean
they should.
Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889)
To the corruptions of Christianity I am indeed, opposed;
but not to
the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian in
the only
sense in which he wished anyone to be; sincerely attached
to his
doctrines in preference to all others; ascribing to
himself every
human excellence; and believing he never claimed any
other.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
To try to find a common ground between the message of the
cross and
man's fallen reason is to try the impossible, and if
persisted in must
result in an impaired reason, a meaningless cross, and a
powerless
Christianity.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Unless we love God we cannot love our neighbor; and,
correspondingly,
unless we love our neighbor we cannot love God. Once
again, there has
to be a balance; Christianity is a system of such balanced
obligations
-- to God and Caesar; to flesh and spirit, to God and our
neighbor and
so on. Happy the man who strikes the balance justly; to
its imbalance
are due most of our miseries and misfortunes, individual
as well as
collective.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
We do not have to give up our reason, our intelligence,
our knowledge,
our faculty to judge, nor our emotions, our likes, our
desires, our
instincts, our conscious and unconscious aspirations, but
rather to
place them all in God's hands, so that he may direct,
stimulate,
fertilize, develop, and use them.
Paul Tournier (1898-1986)
Whatever is benevolent is right; whatever is malevolent or
indifferent
is wrong. This is the radical simplicity of the gospel's
ethnic, even
though it can lead situationally to the most complicated,
headaching,
heartbreaking calculations and gray rather than black and
white
decisions.
Joseph Fletcher
A child of God should be a visible beatitude for joy and
happiness,
and a living doxology for gratitude and adoration.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
Being a Christian means taking risks: risking that our
love will be
rejected, misunderstood, or even ignored.
Rebecca Manley Pippert
Every Christian occupies some kind of pulpit and preaches
some kind of
sermon everyday.
A Christian has God's honor at stake.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
A Christian is a living sermon whether or not he preaches
a word.
A Christian is
a mind through which Christ thinks;
a heart through which Christ loves;
a voice through which Christ speaks;
a hand through which Christ helps.
A Christian is an oak flourishing in winter.
Thomas Traherne
(C. 1637-1674)
A Christian is never in a state of completion but always
in the
process of becoming.
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
A Christian is not one who withdraws but one who
infiltrates.
Bill Glass
A Christian is salt, and salt is the most concentrated
thing known.
Salt preserves wholesomeness and prevents decay. It is a
disadvantage
to be salt. Think of the action of salt on a wound. If you
get salt
into a wound, it hurts, and when God's children are
amongst those who
are "raw" toward God, their presence hurts. The
man who is wrong with
God is like an open wound, and when "salt" gets
in, it causes
annoyance and distress and he is spiteful and bitter. The
disciples of
Jesus preserve society from corruption; the
"salt" causes excessive
irritation which spells persecution for the saint.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
A Christian is someone who shares the sufferings of God in
the world.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)
A Christian is the keyhole through which other folk see
God.
Robert E. Gibson
A Christian is the most free of all, and subject to none;
a Christian
is the most dutiful servant of all, subject to everyone.
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
A Christian is what he is not by ecclesiastical
manipulation but by
the new birth. He is a Christian because of a Spirit which
dwells in him.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Many Christians expect the world to respect a book they
neglect.
No one can become a Christian on his own terms.
A Christian must get on his knees before he can get on his
feet.
Christians are the light of the world, but the switch must
be turned on.
To feel sorry for the needy is not the mark of a Christian
‑ to help them is.
The Christian who is pulling the oars doesn't have time to
rock the boat.
Christians may not see eye to eye, but they can walk arm
in arm.
We are not to consider ourselves Christians simply because
we think we are.
A Christian shows what he is by what he does with what he
has.
The true Christian is a person who is right‑side‑up
in a world that is upside‑down.
If people have to ask you if you're a Christian ‑
you're probably not.
Every Christian occupies some kind of a pulpit and
preaches some kind of a sermon every day.
A Christian must carry something heavier on his shoulder
than a chip.
There are a lot of Christians who haven't stored up enough
treasures to make a down‑payment on a harp.
A Christian is one who makes it easier for other people to
believe in God.
What most Christians need is fewer platitudes and better
attitudes.
A lukewarm Christian makes a good bench‑warmer but a
poor heart‑warmer.
It does not take much of a man to be a Christian, but it
takes all there is.
Happier faces are seen on bottles of iodine than on some
Christians.
What the world needs is not more Christianity but more
Christians who practice Christianity.
The Christian's walk and talk must go together.
A Christian has not lost the power to sin, but the desire
to sin.
Satan is never too busy to rock the cradle of a sleeping
Christian.
If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be
enough evidence to convict you?
A real Christian is as horrified by his own sins as he is
by his neighbor's.
There are some Christians who can't be called
"pilgrims" because they never make any progress.
An idle Christian is the raw material of which backsliders
are made.
Christians are like pianos ‑ grand, square, upright,
and no good unless in tune.
The Christian should learn two things about his tongue ‑
how to hold it and how to use it.
It's a little difficult to reconcile the creed of some
Christians with their greed.
Two marks of a Christian: giving and forgiving.
It's good to be a Christian and know it, but it's better
to be a Christian and show it.
Too many Christian soldiers fraternize with the enemy.
A few Christians give the impression they have been
baptized in vinegar.
No Christian is strong enough to carry a cross and a
prejudice at the same time.
Beware of a Christian with an open mouth and a closed
pocketbook.
A genuine Christian is like a good watch: he has an open
face, busy hands, is made of pure gold, is well‑regulated, and is full of
good
works.
A Christian is a mind through which Christ thinks, a heart
through which Christ loves, a voice through which Christ speaks, a hand
through which Christ helps.
When Christians feel safe and comfortable, the church is
in its greatest danger.
Some Christians who should be wielding the sword of the
Spirit are still tugging at the nursery bottle.
The cross is easier to the Christian who takes it up than
to the one who drags it along.
A Christian is like ripening corn: the riper he grows, the
lower he bows his head.
Every Christian should have two planks in his platform:
one is for what he will stand for; the other is for what he will not stand for.
A Christian is a living sermon, whether or not he preaches
a word.
No one is a Christian just because he goes to church, any
more than one is a calf because he drinks milk.
A Christian should live so that instead of being a part
of the world's problems he will be a part of the answer.
Some Christians have will power; others have won't power.
A Christian is not necessarily a man who is better than
someone else, but one who is better than he would be if he were not a
Christian.
Some Christians wish to be counted in, but not to be
counted on.
The Christian life is like an airplane ‑ when you
stop you drop!
Many churches are plagued with a lot of
"retired" Christians.
No garment is more becoming to a Christian than the cloak
of humility.
God is not only a present help in time of trouble. but
also a great help in keeping us out of trouble.
The knowledge, understanding, and appropriation of God's
Word are the means by which a Christian grows.
To feel sorry for the needy is not the mark of a Christian
‑ to help them is.
A wise man said that humility is Christian clothing. It
never goes out of style.
If some Christians knew as little about their jobs as they
do the Bible, they would have to be guided to their work benches every morning.
The weekend religion of some Christians is weak at both
ends, and unreliable between the two ends.
The Lord prepares a table for His children, but too many
of them are on a diet.
Nowadays we have sermonettes by preacherettes for
Christianettes.
Some people seem willing to do anything to become a
Christian except to give up their sins.
Many banks have a new kind of Christmas club in operation.
The new club helps you save money to pay for last year's gifts.
Nothing destroys the Christmas spirit faster than looking
for a place to park.
A Christian life based on feeling is headed for a gigantic
collapse.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
A Christian life is not an imitation but a reproduction of
the life of
Christ.
Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933)
A devout man . . . sets eternity against time; and chooses
rather to
be forever great in the presence of God when he dies than
to have the
greatest share of worldly pleasure while he lives.
William Law (1686-1761)
A genuine Christian is like a good watch. He has an open
face, busy
hands, is made of pure gold, is well-regulated, and is
full of good
works.
A God-intoxicated man.
Novalis (1772-1801)
A large measure of disappointment with God stems from
disillusionment
with other Christians.
Philip Yancey (1949- )
A maid, after she had been confirmed, was asked how she
knew she was a
Christian. "Because," she replied, "now I
do not sweep the dirt under
the rugs."
John H. Miller (1722-1791)
A man's spiritual health is exactly proportional to his
love for God.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
A real Christian is an odd number anyway. He feels supreme
love for
one whom he has never seen, talks familiarly every day to
someone he
cannot see, expects to go to heaven on the virtue of
another; empties
himself in order to be full, admits he is wrong so he can
be declared
right, goes down in order to get up, is strongest when he
is weakest,
richest when he is poorest, and happiest when he feels
worst. He dies
so he can live, forsakes in order to have, gives away so
he can keep,
sees the invisible, hears the inaudible, and knows that which
passes
knowledge.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
A vital fringe benefit of being a Christian is the
tremendous sense of
identity that grows out of knowing Jesus Christ.
James C. Dobson (1936- )
As his child, you are entitled to his kingdom,
The warmth, the peace, and the power of his presence,
The wisdom, the insight, and the guidance of his Spirit,
The goodness, the joy, and every supreme expression of his
love.
Be to the world a sign that while we as Christians do not
have all the
answers, we do know and care about the questions.
Billy Graham (1918- )
Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous
conversion-it is
a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like
Christ.
Billy Graham (1918- )
Christ cannot live his life today in this world without
our mouth,
without our eyes, without our going and coming, without
our heart.
When we love, it is Christ loving through us. This is
Christianity.
Leon Joseph Suenens (1904- )
Christ chose an image that was familiar when he said to
his disciples:
"You are the salt of the earth." This was his
conception of their
mission-their influence. They were to cleanse and sweeten
the world in
which they lived, to keep it from decay, and to give a new and more
wholesome flavor to human existence. Their characters were
not to be
passive, but active. There is no use in saving salt for
heaven. It
will not be needed there. Its mission is to permeate,
season, and
purify things on earth.
Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933)
Christian, are you a fool? You trust eternity
Yet cling with body and soul to temporality.
Angelus Silesius (1624-1677)
Christians can be like a sack of marbles-unfeeling,
unloving, just
clacking against each other as they go through life. Or;
they can be
caring people-like a sack of grapes pressing together to
provide a
soft loving place to cushion and comfort each other from
the hard
crushes of life.
Charles R. Swindoll (1934- )
Christians may not see eye to eye, but they should walk
arm in arm.
Christians must see and hear something for themselves if
they are to
escape religious stultification. Effete catchwords cannot
save them.
Meanings are expressed in words, but it is one of the
misfortunes of
life that words tend to persist long after their meanings
have
departed with the result that thoughtless men and women
believe they
have the reality because they have the word for it.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Christians often ignore any thought of walking by the
Spirit because
they think they are not good enough. Their life is too
filled with
fleshly struggles. But that's like refusing to accept
medicine until
you get well and feel worthy of it!
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
Christians should be in the vanguard. The
the most universal body in the world today. All we need to
do is truly
obey the One we rightly worship. But to obey will mean to
follow. And
he lives among the poor and oppressed, seeking justice for
those in
agony.
Ronald J. Sider
Dost thou see a soul with the image of God in him? Love
him, love him.
Say to thyself, "This man and I must go to heaven
together someday."
John Bunyan (1628-1688)
Every believer is God's miracle.
Philip James Bailey (1816-1902)
Faith makes a Christian; life proves a Christian; trials
confirm a
Christian; and death crowns a Christian.
Johann Georg Christian Hopfner (1765-1827)
Fearless devotion to Jesus Christ ought to mark the saint
today, but
more often it is devotion to our set that marks us. We are
more
concerned about being in agreement with Christians than
about being in
agreement with God.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Following Christ is a hard, rugged life. There is nothing
easy or
sissy about it.
Billy Graham (1918- )
For the Christian, to do wrong, is to wound his Friend.
William Temple (1881-1944)
God calls us to live a life we cannot live, so that we
must depend on
him for supernatural ability. We are called to do the
impossible, to
live beyond our natural ability.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
God entrusted his reputation to ordinary people. Yet in
some way
invisible to us, those ordinary people filled with the
Spirit are
helping to restore the universe to its place under the
reign of God.
At our repentance, the angels rejoice. By our prayers,
mountains are
moved.
Philip Yancey (1949- )
Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than
going to a
garage makes you an automobile.
Billy Sunday (1862-1935)
How long does it take to become a Christian? A moment-and
a lifetime.
Louis Cassels (1922-1974)
If a man cannot be a Christian in the place where he is,
he cannot be
a Christian anywhere.
Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887)
If Christ lives in us, controlling our personalities, we
will leave
glorious marks on the lives we touch. Not because of us
but because of
him.
Eugenia Price (1916- )
If you accept this gospel and become Christ's man, you
will stumble on
wonder upon wonder; and every wonder true.
Brendan (C. 486-578)
If you are trying to be a Christian, it is a sure sign you
are not
one.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be
enough evidence to convict you?
David Otis Fuller
It is a bad world, an incredibly bad world. But I have
discovered in
the midst of it a quiet and holy people who have learned a
great
secret. They have found a joy which is a thousand times
better than
any pleasure of our sinful life. They are despised and
persecuted, but
they care not. They are masters of their souls. They have
overcome the
world. These people are the Christians-and I am one of
them.
Saint Cyprian (200-258)
It is an interesting thing that when he wants to get up,
the Christian
always starts down, for God's way is always down, even
though that is
contrary to common sense. It is also contrary to the
finest wisdom on
the earth, because the foolish things of God are wiser
than anything
on this earth.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
It is one thing to go through a crisis grandly, and another
thing to
go through every day glorifying God when there is no
witness, no
limelight, no one paying the remotest attention to us.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
It is strange that we rarely notice the other side of this
truth: that
God also visits his children with the usual problems
common to all the
sons of men. The Christian will feel the heat on a
sweltering day; the
cold will bite into his skin as certainly as into that of
his unsaved
neighbor; he will be affected by war and peace, booms, and
depressions, without regard to his spiritual state. To
believe
otherwise is to go beyond the Scriptures and to falsify
the experience
of the saints in every age.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
It may be all right for angels to spend their time in
visions and
meditation, but if I am a Christian, I find God in the
ordinary
occurrences of my life.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Let not it be imagined that the life of a good Christian
must be a
life of melancholy and gloominess; for he only resigns
some pleasures
to enjoy others infinitely better.
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
Look in, and see
Christ's chosen saint
In triumph wear his Christlike chain;
No fear lest he should swerve or faint;
His life is Christ, his death is gain.
John Keble (1792-1866)
Many Christians are staking their reputations on church
attendance,
religious activity, social fellowship, sessions of
singing-because in
all of these things they are able to lean on one another.
They spend a
lot of time serving as religious props for one another in
Christian
circles.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Many of us who profess to be Christians are so busy with
the mechanics
of our religion that we have no time left for the
spiritual part of it.
William B. Martin
Mediocre-most Christians are mediocre!
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Most Christians would be better pleased if the Lord did
not inquire
into their personal affairs too closely. They want him to
save them,
keep them happy, and take them to heaven at last, but not
to be too
inquisitive about their conduct or service.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from
our
unwillingness to take God as he is and adjust our lives
accordingly.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Now that I am a Christian I do have moods in which the
whole thing
looks very improbable; but when I was an atheist, I had
moods in which
Christianity looked terribly probable.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
Once you say the yes of faith to Jesus and accept his blueprint
for
the fullness of life, the whole world can no longer
revolve around
you, your needs, your gratifications; you'll have to
revolve around
the world, seeking to bandage its wounds, loving dead men
into life,
finding the lost, wanting the unwanted, and leaving far
behind all the
selfish, parasitical concerns which drain our time and
energies.
John Powell
Our greatest need today is not more Christianity but more
true
Christians. The world can argue against Christianity as an
institution, but there is no convincing argument against a
person who,
through the Spirit of God, has been made Christlike.
Billy Graham (1918- )
Our Lord calls to no special work; he calls to himself.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
People who think that once they are converted all will be
happy, have
forgotten Satan.
(D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981)
Pliny: I will banish thee. Christian: Thou canst not, for
the whole
world is my Father's house. Pliny: I will slay thee.
Christian: Thou
canst not, for my life is hid with Christ in God. Pliny: I
will take
away thy treasures. Christian: Thou canst not, for my
treasure is in
heaven. Pliny: I will drive thee away from men, and thou
wilt have no
friends. Christian: Thou canst not, for I have a Friend
from whom thou
canst never separate me.
(Pliny The Elder (23-79)
Remember who your ruler is. Don't forget his daily
briefing.
(Carl F. H. Henry (1913- )
So many people think themselves no longer capable to be
Christians
because they are unchaste, weak, and backsliding. But in
fact there is
a far greater number of people who will never be
Christians because
they think themselves just, honorable, and pure.
(Louis Evely (1910-
)
Some Christians are like candles: they glow with a warmth
that draws
people to them. Then again, you have the flashlight sort
of believers
who seem to be able to look right through you. Christians
with the
gift of teaching remind me of reliable, steady light
bulbs-dispelling
darkness, showing things for what they truly are. Then
there are the
laser-types, cutting right through the tomfoolery and
getting things
done. Searchlight people have a way of leading others out
of darkness
and guiding and directing them back to safety.
Joni Eareckson Tada
Some churches seem filled with people who can tell you the
day and the
hour of their conversion but who live as if God were dead.
(Richard Owen Roberts (1931- )
Some seem to think our Lord said, "You are the sugar
of the earth,"
meaning that gentleness and winsomeness without
curativeness is the
ideal of the Christian.
(Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Take the case of a sour old maid, who is a Christian, but
cantankerous. On the other hand, take some pleasant and
popular
fellow, but who has never been to church. Who knows how
much more
cantankerous the old maid might be if she were not a
Christian, and
how much more likeable the nice fellow might be if he were
a
Christian? You can't judge Christianity simply by comparing
the
product in those two people; you would need to know what
kind of raw
material Christ was working on in both cases.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
The assured Christian is more motion than notion, more
work than word,
more life than lip, more hand than tongue.
Thomas Benton Brooks (1608-1680)
The average Christian these days is a harmless enough
thing. God
knows. He is a child wearing with considerable
self-consciousness the
harness of the warrior; he is a sick eaglet that can never
mount up
with wings; he is a spent pilgrim who has given up the
journey and
sits with a waxy smile trying to get what pleasure he can
from
sniffing the wilted flowers he has plucked by the way.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
The best tests of my Christian growth occur in the mainstream
of life,
not in the quietness of my study.
Charles R. Swindoll (1934- )
The Christian is not one who has gone all the way with
Christ. None of
us has. The Christian is one who has found the right road.
Charles L. Allen (1913- )
The Christian is strong or weak depending upon how closely
he has
cultivated the knowledge of God.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
The Christian should resemble a fruit tree, not a
Christmas tree! For
the gaudy decorations of a Christmas tree are only tied
on, whereas
fruit grows on a fruit tree.
John R. W. Stott (1921- )
The Christian who has the smile of God needs no status
symbols.
Leonard Ravenhill (1867-1942)
The initiative of the saint is not toward
self-realization, but toward
knowing Jesus Christ. The spiritual saint never believes
circumstances
to be haphazard, or thinks of his life as secular and
sacred; he sees
everything he is dumped down in as the means of securing
the knowledge
of Jesus Christ.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The man who is poor in spirit is the man who has realized
that things
mean nothing, and that God means everything.
William Barclay (1907-1978)
The ordinary Christian knows and understands more about
life than the
greatest philosopher who is not a Christian.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981)
The people of God are not merely to mark time, waiting for
God to step
in and set right all that is wrong. Rather; they are to
model the new
heaven and new earth, and by so doing awaken longings for
what God
will someday bring to pass.
Philip Yancey (1949- )
The Scriptures give four names to Christians-saints, for
their
holiness; believers, for their faith; brethren, for their
love;
disciples for their knowledge.
Andrew Fuller (1754-1815)
The servant of God has a good master.
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
The ship's place is in the sea, but God pity the ship when
the sea
gets into it. The Christian's place is in the world, but
God pity the
Christian if the world gets the best of him.
The way we act behind the wheel is far more indicative of
our walk
with God than the way we act praying in a pew or smiling
over a
well-marked Bible.
Charles R. Swindoll (1934- )
The well-defined spiritual life is not only the highest
life, but it
is also the most easily lived. The whole cross is more easily
carried
than the half. It is the man who tries to make the best of
both worlds
who makes nothing of either. And he who seeks to serve two
masters
misses the benediction of both. But he who has taken his
stand, who
has drawn a boundary-line sharp and deep about his
religious life, who
has marked off all beyond as forever forbidden ground to
him, finds
the yoke easy and the burden light. For this forbidden
environment
comes to be as if it were not. . . . And the balm of death
numbing his
lower nature releases him for the scarce disturbed
communion of a
higher life. So even here to die is gain.
Henry Drummond (1851-1897)
The world does need changing, society needs changing, the
nation needs
changing, but we never will change it until we ourselves
are changed.
Billy Graham (1918- )
The world is glad of an excuse not to listen to the gospel
message,
and the inconsistencies of Christians is made the excuse.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The world says, "What can't be cured must be
endured." Christians say,
"What can't be cured can be enjoyed."
Joni Eareckson Tada
There are many who agree with God in principle but not in
practice.
Richard Owen Roberts (1931- )
There are religious sects whose witnesses are willing to
go to jail,
to be pushed around, to be lampooned for the sake of a
miserable,
twisted doctrine! But in our Christian ranks, we prefer to
be
respectable and smooth.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
There is a division as high as heaven and as deep as hell
between the
Christian and the world.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
There is nothing so refreshing as to watch a new Christian
before he
has heard too many sermons and watched too many
Christians.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
We are called to be God's transmitters, to be completely
separated
from all thoughts which are contrary to his thinking, so
that we may
transmit his thoughts to others.
Hannah Hurnard (1905-1990)
We are never sure where a true Christian may be found. One
thing we do
know: the more like Christ he is, the less likely it will
be that a
newspaper reporter will be seeking him out.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
We are not criticized for being Christians, but for not
being
Christian enough.
Leon Joseph Suenens (1904- )
We are not evangelicals, or fundamentalists, or
charismatics, or
ecumenists, or Catholics, or Protestants; we are children
of God.
Stephen D. Watkins
We don't have to be super saints, just thirsty sinners.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
We get no deeper into Christ than we allow him to get into
us.
John Henry Jowett (1864-1923)
We must not think of ourselves as ordinary people. We are
not natural
men; we are born again. God has given us his Holy Spirit.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981)
We often find that we were better persons just after our
conversion
than we are after many years of being a Christian. Every
day that
passes should make us more like Christ, but we tend to
grow cooler
rather than warmer.
Thomas A Kempis (C. 1380-1471)
We were chaff, now we are wheat;
We were dross, now we are gold;
We were ravens, now we are sheep;
We were thorns, now we are grapes;
We were thistles, now we are lilies;
We were strangers, now we are citizens;
We were harlots, now we are virgins;
Hell was our inheritance, now heaven is our possession;
We were children of wrath, now we are sons of mercy;
We were bondslaves to Satan, now we are heirs of God and
co-heirs
with Jesus Christ.
James Bisse
What gets me into the kingdom, from Christ's own statement,
is not
saying, "Lord, Lord," but acting "Lord,
Lord."
Jim Elliot (1927-1956)
What, dear Clement, is a Christian to do when we have so
much that we
feel so little need of Christ.
Calvin Miller
When Christians meet . . . to take counsel together, their
purpose is
not-or should not be-to ascertain what is the mind of the
majority,
but what is the mind of the Holy Spirit-something which
may be quite
different.
Margaret Hilda Thatcher (1925- )
When Christians say the Christ-life is in them, they do
not mean
simply something mental or moral. When they speak of being
"in Christ"
or of Christ being "in them," this is not simply
a way of saying that
they are thinking about Christ or copying him. They mean
that Christ
is actually operating through them; that the whole mass of
Christians
are the physical organism through which Christ acts-that
we are his
fingers and muscles, the cells of his body.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
When the world is at its worst, Christians must be at
their best.
Proverb
You are the light of the world, but the switch must be
turned on.
Austin Alexander Lewis
You cannot have Christian principles without Christ.
Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957)
[Christians] don't work in order to go to heaven; they
work because
they are going to heaven. Arrogance and fear are replaced
with
gratitude and joy.
Max L. Lucado (1955- )
Christmas is a race to see which gives out first ‑
your money or your feet.
The Christmas season is only as meaningful as we make it.
Christmas carolers sing about peace on earth, but they
don't tell us where.
Can you remember when Christmas was so simple that one
Santa Claus could work an entire town?
What most of us want for Christmas is the day after.
Anyone who thinks Christmas doesn't last all year doesn't
have a charge account.
About all you can do is dream of a white Christmas, for it
seems like it always leaves most of us in the red.
The average couple splits the Christmas chores. She signs
the cards and he signs the checks.
Christmas shopping should include buying toys for the
children that their father would enjoy playing with.
Last year a big store in
Christmas is a time when everybody wants his past
forgotten and his present remembered.
Always mail your Christmas gift early. It will give the
receiver time to reciprocate.
Christmas is the time of the year when Santa Claus comes down
the chimney and your savings go down the drain.
When we throw out the Christmas tree we should be
especially careful not to throw out the Christmas spirit with it.
Christmas holidays mean: anticipation, preparation, recreation,
prostration, and recuperation.
A Christmas shopper's complaint is one of long‑standing.
Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of the Prince of
Peace by giving our kids rockets, machine guns, atom‑bomb kits, and
tanks.
Perhaps the best Yuletide decoration is being wreathed in
smiles.
It's a soul‑stirring experience to hear Yule
carolers standing in a
The way you spend Christmas is far more important than how
mach.
One thing about Christmas shopping ‑ it toughens you
up for the January sales.
Let's all have an old‑fashioned Christmas this year,
but not the kind that comes in bottles.
At Christmas most parents spend more money on their
children than they did on the honeymoon that started it all.
A father's biggest difficulty at Christmas time is
convincing the children that he is Santa Claus and his wife that he is not.
A family in
Christmas holidays ‑ the man of the house is showing
colored slides of his cancelled checks.
On Christmas Eve Santa carries the bag. After Christmas
dad is holding it.
"Good Will Toward Men" is the spice in the
Christmas season.
Christmas is a time for exchanging a lot of things you can't
afford for a lot of things you don't want.
One of the nice things about Christmas is that you can
make people forget the past with a present.
God shocked the world with a babe, not a bomb.
Why does Christmas always come just when the stores are so
crowded?
Show me an unemployed Santa, and I'll show you a ho-ho
hobo!
An unbreakable Christmas toy is one that's guaranteed to
last through the New Year.
This year Americans are planning the biggest Christmas
they ever charged.
The battle of Christmas shopping is a time when the
casualty list grows in the War on Poverty.
When you pay twenty‑five dollars for a Christmas
tree, you've been trimmed more than the tree has.
Many a parent sighs for the "good old days" when
a stocking could hold what a child wanted for Christmas.
The Christmas season reminds us that a demonstration of
religion is often better than a definition of it.
Christmas shoppers are people with the "brotherly
shove."
Smart kids will be hanging up stretch stockings next
Christmas.
Christmas is the time of year when both trees and husbands
get trimmed. Sometimes both get lit up too.
You might as well do your Christmas hinting early.
Christmas is a time for sportsmanship because we don't
always get everything we want.
We feel close to everybody at Christmas ‑especially
on a bus.
What many a store clerk gets for Christmas is an ulcer.
The Christmas spirit that goes out with the dried‑up
Christmas tree is just as worthless.
There have always been some Christmas stockings that
provided Santa with a few problems, but one wonders about his reaction to
panty hose!
The exchange of Christmas gifts ought to be reciprocal
rather than retaliatory.
Keeping Christmas is good, but sharing it with others is
much better.
The best Christmas gift of all is the presence of a happy
family all wrapped up with one another.
Christmas is a time when a lot of others besides Santa
find themselves in the red.
Christmas is when you buy this year's gifts with next
year's money.
"Where is the church at 11:25 on Monday
morning?" The church then is
in the dentist's office, in the automobile sales room and
repair shop,
and out in the truck. It is in the hospital, in the
classroom, and in
the home. It is in the offices, insurance, law, real
estate, whatever
it is. That is where the church is, wherever God's people
are. They
are doing what they ought to be doing. They are honoring
God, not just
while they worship in a building but out there.
Arthur H. DeKruyter (1926- )
A Christian church is a body or collection of persons,
voluntarily
associated together, professing to believe what Christ
teaches, to do
what Christ enjoins, to imitate his example, cherish his
spirit, and
make known his gospel to others.
R. E. Sample
A man who is immersed in business all week should come up
for a breath of fresh air on Sunday ‑ at church.
Children brought up in Sunday school are seldom brought up
in court.
When Christians feel safe and comfortable, the church is
in its greatest danger.
The man who says he's just as good as half the folks in
the church seldom specifies which half.
Many churches are plagued with a lot of "retired"
Christians.
Church is where you go to find out what your neighbors should
do to lead better lives.
Many church services today are marked by lameness,
tameness, and sameness.
It's disconcerting to fall asleep in church and have a fly
buzz into one's open mouth.
Every church has all the success it prays for and pays
for.
A fortune awaits the person who will design a church
building without any front pews.
The church offers you something you simply can't get
elsewhere.
Not many people are attracted to churches which are as
cold as ice or by preachers who are as dry as dust.
Sign on a church bulletin board in
The less religion a church has, the more ice cream and
cake it takes to keep it going.
All churches grow old, but some never grow up.
A church that is not reaching out is passing out.
The church needs workers, not a wrecking crew.
It is easy to lose interest in the church if you have
never made an investment in it.
One place where people seem to think they can get as much
as ever for a quarter is in the church.
What the church needs is more men who talk less and work
more.
The business of the church is to get rid of evil, not to
supervise it.
A cold church is like cold butter ‑ never spreads
very well.
Sign on a church lawn in
Separation of church and state could hardly be more
complete. The church teaches that money isn't everything, and the government
keeps telling us it is.
The church cannot afford the luxury of loafing.
If the church neglects the children, it is certain the
children will neglect the church.
Some churches seem to be sound in doctrine, but they are
also sound asleep.
Did you know that the church is a workshop and not a
dormitory?
A nodding congregation may or may not mean assent to what
the preacher is saying.
When the church ceases to be in touch with another world,
it is no longer in touch with this world.
The great task of the church is not only to get sinners
into heaven, but to get saints out of bed.
Sign in front of a
Too many churches have become distribution points for
religious aspirin.
All church buildings should be air‑conditioned; it
is unhealthy to sleep in a stuffy room.
What the church needs today is more calloused hands and
fewer calloused hearts.
The carriers and the carried are in every church.
You need the church, the church needs you, the world needs
both.
If the church were perfect, you could not belong.
Sign outside a
Don't stay away from the church because you have the idea that
there are too many hypocrites in it. There's always room for one more.
If you make the church important, it is quite likely to
return the favor.
The collection is a church function in which many people
take only a passing interest.
We are sometimes so interested in creating the machinery
of the church that we let the fire go out in the boiler.
When the churches discover they can't successfully
compete with the theater, perhaps they will try religion again.
Don't knock your church ‑ it may have improved
since the last time you were there.
The church is a building and loan association to help you
build a mansion in heaven.
Many churches are now serving coffee after the sermon.
Presumably this is to get the people thoroughly awake before they start to
drive home.
Sign on a church bulletin board in
how you do it."
Many folks think that what the church has is for somebody
else.
The church will improve when its members improve.
Church is a place where you can meet old friends you never
saw before.
The church does not necessarily consist of the good, but
of those who want to be better and do better.
Notice in a church bulletin: "The Lord loveth a
cheerful giver. He also accepteth from a grouch."
The church is paralyzed with timidity and gradually dying
of dignity.
If the church is ever to get on its feet, it must get on
its knees.
The church of today is an institution supported largely
by the husbands of its members.
It seems that our modern churches are full of willing
people; some are willing to work, and others are willing to let them.
Announcement on the bulletin board of a church in
How often have you met a critic of the church who tried to
make it better?
When someone says he diets religiously, he probably means
he doesn't eat anything while in church.
Your faith gets a real test when you find yourself in
church with nothing less than a twenty dollar bill in your wallet.
The way some people give, you would think the church is
coin‑operated.
One reason we have so many pennies in the church
collection basket is because we have no smaller coins.
Many people give a tenth to the Lord ‑ a tenth of
what they ought to give.
From the amount that some people give to the Lord, they
must be positive that it's the little things that count.
Support the church with your money. You can't take it with
you, but you can send it on ahead.
Some people will bring a hymnbook or a prayer book ‑
but not a pocketbook to church.
If it rained dollar bills, some people would try to get
one changed before going to church.
A really good golfer is one who goes to church on Sunday
first.
Golf is a wonderful game ‑ for one thing it keeps
men from falling asleep in church on Sunday mornings.
The surest steps toward happiness are the church steps.
Every human being should have three homes: a domestic
home, a church home, and an eternal home.
It's funny how a dollar can look so big when you take it
to church and so small when you take it to the supermarket.
Anybody who thinks there's a shortage of coins hasn't been
to church lately.
The woman who starts putting on her shoes when the
preacher says, "And now in conclusion," is a real optimist.
Perfect poise is not looking self‑conscious in the
front pew.
If you gave the same amount of time to your work as you do
your church, how long would you hold your job?
Many people spend the first six days of each week sowing
wild oats ‑ then go to church on Sunday and pray for a crop failure.
The world at its worst needs the church at its best.
A place of worship should be of such character that it
will be easy for men to find God and difficult for them to forget Him.
Blessed is the man who can hear his alarm clock on Sunday
as well as on Monday.
An empty tomb proves Christianity; an empty church denies
it.
No one is a Christian just because he goes to church, any
more than one is a calf because he drinks milk.
No one is too bad to go to church; neither is anyone good
enough to stay away.
Everybody has to be somewhere, so how about being at
church next Sunday?
Sign on a church lawn in
It seems that some people refuse to come to the front of
the church unless escorted by pallbearers.
One reason it's often difficult to coax men to go to
church is that men aren't interested in what other men are wearing.
Many come to church to bring their new clothes rather than
themselves.
The great task of the church is not only to get sinners
into heaven, but to get saints out of bed.
The church service is not a convention to which a family
should merely send a delegate.
If you would like to hear all about the troubles in the
church, ask someone who hasn't been there for several months.
The most expensive piece of furniture in the church is the
empty pew.
Sign outside a
Sign outside a church in
Many people go to church; fewer go to worship.
A man may attend church services regularly, but this does
not necessarily mean he attends religiously.
Every person ought to go to church occasionally to get
away from himself.
Some people go to church to see who didn't.
Church attendance is determined more by desire than by
distance.
The automobile does not take people away from the church
against their will.
Judging by church attendance, heaven won't be crowded with
men.
Perhaps you had never thought of going to church as a
beauty treatment, but it is a wonderful way to get your faith lifted.
Some are late for church service because they have to
change a tire; others, because they have to change a dollar.
Many people who demand a front seat in a night club try to
even things up by taking a back seat in church.
Depressions, funerals, weddings, and covered‑dish
suppers keep most people attending church regularly.
Your willful absence from church is a vote to close its
doors.
Too many men who talk of finding God in nature rather than
in church go hunting for Him with rod or gun.
Some folk's churchgoing is like ice cream ‑it
disappears when the weather gets hot.
If absence makes the heart grow fonder, some church
members are deeply in love with the church.
On December 22, 1977, the following sign appeared in a
If a church member expects to answer when the roll is
called up yonder, he had better be present when the roll is called down here.
No person can fully and completely discharge his debt to
Almighty God, but surely he can make regular payments on it.
There are some whose faith is not strong enough to bring
them to church services, but they expect it to take them to heaven.
Religious freedom is the right of each individual to
attend the church of his choice, or go fishing.
More time in God's house will bring better times in our
house.
A religion that won't take you to church services on
Sunday certainly won't take you to heaven when you die.
Blessed is the man whose watch keeps church time as well
as business time.
Church membership is not necessarily an elevator to
heaven.
Church membership is now at an all‑time high; but so
is political and social corruption.
Many churches today gain more members by generation than
by regeneration.
Some church members are so introverted they can't even
lead a silent prayer.
There are four classes of church members: the tired, the
retired, the tiresome, and the tireless.
The undertaker is the only person who ought to take names
off the church roll.
Church members are stockholders in the church, not merely
spectators.
Judging by the way some church members live, they need
fire insurance.
A sickly saint is likely to be a healthy hypocrite.
When a church member rests, he rusts.
"Not good if detached" is true of church members
as well as railroad tickets.
It is far better to be a weak church member than a strong
sinner.
Too many church members have "teflon minds" ‑
nothing seems to stick.
Did you hear about the church member who attends church
occasionally to discount his blessings?
There are still a few church members who are like the
farmer's pond ‑ dried up in the summer and frozen in the winter.
There are two kinds of people in your church: those who
agree with you and the bigots.
A lot of church members know the twenty‑third psalm
much better than they know the Shepherd.
The inactive church member is of no more use than a corpse
‑ and takes up more room.
Some church members are like wheelbarrows ‑ they go
only when they are pushed.
Many church members could appropriately begin all church
services by singing, "Nothing in my hand I bring."
It seems that some church members have been starched and
ironed, but not all have been washed.
Many churches have three kinds of members: pickers,
kickers, and stickers.
Have you noticed that some church members are like
balloons ‑ full of wind and ready to blow up at any time!
Why is it that so many church members who say "Our
Father" on Sunday go around the rest of the week acting like orphans?
A great many church members are in the salvation train,
but too many of them are traveling in the sleeper.
There are a few church members who may be described as the
farmer described his mule: "Awfully backward about going forward."
Some church members are like footballs you never know
which way they'll bounce.
Church members who need defrosting should hear a few
"red‑hot" sermons.
Some church members are like a tire with a slow leak ‑
it takes a lot of pumping to keep them inflated.
Many church members have enough religion to make them
decent but not enough to make them dynamic.
Beware of the church member with an open mouth and a
closed pocketbook.
No sooner is a temple built to God, but the Devil builds a
chapel
hard by.
A church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for
saints.
L. L. Nash
A church that is soundly rooted cannot be destroyed, but
nothing can
save a church whose root is dried up. No stimulation, no
advertising
campaigns, no gifts of money and no beautiful edifice can
bring back
life to the rootless tree.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
All our Lord succeeded in doing during his life on earth
was to gather
together a group of fishermen-the whole
enterprise of our Lord on earth in a fishing boat!
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
An inscription over a church door: This is the house of
God. This is
the gate of heaven. (This door is locked in the winter
months).
As long as you notice, and have to count the steps, you
are not yet
dancing but only learning to dance. A good shoe is a shoe
you don't
notice. Good reading becomes possible when you need not
consciously
think about eyes, or light, or print, or spelling. The
perfect church
service would be one we were almost unaware of; our
attention would
have been on God.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
Before the service speak to God. During the service let
God speak to
you. After the service speak with your neighbor.
Biblically the church is an organism not an organization-a
movement,
not a monument. It is not a part of the community; it is a
whole new
community. It is not an orderly gathering; it is a new
order with new
values, often in sharp conflict with the values of the
surrounding
society.
Charles Colson (1931- )
Big doesn't necessarily mean better.
Sunflowers aren't better than violets.
Edna Ferber (1887-1968)
Church unity is internal; church union, external. The
former is the
result of spiritual and organic growth; the latter is to a
great
extent the product of the organizing activity of men.
Louis Berkhof (1873-1957)
Church-goers are like coals in a fire. When they cling
together, they
keep the flame aglow; when they separate, they die out.
Billy Graham (1918- )
Church: the only place where someone speaks to me . . .
and I do not
have to answer back.
Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970)
Churches: Soulariums
P. K. Thomajan
Every time I pass a church
I stop in for a visit,
So when I'm carried in
The Lord won't say,
"Who is it?"
God fully expects the church of Jesus Christ to prove
itself a
miraculous group in the very midst of a hostile world.
Christians of
necessity must be in contact with the world but in being
and spirit
ought to be separated from the world-and as such, we
should be the
most amazing people in the world.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
God never intended his church to be a refrigerator in
which to
preserve perishable piety. He intended it to be an
incubator in which
to hatch converts.
F. Lincicome
I like the silent church before the service begins better
than any
preaching.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
I love thy church, O God!
Her walls before thee stand,
Dear as the apple of thine eye,
And graven on thy hand.
Timothy Dwight (1752-1817)
If after kirk ye bide a wee,
There's some would like to speak to ye;
If after kirk ye rise and flee,
We'll all seem cold and stiff to ye.
The one that's in the seat wi' ye,
Is stranger here than you, may be;
All here hae got their fears and cares-
Add you your soul unto our prayers;
Be you our angel unawares.
If the person who doesn't attend church because hypocrites
do were
consistent, he wouldn't attend anything.
Olin Miller
In her voyage across the ocean of this world, the church
is like a
great ship being pounded by the waves of life's different
stresses.
Our duty is not to abandon ship but to keep her on her
course.
Saint Boniface (680-C. 754)
In the average church service the most real thing is the
shadowy
unreality of everything. The worshiper sits in a state of
suspended
mentation; a kind of dreamy numbness creeps upon him; he
hears words,
but they do not register, he cannot relate them to
anything on his own
life level. . . . It does not affect anything in his
everyday life. He
is aware of no power, no presence, no spiritual reality.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
In the
avoided: they are a cold heart and a hot head.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
In what strange quarries and stoneyards the stones for the
celestial
wall are being hewn! Out of the hillsides of humiliated
pride; deep in
the darkness of crushed despair; in the fretting and dusty
atmosphere
of little cares; in the hard cruel contacts that man has
with man;
wherever souls are being tried and ripened, in whatever
commonplace
and homely ways-there God is hewing out the pillars for
his temple.
Phillips Brooks (1835-1893)
It is not with the motes from one's neighbor's eye that
the house of
God can be built, but with the beams that one takes out of
one's own.
André Gide (1869-1951)
It is scarcely possible in most places to get anyone to
attend a
meeting where the only attraction is God. One can only
conclude that
God's professed children are bored with him, for they must
be wooed to
meeting with a stick of striped candy in the form of
religious movies,
games, and refreshments.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
It matters not how spiritual a church may profess to be,
if souls are
not saved, something is radically wrong, and the professed
spirituality is simply a false experience, a delusion of
the devil.
People who are satisfied to meet together simply to have a
good time
among themselves are far away from God. Real spirituality
always has
an outcome.
Oswald J. Smith (B. 1889)
It may take a crucified church to bring a crucified Christ
before the
eyes of the world.
William E. Orchard (1877-1955)
It seems to me a significant, if not a positively ominous,
thing that
the words program and programming occur so frequently in
the language
of the church these days.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Market-driven churches? Whatever happened to gospel-driven
churches?
Walter B. Shurden
Mrs. Chapman had her church for supper Monday evening.
Much of the church is caught up in the success mania of
American
society. Often more concerned with budgets and building
programs than
with the body of Christ, the church places more emphasis
on growth
than on repentance. Suffering, sacrifice, and service have
been
preempted by success and self-fulfillment.
Charles Colson (1931- )
Never before has the church had so many degrees yet so
little
temperature.
Vance Havner
No church or other association truly thrives unless
struggles and
differences are alive within it.
George Macaulay Trevelyan (1876-1962)
No other organization on the face of the earth is charged
with the
high calling to which the church is summoned: to confront
men with
Jesus Christ.
J. W. Hyde
One hundred religious persons knit into a unity by careful
organization do not constitute a church any more than
eleven dead men
make a football team.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
One of American Christianity's most serious evils may be
the sin of
sermon listening. We hear, but we do not act. God is not
basically
interested in our listening to sermons. He wants us to be
living
sermons. The church is intended to be a vibrant, redeeming
community
of compassion, service, love, and worship. It is not a
fraternity of
fans of the faith.
Beam
One of the advantages of pure congregational singing is
that you can
join in the singing whether you have a voice or not. The
disadvantage
is that your neighbor can do the same.
Charles Dudley Warner (1829-1900)
One sees the structure and says, "What a great
church." The other sees
the Savior and says, "What a great Christ!"
Max L. Lucado (1955- )
Church signboard: Open on Sunday. Come early for a back
seat.
Our business is not to do something for the church, but to
do
something with it.
Joseph Fort Newton (1880-1950)
Persecution has not crushed the church; power has not
beaten it back;
time has not abated its forces; and what is most wonderful
of all, the
abuses of its friends have not shaken its stability.
Horace Bushnell (1802-1876)
Protestantism is divided into more than 200 different
groups. It would
take a microscope to find the reasons-which in most cases
have been
forgotten.
John Sutherland Bonnell
Some folks would close the churches because there still is
sin-would
they also stop medical research because there still are
diseases?
The atmosphere of our churches is becoming so man-centered
and
entertainment-oriented that the saints now must be amused
and not
amazed.
Donald Llewellyn Roberts
The average church has so much machinery and so little oil
of the Holy
Spirit that it squeaks like a threshing machine when you
start it up
in the fall after it has been out in the field all year.
Billy Sunday (1862-1935)
The chief trouble with the church is that you and I are in
it.
Charles H. Heimsath (1894- )
The Christian church is a society of sinners. It is the
only society
in the world in which membership is based upon the single
qualification that the candidate shall be unworthy of
membership.
Charles Clayton Morrison (1877-1966)
The church as a whole must be concerned with both
evangelism and
social action. It is not a case of either-or; it is
both-and. Anything
less is only a partial gospel, not the whole counsel of
God.
Robert D. Dehaan
The church does not draw people in; it sends them out. It
does not
settle into a comfortable niche, taking its place
alongside the
Rotary, the Elks, and the country club. Rather, the church
is to make
society uncomfortable. Like yeast, it unsettles the mass
around it,
changing it from within. Like salt, it flavors and
preserves that into
which it vanishes.
Charles Colson (1931- )
The church does not lead the world nor echo it; she
confronts it. Her
note is the supernatural note.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The church exists for those outside it.
William Temple (1881-1944)
The church has been, and is, open to a great deal of
criticism, but it
has made a great deal of hard-won progress. It is, at any
rate, trying
to carry out the divine plan, and insofar as it is working
along the
lines of real truth and real love it cannot, of course,
fail-anymore
than God can cease to exist.
J. B. Phillips (1906-1982)
The church has lasted for a phenomenal length of
time-longer,
certainly, than any comparable institution.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
The church has many critics but no rivals.
The church is a force for good in a world bombarded with
evil. It is a
force for love in a world buried with hatred. It is a
force for peace
in a world torn with violence.
C. Neil Strait
The church is a workshop, not a dormitory.
Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910)
The church is like a bank-the more you put into it, the
more interest
you have in it.
The church is looking for better methods; God is looking
for better
men.
Edward McKendree Bounds (1835-1913)
The church is not a gallery for the exhibition of eminent
Christians,
but a school for the education of imperfect ones.
Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887)
The church is the only thing that is going to make the
terrible world
we are coming to endurable; the only thing that makes the
church
endurable is that it is somehow the body of Christ and
that on this we
are fed. It seems to be a fact that you have to suffer as
much from
the church as for it, but if you believe in the divinity
of Christ,
you endure it.
Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964)
The church should consist of communities of loving
defiance. Instead
it consists largely of comfortable clubs of conformity. A
far-reaching
reformation of the church is a prerequisite if it is to
commit itself
to Jesus' mission of liberating the oppressed.
Ronald J. Sider
The church was not designed to be a reservoir,
ever-receiving and
retaining for itself God's spiritual blessings, but rather
a conduit,
conveying them on and out to others everywhere.
Robert Hall Glover (1871-1947)
The church with no great anguish on its heart has no great
music on
its lips.
Karl Barth (1886-1968)
The church, like most institutions of our society, is
scared and is
anxious to ingratiate itself with people, rather than to
tell them the truth.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
The enemies of Christ are triumphant, Christianity is a
failure, they
say, and the church of God herself looks on in pain at the
shortcomings in her midst. But lo, at length from the very
heart of
the shadows appears the majestic figure of Jesus, his
countenance is
as the sun shineth in his strength, around those wounds in
brow and
side and hands and feet-those wounds which shelter
countless thousands
of broken hearts-are healing rays.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The holiest moment of the church service is the moment
when God's
people-strengthened by preaching and sacrament-go out of
the church
door into the world to be the church. We don't go to
church; we are
the church.
Ernest Southcott
The New Testament does not envisage solitary religion;
some kind of
regular assembly for worship and instruction is everywhere
taken for
granted in the Epistles. So we must be regular practicing
members of
the church. Of course we differ in temperament. Some (like
you-and me)
find it more natural to approach God in solitude; but we
must go to
church as well. For the church is not a human society of
people united
by their natural affinities, but the body of Christ, in
which all
members, however different (and he rejoices in their
differences and
by no means wishes to iron them out) must share the common
life,
complementing and helping one another precisely by their
differences.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
The problem is not hostility to the church; it is
indifference. For
many the church is simply irrelevant; it is not even worth
criticizing, it is simply to be ignored.
William Barclay (1907-1978)
There is not a home church and a foreign church; it is all
one great work.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
There is one church here, so I go to it. On Sunday
mornings I quit the
house and wander down the hill to the white frame church
in the firs.
On a big Sunday there might be twenty of us there; often I
am the only
person under sixty and feel as though I'm on an
archaeological tour of
Soviet Russia. The members are of mixed denominations; the
minister is
a Congregationalist and wears a white shirt. The man knows
God. Once,
in the middle of the long pastoral prayer of intercession
for the
whole world-for the gift of wisdom to its leaders, for
hope and mercy
to the grieving and pained, succor to the oppressed, and
God's grace
to all-in the middle of this he stopped and burst out,
"Lord, we bring
you these same petitions every week." After a shocked
pause, he
continued reading the prayer. Because of this, I like him
very much.
Annie Dillard (1945- )
We are producing Christian activities faster than we are
producing
Christian experience and Christian faith.
John Raleigh Mott (1865-1955)
We ask the leaf, "Are you complete in yourself?"
and the leaf answers,
"No, my life is in the branches." We ask the
branch, and the branch
answers, "No, my life is in the trunk." We ask
the trunk, and it
answers, "No, my life is in the root." We ask
the root, and it
answers, "No, my life is in the trunk and the
branches and the leaves.
Keep the branches stripped of leaves and I shall
die." So it is with
the great tree of being. Nothing is completely and merely
individual.
Edward Everett (1794-1865)
We do not find in the gospel, that Christ has provided for
the
uniformity of churches, but only for their unity.
Roger Williams
We do not want, as the newspapers say, a church that will
move with
the world. We want a church that will move the world.
G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
Went to church today, and was not greatly depressed.
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (1850-1894)
What would my church be like if every member were just
like me?
When I first became a Christian, about fourteen years ago,
I thought
that I could do it on my own, by retiring to my rooms and
reading
theology, and I wouldn't go to the churches and gospel
halls . . .I
disliked very much their hymns, which I considered to be
fifth-rate
poems set to sixth-rate music. But as I went on I saw the
great merit
of it. I came up against different people of quite
different outlooks
and different education, and then gradually my conceit
just began
peeling off. I realized that the hymns (which were just
sixth-rate
music) were, nevertheless, being sung with devotion and
benefit by an
old saint in elastic-side boots in the opposite pew, and
then you
realize that you aren't fit to clean those boots.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
When the church fails to break the [cultural] barrier,
both sides
lose. Those who need the gospel message of hope and the
reality of
love, don't get it, and the isolated church keeps
evangelizing the
same people over and over until its only mission finally
is to
entertain itself.
Charles Colson (1931- )
When the church transcends culture, it can transform
culture. In the
Dark Ages, reform did not arise from the state but from
communities of
those who remained uncompromising in a compromising age.
Charles Colson (1931- )
Wherever the Word of God is preached and heard; there a
exists, even if it. swarms with many faults.
John Calvin (1509-1564)
When you go to church, you should actively seek something.
You must
not go like an empty basket, waiting passively to be
filled.
Roger William Riis
Somehow the pressures of modern society were making it
increasingly
difficult for us to live by the values we had been taught.
We thought
our church should constitute a community of believers
capable of
withstanding these pressures, yet it seemed to go along
with things as
they were instead of encouraging an alternative. The
"pillars" of the
church seemed as severely trapped by material concerns and
alienation
as most non-Christians we knew.
David Jackson (1944- )
Evangelicals are not the only Christians. There are those
who share
with us a firm belief in historic, supernatural
Christianity, who
worship Christ as Lord and Savior, who take a high view of
Scripture,
yet who may not use all our terminology and who hold a
view of the
church and the ministry different from ours. They too are
Christians;
and from some of them we have much to learn.
Frank E. Gaebelein (B. 1899)
Jesus Christ is the unique and total incarnation of truth,
the only
way, the only life, and yet we betray his spirit of love
when we build
a wall between Buddhists, Jews, or Muslims and ourselves.
He is our
only Master; and yet without betraying him we can learn
from the Greek
philosophers, the sages of
sacred text of ancient
Paul Tournier (1898-1986)
None understand better the nature of real distinction than
those who
have entered into unity.
Johann Tauler (C. 1300-1361)
The ecumenical movement brings back a vivid childhood
memory of about twenty people reeling out the pub door. They all had their arms
around each other's shoulders, because if they didn't they would fall down.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
I must believe in the Apostolic Succession, there being no
other
way of accounting for the descent of the Bishop of Exeter
from Judas
Iscariot.
Sydney Smith
I've seen anyone asleep in church--and that is a sad
situation.
Norman Vincent Peale
Too hot to go to church? What about hell?
Poster in
It takes most men about two years to completely quit
smoking cigarettes and twice as long to quit bragging about it.
When everything else fails as a cure for smoking
cigarettes, try carrying wet matches.
The best way to stop smoking cigarettes is to marry a woman
who objects to it.
It doesn't take very long to save enough cigarette coupons
to get a radio to listen to while you're propped up in bed with emphysema.
Most people who give up cigarettes substitute something
for them ‑ such as irritability.
There's a new cigarette package containing ear plugs for
those who don't want to hear reasons why they should quit smoking.
Some people feel that a cigarette is not harmful if they
borrow it from somebody else.
Just about as many people will quit smoking cigarettes
this week as last week ‑ and a lot of them will be the same people.
Sign in an Iowa munitions factory: "If you insist on
smoking in this building, be prepared to leave this world through a hole in the
ceiling."
Many fat people have cut down to five cigarettes a day ‑
one after each meal.
People who quit smoking cigarettes have the same problem
as newcomers to nudist camps ‑ they don't know what to do with their
hands.
Remember, when you stop smoking cigarettes you're creating
a hardship for others ‑ the people who mooch cigarettes from you.
A man promised his wife five hundred dollars if she'd stop
smoking cigarettes ‑ and she did. Now he's offering her one thousand
dollars if she'll stop talking about it.
If you don't think smoking cigarettes makes a woman's
voice harsh, try dropping cigarette ashes on her rug.
The tobacco industry would really be doing something if it
could come up with a cigarette that eliminated tar, nicotine, and taxes.
Cigarettes are killers that travel in packs.
A new cigarette offers coupons good for cemetery lot.
Worrying about smoking cigarettes can be beneficial ‑
it takes your mind off lung cancer.
Medical reports don't make people quit smoking cigarettes,
but they cut down on the enjoyment.
Now there's a group called Smokers Anonymous. When you
feel a strong urge to smoke, you dial a number and hear a lot of
coughing.
A person pays twice for his cigarettes. Once when he gets
them and, second, when they get him.
One thing can be said for smoking three packs of
cigarettes every day. It gives your hands something to do ‑ like shake.
The mortality rate of cigarette smokers and non‑smokers
is 100 percent. The only difference is the timing.
As kids we started smoking cigarettes because we thought
it was smart. Why don't we stop smoking for the same reason?
The cancer scare has increased the use of borrowed
cigarettes.
Another thing a modern child learns at his mother's knee
is to watch out for cigarette ashes.
The best way to give up cigarettes is to smoke cigars.
Walking a mile for a cigarette may be healthier than
smoking one.
At last one of the tobacco companies has found a way to
make its cigarettes less irritating; it filters the commercials.
Anti‑cigarette commercial: "Truth or cancer
The trouble with people who have broken a habit is that
they usually have the pieces mounted and framed.
A health nut in Idaho has specified in his will that he
wishes to be buried in a "no smoking" section of the cemetery.
Sign in a Boston hospital: "We don't sell cigarettes ‑
we love you too much."
A modern mother is one who can hold a safety pin and a
cigarette in her mouth at the same time.
A major scientific advancement would be the development of
cigarette ashes that would match the color of the rug.
Self‑control is giving up smoking cigarettes;
extreme self‑control is not telling anybody about it.
A tobacco chewer in North Carolina has agreed that if
smokers won't blow smoke in his face he won't spit on them.
One of the nice things about smoking a pipe is that you
can't light the wrong end.
Why is it that someone who has the will power to give up
smoking doesn't have the will power to stop bragging about it?
The circumstances of others seem good to us, while ours
seem good
to others.
Publilius Syrus
Circumstances! I make circumstances!
Napoleon Bonaparte
The first requisite of a good citizen in this republic of
ours is
that he should be able and willing to pull his weight.
Theodore Roosevelt
Unless the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in
vain.
Psalm 127:1
The main hope of civilization is that people may get
together some day and try it.
You can't say civilization isn't advancing: in every war,
they kill you in a new way.
Will
Civilization is a state of affairs where nothing can be
done without first being financed.
Another measure of civilization's progress is the way the
cost of relaxing goes up.
One of the main troubles with modern civilization is that
we so often mistake respectability for character.
A sociologist says civilization will last fifty thousand
more years, but he didn't say when it would begin.
There have been twenty‑five civilizations before
ours, and all have been destroyed ‑ not from without but from within.
Perhaps the supreme product of civilization is people who
can endure it.
If we are to preserve civilization, we must remain
civilized.
Civilization has brought us guided rockets and misguided
rackets.
Some historians say the Egyptians contributed more to
civilization than any other people. They invented soap.
If we saved civilization in two world wars, we wonder
where it is hiding now!
The greatest lesson we learn from past civilizations is
ingratitude.
There is some argument over the origin of civilization ‑
but this is unimportant compared with the question of when it will resume
operation.
In another hundred years civilization will have reached
all peoples except those who have no resources worth stealing.
Civilization has now reached the point where miracle drugs
and get‑well cards have a hard time keeping up with each other.
The coating of civilization is so thin it often comes off
with a little alcohol.
Civilization is a state of society in which the only
people who speak about the future with any degree of confidence are the
fortunetellers.
In our civilization man came first, then the machine ‑
then the ambulance.
The path of civilization is paved with tax receipts.
Sometimes we get the feeling that Scotch tape and staples
are all that's holding civilization together.
The march of civilization is slow because so many are out
of step.
The world seldom noticed who the teachers are; but
civilization depends on what they do and what they say.
The biggest farce of man's history has been the argument
that wars are fought to save civilization.
The greatest paradox of them all is to speak of
"civilized warfare."
True happiness is going to a high school class reunion and
learning that the boy who was voted most likely to succeed ‑ didn't.
Description of a thirty‑year class reunion:
"Same old faces, many new teeth."
A class reunion is where everybody gets together to see
who is falling apart.
The most irritating person at a class reunion is the guy
who has both hair and money.
A satisfying class reunion is one where you discover all
your former classmates have bigger problems than yours.
Class reunions are going to be very confusing fifteen
years from now when everybody has a haircut.
A class reunion is a gathering where you come to the
conclusion that most of the people your age seem to be a lot older than you
are.
After attending his class reunion a
recognize me."
A class reunion is when nothing helps you recognize your
old classmates as much as their nametags.
If you want to really appreciate what an enormous job it
is to clean up the environment, start cleaning out your garage.
There's one nice thing about baldness ‑ it's neat.
Nature seems determined to make us work. The less hair we
have, the more face we have to wash.
A country hick sent the following request to a public
library: "Please send me the name of a good book on personal hygiene. I'm
afraid
I have it."
Nothing changes a small boy's appearance as much as soap.
Nothing seems to make children more affectionate than
sticky hands.
Children are about the only things in a modern home that
have to be washed by hand.
Some historians say the Egyptians contributed more to
civilization than any other people. They invented soap.
Keeping clean between the ears may be more important than
keeping clean behind the ears.
Cleanliness may be next to godliness, but in childhood
it's next to impossible.
The most difficult thing imaginable is to keep clean of
debt, dirt, and the devil all at the same time.
Cleanliness once lived next to godliness, but both tenants
vacated some time ago.
Cleanliness may be next to godliness, but it is not a
substitute.
The defects of a preacher are soon spied.
Martin Luther
Clothes don't make the man, but they can break a husband.
Many actresses won't wear a dress that's not original, but
they'll take a secondhand husband.
You're getting along in years when the only urge you feel
in the spring is to climb out of your long underwear.
Nothing better has ever been developed for baldness than a
hat.
It's easy to tell when you've got a bargain ‑it
doesn't fit.
There's nothing tighter than next year's budget and this
year's bikini.
Many come to church to bring their new clothes rather than
themselves.
Clothing
Bathing suits are really something ‑ if you call
nothing something.
Clothes do not make the man. Particularly an apron.
The nicest things in men's clothing are women.
Nothing seems to last as long as a pair of shoes that
doesn't fit.
When a man has torn socks and buttons missing from his
shirt, he should do one of two things ‑ either get married or get a
divorce.
A dear old lady in Montana says she's worn the same dress
so many years it's been in style five times.
Many women suffer discomfort because they often buy shoes
to fit the occasion instead of the feet.
Sign in a dress shop in New Orleans: "Wedding gowns
for all occasions."
Pants are like molasses. They are thinner in hot weather
and thicker in cold weather.
Where do clothing stores get those tricky mirrors that
make old suits look so shabby?
A music magazine recently took a poll to name the best‑dressed
rock star ‑ and nobody won.
One woman to another at a party: "That's lovely
material in the dress you're wearing. I wonder if the style will ever come
back!"
A bikini is the difference between not very much and
nothing at all.
It's extremely difficult to design a gown for a girl who
rides the backseat of a motorcycle.
When you see a man wearing a baggy suit, either he has a
great diet or a terrible tailor.
About the only thing we can't figure out about those new
strapless evening gowns is what keeps them up.
A woman's hat tells you something about her, including
whether her husband was along when she bought it.
The only clothing permitted in a nudist camp is a coat ‑
of tan.
A hat is something the average man covers his head with,
the beggar passes around, and the politician talks through.
Why do they sell knee socks and Bermuda shorts only to men
with knobby knees?
Many husbands prefer clinging gowns for their wives ‑
the kind that cling for at least three years.
A lady shopper in a shoe store expressed a desire to buy
an expensive pair of shoes ‑ to go with a cheap husband!
About the only thing concealed in a modern bikini is the
manufacturers label.
Clothes, particularly walking shorts, don't make the man.
Sometimes a woman gets a mink coat the hard way ‑ by
being nice to her husband.
Nothing lasts as long as a necktie you don't like.
Modern girls wear as many clothes as grandma, but not all
at once.
A vest gives a man more pockets to look through for
whatever it is that's in his other suit.
No garment is more becoming to a Christian than the cloak
of humility.
The reason nobody wears old clothes anymore is because the
kind being sold wear out before they get old.
Trousers are more important to a man than his wife is
because there are lots of places he can go without his wife.
Sign in a sportswear store: "Buy your girlfriend a
bikini ‑ it's the least you can do for her."
Women buy their husbands loafer shoes and leisure slacks ‑
and then call them lazy when they play the part they're dressed for.
Wearing shorts reveals nothing about a man so much as his
indifference to public opinion.
The clothes that make a woman break a man.
Sign in a women's clothing shop in Laramie' Wyoming:
"We have everything for tall women ‑ except tall men."
One thing we know for sure ‑ there is no way they
can make those bikinis any smaller.
New shoes hurt the most when you have to buy them for the
whole family.
There is one good thing about pants that are too tight ‑
they teach you not to drop anything on the floor.
Clothes may make the man, but we've seen some where the
job still wasn't finished.
If a woman looks good in slacks, she would probably look
better in something else.
In summer mosquitoes put more clothes on people than
modesty.
It's a pretty safe bet that the husbands of the ten best‑dressed
women won't show up on the list of the ten best‑dressed men.
A man hates to see a woman in cheap clothes, unless, of
course, it's his wife.
The old‑fashioned mother who saved her wedding togs
for her daughter now has a daughter who tries to make them outlast three
husbands.
A woman's slacks are what usually makes us wonder why they
aren't called something else.
What the well‑dressed woman is wearing this year is
less.
The reason so many wives have new fur coats is that
husbands give in before their wives give up.
If Mother Nature could have foreseen Bermuda shorts, she
surely would have done a better job on the male knee.
Many a husband doesn't know a thing about women's clothes,
except what they cost.
Fabulous wealth and fame await the man who designs a
woman's shoe that's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.
A Tennessee woman recently complained, "My fur coat
is so old it's paid for."
Men no longer hide behind women's skirts; neither do
women.
A girdle is a garment to hold a woman in when she goes out.
The wife who dresses to please her husband wears last
year's clothes.
It isn't the clothes that make a man stare; it's the women
in them.
Some women say they have nothing to wear ‑ others
demonstrate it.
Some dresses aren't so bad for the shape they're on.
Most husbands wouldn't object to their wives wearing their
skirts a little shorter if they would wear them a little longer.
Preachers who formerly gave lectures on women's clothes
have been compelled to turn to other subjects. There just wasn't enough
material.
Thirty years ago "halfway to the knees" meant
from the ground up, not from the shoulders down.
In some foreign countries girls dress like their mothers,
but in America it's the other way around.
Most husbands would like for their wives to wear their
dresses longer ‑ about three years longer.
The new bikinis make women look better ‑and men look
longer.
When some women show up in stretch pants, they sure do.
Evening gowns are getting longer, and so are the shoulder
straps.
You can't judge some women by their clothes these days ‑
there isn't enough evidence.
If women are so fond of clothes, why don't they wear more
of them?
Just about the time you convince your youngsters that
they can't put more in a container than it will hold, along comes a woman in
stretch pants.
Fashion designers for women's clothing aren't running out
of ideas ‑ they're running out of material.
Some dresses are described as stunning because of the
effects they have on husbands.
A woman with a new mink coat can't wait to show it to the
man she likes most and the woman she likes least.
Even low shoes are very high these days.
Nowadays when a girl says her new evening gown is nothing,
she means it.
Nothing makes a woman's clothes go out of style faster
than her husband's raise in salary.
By the time a husband is in shape to buy his wife
beautiful clothes, she isn't.
An evening dress is more gone than gown.
Ten years from now we'll laugh at the clothes women wear
today, but can we hold it that long?
A girl who priced some of the new bikinis reports the tags
are bigger than the togs.
In a women's shoe store the most comfortable pair in the
house is usually worn by the salesman.
Anybody who says you never get more out of it than you put
into it isn't talking about a bikini.
A survey shows that college students prefer ties with
dots, suits with stripes, and letters with checks.
Attention wives: If your husband complains about the tie
you gave him last Christmas ‑give him a sock!
A Nevada husband complains that there are two reasons why
his wife won't wear last year's dresses ‑ she doesn't want to, and she
can't.
The electric computer saves a man a lot of guesswork ‑
but so does a bikini.
A style expert can make a woman feel modest when she
doesn't look it.
Fashion experts tell us that women dress to express
themselves ‑ but on that basis, some have very little to say.
The nicest thing that can be said about some of today's
fashions is that they can't possibly last.
Some women have what it takes to wear the latest fashions ‑
rich husbands.
If women's fashions continue at the present rate, the next
creation is likely to be a gownless strap.
With the return of the vest to men's fashions, ties are
going to be much freer of gravy stains.
Overheard in a dress shop: "But madam, looking
ridiculous is the fashion this year."
When husbands talk about the height of fashion, they
probably mean the price.
Some girls show a lot of style, and some styles show a lot
of girl.
Many a girl has made it to the top because her dress
didn't.
Some of our present‑day girls wear less on the
streets than their grandmothers wore in bed.
The old‑fashioned girl is one who stayed at home
when she had nothing to wear.
Girls wear bikinis for the same reason stores have glass
showcases.
After the honeymoon the girl usually stops wondering what
she should wear and starts wondering how long it will last.
A wise man said that humility is Christian clothing. It
never goes out of style.
Don't judge a man by the clothes he wears. God made one;
the tailor, the other.
We shouldn't judge a modern girl by her clothes; there
really isn't enough evidence.
Any man who laughs at women's clothes has never paid the
bill for them.
It may be true that life begins at forty, but everything
else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out.
One advantage of being a man is that you don't run the risk
of catching a cold in evening clothes.
Women wear rings to show they're married, while men wear
last year's clothes for the same reason.
The nice thing about money is that it never clashes with
anything you're wearing.
You have poise when you buy a new pair of shoes without
seeming conscious of the hole in your sock.
Isn't it strange how some people insist on having
expensive clothes, yet are perfectly satisfied with a shoddy religion?
You're never fully dressed in the morning until you put on
a smile.
People seldom notice old clothes if you wear a big smile.
The only thing you can wear that's never out of style is a
smile.
The best way to forget all about your troubles is to wear
a pair of tight shoes.
Those who put on the most style sometimes put off the most
creditors.
It seems that some women would rather be out of money than
out of style.
When a woman's toe sticks out of her shoes, she's
considered fashionable. When a man's toe sticks out of his shoes, he's a bum.
If you're not in style, the chances are you're out of
debt.
Many a woman shows a lot of style, but many a style shows
a lot of woman.
A woman's dress usually stays in style until the next time
she goes shopping.
There are some things that never go out of style. A feminine
woman is one of them.
A woman isn't usually impressed by a new style of clothes
unless it's uncomfortable or unreasonable.
If you want to succeed, wear out two pairs of shoes to
every suit.
A distressed father said to his teen‑age daughter,
"Young lady, either that dress is too short or you're not in it far
enough."
There are very few certainties in this world, but one of
them is that no woman is wearing shoes that are too large for her.
It's obvious that on some women stretch pants have no other
choice.
Youth is like fashion. Both fade quickly.
Another advantage of automation is that the machines don't
take time out for coffee breaks.
In any office you can tell who the boss is: he's the one
watching the clock during the coffee break.
The only break some people get these days is a coffee
break.
If some folks aren't careful, they'll stretch their coffee
break to the unemployment office.
If coffee breaks get much longer, employees will be late
for quitting time.
A conference is just a high‑falutin' name for the
executives' coffee break.
An employee in
Gossip is always brewing at coffee break.
Science has never come up with a better office
communication system than the coffee break.
Coffee Breaks
Work is the annoyance people have to endure between coffee
breaks.
A lot of husbands suffer from cold feet, but not always
their own.
A college education doesn't make fools; it just develops
them.
The best way to haze freshmen is to make them study.
If the cost of a college education continues to snowball,
a person can make a profit by remaining ignorant.
One nice thing about a college education is that it
enables us to worry more intelligently about things all over the world.
It's possible that a college education doesn't always pay off,
but that doesn't release dad from his financial obligation.
Some people have to carry their diplomas with them to
prove they have a college education.
It seems that all a college education does is help folks
become confused on a higher plane.
A college education costs thousands of dollars, and
sometimes all it yields is a quarterback.
Said a girl graduate, "Four years of college! And
whom has it got me?"
A college education is very educational. It teaches the
parents of the student how to do without a lot of things.
It has been said that a college education is nothing but a
four‑year plan of confusing young minds methodically.
One of the fine things about a college education is that
it shows a person how little other people know.
Nowadays you have to pass a tougher exam to get into
college than old‑timers did to get out.
A college doesn't give you knowledge, it just shows you
where it is.
Don't worry about crowded colleges. Hopefully, they'll
empty by degrees.
The college campus of today is one of the biggest
supporters of wild life.
Attending college has become so expensive that even
football players are writing home for money.
Colleges are attempting to raise huge sums of money to
stop the professors from envying the janitors.
Colleges don't make fools, but they occasionally develop
a few.
The head of a
College is the only vacation a boy gets between his
mother and his wife.
Many colleges have two serious problems: too many dropouts
and too few kickouts.
We're still waiting for a college to come up with a march
protesting student ignorance.
Soon the colleges will be forced to offer degrees in the ancient
art of loafing.
A college professor in Michigan says he has found five
different kinds of dumbness. It seems incredible that an educated man like
that should have met so few people.
College professors are not made overnight. They reach the
height of their profession by degrees.
College professors are the persons who get paid with
what's left over after the athletic director and football coaches are paid.
The perfect college professor's wife is the one who, each
morning, lays out her husband's slacks, sweater, and picket sign.
Those who go to college and never get out are called
professors.
In America a street sweeper can become a college professor
‑ if he's willing to make the financial sacrifice.
The average college professor leads a simple sober life
because he never has enough money to make a fool of himself.
Some wit has said that a college professor is little more
than a textbook wired for sound.
A college professor isn't really smarter than other
people. He just has his ignorance better organized.
We'll be in trouble as long as we pay the best professors
less than the worst football coach.
Oh, how this world needs a computer that can figure out
all the things in life that don't add up!
A college is truly a fountain of knowledge, and a great
many go there to drink.
The college of hard knocks is about the only one that
doesn't let the student drop out if the course gets tough.
College never hurts a young man ‑ unless, of course,
he meets his future wife there.
Most college campuses are getting to be so crowded that if
a student wants to be alone, he has to go to class.
Colleges try to find out what their graduates do after
graduation. Employers are trying too.
One thing that keeps a lot of people from going to college
is high school.
In today's colleges the freshmen are smarter than the
seniors; everything the seniors have learned is already outmoded.
A country boy was afraid to go to college because he was
told he would be compelled to matriculate.
College is a place that's presumed to mold character, and
some of the characters turn out to be very moldy.
What this country needs are colleges that teach everything
the students think they already know.
It seems a bit odd for a college to give a man with a wife
and three kids a Bachelor's Degree.
Going to college won't guarantee you a job, but it'll give
you four years to worry about getting one.
College debts are obligations that with diligence,
economy, and stern self‑denial, father will be able to pay.
Sending children to college educates parents. It teaches
them how to do without a lot of things.
Parents of college students get poorer by degrees.
In college football the real triple threat is one who can
run, kick, and pass all his exams!
The young man who is able to work his way through college
is a pretty good bet to be able to work his way through life.
The age of chivalry is certainly not dead. If a college
girl drops one of her books, almost any boy in her class will be delighted to
kick it back to her.
A college boy in Ohio reported to his parents that he was
about to flunk out ‑ because he found out he had a klinker in his
thinker.
Advice to college students: Be kind to your parents. After
sending you through college, you're all they have left.
A modern son is one who finishes college and his dad at
the same time.
Commencement is when the college students who learned all
the answers discover that there are a new set of questions.
A college student who hadn't heard from home in several
weeks wrote to his father, "Please send me a check so I'll know you're
well and happy.
In the old days students went to college to get an
education from the professors, but now it seems like some students think they
ought to educate the professors.
A college girl may be poor in history, but great on dates.
Many college students can write home for money in four or
five languages.
Nothing irks the college boy more than shaking out the
envelope from home and finding nothing but news and love.
It takes a college student twenty minutes longer to say
what he thinks than to tell what he knows.
Sending your child to college is like sending your clothes
to the laundry. You get what you put in, but sometimes you can hardly recognize
it.
A survey shows that college students prefer ties with
dots, suits with stripes, and letters with checks.
Some college girls pursue learning and some others learn
pursuing.
There was a time when college students thought they were
living dangerously when they cut classes.
Coeds are college students who sign up for the romance
languages.
A real surprise is when the college boy comes home and
discovers people sleep at night rather than in the daytime.
A father is often a man who is working his son's way
through college.
Attending a convention in your home city is like kissing
your own wife.
A convention is where people pass a lot of resolutions,
but few bars.
Conventions are something a lot of people leave behind
when they attend one.
At a convention the "delegate‑at‑large"
is the man who has come without his wife.
When a man takes his wife to a convention, he has twice
the expense ‑ and half as much fun.
I got a pocket comb, but who wants to comb pockets?
All human comfort is vain and short.
Thomas Ŕ Kempis (C. 1380-1471)
Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heavenly Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
Katharina von Schlegel (B. 1697)
God does not comfort us to make us comfortable, but to
make us
comforters.
John Henry Jowett (1817-1893)
God does not leave us comfortless, but we have to be in
dire need of
comfort to know the truth of his promise. It is in time of
calamity . . . in days and nights of sorrow and trouble that the presence, the
sufficiency, and the sympathy of God grow very sure and very wonderful. Then we
find out that the grace of God is sufficient for all our needs, for every
problem, and for every difficulty, for every broken heart, and for every human
sorrow.
Peter Marshall (1902-1949)
God is closest to those whose hearts are broken.
Jewish Proverb
How shall we comfort those who weep? By weeping with them.
Father Yelchaninov
How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
In a believer's ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear!
John Newton (1725-1807)
It is not difficult to be independent of human comfort
when we have
God's comfort. It is a great thing, an extremely great
thing, to be
able to live without both human and divine comfort.
Thomas Ŕ Kempis (C. 1380-1471)
Let me come in where you are weeping, friend,
And let me take your hand.
I, who have known a sorrow such as yours,
Can understand.
Let me come in-I would be very still
Beside you in your grief;
I would not bid you cease your weeping, friend,
Tears bring relief.
Let me come in-I would only breathe a prayer,
And hold your hand,
For I have known a sorrow such as yours,
And understand.
Grace Noll Crowell
Oh! there is never sorrow of heart
That shall lack a timely end,
If but to God we turn, and ask
Of him to be our friend!
William Wordsworth (1770-1850)
One reason a dog is such a comfort when you're downcast is
that he
doesn't ask to know why.
Thank you, Father, for these tears that have carried me to
the depth
of your love. How could I have known your fullness without
the
emptiness, your acceptance without the rejection, your
forgiveness
without my failure, our togetherness without that dreadful
loneliness.
You have brought me to
already there! Amen.
Bonnie Barrows Thomas
Those who can sit in silence with their fellowman, not
knowing what to
say but knowing that they should be there, can bring new
life in a
dying heart. Those who are not afraid to hold a hand in
gratitude, to
shed tears in grief, and to let a sigh of distress arise
straight from
the heart can break through paralyzing boundaries and
witness the
birth of a new fellowship, the fellowship of the broken.
Henri J. M. Nouwen
When the house doth sigh and weep,
And the world is drowned in sleep,
Yet mine eyes the watch do keep,
Sweet Spirit comfort me!
Robert Herrick (1591-1674)
Why does God bring thunderclouds and disasters when we
want green
pastures and still waters? Bit by bit we find, behind the
clouds, the
Father's feet; behind the lightning, an abiding day that
has no night;
behind the thunder, a still, small voice that comforts
with a comfort
that is unspeakable.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
You don't have to be alone in your hurt! Comfort is yours.
Joy is an
option. And it's all been made possible by your Savior. He
went
without comfort so that you might have it. He postponed
joy so that
you might share in it. He willingly chose isolation so
that you might
never be alone in your hurt and sorrow.
Joni Eareckson Tada
A comic is a person, who, when he dies, is at his wit's
end.
A comic is a man who originates old jokes.
Christ's deeds and examples are commandments of what we
should do.
John Wycliffe (C. 1330-1384)
Ever since the Ten Commandments were given, legislators
have been busy
passing millions of laws trying to enforce them.
God does all before he asks us to do anything.
R. W. Barbour (1900- )
God is an omniscient Creator who knows which rules are
best for
mankind; and these moral laws are a reflection of his
nature, imposed
on a universe which he created-a universe which functions
best when
his laws are obeyed.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
God's commands are made to the life of his Son in us, not
to our human
nature; consequently all that God tells us to do is always
humanly
difficult; but it becomes divinely easy immediately we
obey because
our obedience has behind it all the omnipotent power of
the grace of
God.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
God's restrictions were given to show us more keenly our
need of him.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
Most people believe that the Christian commandments (e.g.,
to love
one's neighbor as oneself) are intentionally a little too
severe, like
putting the clock half an hour ahead to make sure of not
being late in
the morning.
Sřren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
No man can break any of the Ten Commandments. He can only
break
himself against them.
G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
The commandments can never be kept while there is a strife
to keep
them; the man is overwhelmed in the weight of their broken
pieces. It
needs a . . . power of life, not of struggle; the strength
of love,
not the effort of duty.
George Macdonald (1824-1905)
The commandments were given irrespective of human ability
or inability
to keep them; then when Jesus Christ came, instead of
doing what we
all too glibly say he did-put something easier before men,
he made it
a hundred-fold more difficult because he goes behind the
law to the disposition.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The commandments were given with the inexorable awfulness
of Almighty God; and the subsequent history of the people is the record of how
they could not keep them.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The commands of God are all designed to make us more happy
than we can possibly be without them.
Thomas Wilson (1663-1735)
The eleventh commandment: Thou shalt not be found out.
George John Whyte-Melville (1821-1878)
The law reflects God's holiness; it is a plumbline that
shows us that
we are crooked.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
Thou no gods shalt have but me.
Before no idol bow the knee.
Take not the name of God in vain.
Dare not the Sabbath Day profane.
Give to thy parents honor due.
Take heed that thou no murder do.
Abstain from words and deeds unclean.
Steal not, for thou by God art seen.
Tell no willful lie and love it.
What is thy neighbor's do not covet.
The Ten Commandments In Rhyme
Sign on a church bulletin board in Benton, Wisconsin:
"For God so loved the world that He didn't send a committee."
As a rule, the best things are done by a committee of
one.
A committee usually keeps minutes and wastes hours.
Perpetual motion can be found in any committee meeting.
A committee is composed of five persons ‑one does
the work, three give him moral support, and the fifth gives the story to the
newspapers.
If Moses had been a committee, the Israelites would still
be in Egypt.
The chairman of a committee is like the official at a
bullfight whose job it is to open and close the gate so the bull can come in or
go out.
If you want to kill any idea in the world today, get a
committee
working on it.
Charles F. Kettering
For God so loved the world that He did not send a
committee
There are more than 200,000 useless words in the English
language, and at some committee meetings you hear all of them.
A committee usually consists of three persons, each of
whom thinks the others talk a lot of nonsense.
A committee is a group of the unfit, appointed by the
unwilling, to do the unnecessary.
Another nice thing about being quiet and dumb is that you
won't be picked to head a committee.
A committee of three gets things done if two don't show
up.
Committee work is like a soft chair ‑ easy to get
into but hard to get out of.
Committees have become so important that a subcommittee
has to be appointed to do the work.
Common Sense
It's hard to say exactly what a Congressional Committee
does ‑ but if your wife did it, you'd call it nagging.
Our Congress is continually appointing "fact‑finding"
committees when what they really need are some "fact‑facing"
committees.
If a bomb wiped out the entire population except two
politicians, they'd form a committee.
Politicians wonder how the Lord can run the world without
appointing committees.
It is generally agreed that progress is what most inactive
committees report.
The best way to slow progress is to form a committee to do
something about it.
One reason why the Ten Commandments are so short and to
the point is the fact they did not come out of a committee.
Of all the one hundred thousand useless words in the
English language, you hear almost all of them at some committee meetings.
Our greatest need is an investigating committee to
investigate investigating committees.
Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are,
and doing
things as they ought to be done.
Calvin E. Stowe
Common sense is not so common.
French proverb
Automobiles wouldn't be so dangerous if the horsepower of
the engine was proportioned to the horse‑sense of the driver.
The biggest shortage of all is the shortage of common
sense.
Common sense is the knack of seeing things as they are,
and doing things as they ought to be done.
It seems that common sense isn't as common as it used to
be.
An unusual amount of common sense is sometimes called
wisdom.
Most people have good common sense, but they use it only
in an emergency.
It is a thousand times better to have common sense without
an education than to have an education without common sense.
Common sense is something you want the other fellow to
show by accepting your ideas and conclusions.
Emotion makes the world go round, but common sense keeps
it from going too fast.
Common sense could prevent a great many divorces; but, on
the other hand, it could also prevent a great many marriages.
Common sense is the sixth sense, given to us by the
Creator to keep the other five from making fools of themselves ‑ and us.
It's unfortunate that common sense isn't more common.
There is more need today for common sense than at any time
since man stopped having a lot of it.
Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes.
A little common sense would prevent most divorces ‑
and marriages too.
It is extremely embarrassing to come to your senses and
find out you haven't any.
Horse sense is what keeps horses from betting on what
people will do.
Horse sense means stable thinking.
There is just as much horse sense as ever, but the horses
have it.
Horse sense deserts when you begin to feel your oats.
There should be just half as much horse sense behind the
wheel as there is horsepower under the hood.
Horse sense is just the ability to say "neigh."
A rabbit's foot is a poor substitute for horse sense.
The value of horse sense is shown by the fact that the
horse was afraid of the automobile at the time the pedestrian laughed at it.
Horse sense is what keeps a woman from being a nag.
A wise man once said that intuition is something that
women have in place of common sense.
Love quickens all the senses ‑ except common sense.
Combine common sense and the Golden Rule and you will have
very little bad luck.
Philosophy is nothing but common sense in a dress suit.
A suggested prayer: "Oh God, give the world a lot
more common sense, beginning with me."
Psychiatry is just common sense clothed in a language no
one can understand.
Modern man has the genius to make rain, but often lacks
enough common sense to come in out of it.
Science is nothing but trained and organized common sense.
Society is always taken by surprise by any new example of
common sense.
The kind of wealth most of us need isn't dollars as much
as sense.
It is generally agreed that some people are wise and some
otherwise.
Wisdom is nothing more than common sense refined by
learning and experience.
The door to wisdom swings on hinges of common sense and
uncommon thoughts.
One of the advantages of being young is that you don't let
common sense get in the way of doing things everybody else knows are impossible.
America is a country where Groucho Marx has more followers
than Karl Marx.
Communism is freedom ‑ Russian style!
In America it's "Believe it or not," but in
communist countries it's "Believe it or else."
Communism is socialism with a gun to make you take it.
All that communism in Russia lacks for success is
something for the people to eat, something to wear, and something constructive
for the people to do.
Communism will be defeated in
tranquilized.
Communism is the product of the apathy of many and the
audacity of the few.
The difference between communism and democracy is ‑
plenty!
Communism will be defeated in America and in all countries
where Christians are more interested in being mobilized than in
being tranquilized.
If communism were as successful as they claim, they'd put
up a plate glass window instead of an iron curtain.
Russia reports that life under the communistic system is
longer than under capitalism. On the other hand it may just seem longer.
The Russians have one big advantage over us. They don't
have to spend half their time and money fighting communism.
A Communist is a person who has given up all hope of
becoming a capitalist.
Communists seem to be laboring under the impression that
everybody wants to die poor.
The Communists want to have their cake and eat ours too.
One reason why the Russian Communists are increasingly
adopting free‑market practices in their economy is that they'd rather be
fed than "red."
The strongest objection Communists have against capital is
that they don't have any.
A Communist is a Socialist in a hurry.
The average Communist is a fellow who is willing to divide
his thirst and hunger with your beer and sandwich.
Communists may not know how to make "Reds" out
of us, but they sure know how to put us in the red.
A Communist in the United States is a person who says
everything is perfect in Russia but stays in this country because he likes to
rough it.
If the Communists had as much to eat as they have to
swallow they'd be a lot better off.
How often do you hear of a protest march in a Communist
country?
A Communist is one who borrows your pot to cook your goose
in.
Communist countries are where the people name a street for
you one day and chase you down it the next.
For us in
in the West, it is still a living lion.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
The theory of Communism may be summed up in one sentence:
Abolish
all private property.
Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels
Communism has nothing to do with love. Communism is an
excellent
hammer which we use to destroy our enemy.
Mao Tse-tung
Birds of a feather flock together.
He is known by his companions.
Latin proverb
He that lies down with dogs will rise up with fleas.
Latin proverb
When a dove begins to associate with crows, its feathers
remain
white but its heart grows black.
German proverb
If you always live with those who are lame, you will
yourself learn
to limp.
Latin proverb
Tell me thy company and I will tell thee what thou art.
Miguel de Cervantes
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise.
Proverbs 13:20
Christianity demands a level of caring that transcends human
inclinations.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
Compassion means justice.
Meister Eckhart (C. 1260-C. 1327)
God's care will carry you so you can carry others.
Robert Harold Schuller (1926- )
Hearin' is one thing and listenin' is another.
William Frend Demorgan (1839-1917)
If I had known what trouble you were bearing;
What griefs were in the silence of your face;
I would have been more gentle and more caring,
And tried to give you gladness for a space.
Mary Carolyn Davies
Let us not underestimate how hard it is to be
compassionate.
Compassion is hard because it requires the inner
disposition to go
with others to the place where they are weak, vulnerable,
lonely, and
broken. But this is not our spontaneous response to suffering.
What we
desire most is to do away with suffering by fleeing from
it or finding
a quick cure for it.
Henri J. M. Nouwen
Man may dismiss compassion from his heart, but God will
never.
William Cowper (1731-1800)
Man's sorrows often will not let me sleep.
Henriette Roland Holst (1869-1952)
Never interfere with God's providential dealings with
other souls. Be
true to God yourself and watch.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Quaker to a burglar: "Friend, I would do thee no harm
for the world,
but thou standest where I am about to shoot."
Regardless of how we define Christ's separation from the
world, one
fact is clear: he did not separate himself from human
beings and their
needs. Nor did he limit his concern to the spiritual part
of man's
personality.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
Teach me to feel another's woe,
To hide the fault I see;
That mercy I to others show,
That mercy show to me.
Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
The dew of compassion is a tear.
Lord George Noel Gordon Byron (1788-1824)
Why stand we here trembling around calling on God for
help, and not
ourselves, in whom God dwells, stretching a hand to save
the falling
man?
William Blake (1757-1827)
If you can't win, make the fellow ahead of you break the
record.
Anonymous
He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and
sharpens our
skill. Our antagonist is our helper.
Edmund Burke
The competitor to be feared is one who never bothers about
you at
all, but goes on making his own business better all the
time.
Henry Ford, Sr.
Of all human powers operating on the affairs of mankind,
none is
greater than that of competition.
Henry Clay
I'm surprised how many people think you can throw a hand
grenade at
a competitor and expect he'll stand there and enjoy it.
Frank Lorenzo
Depend upon it that if a man talks of his misfortunes
there is
something in them that is not disagreeable to him.
Samuel Johnson
Complaint is the largest tribute Heaven receives.
Jonathan Swift
About the only thing people in every walk of life will
agree about is that they are underpaid and overcharged.
An alarm clock is a device that makes men rise and whine.
A boy loves a dog because it's the only thing around the
house that doesn't find fault with him.
It's better to complain occasionally and carry your own
burdens than cheerfully push them off on someone else.
A Christmas shopper's complaint is one of long‑standing.
A man complains about the food when he eats at home and
about the price when he eats out.
Attention wives: If your husband complains about the tie
you gave him last Christmas ‑give him a sock!
A gentleman complains that when long hair became stylish
his started to fall out.
The people who talk most about the "good old
days" are the first to complain when their TV set goes on the blink.
When someone complains about prices today, one thing is
certain ‑ he's buying, not selling.
A Nevada husband complains that there are two reasons why
his wife won't wear last year's dresses ‑ she doesn't want to, and she
can't.
The woman who complains about the man she married should
realize that she could have caught a bigger fish if she had used better bait.
Many people complain about the fuel mileage they get on
their riding lawn mower ‑ only a yard to the gallon.
Complaining is the thing to try when all else fails.
Don't complain because you have to get up early every
morning. The time may come when you can't get up ‑ period!
The poor complain about the money they can't get, and the
rich complain about the money they can't keep.
Some complain that the stepping stones to success bruise
their feet.
Don't complain. Every time the lamb bleats he loses a
mouthful of hay.
A factory worker in Akron complained, "If there's one
more deduction from my take‑home pay, I won't have any home to take my
pay to."
Don't complain if your brother‑in‑law comes to
visit you from Christmas to New Year's ‑he might stay with you from New
Year's to Christmas.
Those who complain about the way the ball bounces are
often the ones who dropped it.
Some people complain because God puts thorns on roses,
while others praise God for putting roses among the thorns.
A lot of people go through life standing at the complaint
counter.
Some of those old codgers who keep complaining that
things are not what they used to be always forget to include themselves.
Don't pray for rain if you're going to complain about the
mud.
Some people who had no shoes have been known to complain
until they met someone who had no feet.
It is usually not so much the greatness of our troubles as
the littleness of our spirit which causes us to complain.
A Missouri man complains that he was married fifteen
years ago by a Justice of the Peace, and since that time he has had neither
justice nor peace.
People make enemies by complaining too much to their
friends.
Don't complain. The wheel that squeaks the loudest often
gets replaced.
A man in Colorado complains that the only thing lit up on
his block after 11 P.M. is his neighbor.
The pain in your neck you complain about may be the result
of looking back too much.
People love goldfish because they like to see something
with a mouth open that's not complaining.
An Arizona man complained, "My wife always has the
last word ‑ and all the words before it."
A
A customer in a cafeteria complained that everything there
was terrible, including the self‑service.
Computers will never replace human beings entirely.
Someone has to complain about the errors.
Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain ‑ and
most fools do.
A critic is one who finds fault without a search warrant.
Ours is a democracy where the rich and the poor are alike ‑
both complain about taxes.
One of the easiest things to find is fault.
The person who is always finding fault seldom finds anything
else.
If faultfinding were electrified, some people would be a
powerhouse.
Before finding fault with another person, stop and count
ten ‑ of your own.
Faultfinding is as dangerous as it is easy.
The way some people find fault you'd think there was a
reward.
An expert faultfinder has no reason to be proud of his
accomplishment.
Faultfinding without suggestions for improvement is a
waste of time.
Two things are bad for the heart ‑ running upstairs
and running down people.
Faultfinding is one talent that ought to be buried, and
the grave forgotten.
Don't find fault with what you don't understand.
When it comes to spotting the faults of others, everybody
seems to have 20‑20 vision.
We do not get rid of our faults by calling attention to
the faults of others.
It's a pity that some folks never learn that uncovering
the other fellow's faults will never cover up their own.
Some people find fault as if it were a buried treasure.
If you have occasion to criticize a mule, do it to his
face.
Don't forget 'that appreciation is always appreciated.
A diplomatic husband said to his wife, "How do you
expect me to remember your birthday when you never look any older?"
It's easy to keep from being a bore. Just praise the
person 'to whom you're talking.
The best way to compliment your wife is frequently.
A compliment a day, keeps divorce far, far away.
Some pay a compliment as if they expected a receipt.
It's ironic but the toughest thing to take gracefully is a
compliment.
Be sincere with your compliments. Most people can tell the
difference between sugar and saccharine.
A compliment is the soft soap that wipes out a dirty look.
Compliments are like perfume: to be inhaled,
not=swallowed.
A hammer sometimes misses its mark ‑ a bouquet,
never.
It is all right to be always looking for compliments ‑
to give to somebody else.
A compliment is something you say to another which both of
you know isn't true.
No person is so poor that he cannot give a compliment.
There's a difference between paying compliments and paying
for them.
Nobody has ever been bored by someone‑paying them a
compliment.
Compliments cost nothing, yet many pay dear for them.
A compliment is a gift, not to be thrown away carelessly
unless you
want to hurt the giver.
Eleanor Hamilton
You must not pay a person a compliment, and then
straightway follow
it with a criticism.
Mark Twain
A compliment is a forensic anesthetic. Many people will
complacently undergo a fatal interrogation if they be well
flattered
all the while; and more men are likely to be caught by a
compliment to
their ability than be a tribute to their virtue.
Justice Darling
I can live for two months on a good compliment.
Mark Twain
Don't tell a woman she's pretty; tell her there's no other
woman
like her, and all roads will open to you.
Jules Renard
Nothing is so silly as the expression of a man who is
being
complimented.
Andr, Gide
Some people pay a compliment as if they expected a
receipt.
Kin Hubbard
They ran him for Congress. It was the best way to get him
out of
town.
You can lead a man to Congress, but you can't make him
think.
Congress is where a man gets up to speak, says nothing,
nobody
listens--and then everybody disagrees.
The collapse of character often begins on compromise
corner.
A compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way
that everybody believes he got the biggest. t piece. ,
Why should some people be willing to compromise when
they're the ones' who are always right?
A compromise is a deal in which two people get what
neither of them wanted.
Compromise is always wrong when it means sacrificing a
principle.
Many things are worse than defeat, and compromise with
evil is one of them.
Peace won by the compromise of principles is a short‑lived
achievement.
The hardest job in the world is telling the boss the
computer proved him wrong.
Will our brains start shrinking now that machines do our
thinking?
The computer is a great invention. There are as many
mistakes as ever, but now they're nobody's fault.
The electric computer saves a man a lot of guesswork ‑
but so does a bikini.
There is now a female computer on the market. You don't
ask it anything, but it tells you
anyway.
There's nothing wrong with a computer that a little
competency on the part of the operator couldn't cure.
Computers will never replace human beings entirely.
Someone has to complain about the errors.
A vain man can never be utterly ruthless; he wants to win
applause and
therefore he accommodates himself to others.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
Conceit is a weird disease-it makes everybody sick except
the guy who
has it. Or like the mother whale told her baby, "When
you get to the
surface and start to blow, that's when you get
harpooned!"
James C. Dobson (1936- )
Don't think yourself so big that other people look small.
Confucius (C. 551-479 B.C.)
Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? There is more
hope of a
fool than of him.
Proverbs 26:12
Conceit is God's gift to little men.
He that falls in love with himself, will have no rivals.
No one likes a skunk because it puts on such awful airs.
Self-admiration is so demanding that little is left over
for others.
To admire ourselves, as we are is to have no wish to
change. And with
those who don't want to change, the soul is dead.
William Barclay (1907-1978)
When a man is wrapped up in himself, he makes a pretty
small package.
John Ruskin (1819-1900)
Some computers are almost human. When they make a mistake they
put the blame on another computer.
With computers doing our thinking, all we need now is a
worrying machine.
A cheap but top‑rate computer is the one between
your ears.
Computers will never replace man entirely until they learn
to laugh at the boss's jokes.
To err is human. But to really louse it up, it takes a
computer.
Some big executives have computers to do all their
thinking for them. Some just have wives.
A girl said to her boyfriend, "Remember, I'm a
computer date, and I don't want to be bent, folded, or spindled."
Modern science is simply wonderful. It would take fifty
people twenty years to make the same mistake a computer can make in only two
seconds.
Have you heard about those computer arranged weddings?
The couple promises not to fold, spindle, or mutilate?
Many people doubt their ability, but few have any
misgivings about their importance.
A certain Hollywood actor would really become a big star
if the public liked him as much as he does.
You can pick out actors by the glazed look that comes to
their eyes when the conversation wanders away from themselves.
A Hollywood actor denies he is egotistical. He says he
just deeply admires people with great talent.
Some actors think they are elevating the stage when
they're merely depressing the audience.
A young actress in a southern state insists she's not
conceited, "although you understand I have every right to be."
We all like the person who comes right out and admires us.
Admiration is our polite recognition of another person's
resemblance to ourselves.
The self‑made man always seems to admire his maker.
Adversity is the only diet that will reduce a fat head.
A man is usually as young as he feels but seldom as
important.
The American people are divided into two great classes:
those who think they are as good as anybody, and those who think they are better.
The fellow who gets on a high horse is riding for a fall.
Give authority to some people and they grow; give it to
others and they swell.
A bachelor usually wants one single thing in life ‑
himself!
All bachelors expect to get married just as soon as they
can find a girl who loves them as much as they love themselves.
A bachelor never gets over the idea that he is a thing of
beauty and a boy forever.
A big shot is frequently an individual of small caliber
and immense bore.
There isn't anything as effective for subduing a big shot
as confronting him with somebody he used to go to school with.
The fellow who blows his horn the loudest is usually in
the biggest fog.
There is something pathetic about a man who turns on his
charm when he has none.
Some church members are like a tire with a slow leak ‑
it takes a lot of pumping to keep them inflated.
Why should some people be willing to compromise when
they're the ones who are always right?
A sure cure for conceit is a visit to the cemetery, where
eggheads and boneheads get equal billing.
One good thing about conceited people ‑they don't go
around talking about other people.
When the other fellow talks that way it's conceit. When
we do it's merely self‑appraisal.
An eye specialist in Chicago is a trifle conceited.
Instead of an eye chart, he makes you read his diploma.
Conceit is generally thought of as God's gift to little
people.
You can always get someone to love you ‑even if you
have to do it yourself.
A conceited person never gets anywhere because he thinks
he is already there.
The person who sings his own praises is likely to be a
soloist.
A bigshot may also be a big bore.
Nature abhors a vacuum. When a head lacks brains, nature
fills it with conceit.
Just because you are puffed up with conceit doesn't mean
you are a swell guy.
The strength that comes from confidence can be quickly
lost in conceit.
The head never begins to swell until the mind stops
growing.
The person who is all wrapped up in himself is
overdressed.
One thing that's hard to keep under your hat is a big
head.
Have you ever noticed that the most conceited person is
one whose opinions differ from your own?
A conceited person knows a good thing when he sees himself
in the mirror.
Heads that are filled with knowledge and wisdom have
little space left for conceit.
Talk to a man about himself, and he will listen for
hours.
The line between self‑confidence and conceit is very
narrow.
Conceit is the only disease known to man that makes
everybody sick except the person who has it.
The world's most conceited man was the fellow who
celebrated his birthday by sending his mother a telegram of congratulations.
Conceit may puff a man up, but it never props him up.
A certain young fellow in Texas was so conceited he
joined the Navy so the world could see him.
The only time you should blow your horn is when you're in
the band.
To be unusually pleased with yourself is the surest way of
offending everybody else.
Take the conceit out of a man and he will be like an
umbrella with the ribs gone.
Conceit is nature's compensation for inferiority.
Occasionally you meet a fellow who thinks he is all seven
wonders of the world.
Conceit is what makes a little squirt think he's a
fountain of knowledge.
The best remedy for conceit is to sit down and make a list
of all the things you don't know.
If you will hide your conceit as much as possible, people
will give you credit for knowing more than you do.
Conceit is a form of "I" strain that doctors
can't cure.
Psychiatrists tell us that conceit is a disease. It's a
mighty strange ailment; the victim usually feels all right, but it makes his
associates sick.
If you think you are important, just remember that a lot
of famous men of a century ago have weeds growing over their graves today.
Conceit in a man is a sure sign that he still hopes to
become successful someday.
Many people spend a lot of time just letting off esteem.
Belief in yourself is a fine thing, but see to it that you
are not too easily convinced.
Many a man labors under the delusion that standing on
one's dignity will enable him to see over the heads of the crowd.
Many divorces are caused by the marriage of two people who
are in love with themselves.
Education will broaden a narrow mind, but there is no
known cure for a big head.
Some people are in sore need of surgery; they need about
half of their ego removed.
Many a little squirt thinks he's a fountain of wisdom.
Pat others on the back, not yourself.
An expert knows all the answers ‑ if you ask the
right questions.
It's difficult, if not impossible, to have faith in God if
a man has too much faith in himself.
The man who believes in nothing but himself lives in a
very small world.
When a person starts to rest on his laurels, he discovers
they are poison ivy.
A gentleman in South Carolina said, "Most people
won't admit their faults. I'd admit mine if I had any."
The man who thinks he has no faults has at least one.
The greatest fault is to be conscious of none.
Flattery is hearing from others the things you have
already thought about yourself.
Flattery will get you nowhere. This is especially true
when you give it to yourself.
Most of us like a person who comes right out and says what
he thinks ‑‑ especially when he thinks like we do.
A prominent gentleman in
Some men achieve greatness, others are born great, and a
few have greatness thrust upon them. The rest of us just think we're great.
People whose main concern is their own happiness seldom
find it.
No big ideas over come from swelled heads.
The head never begins to swell until the mind stops
growing.
It's unfortunate that swelled heads aren't painful.
There's more hope for a confessed sinner than a conceited
saint.
Ideas are like children. No matter how much you like other
people's, you can't help thinking your own are best.
A slap on the back often pushes out the chest.
When an idler sees a job completed, he's sure he could
have done it better.
Looking in the mirror isn't exactly the best way to
convince yourself that things are improving.
There is nothing so irritating as somebody with less
intelligence and more sense than‑we have.
The person who knows everything has a lot to learn.
The fellow who is too deeply in love with himself ought to
get a divorce.
He who falls in love with himself will have no rivals.
It probably would be all right if we'd love our neighbors
as we love ourselves ‑ but could they stand that much affection?
You can always get someone to love you even if you have to
do it yourself.
Some men grow; others just swell.
A certain man in Texas has such a big mouth he can sing a
duet by himself.
You don't have to be much of a musician to toot your own
horn, . Nature never intended for us to pat ourselves on the
back. If she had, our hinges would be different.
The man who has a good opinion of himself is usually a
poor judge.
It's not difficult to pick out the best people. They'll
help you do it.
If biologists are right in their assertion that there is
not a perfect man on earth today, a lot of personal opinions will have to be
altered.
Some people grow under responsibility, while others only
swell.
One of the most difficult secrets for a man to keep is his
opinion of himself.
A person interrupts and endangers his climb up the ladder of
success when he stops to pat himself on the back.
A person who thinks too much of himself isn't thinking
enough.
Concentration is my motto--first honesty, then industry,
then
concentration.
Andrew Carnegie
A person can save himself from many hard falls by
refraining from jumping to conclusions.
The fellow who is always jumping to conclusions isn't
always sure of a happy landing.
Jumping to conclusions is about the only exercise some
people get.
The chief hazard of jumping to conclusions is the high
percentage of misses.
Jumping to conclusions is a dangerous form of mental
acrobatics.
Digging for facts is better mental exercise than jumping
to conclusions.
Why don't we jump at opportunities as quickly as we jump
to conclusions?
A good example is the tallest kind of preaching.
African Chief
All I do ought to be founded on a perfect oneness with
[God], not a
self-willed determination to be godly.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
All people smile in the same language.
Always imitate the behavior of the winners when you lose.
George Meredith (1828-1909)
Be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.
James 1:19
Do not do unto others as you would that they should do
unto you.
Their tastes may not be the same.
George Bernard Shaw
Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few;
friend to one;
enemy to none.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Be such a man, and live such a life, that if every man
were such as
you, and every life such as yours, this earth would be
God's paradise.
Phillips Brooks (1835-1893)
Behave toward everyone as if receiving a great guest.
Confucius (C. 551-479 B.C.)
Behavior is the mirror in which everyone shows his image.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
Conduct is an unspoken sermon.
Henri Frederic Amiel (1821-1881)
Determine a plan of action in the morning, and then
evaluate yourself
at night. How have you behaved today? What were your
words, your
deeds, your thoughts?
Thomas A Kempis (C. 1380-1471)
Do every act in thy life as if it were the last.
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180)
Don't be too sweet, lest you be eaten up; don't be too
bitter, lest
you be spewed out.
Jewish Proverb
Environmental influences, in themselves, will not account
for the
behavior we observe in our fellowman. There is something
else . . .
something from within. . . that also operates to make us
who we are.
James C. Dobson (1936- )
Four things a man must learn to do
If he would make his record true:
To think without confusion clearly
To love his fellowmen sincerely
To act from honest motives purely
To trust in God and heaven securely.
Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933)
I cannot hear what you say for the thunder of what you
are.
African Proverb
I have always tried to be good-it's very demanding!
Benny Andersen
If things go on as they have, imagine the horrifying
things the
children of the next generation will have to do to shock
their
parents.
If we judge our conduct by Christ and his desire to please
the Father,
we will solve many decisions regarding behavior.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
If you love the good that you see in another, make it your
own.
Pope Gregory the Great (540-604)
It would scarcely be necessary to expound doctrine if our
lives were
radiant enough. If we behaved like true Christians, there
would be no
pagans.
Pope John XXIII (1881-1963)
Jesus taught, first, that a man's business is to do the
will of God;
second, that God takes upon himself the care of that man;
third,
therefore, that a man must never be afraid of anything;
and so,
fourth, be left free to love God with all his heart, and
his neighbor
as himself.
George Macdonald (1824-1905)
Make no distinction in your conduct between small things
and great.
William Taylor (1821-1902)
Our Lord lived his life . . . to give us the normal
standard for our
lives.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Resolved, to live with all my might while I do live.
Resolved, never
to lose one moment of time, to improve it in the most
profitable way I
can. Resolved, never to do anything which I should despise
or think
meanly in another. Resolved, never to do anything out of
revenge.
Resolved, never to do anything which I should be afraid to
do if it
were the last hour of my life.
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
The best thing to give your enemy is forgiveness; to an
opponent,
tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good
example; to
a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will
make her proud
of you; to yourself, respect; to all men, charity.
Arthur James Balfour (1848-1930)
The chastising lesson . . . first, not to make private
assumptions
from public conduct, and second, if we have to judge, let
our
judgments be provisional, not ultimate. We do not really
know why
people do what they do, even when we are close to them-and
sometimes
especially because we are close to them.
Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986)
The least movement affects all nature; the entire sea
changes because
of a rock. Thus, in grace, the least action affects
everything by its
consequences; therefore everything is important. In each
action we
must look beyond the action at our past, present, and
future state,
and at others whom it affects, and see the relations of
all those
things. And then we shall be very cautious.
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
The mark of a man is how he treats a person who can be of
no possible
use to him.
The modern attitude is, "Father, forgive us for we
know not what we
are doing-and please don't tell us!"
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
The world takes its notions of God from the people who say
that they
belong to God's family. They read us a great deal more
than they read
the Bible. They see us; they only hear about Jesus Christ.
Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910)
Walk softly, speak tenderly, pray fervently. Do not run up
stairs, do
not run down God's people.
T. J. Bach
What if God arranged things so that we would experience a
mild jolt of
pain with every sin, or a tickle of pleasure with every
act of virtue?
Sort of a divine behavior modification, if you will. Would
you obey
because you loved God? I don't think so. I think you'd
obey simply
because you desired pleasure and not pain.
Joni Eareckson Tada
Whatever a man does he must do first in his mind.
Albert Szent-Györgyi von
Nagyrapolt (1893- )
When we are tempted to begin a statement with "If
people would only. . . ," it is good to keep in mind that
"people" is an abstraction standing for "I and thou," and
that at least half the responsibility
for human conduct rests upon the "I."
Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986)
You cannot add to the peace and good will of the world if
you fail to
create an atmosphere of harmony and love right where you
live and
work.
Thomas Dreier (1884- )
God considers not the action, but the spirit of the
action.
Peter Abelard (1079-1142)
God does not care
What good you did
But why you did it.
He does not grade the fruit
But probes the core and tests the root.
Angelus Silesius (1624-1677)
God strikes at the core of our motivations. He is not
interested in
merely applying a new coat of paint, imposing a new set of
rules. He
wants to rebuild our minds and give us new values.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
God values not your deeds, but how they are performed; He
does not
view the fruit, only the root and core.
Angelus Silesius (1624-1677)
It is not what a man does that determines whether his work
is sacred
or secular, it is why he does it.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Man sees your actions, but God your motives.
Thomas Ŕ Kempis (C. 1380-1471)
Many a solo is sung to show off; many a sermon is preached
as an
exhibition of talent; many a church is founded as a slap
to some other
church. Even missionary activity may become competitive,
and
soul-winning may degenerate into a sort of brush-salesman
project to
satisfy the flesh.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Not all people can be driven by the same stick.
Arabian Proverb
Nothing is impossible; there are ways that lead to
everything, and if
we had sufficient will, we should always have sufficient
means. It is
often merely for an excuse that we say things are
impossible.
François, Duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680)
When the will is ready, the feet are light.
George Herbert (1593-1633)
Where the heart is willing it will find a thousand ways,
but where it
is unwilling it will find a thousand excuses.
A conference is a meeting to decide when and where the
next meeting will be held.
When all is said and nothing done, it's time for the
conference to adjourn.
A conference room is a place where everybody talks,
nobody listens, and everybody disagrees afterward.
A conference is nothing more than an organized way of
postponing a decision.
A conference is a meeting at which people talk about
things they should be doing.
Generally speaking, a conference is a gathering of people
who singly can do nothing, but together can decide that nothing can be done.
A conference is a big business term for swapping stories
in somebody's office.
A conference is just a high‑falutin' name for the
executives' coffee break.
Definition of a conference: "The confusion of one man
multiplied by the number present."
When a conference of diplomats announce they have
"agreed in principle," it means nothing has been done.
A fault confessed is a new virtue
added to a man.
James S. Knowles (1784-1862)
A man should never be ashamed to
own he has been in the wrong, which
is but saying, in other words,
that he is wiser today than he was
yesterday.
Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
A man who confesses his sins in
the presence of a brother knows that
he is no longer alone with
himself; he experiences the presence of God
in the reality of the other
person. As long as I am by myself in the
confession of my sins everything
remains in the dark, but in the
presence of a brother the sin has
to be brought into the light.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)
Nothing spoils a confession like
repentance.
Anatole
The confession of evil works is
the first beginning of good works.
Confession is necessary for
fellowship. Sin builds a barrier between
us and God.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
Confession is to bring to light
the unknown, the unconscious darkness,
and the underdeveloped creativity
of our deeper layers.
Fritz Kunkel
Confession, which means to agree
with God regarding our sin, restores
our fellowship. It is a form of
discipline which God requires.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
Explaining is half confessing.
Marquis of
For a good confession three things
are necessary: an examination of
conscience, sorrow, and a determination
to avoid sin.
Alphonsus Luguori
For him who confesses, shams are
over and realities have begun.
William James (1842-1910)
Forgiveness is always free. But
that doesn't mean that confession is
always easy. Sometimes it is hard.
Incredibly hard. It is painful
(sometimes literally) to admit our
sins and entrust ourselves to God's
care.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
In confession . . . we open our
lives to healing, reconciling,
restoring, uplifting grace of him
who loves us in spite of what we are.
Louis Cassels (1922-1974)
It is not wrong actions which
require courage to confess, so much as
those which are ridiculous and
foolish.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
Two grave dangers threaten all
confession: too little and too much.
Beware lest your concern for
propriety and pride keep you from
confessing those sins the public
deserves to hear about. Likewise,
beware that your earnestness in
making all things right before God
does not play into the hands of
the great deceiver who would love to
turn your confession of sin into
an inducement for another to sin.
Richard Owen Roberts (1931- )
Confess your sins to the Lord, and you will be forgiven;
confess them to men, and you will be laughed at.
Confessing your sins is no substitute for forsaking them.
An honest confession is not always good for the soul, but,
in most cases, it's cheaper than hiring a high‑powered lawyer.
An open confession is good for the soul, but bad for the
reputation.
Confession is not only good for the soul; in Washington it
can be turned into a bestseller.
To err is understandable; to admit it is unlikely.
There's more hope for a confessed sinner than a conceited
saint.
Few things in life are more difficult for some of us than
admitting a mistake.
An innovative priest in San Francisco has a fast
confession line for those with three sins or less.
Confess your sins, not your neighbor's.
Unless sin is confessed it will fester.
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
Christian Nestell Bovee
Men cannot be forced into trust.
If once you forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizen,
you can
never regain their respect and esteem.
Abraham Lincoln
You must first be a believer if you would be an achiever.
The strength that comes from confidence can be quickly
lost in conceit.
The line between self‑confidence and conceit is very
narrow.
Misplaced confidence is seldom found again.
Always trust a fat man. He'll never stoop to anything low.
Confidence is the feeling you have before you fully
understand the situation.
Belief in yourself is a fine thing, but see to it that you
are not too easily convinced.
There are two reasons why we don't trust people: one,
because we don't know them; and the other, because we do.
We had complete confidence in reaching the moon. Now if we
could only feel the same way about getting to the other side of the street.
Confidence is that quiet, absolutely assured feeling you
have just before you fall flat on your face.
Faith gives us the courage to face the present with
confidence, and the future with expectancy.
Belief in God will help you most if you also believe in
yourself.
A good leader inspires men to have confidence in him; a
great leader inspires them to have confidence in themselves.
It seems that all a college education does is help folks
become confused on a higher plane.
It has been said that a college education is nothing but a
four‑year plan of confusing young minds methodically.
Definition of a conference: "The confusion of one man
multiplied by the number present."
A wise man is never confused by what he can't understand,
but a fool is sure to be.
In the hectic confusion of modern society it would be nice
to experience a few dull moments occasionally.
Why did they have to admit to the Union the State of
Confusion?
The only thing that isn't hard to get these days is
confusion.
No one is more confusing than the fellow who gives good
advice while setting a bad example.
"All the world is a stage," and everybody is in
a wild scramble trying to get on it.
When lost it is better to stand still than to run in the
wrong direction. This applies to governments as well as individuals.
Some folks think they are busy when they are only
confused.
With the world in such a confused state, no wonder babies
cry when they come into it.
Even if this is the dawn of a bright new world, most of us
are still in the dark.
If this world becomes any more confused than it is now,
don't be surprised to see monkeys tossing peanuts to people.
It's a confused world. We're running out of electricity ‑
and nobody even knows what it is.
Nothing confuses a man more than to drive behind a woman
who does everything right.
A man never gets so confused in his thinking that he can't
see the other fellow's duty.
It is a mistake to trust a man with an honest face. After
all, that may be the only honest part of him.
An expert can take something you already know and make it
sound confusing.
An expert is always able to create confusion out of
simplicity.
After all, life is really simple; we ourselves create the
circumstances that complicate it.
Many people look ahead, some look back, but most look
confused.
World problems are so confusing that even computers are
asking questions.
In our generation the popular religion is CONFUSIONISM.
Statisticians collect facts, then draw their own
confusions.
Isn't it remarkable how our pioneering ancestors built up
a great nation without asking Congress for help?
If Congress can pay farmers not to raise crops, why can't we
pay Congress not to raise taxes?
Besides adjourning, what other good thing has Congress
done this year?
Members of Congress meet more often than they get
together.
Congress fighting inflation is like the Mafia fighting
crime.
The trouble with Congress today is that the members don't
want to get involved.
It appears that Congress has found it's a lot easier to
trim the taxpayers than expenses.
Now that Congress has made it possible for Americans to
buy gold, somebody should suggest they make it possible for us to buy
groceries.
If Congress really wants to help the auto industry sell
more cars, it should start building more parking lots.
Congress does some strange things ‑ it puts a high
tax on liquor, and raises the other taxes that drive people to drink.
Wouldn't it be nice if Congress would divert some of that
foreign aid to the Postal Service!
Congress has figured out the right system. When the
members encounter a problem they can't solve, they subsidize it.
What this country needs is more men in Congress with
throat trouble.
Congress would accomplish more with fewer
"blocs" and more tackle.
The trouble with Congress is that it can't remain calm and
cool when collected.
Congress is like a country fair. Nothing gets as much attention
as the bull.
There wouldn't be very much objection to increasing the
size of Congress if there were any chance of improving its quality.
It's hard to say exactly what a Congressional Committee
does ‑ but if your wife did it, you'd call it nagging.
Congress is proof that women don't do all the talking.
Our Congress is continually appointing "fact‑finding"
committees when what they really need are some "fact‑facing"
committees.
Congress must not improve our lot in life any further. We
simply can't afford it.
There are two periods when Congress does no business: one
is before the holidays; and the other, after.
The biggest job Congress has is how to get money from the
taxpayers without disturbing the voters.
Congress will not know what a real filibuster is until
women members are in the majority.
The attitude of Congress toward hidden taxes is not to do
away with them, but to hide them better.
The latest report is that the manufacturers of aspirin
want to sponsor televised sessions of Congress on one of the major networks.
Congress is a legislative body whose members make the laws
and whose chaplain prays for the country.
Sitting in Congress is the privilege of the few; sitting
on Congress, the prerogative of the many.
Congress seems to favor a stable government, judging from
the amount of stalling it does.
It seems that overtime Congress sets out to trim the
budget, the knife slips and trims the taxpayers instead.
Congress is confronted with the unsolved problem of how to
get the people to pay taxes they can't afford for services
they don't need.
It's getting harder and harder to railroad legislation
through Congress now that it has installed the "bloc system."
Some members of Congress would best promote the country's
peace by holding their own.
Congress is unpredictable. You never know what urgent
problem they're not going to do anything about.
One wonders what the crime statistics would be if they
included all the holdups in Congress.
Modern political theory seems to hold that the best way to
keep the economy in the pink is to run the government in the red.
Would you enjoy reading one of America's foremost humor
publications? If so, subscribe to the Congressional Record.
Just when you think you've found a hedge against
inflation, Congress decided to trim.
The man who says there are no new jokes probably hasn't
read the latest batch of bills before Congress.
Natural law is a fundamental force that Congress
constantly tries to amend.
Economists tell us that we may have to devalue the dollar.
What do they think Congress has been doing for the past twenty‑five or
thirty years?
Occasionally an innocent man is sent to the legislature.
The chaplains who pray for the United States Senate and
the House of Representatives might speak a word now and then on behalf of the
taxpayers.
A congressional speech is one printed by the government
without profit and read the same way.
When Congress tries to decide between two new taxes, it's
like a woman deciding between two dresses ‑ she usually
decides to take both.
If Congress would repeal the nuisance tax, we wouldn't
have any taxes to pay.
The United States is a land with a President for a head, a
Supreme Court for a backbone, and Congress for lungs.
One thing about death ‑ it doesn't get worse every
time Congress meets.
As we pay our taxes, most of us are not worried about
Congress letting us down ‑ but we often wonder if it will ever let us up.
In the near future Congress is expected to raise the legal
limit on the taxpayer's patience.
We often wonder what the Ten Commandments would look like
today if Moses had been compelled to submit them to a hostile legislature!
You can lead a man to Congress but you can't make him
think.
According to recent reports,
Watch the kid who's cutting classes at school ‑ he
may be in training to be a congressman later in life.
The little boy who was sent to the store and could never
remember what he went for finally grew up to be a congressman.
Nowadays the truly forgotten man is a congressman who
isn't investigating somebody.
A veteran congressman told a freshman colleague, "In
Washington, if you're not confused, you haven't heard all the facts.
It might be more worthwhile if we stopped wringing our
hands and started ringing our congressman.
A congressman gets a lot of money for a man who gets up to
speak, says nothing, nobody listens, and then everybody disagrees.
The average congressman's idea of government waste is a
dollar spent in another congressman's district.
What's wrong with this country is that you can't sue a
congressman for breach of promise.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him
drink. You can send a man to Congress, but you can't make him think.
How much a congressman's political fence needs mending
depends on how much he has straddled it.
Now that they've gotten the lead out of gasoline, we
ought to give them the names and addresses of a few of our congressmen.
A congressman made the following brilliant statement:
"Lynching deprives a man of his constitutional rights. It also interferes
with his plans for the future.
New congressmen go home frequently to find out what their
constituents think about what they have done. The older and wiser ones remain
safely in
A congressman is always in favor of economy, but not when
it involves his own district.
The average man has quit dreaming of having enough money
to last him the rest of his life. He'd settle for enough to last him the rest
of the month.
No drunken sailor ever spent money as fast as a sober
congressman.
Our legislators would practice more economy if they
weren't so out of practice.
The United States Constitution is a great document with
one defect. It does not require intelligence tests for congressional candidates.
Too many Model‑T congressmen are drawing Cadillac
salaries.
Nowadays many taxpayers are writing letters of protest to
their congressmen ‑ and some are so hot they're steaming themselves open.
A bad conscience embitters the sweetest comforts; a good
one sweetens
the bitterest crosses.
A bad conscience is a snake in one's heart.
Jewish Proverb
A conscience void of offense before God and man is an
inheritance for
eternity.
Daniel Webster (1782-1852)
A good conscience can sleep in the mouth of a cannon.
Thomas Watson (C. 1557-1592)
A good conscience is a continual feast.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
A good conscience is a soft pillow.
Proverb
A guilty conscience is a hell on earth and points to one
beyond.
A man could not have anything upon his conscience if God
did not
exist, for the relationship between the individual and
God, the
God-relationship, is the conscience, and that is why it is
so terrible
to have even the least thing upon one's conscience,
because one is
immediately conscious of the infinite weight of God.
Sřren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
A person of honor would prefer to lose his honor rather
than lose his
conscience.
Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-1592)
A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder.
A scar on the conscience is the same as a wound.
Publilius Syrus (First Century B.C.)
A sleeping pill will never take the place of a clear
conscience.
Eddie Cantor (1892-1964)
An uneasy conscience is a hair in the mouth.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
And I know of the future judgment
How dreadful so'er it be
That to sit alone with my conscience
Would be judgment enough for me.
Charles William Stubbs (1845-1912)
And I will place within them as a guide
My Umpire Conscience, whom if they will hear,
Light after light well us'd they shall attain,
And to the end persisting, safe arrive.
John Milton (1608-1674)
Conscience gets a lot of credit that belongs to cold feet.
Conscience is a sacred sanctuary where God alone may enter
as judge.
Hugo Félicité Robert de Lamennais (1782-1854)
Conscience is a thousand witnesses.
Proverb
Conscience is a three-pointed thing in my heart that turns
around when
I do something wrong, and the points hurt a lot. But if I
keep doing
bad, the points eventually wear off, and then it doesn't
hurt any
more.
Conscience is a walkie-talkie set by which God speaks to
us.
James J. Metcalf
Conscience is God's presence in man.
Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772)
Conscience is the inner voice which warns us that someone
may be
looking.
H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)
Conscience is the still small voice that makes you feel
still smaller.
James A. Sanaker
Conscience is the true vicar of Christ in the soul; a
prophet in its
information; a monarch in its preemptoriness; a priest in
its
blessings or anathemas, according as we obey or disobey
it.
Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
Conscience is thoroughly well bred and soon leaves off
talking to
those who do not wish to hear it.
Samuel Butler (1612-1680)
Conscience is, in most men, an anticipation of the opinion
of others.
Sir Henry Taylor (1800-1886)
Conscience reigns, but it does not govern.
Paul Valery (1871-1945)
Conscience warns us as a friend before it punishes us as a
judge.
King Leszczynski Stanislaw I (1677-1766)
Conscience: my accomplice.
Hyman Maxwell Berston
Cowardice asks, Is it safe? Expediency asks, Is it
politic? Vanity
asks, Is it popular? Conscience asks, Is it right?
William Morley Punshon (1824-1881)
Even the voice of conscience undergoes mutation.
Stanislaw J. Lec (1909-1966)
Great tranquility has he who cares neither for praise nor
criticism.
He will be content whose conscience is pure. You are not
more holy if
you are praised; nor more worthless if you are criticized.
What you
are, that you are; words cannot make you greater than what
you are in
the sight of God.
Thomas Ŕ Kempis (C. 1380-1471)
He had a mania for washing and disinfecting himself. . . .
For him the
only danger came from the microbes which attacked the
body. He had not
studied the microbe of conscience which eats into the
soul.
Anaďs Nin (1903-1977)
He that has light within his own clear breast
May sit i' the center and enjoy bright day;
But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts
Benighted walks under the midday sun.
John Milton (1608-1674)
His gain is loss;
For he that wrongs his friends
Wrongs himself more,
And ever has about him a silent court and jury
And himself, the prisoner at the bar
Ever condemned.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)
I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration
that if at
the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I
have lost every
other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend
left, and that
friend shall be down inside of me.
-Reply to
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
If conscience smite thee once, it is an admonition; if
twice, it is a
condemnation.
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)
In vain we call old notions fudge,
And bend our conscience to our dealing;
The Ten Commandments will not budge,
And stealing will continue stealing.
James Russell Lowell (1819-1891)
It is not sufficient for a Christian to walk in the light
of his
conscience; he must walk in a sterner light, in the light
of the Lord.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Let dictatorship not serve as an alibi for our conscience.
We have
failed to fight for right, for justice, for goodness; as a
result we
must fight against wrong, against injustice, against evil.
Abraham J. Heschel (1907-1972)
Living with a conscience is like driving a car with the
brakes on.
Budd Schulberg
Most of us follow our conscience as we follow a
wheelbarrow. We push
it in front of us in the direction we want to go.
Billy Graham (1918- )
My conscience is captive to the word of God.
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Now, Jessie, there is some beauty and some goodness in
everything God
has made, and he who has a pure conscience is like one
looking into a
clear stream; he sees it all; while him who has a bad
conscience, all
things look as you say they did in the muddy stream-black
and ugly.
Mary McIntosh (1803-1878)
O Conscience, into what abyss of fears
And horrors hast thou driv'n me;
Out of which I find no way,
From deep to deeper plung'd!
John Milton (1608-1674)
Oh! Conscience! Conscience! Man's most faithful friend,
Him canst thou comfort, ease, relieve, defend:
But if he will thy friendly checks forego,
Thou art, oh! woe for me, his deadliest foe!
George Crabbe (1754-1832)
Only the heart without a stain knows perfect ease.
German Proverb
Our consciences take no notice of pain inflicted on others
until it
reaches a point where it gives pain to us.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
The conscience is a built-in feature
That haunts the sinner, helps the preacher.
Some sins it makes us turn and run from,
But most it simply takes the fun from.
Richard Armour
The conscience is an imperfect mental faculty. There are
times when it
condemns us for mistakes and human frailties that can't be
avoided; at
other times it will remain silent in the face of
indescribable
wickedness.
James C. Dobson (1936- )
The disease of an evil conscience is beyond the practice
of all the
physicians of all countries in the world.
William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898)
The importance of conscience is eternal, like love.
Pablo Casals (1876-1973)
The man who has a guilty secret in his life is a lonely
man.
James Denney (1856-1917)
The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice
within.
Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)
The whole conscience begins to unravel if a single stitch
drops. One
single sin makes a hole you can put your head through.
Charles Buxton (1823-1871)
The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours
is a world
of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
Omar Nelson Bradley (1893-1981)
There is another man within me that is angry with me.
Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682)
To sit alone with my conscience will be judgment enough
for me.
Charles William Stubbs (1845-1912)
Trust that man in nothing who has not a conscience in
everything.
Laurence Sterne (1713-1768)
Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing
wonder and
awe-the starry heavens above me and the moral law within
me.
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
Conscience is the inner voice that tells you the IRS might
check
your return.
Money talks louder when your conscience is asleep.
Conscience is an inner voice that warns us somebody is
looking.
Conscience is the still small voice that makes you feel
still
smaller.
There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience.
French proverb
A still small voice.
1 Kings 19:12
A good conscience is a continual feast.
A guilty conscience never thinks itself safe.
Conscience does make cowards of us all . . .
William Shakespeare
Keep conscience clear, then never fear.
No hell like a bad conscience.
The only tyrant I accept in this world is the still voice
within.
Mahatma Gandhi
To know what is right and not do it is as bad as doing
wrong.
A budget is like a conscience ‑ it doesn't keep you
from spending, but it makes you feel guilty about it.
Character is never erected on a neglected conscience.
Conscience keeps more people awake than coffee.
With some people a clear conscience is nothing more than
a poor memory.
Conscience is like a baby. It has to go to sleep before
you can.
If it weren't for your conscience, you'd probably do
everything you want to do right away.
Conscience is what hurts when everything else feels good.
To remove the conscience from some people
would be only a minor operation.
No one works his conscience so hard that it needs a
vacation.
Happy is the man who renounces everything that places a
strain on his conscience.
The line is often too busy when conscience wishes to
speak.
A man's conscience tells him what he shouldn't do ‑
but it does not keep him from doing it.
Conscience, like a pencil, needs to be sharpened
occasionally.
When a man won't listen to his conscience, it's usually
because he doesn't want advice from a stranger.
Conscience helps, but the fear of getting caught doesn't
do any harm either.
Some folks who say they have a clear conscience may have
a good "forgetter."
Thousands of people become hard of hearing when conscience
speaks.
When you have a fight with your conscience and get licked,
you win.
The best tranquilizer is a good conscience.
A gash in the conscience may disfigure the soul.
Many people would listen to the voice of conscience if
they knew what channel it was on.
Conscience is that small inner voice that tells you the
IRS might check your return.
It's a good idea to keep on good terms with everybody, but
especially with your wife, your banker, your stomach, and your conscience.
The testimony of a good conscience is worth more than a
dozen character witnesses.
Quite often when a man thinks his mind is getting broader,
it is only his conscience stretching.
Your conscience doesn't really keep you from doing
anything; it merely keeps you from enjoying it.
Conscience is that still, small voice that makes you feel
even smaller.
The greatest tormentor of the human soul is a guilty
conscience.
A fellow's conscience works best while he's being watched.
One should be more concerned about what his conscience
whispers than about what other people shout.
A conscience is a safe guide only when God is the guide of
the conscience.
Conscience is that sixth sense that comes to our aid when
we are doing something wrong and tells us we are about to get caught.
Most people follow their conscience as a man follows a
wheelbarrow ‑ pushing it along before him the way he wants to go.
Conscience does not get its guidance from a Gallup poll.
Most things that broaden the mind also narrow the
conscience.
Conscience is not the voice of God; it is the gift of God.
Conscience is the voice that tells you not to do something
after you've done it.
As long as your conscience is your friend, never mind
about your enemies.
Nobody's conscience ever kept him awake at night for
having exaggerated the good qualities of his friends.
There's no substitute for conscience ‑ unless it's
knowing you're being watched.
Nothing goes to sleep as easy as one's conscience.
Conscience is the only mirror that doesn't flatter.
Many people have trained their conscience to roll over and
play dead.
Conscience is something inside that bothers you when
nothing outside does.
A man's best boss is a well‑trained conscience.
The world would be better off if people paid as much attention
to their conscience as they do to their neighbors' opinions.
One of the most painful wounds in the world is a stab of
conscience.
In the courtroom of our conscience, we call only witnesses
for the defense.
Conscience is that still, small voice that yells so loud
the morning after.
Many people claim that the best substitute for a
conscience is cold feet.
Conscience is that still, small voice that tells you what
other people should do.
It is your conscience that warns you to be careful about
what it can't stop you from doing.
Fear is the tax that conscience pays guilt.
Those who remember the past with a clear conscience need
have no fear of the future.
The world is composed of the takers and the givers. The
takers may eat better, but the givers sleep better.
The head usher to happiness is a well‑kept
conscience.
Happiness is a healthy mental attitude, a grateful spirit,
a clear conscience, and a heart full of love.
Ignorance is an opiate that lulls a conscience to sleep.
What the world needs is an amplifier for the still, small
voice.
Preachers don't talk in their sleep; they talk in other
people's sleep.
Most reformers insist that their conscience be your guide.
With some people it's rheumatism more than conscience that
keeps them on the right path.
If a sermon pricks the conscience, it must have good
points.
God may forgive your sin, but your nervous system won't.
A man's conscience, and not his mattress, has most to do
with his sleep.
Too many teen‑agers don't pay any more attention to
their conscience than they do their parents.
You will find that if you share your brother's burden,
both of you will walk a little straighter.
Few burdens are heavy when everybody lifts.
Everybody likes friendly attention and cooperation. We
always get it when we give it.
It's difficult for men of different nations to work
shoulder to shoulder when they carry a chip on one shoulder and a gun on the
other.
No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to
play it.
Even freckles would make a nice coat of tan if they would
get together.
Cooperation is doing what I tell you to do, and doing it
quickly.
If you don't think cooperation is necessary, watch what happens
to a wagon if one wheel comes off.
A minority of the people usually carry a majority of the
load.
You'll find that the big potatoes are on top of the heap
because there are a lot of little potatoes holding them up.
We cannot all play the same instrument, but we can all be
in the same key.
Cost of living see also Inflation
It seems the only thing that hasn't increased in cost is
free advice.
About the only thing people in every walk of life will
agree about is that they are underpaid and overcharged.
Airplane fares have been increased considerably. Even the
cost of going up is going up.
The average man's modest ambition is to make his weekly
paycheck last a week.
What is hurting America today is the high cost of low
living.
Americans are now experiencing "shell‑out
shock."
Fewer Americans are drunk with wealth nowadays. It's just
the price of everything that causes them to stagger.
Commitment without reflection is fanaticism in action. But
reflection
without commitment is the paralysis of all action.
John Mackay
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what
he cannot
lose.
Jim Elliot (1927-1956)
He who lightly assents will seldom keep his word.
Chinese Proverb
Jesus did not say, "Come to me and get it over
with." He said, "If any
man would come after me, let him take up his cross daily
and follow
me." Daily is the key word. Our commitment to Christ,
however genuine
and wholehearted it may be today, must be renewed tomorrow
. . . and
the day after that . . . and the day after that . . .
until the path
comes at last to the river.
Louis Cassels (1922-1974)
Say, "Yes," Son. I need your yes as I needed
Mary's yes to come to
earth, For it is I who must do your work, it is I who must
live in
your family, it is I who must be in your neighborhood, and
not you.
For it is my look that penetrates, and not yours; my words
that carry
weight, and not yours; my life that transforms, and not
yours. Give
all to me, abandon all to me. I need your yes to be united
with you
and to come down to earth, I need your yes to continue
saving the
world.
Michel Quoist (1921- )
Sometimes a man imagines that he will lose himself if he
gives
himself, and keep himself if he hides himself. But the
contrary takes
place with terrible exactitude.
Ernest Hello (1828-1885)
Thine am I, I was born for thee,
What wouldst thou, Master, make of me?
Give me death or give me life
Give health or give infirmity
Give honor or give obloquy
Give peace profound or daily strife,
Weakness or strength add to my life;
Yes, Lord, my answer still shall be
What wilt thou, Master, have of me?
Saint Teresa of
Tomorrow I keep for God. Today I give to God.
Frances J. Roberts
What does God require? Everything!
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
Consecration is handing God a blank sheet to fill in with
your name
signed at the bottom.
M. H. Miller (1904- )
Consecration is not wrapping one's self in a holy web in
the sanctuary
and then coming forth after prayer and twilight meditation
and saying,
"There, I am consecrated." Consecration is going
out into the world
where God Almighty is and using every power for his glory.
It is
taking all advantages as trust funds.
Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887)
Consecration is the narrow, lonely way to overflowing
love. We are not
called upon to live long on this planet, but we are called
upon to be
holy at any and every cost. If obedience costs you your
life, then pay it.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
It does not take great men to do great things; it only
takes
consecrated men.
Phillips Brooks (1835-1893)
Our reservations are the damnations of our consecrations.
William Booth (1829-1912)
You give but little when you give of your possessions. It
is when you
give yourself that you truly give.
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)
He that contemplates on his bed hath a day without a
night.
Night is the mother of thoughts.
Many can bear adversity, but few contempt.
English Proverb
Never point a finger of scorn at another, for in so doing
you are
pointing three fingers of scorn at your own self.
Burmese Proverb
Sarcasm is the weapon of the weak man; the word literally
means to
tear flesh from the bone.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The arrows of sarcasm are barbed with contempt.
He who is content can never be ruined.
Chinese proverb
A contented mind is a continual feast.
Better a little with content than much with contention.
The best of blessings--a contented mind.
Latin proverb
Religious contention is the Devil's harvest.
French proverb
Acceptance says, "True, this is my situation at the
moment. I'll look
unblinkingly at the reality of it. But I'll also open my
hands to
accept willingly whatever a loving Father sends."
Catherine Wood Marshall (1914-1983)
For after all, the best thing one can do when it's raining
is to let
it rain.
Henry
If the Giver gives you a hill to plough, don't level it.
Arabian Proverb
If you have no power to prevail over someone, leave it to
God.
Arabian Proverb
It ain't no use to grumble and complain,
It's just as easy to rejoice;
When God sorts out the weather and sends rain,
Why, rain's my choice.
James Whitcomb Riley (1849-1916)
Let us take things as we find them. Let us not attempt to
distort them
into what they are not. We cannot make facts. All our
wishing cannot
change them. We must use them.
Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890)
My child, it will be better for you if you accept my
decisions without
complaint. Do not ask me to defend my actions or to
explain why one
person is favored and another seems slighted. The answers
to these
questions go far beyond your comprehension.
Thomas A Kempis (C. 1380-1471)
One already wet does not feel the rain.
Turkish Proverb
Resignation is putting God between ourselves and our
troubles.
Madame Anne Sophie Soymanov Swetchine (1782-1857)
Resignation is the rarest sort of courage.
Gustave Droz
Since the house is on fire, let us warm ourselves.
Italian Proverb
There is no good in arguing with the inevitable. The only
argument
available with an east wind is to put on your overcoat.
James Russell Lowell (1819-1891)
When you are outraged by somebody's impudence, ask
yourself at once,
"Can the world exist without impudent people?"
It cannot; so do not
ask for impossibilities.
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180)
You are not accepted by God because you deserve to be, or
because you
have worked hard for him; but because Jesus died for you.
Colin Urquhart (1940- )
'Tis better to be lowly born,
And range with humble lives in content,
Than to be perked up in a glistering grief,
And wear a golden sorrow.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
A contented man is the one who enjoys the scenery along
the detours.
A contented mind is a continual feast.
Proverb
A wise man cares not for what he cannot have.
George Herbert (1593-1633)
As there is no worldly gain without some loss, so there is
no worldly
loss without some gain. If thou hast lost thy wealth, thou
hast lost
some trouble with it. If thou art degraded from thy honor,
that art
likewise freed from the stroke of envy. If sickness hath
blurred thy
beauty, it hath delivered thee from pride. Set the
allowance against
the loss and thou shalt find no loss great.
Francis Quarles (1592-1644)
Be content with the strength you've got.
Arabian Proverb
Better a handful of dry dates and content therewith than
to own the
Gate of Peacocks and be kicked in the eye by a broody
camel.
Arabian Proverb
Content is the philosopher's stone that turns all it
touches into gold.
Proverb
Contentment consists not in great wealth but in few wants.
Epictetus (C. 55-C. 135)
Contentment is an inexhaustible treasure.
Arabian Proverb
Contentment is not happiness. An oyster may be contented.
Christian Nestell Bovee (1820-1904)
Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but
the
realization of how much you already have.
Contentment is realizing that God has already given me
everything I
need for my present happiness.
Bill Gothard
Contentment is understanding that if I am not satisfied
with what I
have, I will never be satisfied with what I want.
Bill Gothard
Do not anxiously hope for that which is not yet come; do
not vainly
regret what is already past.
Proverb
Enjoy your own life without comparing it with that of
another.
Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794)
Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence.
Helen Adams Keller (1880-1968)
For after all, the best thing one can do when it's raining
is to let
it rain.
Henry
God's thoughts, his will, his love, his judgments are all
man's home.
To think his thoughts, to choose his will, to love his
loves, to judge
his judgments, and thus to know that he is in us, is to be
at home.
George Macdonald (1824-1905)
Great tranquility of heart is his who cares for neither
praise nor
blame.
Thomas Ŕ Kempis (C. 1380-1471)
Handsome is not what is handsome, but what pleases.
Yiddish Proverb
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which
he has not,
but rejoices for those which he has.
Epictetus (C. 55-C. 135)
He is richest who is content with the least.
Socrates (470-399 B.C.)
He is well paid that is well satisfied.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
He who desires nothing will always be free.
E. R. Lefebvre Laboulaye (1811-1883)
He who is content can never be ruined.
Chinese Proverb
He who is contented need not lie nor flatter.
He who wants little always has enough.
Johann George Zimmerman (1728-1795)
I am always content with what happens, for what God
chooses is better
than what I choose.
Epictetus (C. 55-C. 135)
I don't want to own anything that won't fit into my
coffin.
Fred Allen (1894-1956)
I was too ambitious in my deed,
And thought to distance all men in success,
Till God came to me, marked the place, and said,
"Ill doer, henceforth keep within this line,
Attempting less than others"-and I stand
And work among Christ's little ones, content.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)
If finding God's way in the suddenness of storms makes our
faith grow
broad, then trusting God's wisdom in the
"dailyness" of living makes
it grow deep. And strong.
Charles R. Swindoll (1934- )
If we have not quiet in our minds, outward comfort will do
no more for
us than a golden slipper on a gouty foot.
John Bunyan (1628-1688)
If you are not satisfied with a little, you will not be
satisfied with
much.
It is right to be contented with what we have, but never
with what we are.
Sir James Mackintosh (1765-1832)
Joy of life seems to me to arise from a sense of being
where one
belongs. . . . All the discontented people I know are
trying
sedulously to be something they are not, to do something
they cannot
do. Contentment, and indeed usefulness, comes as the
infallible result
of great acceptances, great humilities-of not trying to
make ourselves
this or that (to conform to some dramatized version of
ourselves), but
of surrendering ourselves to the fullness of life-of
letting life flow
through us.
David Grayson (1870-1946)
My crown is in my heart, not on my head;
Not deck'd with diamonds and Indian stones,
Nor to be seen: my crown is call'd content;
A crown it is that seldom kings enjoy.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Nine requisites for contented living:
Health enough to make work a pleasure;
Wealth enough to support your needs;
Strength to battle with difficulties and overcome them;
Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them;
Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished;
Charity enough to see some good in your neighbor;
Love enough to move you to be useful and helpful to
others;
Faith enough to make real the things of God;
Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the
future.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
O what a happy soul am I!
Although I cannot see,
I am resolved that in this world
Contented I will be;
How many blessings I enjoy
That other people don't!
To weep and sigh because I'm blind,
I cannot, and I won't.
Fanny Crosby (1820-1915)
Since we have loaves, let us not look for cakes.
Spanish Proverb
Sweet are the thoughts that savour of content; The quiet
mind is
richer than a crown.
Robert Greene (1558-1592)
The children of
strength they might have found in it; not because the
manna did not
contain them, but because they longed for other meat.
The contented man is never poor, the discontented never
rich.
George Eliot (1819-1880)
There is a great difference between being occupied with
God who gives
us the contentment, and being busied with the contentment
which God
gives us.
Saint Francis of Sales (1567-1622)
There is a sense in which a man looking at the present in
the light of
the future, and taking his whole being into account, may
be contented
with his lot: that is Christian contentment. But if a man
has come to
that point where he is so content that he says, "I do
not want to know
any more, or do anymore, or be anymore," he is in a
state in which he
ought to be changed into a mummy!
Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887)
They took away what should have been my eyes,
(But I remembered
They took away what should have been my ears,
(Beethoven came and wiped away my tears)
They took away what should have been my tongue,
(But I had talked with God when I was young)
He would not let them take away my soul,
Possessing that, I still possess the whole.
Helen Adams Keller (1880-1968)
To have what we want is riches; but to be able to do
without is power.
George Macdonald (1824-1905)
True contentment is a real, even an active, virtue-not
only
affirmative but creative. It is the power of getting out
of any
situation all there is in it.
G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
We shall be made truly wise if we be made content; content
not only
with what we can understand, but content with what we do
not
understand-the habit of mind which theologians call, and
rightly,
faith in God.
Charles Kingsley (1819-1875)
Whatever comes, let's be content withall: Among God's
blessings there
is no one small.
Robert Herrick (1591-1674)
When life isn't the way you like, like it the way it is.
Jewish Proverb
Contentment is often the result of being too lazy to stir
up a fuss.
If you can't be content with what you have received, be
thankful for what you have escaped.
Many of us won't be content with our lot in life until
it's a lot more.
Contentment is something that depends a little on
position and a lot on disposition.
When you can think of yesterday without regret and
tomorrow without fear, you are near real contentment.
Contentment is when your earning power equals your
yearning power.
It is right to be content with what you have, never with
what you are.
The greatest wealth is contentment with a little.
Some folks aren't content with the milk of human kindness ‑
they want the cream.
Contentment has been praised more and practiced less than
any other condition of life.
If you would be content, do what you ought, not what you
please.
The best way for a person to have a contented state of
mind is for him to count his blessings, not his cash.
It's difficult to be content if you don't have enough, and
it's impossible if you have too much.
When we cannot find contentment in ourselves, it is
useless to seek it elsewhere.
Contentment is a matter of hoping for the best and making
the best of what we get.
A contented neighborhood is one in which each man thinks
he is doing just a little better than the man next door.
Contentment in life consists not in great wealth, but in
simple wants.
In order to become perfectly content, it is necessary to
have a poor memory and no imagination.
A dish towel will certainly wipe a contented look off a
married man's face.
The secret of contentment is knowing how to enjoy what you
have, and to be able to lose all interest in things beyond your reach.
A contented person is one who has all the things his
neighbor has.
If everyone were perfectly contented there would be no
progress.
To be content, just think how happy you would be if you
lost everything you have right now, and then got it back again!
Patience, forbearance, and understanding are companions to
contentment.
The happiest people are those who are too busy to notice
whether they are happy or not.
Some people find happiness by making the most of what they
don't have.
Happiness is in the heart, not in the circumstances.
How to be happy: Keep your heart free from hate, your mind
from worry, live simply, expect little, give much, sing often, pray always,
forget self, think of others and their feelings, fill your heart with love,
scatter sunshine. These are tried links in the golden chain of contentment.
There's nothing like a dish towel for wiping that
contented look off a husband's face.
The greatest lesson we learn from past civilizations is
ingratitude.
All the world lives in two tents: content and discontent.
Remember, in every lease the big print giveth and the
small print
taketh away.
Anonymous
If a cause be good, the most violent attack of its enemies
will not
injure it so much as an injudicious defense of it by its
friends.
Charles Caleb Colton (1780-1832)
No great advance has ever been made in science, politics,
or religion,
without controversy.
Lyman Beecher (1775-1863)
No man can be a Christian without being a
controversialist.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
The devil loves to fish in troubled waters.
John Trapp
When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it
ceases to be a
subject of interest.
William Hazlitt (1778-1830)
The less men think; the more they talk.
L. de Montesquieu
Too much agreement kills a chat.
Eldridge Cleaver
Some persons talk simply because they think sound is more
manageable than silence.
Margaret Halsey
If you can't say anything good about someone, sit right
here by me.
Alice Roosevelt Longworth
A man's conversation is the mirror of his thoughts.
Chinese proverb
There are people who instead of listening to what is being
said to
them are already listening to what they are going to say
themselves.
Albert Guinon
You can pick out actors by the glazed look that comes to
their eyes when the conversation wanders away from themselves.
The trouble with being an atheist is you have nobody to
talk to when you're alone.
A barber's remarks are sometimes more keen and cutting
than his razor.
Some people never say anything bad about the dead, or
anything good about the living.
People love goldfish because they like to see something
with a mouth open that's not complaining.
Fascinating conversation is the art of telling people a
little less than they want to know.
One of the troubles with small talk is that it usually
comes in large doses.
Nine‑tenths of the people couldn't start a conversation
if the weather didn't change occasionally.
An intelligent conversationalist is one who nods his head
in agreement while you're talking.
If you have to think twice before you speak, you'll never
get into the conversation.
The man who said the art of conversation is dead never
stood outside a telephone booth waiting for a woman to finish talking.
A thin conversation is usually made by a person with a
thick head.
The average dinner conversation is a series of cold cuts ‑
her spiced tongue and his baloney.
It's all right to hold a conversation, but you should let
go of it now and then.
If you are not a charming conversationalist, you may still
be a big hit as a charmed listener.
About the only gas rationing most of us would favor
concerns useless conversations.
A conversation should be like a good meal. You should
leave it just before you've had enough.
The secret of polite conversation is never to open your
mouth unless you have something to say.
Anybody who thinks conversation is a lost art in
The real art of conversation is not only saying the right
thing in the right place, but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting
moment.
Nothing lowers the level of conversation more than raising
the voice.
Women have one main topic of conversation ‑ how thin
they used to be, or how thin they're gonna be.
The real spirit of conversation consists in building on
another man's observation, not overturning it.
Conversation is when three women are talking; gossip is
when one of them leaves.
A form of communication in which men never stop to think
and women never think to stop is otherwise known as conversation.
The woman who constantly interrupts a man's conversation is
either already married or never will be.
If you want all the conversation you can handle, put a
bandage on your forehead.
Conversation between Adam and Eve must have been difficult
at times because they had nobody to talk about.
Some people never let ideas interrupt the easy flow of
their conversation.
Conversation is an exercise of the mind, but gossiping is
merely an exercise of the tongue.
Saying it with flowers doesn't mean throwing bouquets at
yourself.
If you wish to get along with people, pretend not to know
whatever they tell you.
There's one thing to be said about ignorance ‑ it
gives rise to almost 90 percent of the world's conversations.
Our country needs more soil conservation and not so much
soiled conversation.
Profanity is the mark of a conversational cripple.
A breath of scandal makes conversation breezy for some
people.
If you think television has killed conversation, you've
never heard people trying to decide which program to watch.
People who talk about things they can't afford sometimes
forget that the list should include pride, envy, and malice.
A timid question will always receive a confident answer.
Justice Darling
As long as a word remains unspoken, you are its master;
once you
utter it, you are its slave.
Solomon Ibn Gabirol
Say nothing good of yourself, you will be distrusted; say
nothing
bad of yourself, you will be taken at your word.
Joseph Roux
Your ignorance cramps my conversation.
Anthony Hope Hawkins
Conversation would be vastly improved by the constant use
of four
simple words: I do not know.
Andr, Maurois
A man can accept what Christ has done without knowing how
it works;
indeed he certainly won't know how it works until he's
accepted it.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
A turn involves two things: it involves a terminus a quo
and a
terminus ad quem. It involves a turning from something and
a turning
toward something.
William Barclay (1907-1978)
Conversion is a deep work-a heart work. It goes throughout
the man,
throughout the mind, throughout the members, throughout
the entire
life.
Joseph Alleine (1634-1668)
Conversion is so simple that the smallest child can be
converted, but
it is also so profound that theologians throughout history
have
pondered the depth of its meaning.
Billy Graham (1918- )
Conversion may occur in an instant, but the process of
coming from
sinfulness into a new life can be a long and arduous
journey.
Charles Colson (1931- )
Conversion simply means turning around.
Vincent McNabb (1868-1943)
Every story of conversion is the story of a blessed
defeat.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
For one man conversion means the slaying of the beast
within him; in
another it brings the calm of conviction to an unquiet
mind; for a
third it is the entrance into a larger liberty and a more
abundant
life; and yet again it is the gathering into one of the
forces of a
soul at war with itself.
George Jackson (1785-1861)
He who made us also remade us.
In what way, or by what manner of working God changes a
soul from evil
to good-how he impregnates the barren rock with priceless
gems and
gold-is, to the human mind, an impenetrable mystery.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)
It is not necessary that we should be able to tell where
or how we
have been converted, but it is important that we should be
able to
tell that we are converted.
Dwight Lyman Moody (1837-1899)
It is true that the convert has laid upon him an
obligation like no
obligation in all the world because he has been loved with
a love like
no other love in the world; but the convert has also been
given a
peace like none in the world, for he knows that God loves
him, not for
what he is, but for what God is.
William Barclay (1907-1978)
Jesus Christ burst from the grave and exploded in my
heart.
Donna Hosford
My life collided with me. Christ, the master adjuster;
investigated
and cancelled my policy. Then he gave me his.
Marilyn Bartlett
No man ever really comes to himself without meeting God
somewhere
along the way.
Roy L. Smith
The sincere convert is not one man at church and another
at home. He
is not a saint on his knees and a cheat in his shop. He
will not tithe
mint and cumin, and neglect mercy and judgment.
Joseph Alleine (1634-1668)
We should think of conversion, not as the acceptance of a
particular
creed, but as a change of heart.
Helen Adams Keller (1880-1968)
With your calling and your crying you broke through my
deafness. Your
shining and your splendor drove out my blindness.
A conviction is that commendable quality in ourselves that
we call bullheadedness in others.
Conviction is a belief that you hold or that holds you.
People generally have too many opinions and not enough
convictions.
If there is anything stronger than your convictions, it's
the heat of your prejudices.
If you don't stand for something, you will likely fall for
anything.
The difference between a prejudice and a conviction is
that you can explain a conviction without getting angry.
It is important that people know what you stand for; it is
equally important that they know what you won't stand for.
At the age of fifty, one settles down into certain well‑defined
convictions ‑ most of which are wrong.
Many convictions are family hand‑me‑downs.
What some people call a conviction may be just a
prejudice.
Be bold in what you stand for, but careful in what you
fall for.
The true measure of a man is the height of his ideals, the
breadth of his sympathy, the depth of his convictions, and the length of his
patience.
An open mind is sometimes too porous to hold a conviction.
If you want to convince others of the value of
Christianity ‑ live it!
Salesmanship is transferring a conviction from a seller to
the buyer.
Today men don't ask their wives, "What's
cooking?" They ask,
"What's thawing?"
First catch your hare, then cook it.
I can tell if it's raining by my corns. If they get wet,
it's
raining.
A stern discipline pervades all nature, which is a little
cruel that
it may be very kind.
Edmund Spenser (1552-1599)
Batter my heart, three-personed God; for, you
As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend;
That I may rise, and stand, o'erthrow me, and bend
Your force, to break, blow, burn and make me new.
John Donne (1572-1631)
Better be pruned to grow than cut up to burn.
John Trapp
Discipline is a proof of our sonship.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
Do not consider painful what is good for you.
Euripides (C. 484-406 B.C.)
God brings problems and struggles into our lives so that
we will not
stray from the main road. He is not angry with us but
disciplines us
so that we can mature spiritually.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
God does not discipline us to subdue us, but to condition
us for a
life of usefulness and blessedness.
Billy Graham (1918- )
God takes deliberate time with us, he does not hurry ...
we can only
appreciate his point of view by a long discipline.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
God, who truly loves, will chastise well.
It is one thing to praise discipline; another to submit to
it.
Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)
Let God put you on his wheel and whirl you as he likes....
Don't lose
heart in the process.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Look upon your chastenings as God's chariots sent to carry
your soul
into the high places of spiritual achievement.
Hannah Whithall Smith (1832-1911)
Never console the one who pines under My chastening lest
you become an
obstacle to his spiritual growth.
Frances J. Roberts
No horse gets anywhere until he is harnessed. No steam or
gas ever
drives anything until it is confined. No
light and power until it is tunneled. No life ever grows
great until
it is focused, dedicated, disciplined.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969)
No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory;
no cross,
no crown.
William Penn (1644-1718)
Rebukes ought not to have a grain more of salt than of
sugar.
Reprove thy friend privately; commend him publicly.
Solon (C. 630-C. 560 B.C.)
The culture of the sanctified life is often misunderstood.
The
discipline of that life consists of suffering, loneliness,
patience,
and prayer. Many who started with the high ecstasy of
vision have
ended in the disasters of shallowness!
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Those whose lives are filled with tragedy are not
necessarily more
sinful than those who seem to live in uninterrupted
comfort. Job
experienced calamity, not because he was wicked, but
because he was
righteous.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
We ought as much to pray for a blessing upon our daily rod
as upon our
daily bread.
John Owen (1616-1683)
When it is God's will to plague a man, a mouse can bite
him to death.
Dutch Proverb
For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth.
Proverbs 3:12
As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a
far
country.
Proverbs 25:25
What costs little is little esteemed.
If you think your automobile is expensive to operate, try
operating a shopping cart in a supermarket.
Two can live as cheaply as one--if one doesn't eat.
It seems that our modern cars won't start until the seat
belt is fastened ‑ and the pocketbook is emptied.
Every year the cars get lower and wider, while the
payments get longer and higher.
A man in
After pricing new cars it begins to look like the economy
model is the one you're now driving.
There was a time when $200 was the down‑payment on a
car; now it's the sales tax.
Some automobile manufacturers have a sneaky way of
lowering the list price. For instance, on one model the steering wheel is an
optional extra.
A cheap old car can be quite annoying. But so can a new
expensive one.
Anybody who thinks the automobile has made people lazy
never had to pay for one.
Today's cars keep a person strapped without safety belts.
A good way to make your present car run better is to have
a salesman quote you the price of a new one.
There are still a few people who can remember when it
cost more to operate a car than to park it.
Power brakes may stop a car on a dime, but it usually
costs more than a hundred dollars to get the rear end fixed.
Nothing reduces the value of a car like trading it in.
Some auto mechanics can estimate the cost of repairs very
closely. They can usually get within a dollar or two of what you have in your
pocket.
Having a big car doesn't always mean you have money; it
may mean you once had money.
The new cars give you more room by removing the bulge in
your wallet.
Bank interest on a loan is so high that if you can afford
to pay it you don't need the loan.
A businessman who came up the hard way observes that about
all you can do on a shoestring these days is trip.
It now costs more to amuse a child than it once did to
educate his father.
We can't understand why today's children are complaining
so much. They're not old enough to remember what prices used to be.
Christmas is the time of the year when Santa Claus comes
down the chimney and your savings go down the drain.
Christmas is a time when a lot of others besides Santa find
themselves in the red.
One place where people seem to think they can get as much
as ever for a quarter is in the church.
Another measure of civilization's progress is the way the
cost of relaxing goes up.
If the cost of a college education continues to snowball,
a person can make a profit by remaining ignorant.
A man complains about the food when he eats at home and
about the price when he eats out.
When someone complains about prices today, one thing is
certain ‑ he's buying, not selling.
Now that Congress has made it possible for Americans to
buy gold, somebody should suggest they make it possible for us to buy groceries.
Congress must not improve our lot in life any further. We
simply can't afford it.
It's now costing Americans twice as much to live beyond
their means as it did twenty years ago.
The way things are now you're lucky if you can make one
end meet.
Nothing seems to make the cost of living as reasonable as
pricing funerals.
If two can live as cheaply as one ‑ why don't they?
You look at today's prices and the only thing you can get
more of for a dollar is mad.
Have you seen anybody lately who wants to stop living on
account of the cost?
With food, rent, and gas prices so high, when you balance
the budget there's nothing left to budget the balance.
It's hard to understand how an
We are told that two can live as cheaply as one ‑
and at today's prices they'd better.
The cost of operating a car is high, but it's not at all
bad in comparison with the low mileage‑per‑dollar when you push a
grocery
cart.
Foreign aggressors don't realize that even if they invaded
the
If life is worth what it's costing now, people were
getting a bargain in grandpa's day.
About the only thing you can build now at the same old
price is a mansion in the sky.
With telephone rates due to go up again, we begin to
wonder if what we have to say is still worth saying.
The only way to beat the high cost of living is to stop
living.
They call it a "dream house" because it usually
costs twice as much as you dreamed it would.
Beware of the high cost of low living.
It's easy to make money these days ‑ it's only hard
to make a living.
If two can live as cheaply as one, it's because they have
to.
Whatever the cost of living is, it's worth it.
Today one can buy ten cents worth of almost anything for
thirty cents.
It is really no longer the high cost of living. The
problem today is one of existence.
The biggest obstacle to the return of the five cent cup of
coffee is the cost of the water.
It's not difficult to meet expenses these days. In fact,
you can meet them everywhere.
After all, the high cost of living seems unimportant when
we consider all of life's fringe benefits.
As soon as the average person pays one fiddler, another
one begins to tune up.
The cost of living remains fairly constant ‑all we
have.
It's almost as difficult to live within an income today as
it was to live without one in the early 1930s.
Prices seem to think there is plenty of room at the top.
The cost of living is usually what one makes plus 10
percent.
Air is still free, but it costs more and more to breathe
it.
If the law of supply and demand is responsible for
existing prices, it ought to be repealed.
Two can live as cheaply as one if one doesn't eat.
Descending prices, like falling stars, always seem to fall
in some other place.
The cost of living is the only thing that defies the law
of gravitation; it keeps going up without ever coming down.
Economists tell us that Jones is having a hard time
keeping up with himself.
Have you ever noticed that the things you never wanted are
considerably cheaper?
At today's prices the shopper is left holding the bag ‑
and there's very little left in it.
There's no better diet than eating only what you can
afford.
There's a new diet that will reduce weight like nothing
else. It's called the high price of food.
One thing about those thirty‑day diets ‑ by
the time you go back to eating you're shocked at the price of food.
Everybody is suffering from a new ailment called
COSTROPHOBIA. It's the fear of rising prices.
It's becoming more difficult each passing day to find a
disease we can afford.
Human diseases are the same as they were a thousand years
ago, but doctors have selected more expensive names for them.
You have a very common disease, if you're sick of high
doctor fees.
The only part of our economy that seems to be looking up
is living costs.
Speaking of higher education, here's hoping it doesn't go
much higher.
Many people are beginning to learn that the cost of
experience has gone up like everything else.
Nowadays the family that buys together cries together.
A gardener raises a few things, a farmer raises many
things, and the middleman raises everything.
The boys would stay down on the farm if prices wouldn't.
When husbands talk about the height of fashion, they
probably mean the price.
If food prices go any higher, toothpicks may become a
status symbol.
At today's pork prices, being called a pig is more of a
compliment than an insult.
Just buying all those expensive diet foods can be very
flattening.
In some meat markets today a good steak costs you twenty‑five
cents a bite.
Most of us can't afford to eat out any more, but sometimes
we park near a restaurant and inhale.
If today's food prices haven't driven you to dieting,
nothing will.
Look at the price of bread and you'll realize that never
before has so much "dough" bought so little dough.
Sign in a bakery window in
The last time beef was this high was when the cow jumped
over the moon.
A hamburger by any other name is more expensive.
At today's prices, spilled milk is worth crying over.
Vegetables grow in the ground, but they are not dirt
cheap.
Many people have given up meat for Lent. Others have given
it up for rent.
To market, to market/ my groceries to buy/ home again,
home again/ to sit down and cry.
If a hen knew the current price of eggs, she wouldn't
cackle ‑ she'd crow!
The only thing wrong with $5 steaks these days is they
cost $9.50.
These days there are two kinds of people cutting down on
food ‑ those who can't afford the calories, and those who can't afford
the prices.
Judging by the high price of eggs, somebody must have told
the hens how much a bricklayer gets for laying bricks.
In meat markets the meat may be tender, but the price is
tough.
Nothing makes food less fattening than being too
expensive.
At today's food prices, the man who goes bankrupt can
blame it on what he ate.
What we need in this country is an inexpensive substitute
for food.
It's not the coffee that keeps folks awake these days, but
the price of it.
It's beginning to look like pork chop prices have gone
"hog wild."
The way food prices are going up, more people are being
put on diets by their accountants than by their doctors.
When you stop to consider what you pay for steak, it's
easy to understand why cows are sacred in
At today's prices everybody's putting his money where his
mouth is.
Doctors who tell us never to eat when we're unhappy should
revise restaurant prices.
Grocer checking a ten dollar grocery order: "Is this
take‑out, or will you eat it here?"
Inflated food prices are hard to swallow.
If food prices keep going up, TV dinners will soon cost
more than TV sets.
The happiest man in the world is a vegetarian looking at
the prices in a meat market.
No matter how you order it, nowadays you get your steak
served expensively.
Food prices are so high that it's no longer possible to
bite off more than you can chew.
Visit the frozen‑food department in any supermarket
and you'll find everything is frozen except the prices.
If all men are born free, why doesn't somebody tell the
hospitals and doctors about it?
At current prices, a friend in need is practically
anybody.
Nothing is dirt cheap anymore except gossip.
Two heads are not better than one, considering the
present price of haircuts.
Nothing in recent years seems to have improved the health
of the American people as much as the staggering cost of being sick.
With auto and gasoline prices going up and up, we ought to
find a better word than freeway.
Seems like every time history repeats itself the price
doubles.
In the old days history was made for a tenth of what it
costs today.
Nothing makes you feel that your home is your castle more
than getting an estimate to have it repaired.
After building a new home these days, a man is likely to
be "house‑broke."
The average income of Americans is at a
If we can't win the war against inflation ‑how about
a cease‑fire?
At today's nightclub prices it's harder than ever for a
comedian to make people laugh.
If the law of supply and demand is responsible for
existing prices, it ought to be amended.
The best things in life are free, of course, but isn't it
a pity that most of the next best things are so expensive?
The way the cost of living and taxes are today, you might
as well marry for love.
The average man has quit dreaming of having enough money
to last him the rest of his life. He'd settle for enough to last him the
rest of the month.
Maybe what we liked most about the old movies was the
admission price.
Nothing is as dead as yesterday's news ‑except
yesterday's prices.
An old‑timer is someone who once believed that
whatever went up must come down.
Nowadays an optimist is any supermarket customer who holds
out his hand for the change.
What this country needs is a good five‑cent
anything.
Our greatest need at the present time is a cheap
substitute for food.
There was a time when parents taught their children the
value of a dollar. Today they try to keep the bad news from the kids as long as
possible.
Some people find their cholesterol problem nearly solved
by the high cost of meat, eggs, and butter.
The problem the average housewife faces is that she has
too much month left over at the end of the money.
The question we all must face sooner or later is how to
fit a long vacation into a short bankroll.
Prices in some restaurants are now so high that you'd be
wiser to watch your steak than your hat and topcoat.
Have you noticed how today's restaurant prices seem to
make home cooking taste a lot better?
Remember that when you eat out in a swanky restaurant the
food may be plain, but the prices will be fancy.
Next Christmas Santa Claus won't be the only one in the
red.
Those who say sleep is nature's greatest gift to man have
not priced very many motels lately.
The only time where ends meet nowadays is on a football
field.
The cart in the supermarket is rapidly becoming the most
expensively operated vehicle in the world.
The only walk more expensive than a walk down a church
aisle is a walk down a supermarket aisle.
It's true that the market is hitting new highs, that is,
the supermarket.
The reason why the supermarket calls it an "express
line" is that your money goes so fast.
Supermarkets are like churches. People walk down the
aisles saying, "Lord, help us."
Supermarkets are very convenient. They permit a shopper
to go broke in one store.
Always get in the shortest line at the supermarket. That
way you stand a chance to get to the cashier before the prices go up.
When you hear about somebody who took a financial beating
in the market, they might be talking about the supermarket.
When two women used to get together, they talked about
another woman; now they talk about supermarket prices.
Have you noticed that most supermarket shopping carts are
just the right size ‑ big enough to kill one paycheck?
A supermarket used to be a place where people came out
with a bundle. Now it's where they go in with a bundle ‑ of money!
The newest and most popular game these days is called
"Supermarket Roulette," which consists of trying to get all the
groceries in your basket before the prices go up.
Maybe the reason supermarkets now sell underwear,
magazines, and cosmetics is that many people can't afford to buy groceries.
Sign at a checkout counter in a
Today millions of Americans are suffering from respiratory
problems. It comes from standing at supermarket check‑out counters
holding their breath.
Sometimes the most imaginative thing about TV is the
repairman's bill.
At today's prices people don't take vacations ‑
vacations take people.
Most folks need higher wages to pay the higher prices caused
by higher wages.
A new broom sweeps clean, but the old brush knows all the
corners.
Irish Proverb
Advice is like snow; the softer it falls, the longer it
dwells upon
and the deeper it sinks into the mind.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)
As to advice be wary; if honest, it is also criticism.
David Grayson (1870-1946)
Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them
to be since
you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.
Thomas A Kempis (C. 1380-1471)
Every light casts a shadow; in everything we do for the
good of a
person's soul we run in some degree the risk of taking
God's place
there.
Paul Tournier (1898-1986)
Every piece of advice conceals a veiled criticism, unless
it has been
asked for.
Paul Tournier (1898-1986)
Four eyes see more than two.
Give neither counsel nor salt until you are asked for it.
I not only use all the brains I have but all I can borrow.
Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924)
Keeping from falling is better than helping up.
None so deaf as those who will not hear.
Matthew Henry (1662-1714)
One man does not see everything.
Greek Proverb
One of our severest lessons comes from the stubborn
refusal to see
that we must not interfere in other people's lives. It
takes a long
time to realize the danger of being an amateur providence,
that is,
interfering with God's order for others.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Seek counsel of him who makes you weep, and not of him who
makes you
laugh.
Arabian Proverb
The better advice is, the harder it is to take.
The pope and a
peasant know more between them than the pope alone.
Italian Proverb
The right to criticize must be earned, even if the advice
is
constructive in nature.
James C. Dobson (1936- )
There are two kinds of light-the glow that illumines, and
the glare
that obscures.
James Grover Thurber (1894-1961)
To know the road ahead, ask those coming back.
Chinese Proverb
We are better persuaded by the reasons we discover
ourselves than by
those given to us by others.
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
When you shoot an arrow of truth, dip its point in honey.
Arabian Proverb
Words are like medicine; they should be measured with care
for an
overdose may hurt.
Jewish Proverb
Write down the advice of him who loves you, though you do
not like it.
Italian Proverb
A counterfeit is something a woman has if she can't reach
the
bargain counter.
Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is
just.
Thomas Jefferson
Courage is often just ignorance of the facts.
When moral courage feels that it is in the right, there is
no
personal daring of which it is incapable.
Leigh Hunt
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of
courage; be
strong.
Corinthians 16:13 NIV
There is no such thing as bravery; only degrees of fear.
John Wainwright
One man with courage is a majority.
Andrew Jackson
The first virtue in a soldier is endurance of fatigue;
courage is
only the second virtue.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Courage is fear holding on a minute longer.
George S. Patton
Valour lies just halfway between rashness and cowardice.
Miguel de Cervantes
Often the test of courage is not to die but to live.
Vittorio Lafieri
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear--not
absence of
fear.
Mark Twain
Faint heart never won fair lady.
The test of courage is to bear defeat without losing
heart.
All are brave when the enemy flies.
Italian proverb
True courage is like a kite; a contrary wind raises it
higher.
J. Petit-Senn
Last, but by no means least, courage--moral courage, the
courage of
one's convictions, the courage to see things through. The
world is in
a constant conspiracy against the brave. It's the age-old
struggle--the roar of the crowd on one side and the voice
of your
conscience on the other.
General Douglas MacArthur
The penalty for laughing in a courtroom is six months in
jail; if
it were not for this penalty, the jury would never hear
the evidence.
H. L. Mencken
A polite man is one who listens
with interest to things he knows about
when they are told to him by a
person who knows nothing about them.
Phillipe de Mornay (1549-1623)
It's better to be last in the
traffic lane than first in the funeral
procession.
Proverb
Nothing is ever lost by courtesy.
It is the cheapest of the pleasures;
costs nothing and conveys much. It
pleases him who gives and him who
receives, and thus, like mercy, it
is twice blessed.
Erastus Wiman
Politeness goes far, yet costs
nothing.
Samuel Smiles (1812-1904)
Politeness is like an air cushion:
there may be nothing in it, but it
eases our jolts wonderfully.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)
We must be as courteous to a man
as we are to a picture which we are
willing to give the advantage of a
good light.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
Give to every other human being
the right that you claim for yourself.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899)
I am the inferior of any man whose
rights I trample under foot.
Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899)
Manner may in seven words be
found:
Forget yourself and think of those
around.
Arthur Guiterman (1871-1943)
Mention not a halter in the house
of him that was hanged.
George Herbert (1593-1633)
The best way to keep from stepping
on the other fellow's toes is to
put yourself in his shoes.
He who has the habit of smiling at the cash register
instead of the customer won't be smiling long.
Some people are so naturally courteous they even say thank
you when the automatic door at the supermarket opens for them.
They tell us that courtesy is contagious. So why not start
an epidemic?
Be nice and courteous to people on your way up because
you'll meet many of them on your way down.
There is no law against being courteous, even when you
aren't a candidate for office.
Practice courtesy. You never know when it might become
popular again.
A little of the oil of courtesy will save a lot of
friction.
Courtesy costs nothing, yet it buys things that are
priceless.
A man gave a woman his seat on the bus; she fainted. When
she revived, she thanked him; then he fainted.
Courtesy is the quality that keeps a woman smiling when a
departing guest stands at the open door and lets the flies in.
It is getting harder and harder to find a courteous
person who isn't trying to sell you something.
Why are husbands and wives more courteous to strangers
than to each other?
Life is not so short that there isn't time for courtesy.
Be courteous to everybody. You never know who might show
up on the jury.
One civil right we can all practice is courtesy to the
other fellow.
The measure of a truly great man is the courtesy with
which he treats lesser men.
A little courtesy goes a long way, which is just as well
since it's in such short supply.
Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy.
The measure of a truly great man is the courtesy with
which he treats lesser men.
To be humble to superiors is duty; to equals, courtesy; to
inferiors, nobility.
If you wish to get along with people, pretend not to know
whatever they tell you.
Life is not so short but that there is always time enough
for
courtesy.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
There is not a single outward mark of courtesy that does
not have a
deep moral basis.
Johann Goethe
Politeness is the art of choosing among one's real
thoughts.
Abel Stevens
Courtesy costs nothing.
To speak kindly does not hurt the tongue.
Intelligence and courtesy not always are combined; Often
in a
wooden house a golden room we find.
Henry W. Longfellow
More and more lovely courtships sail into the sea of
matrimony, and finally sink into the rocky storms of divorce.
Courtship is that period during which the female decides
whether or not she can do any better.
In the old days the young fellow who went courting turned
down the gas. Now he steps on it.
Courtship, unlike proper punctuation, is a period before a
sentence.
Courtship is that part of a girl's life which comes
between the lipstick and the broomstick.
Divorce records show that many married couples spend too
much time in court and not enough time courting.
Platonic friendship is the name given the period between
the first look and the first kiss.
The fellow who once enjoyed chasing girls now has a son
who can't find any who will run.
An old‑fashioned girl is one who will not hold hands
on the first date ‑ unless it's absolutely necessary.
If men acted after marriage as they do during courtship
there would be fewer divorces ‑and more bankruptcies.
A newspaper reporter says it's dangerous for a young man
to propose to a girl while he's driving a car. It's dangerous anywhere,
son!
Running for president is like asking a girl to marry you ‑
you may say a lot of things you later wish you hadn't.
Time changes things. Nowadays the couple has the honeymoon
first, and if it's a success, they have the engagement, and if that works out
all right, they may have a wedding.
Today young people start going steady with
the opposite sex as soon as they learn there is one.
Young man, don't continue to tell your best girl friend
that you are unworthy of her. Let it be a surprise!
Courting is the past tense of the word caught.
To see what is right and not to do it is the part of a coward.
Chinese proverb
As cowardly as a coward is, it is not safe to call a
coward a
coward.
Anonymous
Cowards die many times before their deaths.
William Shakespeare
One coward makes ten.
German proverb
It is better to be the widow of a hero than the wife of a
coward.
Dolores Ibarruri
The coward threatens when he is safe.
Johann Goethe
The valiant never taste of death but once.
William Shakespeare
Fear has its use but cowardice has none.
Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)
Many would be cowards if they have courage enough.
Sir Thomas Fuller (1608-1661)
There are several good protections against temptations,
but the surest
is cowardice.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
We all live in the protection of certain cowardices which
we call our
principles.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And
the
earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon
the face of
the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters. And
God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Genesis 1:1-3
The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.
Carl Jung
A thousand worlds which roll around us brightly,
Thee in their orbits bless;
Ten thousand suns which shine above us nightly,
Proclaim thy righteousness.
Thou didst create the world-'twas thy proud mandate
That woke it unto day;
And the same power that measured, weighed, and spanned it,
Shall bid that world decay.
Sir John Bowring (1792-1872)
All the vastness of astronomy-and space-and systems of
suns, carried
in their computation to the farthest that figures are
able, and then
multiplied in geometrical progression ten thousand billion
fold, do no
more than symbolize the reflection of the reflection, of
the spark
thrown off a spark, from some emanation of God.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
God's whole boundless and beautiful world is the breath of
one eternal
idea, the thought of one eternal God.
Vissarion Grigorevich Belinski (1811-1848)
God: the uncreated Creator of everything.
Simon Gruenberg
He paints the wayside flower, He lights the evening star.
Jane Montgomery
It is so impossible for the world to exist without God
that if God
should forget it, it would immediately cease to be.
Sřren Aabye Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
Thou dost preserve the stars from wrong;
And the most ancient heavens, through thee, are fresh and
strong.
William Wordsworth (1774-1850)
To me it seems as if when God conceived the world, that
was poetry; he
formed it, and that was sculpture; he colored it, and that
was
painting; he peopled it with living beings, and that was
the grand,
divine, eternal drama.
Emma Stebbins (1816-1876)
A handful of the earth to make God's image!
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)
A house testifies that there was a builder, a dress that
there was a
weaver; a door that there was a carpenter; so our world by
its
existence proclaims its Creator, God.
Rabbi Akiba Ben Joseph (C. 40-135)
A human being: an ingenious assembly of portable plumbing.
Christopher
All created things are but the crumbs which fall from the
table of
God.
All God's great works are silent. They are not done amid
rattle of
drums and flare of trumpets. Light as it travels makes no
noise,
utters no sound to the ear. Creation is a silent process;
nature rose
under the Almighty hand without clang or clamor, or noises
that
distract and disturb.
Andrew Martin Fairbairn (1838-1912)
All the world in a grain of sand; all the universe too. If
I could
understand a grain of sand, I should understand
everything.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
Could blind chance create symmetry and rhythm and light
and color and
melody? Or begin with the mathematics of the universe? The
great
mathematicians-Euclid,
order; they uncovered the truth that was already there.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969)
Everything is a thought of Infinite God. And in studying
the movements
of the solar system, or the composition of an ultimate
cell arrested
in a crystal, developed in a plant; in tracing the grains
of
phosphorus in the brain of man; or in the powers, and
action thereof-I
am studying the thought of the Infinite God.
Theodore Parker (1810-1860)
God has four ways of making a human body. He can create
one without
the agency of either man or woman as he did when he made
Adam out of
the dust of the ground. Then God can form a body through
the agency of
just a man as he did when he formed Eve from the rib taken
from Adam's
side. A third way is through the agency of both a man and
a woman.
This is the common way, the way we have received our
bodies. But God
can also form a body through the agency of just a woman,
and that is
the way Our Lord received his body-born of a virgin.
R. I. Humbred
God must have made some parts of creation for sheer
fun-how else would
you account for the kangaroo?
G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
I repent me of the ignorance wherein I ever said that God
made man out
of nothing: there is no nothing out of which to make
anything; God is
all in all, and he made us out of himself. He who is
parted from God
has no original nothingness with which to take refuge.
George Macdonald (1824-1905)
In the vast and the minute we see The unambiguous
footsteps of the God
Who gives its luster to an insect's wing And wheels his
throne upon
the whirling worlds.
William Cowper (1731-1800)
Let us study the visible creation as we will; take the
anatomy of the
smallest animal; look at the smallest grain of corn that
is planted in
the earth, and the manner in which its germ produces and
multiplies;
observe attentively the rose-bud, how carefully it opens
to the sun
and closes at its setting; and we shall see more skill and
design than
in all the works of man.
François Fénelon (1651-1715)
Man is heaven's masterpiece.
Francis Quarles (1592-1644)
My heart is awed within me when I think
Of the great miracle that still goes on,
In silence, round me-the perpetual work
Of thy creation, finished, yet renewed forever.
Written on thy works I read
The lesson of thy own eternity.
William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878)
Open, ye heavens, your living doors; let in
The great Creator from his work return'd
Magnificent, his six days' work, a world!
John Milton (1608-1674)
The created world is but a small parenthesis in eternity.
Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682)
The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
The Creator of the earth is the owner of it.
John Woolman (1720-1772)
The extravagant gesture is the very stuff of creation.
After the one
extravagant gesture of creation in the first place, the
universe has
continued to deal exclusively in extravagances, flinging
intricacies
and colossi down aeons of emptiness, heaping profusions on
profligacies with ever fresh vigor. The whole show has
been on fire
from the word go!
Annie Dillard (1945- )
The Genesis account of creation is brief, giving evidence
of having
been intended only as a prologue to the more important
human drama.
Solomon Goldman (1893-1953)
The glory of creation is in its infinite diversity.
The universe seems to have been designed by a pure
mathematician.
Sir James Hopwood Jeans (1877-1946)
The world is the immeasurable totality of energies and
forms, a tissue
of relations extending into ever-increasing enormity and
withdrawing
into ever-decreasing minuteness. All this was thought,
willed, and
realized by God. Nothing was supplied for him, neither
models nor
matter. And all these forms and arrangements, so full of
truth, which
science strives unceasingly to penetrate, only to see
again and again
that they continue into the vast unknown; this profusion
of value and
meaning which ever and ever again impinges upon the human
mind yet can never be fathomed-God has made them.
Romano Guardini (1885-1968)
The world was built in order
And the atoms march in tune.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
The world we inhabit must have had an origin; that origin
must have
consisted in a cause; that cause must have been
intelligent; that
intelligence must have been supreme; and that supreme,
which always
was and is supreme, we know by the name of God.
Nikita Ivanovich Panin (1718-1783)
To say that God is Creator is another way of saying that
he is Father;
had he not been Father, he would not have been Creator. It
was being
Father that made him want to create. Because he was
infinitely pleased
in his Son, he wanted sons, and it was in the image of his
Son that he
made the world. His creation was an overflowing of love
and delight.
Louis Evely (1910- )
What can be more foolish than to think that all this rare
fabric of
heaven and earth could come by chance, when all the skill
of science
is not able to make an oyster.
Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667)
What is there more natural, and yet more magnificent, what
is easier
to conceive and more in accord with human reason, than the
Creator
descending into the primordial night to make light with a
word?
François René, Vicomte de Chateaubriand (1768-1848)
When God conceived the world, that was poetry. He formed
it, and that
was sculpture. He colored it, and that was painting. He
peopled it
with living beings, and that was the grand, divine, eternal
drama.
David Belasco (1853-1931)
When God scooped up a handful of dust,
And spit on it, and molded the shape of man,
And blew a breath into it and told it to walk-
That was a great day.
Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)
Whoever considers the study of anatomy, I believe will
never be an
atheist.
Edward Herbert (1583-1648)
Wonderful and vast as is the universe, man is greater. The
universe
does not know that it exists; man does. The universe is
not free to
act; man is.
Martin J. Scott
I don't believe your own bastard theory of evolution
either; I believe
it's pure jackass nonsense.
Billy Sunday (1862-1935)
It shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the
universities,
normals, and all other public schools of the State which
are supported
in whole or in part by the public school funds of the
State, to teach
any theory that denies the story of the divine creation of
man as
taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has
descended from
a lower order of animals.
-
17, 1967
So far, evolution has been nothing but staggering from one
error to
the other.
Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906)
Some call it evolution, and others call it God.
W. H. Carruth (1859-1924)
That the universe was formed by a fortuitous concourse of
atoms, I
will no more believe than that the accidental jumbling of
the alphabet
would fall into a most ingenious treatise of philosophy.
Jonathan Swift (1667-1745)
The evolutionists seem to know everything about the
missing link
except the fact that it is missing.
G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
What shall we say of the intelligence of those who
distinguish between
fishes and reptiles and birds, but put a man with an
immortal soul in
the same circle with the wolf, the hyena, and the skunk?
William
There is no more reason to believe that man descended from
an inferior
animal than there is to believe that a stately mansion has
descended
from a small cottage.
William
A handful of sand is an anthology of the universe.
David McCord (1897- )
A penny will hide the biggest star in the universe if you
hold it
close enough to your eye.
Samuel Grafton
A world above man's head, to let him see How boundless
might his
soul's horizon be.
Matthew Arnold (1822-1888)
Almighty Ruler of the all
Whose power extends to great and small
Who guides the stars with steadfast law,
Whose least creation fills with awe,
Oh, grant thy mercy and thy grace
To those who venture into space.
Robert Heinlein
Everywhere I find the signature, the autograph of God.
Joseph Parker (1830-1902)
I felt God's presence on the moon more than I have ever
felt it here
on earth.
James B. Irwin (1930- )
If we consider boundless space or boundless duration, we
shrink into
nothing before it.
John Wesley (1703-1791)
If you can be with God on earth, you can be with God in
space as well.
James McDivitt (1929- )
Man makes a great fuss about this planet, which is only a
ball-bearing
in the hub of the universe.
Christopher
Night has a thousand eyes.
John Lyly (C. 1554-1606)
Only God understands the universe.
German Proverb
Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven,
Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the
angels.
Henry
Stars are golden fruits upon a tree all out of reach.
George Eliot (1819-1880)
Stars are the daisies that begem the blue fields of the
sky.
David Macbeth Moir (1798-1851)
Stars: blessed candles of the night.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Stars: Flowers of the sky!
Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802)
The created world is but a small parenthesis in eternity.
Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682)
The exploration of outer space has a bright future; it
will never run
out of space to explore.
The God I worship is too big for space to contain.
John Herschel Glenn (1921- )
The more we learn about the wonders of our universe, the
more clearly
we are going to perceive the hand of God.
Frank Borman (1928- )
The sun with one eye vieweth all the world.
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
The universe is a thought of God.
Johann Friedrich von Schiller (1759-1805)
The universe is centered on neither the earth nor the sun.
It is
centered on God.
Alfred Noyes (1880-1958)
The universe is not hostile, nor yet is it friendly. It is
simply
indifferent.
John Haynes Holmes (1879-1964)
Then stars arise, and the night is holy.
Henry
There is beauty in space, and it is orderly. There is no
weather, and
there is regularity. It is predictable. . . . Everything
in space
obeys the laws of physics. If you know these laws and obey
them, space
will treat you kindly.
Wernher Von Braun (1912-1977)
Though I have looked everywhere I can find nothing lowly
in the
universe.
Archie Randolph Ammons (1926- )
To make God a momentary Creator who once and for all
finished his work
would be cold and barren. . . . We see the presence of divine
power
shining as much in the continuing state of the universe as
in its
inception.
John Calvin (1509-1564)
man who has everything, there is now a calendar to remind
him when the payments are due.
He who sells on credit has much business but little cash.
The surest way to establish your credit is to work
yourself into
the position of not needing any.
Maurice Switzer
No man's credit is as good as his money.
Ed Howe
Nothing so cements and holds together all the parts of a
society as
faith or credit, which can never be kept up unless men are
under some
force or necessity of honestly paying what they owe to one
another.
Many people buy on time, but only few pay that way.
Credit cards: Due unto others.
'Tis nothing for a man to hold up his head in a calm; but
to maintain
his post when all others have quitted their ground and
there to stand
upright when other men are beaten down is divine.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (C. 4 B.C.-A.D. 65)
A great deal of talent is lost in this world for want of a
little
courage.
Sydney Smith (1771-1845)
A man without courage is a knife without an edge.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
And having thus chosen our course, let us renew our trust
in God and
go forward without fear and with manly hearts.
Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
Courage is fear that has said its prayers.
Dorothy Bernard
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not
absence of fear.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Do not ask the Lord for a life free from grief, instead
ask for
courage that endures.
Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious
triumphs, even
though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those
poor spirits
who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live
in the gray
twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)
Fear can keep a man out of danger; but courage can support
him in it.
Sir Thomas Fuller (1608-1661)
Have plenty of courage. God is stronger than the devil. We
are on the
winning side.
John Jay Chapman (1862-1933)
Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me. Amen!
-Speech at the Diet of
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
I am only one, but I am one.
I can't do everything, but
I can do something.
And what I can do, I ought to do.
And what I ought to do, by the
Grace of God, I shall do.
Edward Everett Hale (1822-1909)
I do not ask to walk smooth paths
Nor bear an easy load,
I pray for strength and fortitude
To climb the rock-strewn road.
Give me such courage I can scale
The hardest peaks alone,
And transform every stumbling block
Into a stepping-stone.
Gail Brook Burket
It takes guts to leave the ruts.
Robert Harold Schuller (1926- )
Never undertake anything for which you wouldn't have the
courage to
ask the blessings of heaven.
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742-1799)
No man can answer for his courage who has never been in
danger.
François, Duc de La Rochefoucauld (1813-1913)
Noah was a brave man to sail in a wooden boat with two
termites.
One man with courage makes a majority.
Andrew Jackson (1767-1845)
Renew the courage that prevails,
The steady faith that never fails,
And makes us stand in every fight
Firm as a fortress to defend the right.
Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933)
Some have been thought brave because they were afraid to
run away.
Sir Thomas Fuller (1608-1661)
Take courage. We walk in the wilderness today and in the
Promised Land
tomorrow.
Dwight Lyman Moody (1837-1899)
The Bible is a first-hand story of goose-bump courage in
very ordinary
people who were invaded by the living God.
Tim Hansel
The coward seeks release from pressure. The courageous
pray for
strength.
Frances J. Roberts
The test of courage comes when we are in the minority; the
test of
tolerance when we are in the majority.
Ralph Washington Sockman (1889-1970)
Those who have courage to love should have courage to
suffer.
Anthony Trollope (1815-1882)
Why not go out on a limb? Isn't that where the fruit is?
Frank Scully
You needn't go to war to test your courage-have your teeth
fixed.
Ed Howe (1853-1937)
Actually there's only a slight difference between keeping
your chin up and sticking your neck out, but it's worth knowing.
It's all right to be cautious ‑ but even a turtle
never gets anywhere until he sticks his head out.
More twins are being born these days than ever before.
Maybe kids lack the courage to come into the world alone.
The true test of moral courage is the ability to ignore an
insult.
Courage is being the only one who knows you're afraid.
The courage to speak must be matched by the wisdom to
listen.
Be bold in what you stand for, but careful in what you
fall for.
Courage is something you always have until you need it.
Unfortunately, courage is all too often composed of equal
parts of bourbon and water.
Too many people consider themselves daring when they are
only delirious.
Remember, you are your own doctor when it comes to curing
cold feet.
Courage is not the absence of fear, but the conquest of
it.
Many a man who is proud of his right to say what he
pleases wishes he had the courage to do so.
Courage makes both friends and foes.
The Supreme Court of the United States gives a husband the
right to open his wife's letters ‑ but it doesn't give him the courage.
Courage is the quality it takes to look at yourself with
candor, your adversaries with kindness, and your setbacks with serenity.
Courage is what it takes for a woman to show friends the
old Family Bible containing the date of her birth.
Don't be afraid to go out on a limb. That's where the
fruit is.
Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with
others.
A man who says what he thinks is courageous ‑ but
friendless.
Freedom is the sure possession of only those who have the
courage to defend it.
Keep your chin up and your knees down.
When your knees are knocking, it might help to kneel on
them.
Prayer gives strength to the weak, faith to the
fainthearted, and courage to the fearful.
It takes more courage to repent than to keep on sinning.
The test of courage comes when you are in the minority;
the test of tolerance comes when you are in the majority.
A military inductee, when asked if he had any physical
defects, replied, "No guts."
Let us believe neither half of the good people tell us of
ourselves, nor half the evil they say of others.
J. Petit-Senn
Give a criminal enough rope and he'll tie up a cashier.
I was going to read the report about the rising crime
rate--but
somebody stole it.
These days there doesn't seem to be any arrest for the
wicked.
We don't seem to be able to check crime, so why not
legalize it and
then tax it out of business.
Will
I have too great a soul to die like a criminal.
John Wilkes Booth
Set a thief to catch a thief.
Anonymous
Small crimes always precede great ones. Never have we seen
timid
innocence pass suddenly to extreme licentiousness.
Jean Baptiste Racine
Crime is inherent in human nature; the germ is in every
man.
H. B. Irving
He sins as much who holds the bag as he who puts into it.
French Proverb
He who holds the ladder is as bad as the thief.
German Proverb
He who profits by a crime commits it.
Proverb
Punishment hardens and numbs, it produces concentration,
it sharpens
the consciousness of alienation, it strengthens the power
of
resistance.
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900)
Purposelessness is the fruitful mother of crime.
Charles Henry Parkhurst (1842-1933)
So many are the shapes of crime.
Virgil A. Kraft
What man was ever content with one crime?
Juvenal (C. 60-C. 127)
A shady business never produces a sunny life.
Business is tough these days. If a man does something
wrong he gets fined; if he does something right he gets taxed.
Many businessmen refuse to cash personal checks because
sometimes the checks come back but the customers don't.
The death penalty may not eliminate crime but it stops
repeaters.
According to the best evidence available, the death
penalty is definitely a deterrent to crime. Not one of the 162 killers executed
in
Kentucky has killed anyone since.
Congress fighting inflation is like the Mafia fighting crime.
Some folks commit a crime and go to jail; others commit a
crime, write a book, and get rich.
The crime situation is so bad in some American cities you
could walk five blocks and never leave the scene of the crime.
Crime seems to be the only big business to escape
government meddling.
One wonders what the crime statistics would be if they
included all the holdups in Congress.
Crime may cost billions of dollars each year, but you've
got to admit we're getting plenty for our money.
The rising crime rate would be slowed down considerably if
we'd put as many cops on the streets as there are on television.
Organized crime can very easily be stopped. All we have to
do is form a government agency to run it ‑ then stand back and watch
it choke itself to death on red tape.
Crime doesn't pay but it sure costs.
If we can't win the war against crime, how about a cease‑fire?
Crime's story would be shorter if the sentences were
longer.
Crime begins in the mind. A man has to think wrong before
he acts wrong.
The average crime expert seems to know everything about
crime except how to reduce it.
It might lessen crime if an occasional jury would suspend
the criminal instead of the sentence.
We'll never stop crime until we get over the idea that we can
hire or elect people to stop it.
The best way to put down crime is to stop putting up with
it.
Some people seem to think that crime is not crime until
discovery makes it so.
The reason crime doesn't pay is that when it does it's
called something more respectable.
Let's nationalize crime so it won't pay!
Everybody seems to speak with conviction on the subject of
crime, except the courts.
Anybody who thinks crime doesn't pay probably doesn't
realize what a good living politicians make.
We don't seem to be able to check crime, so why not
legalize it and then tax it out of business?
A crooked path is the shortest way to the penitentiary.
Following a good example is not always the wisest course ‑
look what happens to a counterfeiter!
Faith in mankind will be a reality when they stop hauling
money in armored cars.
Gossip is one form of crime for which the law provides no
punishment.
It is reported that many resort hotels have towels so
thick and fluffy that you can hardly close your suitcase.
Inflation is when a counterfeiter buys ink, paper, a
printing press, and runs off a few thousand dollars ‑ and loses money on
the deal.
Judges certainly are getting tougher on criminals.
They're giving them much longer suspended sentences.
If juvenile delinquency gets any worse, parents will have
to post a‑ five thousand dollar bail bond everytime a child is born.
A juvenile delinquent usually prefers vice to advice.
The delinquents of today are the same as the delinquents
of fifty years ago ‑ only they have better weapons.
Why keep on enacting laws when we already have more than
we can break?
It's beginning to look like America has too many part time
parents.
A doctor in Chicago turned kidnapper but was not very
successful. Nobody could read the ransom notes.
The work of the preacher and the policeman is similar. The
policeman usually gets the preacher's dropouts.
Once we thought the world was flat, then round. Now we
know a lot of it is crooked.
In America we'll try anything once ‑ except
criminals.
America has turned out some great men, but there are
others not so great that ought to be turned out.
The automobile has had a great influence on public morals;
it has completely stopped horse stealing.
Sign in a car on an out‑of‑the‑way
street: "Attention car thieves ‑ this car is already stolen."
Some folks commit a crime and go to jail; others commit a
crime, write a book, and get rich.
Anyone old enough to commit a man's crime is old enough to
take a man's punishment.
Why do men take up crime when there are so many legal ways
to be dishonest?
In this country we're willing to try anything once, except
the criminals.
Criminals seem to know their rights better than their
wrongs.
The dumbest criminal on earth is the one who would hold up
a group of tourists on their way home from Las Vegas.
If a man defrauds you one time, he's a rascal; if he does
it twice, you're a fool.
A grafter seldom improves the family tree.
A criminal doesn't care who makes the laws of this country
so long as they are not enforced.
Judges and criminals are the only people who take the law
into their own hands.
There can't be a crisis next week. My schedule is already
full.
Henry Kissinger
Any idiot can face a crisis--it's this day-to-day living
that wears
you out.
Anton Chekhov
When written in Chinese the word crisis is composed of two
characters. One represents danger and the other represents
opportunity.
John F. Kennedy
Man is not imprisoned by habit. Great changes in him can
be wrought
by crisis--once that crisis can be recognized and
understood.
Norman Cousins
Criticism wouldn't be so hard to take if it weren't so
often right.
To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, and be
nothing.
Two things are bad for the heart--running upstairs and
running down
people.
Do not use a hatchet to remove a fly from your friend's
forehead.
There's not the least thing can be said or done, but people
will
talk and find fault.
Miguel de Cervantes
Criticism is most effective when it sounds like praise.
Criticism comes easier than craftsmanship.
Zeuxis
Blame-all and praise-all are two blockheads.
The sting of reproof is the truth of it.
Really to stop criticism one must die.
French proverb
The only impeccable writers are those that never wrote.
William Hazlitt
Some wit said that society invites the crime, and
criminals accept the invitation.
Grumbling Animals are such agreeable friends; they ask no
questions, they make no criticisms.
Automobiles are like men ‑ the less substantial
they are, the more knocking they do.
Blowing out the other fellow's candle won't make yours
shine any brighter.
Don't criticize the Bible; let the Bible criticize you.
One of the surest marks of good character is a man's
ability to accept personal criticism without feeling malice toward the one who
gives it.
If you can get anything for a song these days, it's probably
criticism.
Most people don't object to criticism if it's favorable.
Criticism from a friend is better than flattery from an
enemy.
Some of the older generation's criticism of the younger
generation is heavily tinged with envy.
No one appreciates the value of constructive criticism
more thoroughly than the one who's giving it.
Criticism is a blunt instrument, and on hard heads it
makes little impression.
Nobody likes to criticize the medical profession, but‑
it has failed to conquer the common cold and babies continue to be born at the
most outlandish hours.
Criticism is like dynamite. It has its place, but should
be handled only by experts.
Don't criticize too quickly ‑ even a clock that's
out of order is right twice a day!
If you're not mature enough to take criticism, you're too
immature for praise.
Adverse criticism from a wise man is more to be desired
than the enthusiastic approval of a fool.
Criticism should always leave a person with the feeling he
has been helped.
The person who is never criticized is not breathing.
It doesn't take brains to criticize; any old vulture can
find a carcass.
Everybody should have a hobby of some kind, even if it's
only criticizing the government.
Criticism is the disapproval of people, not for having
faults, but for having faults different from your own.
Attention men: Before you criticize another, look closely
at your sister's brother!
Criticizing another's garden doesn't keep the weeds out of
your own.
The best place to criticize is in front of your own
mirror.
Constructive criticism is when I criticize you.
Destructive criticism is when you criticize me.
You might possibly avoid criticism by saying nothing,
doing nothing, and being nothing.
Never fear criticism when you're right; never ignore
criticism when you're wrong.
Before criticizing your wife's faults, you must remember
it may have been those very defects which prevented her from getting a better
husband than the one she married.
Criticizing an egg is a lot easier than laying one.
No need to criticize yourself; others will be glad to do
that for you.
You can always tell a failure by the way he criticizes
success.
Throwing mud at another man only soils your own hands.
The generation that criticizes the younger generation is
always the one that raised it.
Those who can ‑ do. Those who can't ‑ criticize.
The difference between coaching and criticism is your
attitude.
Small minds are the first to criticize large ideas.
The trouble with most of us is that we'd rather be ruined
by praise than saved by criticism.
Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain ‑ and
most fools do.
The mud‑thrower never has clean hands.
Don't criticize the other fellow's plan unless you have a
better one to offer.
When the other fellow finds a flaw in almost everything,
he's cranky; when you do, you're discriminating.
Many people have the mistaken idea that they can make
themselves great by showing how small someone else is.
Don't criticize anyone for wishing for what he doesn't
have. What else could he wish for?
A person usually criticizes the individual whom he
secretly envies.
Criticism is one thing most of us think is more blessed to
give than to receive.
Don't mind criticism. If it's untrue, disregard it; if
it's unfair, keep from irritation; if it's ignorant, smile; if it's justified,
learn from it.
If your head sticks up above the crowd, expect more
criticism than bouquets.
It's a pity that some folks never learn that uncovering
the other fellow's faults will not cover up their own.
If you have occasion to criticize a mule, do it to his
face.
Nobody has a right to criticize the government unless he
voted in the last election.
One of the hardest things to take is one of the easiest
things to give ‑ criticism.
You can't stop people from criticizing you ‑but you
can make them appear silly for doing it.
If you are afraid of criticism, you'll die doing nothing.
It is better to be criticized than to be ignored.
Criticism wouldn't be so hard to take if it weren't so
often right.
You don't have time to criticize when you harmonize,
sympathize, and evangelize.
Sometimes criticism is nothing but a mild form of envy.
Don't mind the fellow who belittles you; he's only trying
to cut you down to his size.
Envy is blind and knows nothing except to depreciate the
excellence of others.
Instead of letting their light shine, some people spend
their time trying to put out the lights of others.
One of the easiest things to find is fault.
The person who is always finding fault seldom finds
anything else.
Before finding fault with another person, stop and count
ten ‑ of your own.
Faultfinding without suggestions for improvement is a
waste of time.
The worst fault of some people is telling others about
theirs.
Any person can criticize, complain, and find fault ‑
and most of them do.
Fear of criticism is the kiss of death in the courtship of
achievement.
Nobody can make a fool out of another person if he isn't
the right kind of material for the job.
A valuable friend is one who'll tell you what you should
be told even if it momentarily offends you.
It's smart to pick your friends ‑ but not to pieces.
The best way to lose a friend is to tell him something for
his own good.
Knock your friends often enough and soon you'll find no
one at home.
You can't cultivate a friend by digging up dirt around
him.
Reprove a friend in secret, but praise him before others.
Running down your friends is the quickest way to run them
off.
One form of generosity that can lead to trouble consists
in giving others a piece of your mind.
Sometimes a reprimand is only a grouch in disguise.
It is easier to point the finger than to offer a helping
hand.
How good a red‑hot idea is depends on how much heat
it loses when somebody throws cold water on it.
Time invested in improving ourselves cuts down on time
wasted in disapproving of others.
What a blessing it would be if someone would invent anti‑knock
gas for people.
Hard knocks won't hurt you ‑ unless you're doing all
the knocking.
It isn't necessary to blow out the other person's light
to let your own shine.
Opportunity never knocks at the door of a knocker.
Some people, even after they come in, keep on knocking.
You can't hold a man down indefinitely without staying
down with him.
Often our mistakes serve a useful purpose. Our friends
find great satisfaction in pointing them out to us.
It is usually best to be generous with praise, but
cautious with criticism.
You'll never move up if you're continually running
somebody down.
You can't carve your way to success with cutting remarks.
A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with
the bricks that others throw at him.
It takes a big man to sympathize ‑ a little man can
criticize, and usually does.
Teen‑alters are young people who get too much of
everything, including criticism.
The critical tongue gets its wrapping orders from an
untrained eye, an unthoughtful mind, and an ungrateful heart.
A critic is a legless man who teaches running.
A critic is a wet blanket that soaks everything it
touches.
If you have no critics you likely have no successes.
Malcolm Forbes
The critics arrived after the world was created.
He has a right to criticize, who has a heart to help.
Abraham Lincoln
How often have you met a critic of the church who tried to
make it better?
When nature made great men she made critics out of the
chips that were left over.
If it were not for the doers, the critics would soon be
out of business.
A literary critic is a person who finds meaning in
literature that the author didn't know was there.
There's only one way to handle the ignorant or malicious
critic. Ignore him.
A critic is one who finds fault without a search warrant.
The critic who begins with himself will be too busy to
take on outside contracts.
A critic is one who would have you write it, sing it, play
it, or paint it as he would ‑ if he could.
The friend who is constantly trying to correct your faults
is not a friend ‑ he's a critic.
Even our crooks are more particular. I saw this guy in one
department store the other day--he was comparison
shoplifting.
I live in a very interesting neighborhood. I live in the
only
neighborhood where I plan a budget and allow for holdup
money.
Everyone thinks his own cross is heaviest.
Italian proverb
A man who is always on the cross, just piece after piece,
cannot be
happy in that process. But when that man takes his place
on the cross
with Jesus Christ once and for all, and commends his
spirit to God,
lets go of everything and ceases to defend himself-sure,
he has died,
but there is a resurrection that follows!
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Carry the cross patiently and with perfect submission and
in the end
it shall carry you.
Thomas Ŕ Kempis (C. 1380-1471)
God . . . will treat us without pity because he desires to
raise us
without measure-just as he did with his own Son on the
cross!
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
God gives us the cross, and then the cross gives us God.
Madame Jeanne Marie de La Mothe Guyon (1648-1717)
I don't pray that you may be delivered from your troubles;
rather, I
pray that God will give you the strength and patience to
bear them.
Comfort yourself with him who nails you to the cross. He
will let you
go when he is ready. Happy are those who suffer with him.
Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (C. 1605-1691)
If the cross suited us, it would no longer be a cross, and
if we
refuse those that hurt us, we will refuse all crosses. The
cross which
God sends us must of necessity always be humiliating,
painful,
paralyzing, difficult. The cross is precisely what hurts
us in that
place where we are most disarmed and vulnerable.
Louis Evely (1910- )
If we are wise, we will do what Jesus said: endure the
cross and
despise its shame for the joy that is set before us. To do
this is to
submit the whole pattern of our life to be destroyed and
built again
in the power of an endless life. And we shall find that it
is more
than poetry, more than sweet hymnody and elevated feeling.
The cross
will cut into our lives where it hurts worst, sparing
neither us nor
our carefully cultivated reputation. It will defeat us and
bring our
selfish life to an end.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
If your love for the Lord is pure, you will love him as
much on
Calvary as on
Madame Jeanne Marie de La Mothe Guyon (1648-1717)
If you put fine grapes into the winepress, there will come
out a
delicious juice; our souls, in the winepress of the cross,
give out
juice which nourishes and strengthens.
In the cross is health, in the cross is life, in the cross
is
protection from enemies, in the cross is heavenly
sweetness, in the
cross strength of mind, in the cross joy of the Spirit, in
the cross
the height of virtue, in the cross perfection of holiness.
There is no
health of the soul, no hope of eternal life, save in the
cross.
Thomas Ŕ Kempis (C. 1380-1471)
Let us remember that when we talk of rending the veil, we
are speaking
in a figure, and the thought of it is poetical, almost
pleasant; but
in actuality there is nothing pleasant about it. In human
experience
that veil is made of living spiritual tissue; it is
composed of the
sentient, quivering stuff of which our whole being
consist, and to
touch it is to touch us where we feel pain. To tear it
away is to
injure us, to hurt us and make us bleed. . . . That is
what the cross
did to Jesus, and it is what the cross would do to every
man to set
him free. Let us beware of tinkering with our inner life
in hope
ourselves to rend the veil. God must do everything for us.
Our part is
to yield and trust.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
May I be willing, Lord, to bear
Daily my cross for thee;
Even thy cup of grief to share,
Thou hast borne all for me.
Jennie Evelyn Hussey (1874-1958)
My God, I have never thanked thee for my thorn. I have
thanked thee a
thousand times for my roses, but not once for my thorn. I
have been
looking forward to a world where I shall get compensation
for my
cross, but I have never thought of my cross as itself a
present glory.
Thou divine Love, whose human path has been perfected
through
sufferings, teach me the glory of my cross, teach me the
value of my
thorn.
George Matheson (1842-1906)
No powers can separate us from God's love in Christ.
Unmasked,
revealed in their true nature, they have lost their mighty
grip on
men. The cross has disarmed them: wherever it is preached,
the
unmasking and disarming of the Powers takes place.
Hendrik Berkhof
Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to thy cross I cling.
Augustus Montague Toplady (1740-1778)
Our Lord promised a cross and scars, not medals, down
here. The honors
are given out later.
Vance Havner
The believer's cross is no longer any and every kind of
suffering,
sickness, or tension, the bearing of which is demanded.
The believer's
cross must be, like his Lord's, the price of his social
nonconformity.
It is not, like sickness or catastrophe, an inexplicable,
unpredictable suffering; it is the end of a path freely
chosen after
counting the cost. . . . It is the social reality of
representing in
an unwilling world the Order to come.
John Howard Yoder
The cross is "I" crossed out.
The cross is always ready, everywhere in wait for you. You
cannot
escape it wherever you run, for wherever you go, you carry
yourself
with you and will always find yourself. Turn yourself
upwards, turn
yourself inwards-everywhere you will find the cross,
everywhere you
must hold tight to patience if you will have inward peace
and earn an
everlasting crown.
Thomas Ŕ Kempis (C. 1380-1471)
The cross is rough, and it is deadly, but it is effective.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
The cross is the pain involved in doing the will of God.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The cross of Jesus Christ is a revelation; our cross is an
experience.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The cross would not be a cross to us if it destroyed in us
only the
unreal and the artificial. It is when it goes on to slay
the best in
us that its cruel sharpness is felt.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
The greatest of all crosses is self-if we die in part
every day, we
shall have but little to do on the last. These little
daily deaths
will destroy the power of the final dying.
François Fénelon (1651-1715)
The man with a cross no longer controls his destiny; he
lost control
when he picked up his cross. That cross immediately became
to him an
all-absorbing interest, an overwhelming interference. No
matter what
he may desire to do, there is but one thing he can do;
that is, move
on toward the place of crucifixion.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
The way to bliss lies not on beds of down, And he that has
no cross
deserves no crown.
Francis Quarles (1592-1644)
There is no escaping the cross. You will feel either pain
in your body
or tribulation in your spirit. Sometimes you will feel
deserted by
God. Sometimes your neighbor will trouble you. Quite
frankly, you will
sometimes be a burden to yourself. As long as God wants
you to bear
it, there can be no remedy for your suffering because
there are some
vital lessons you need to learn.
Thomas Ŕ Kempis (C. 1380-1471)
To resist one's cross is to make it heavier.
Henri Frédéric Amiel (1821-1881)
To take up the cross means that you take your stand for
the Lord Jesus
no matter what it costs.
Billy Graham (1918- )
We all know that a Christian must bear the cross. In
theory we are all
prepared to accept one. But you will no doubt have noticed
that the
cross that comes our way is never the right one. The cross
we bear
(our health, our face, our circumstances, our family, our
stupid job,
our failure-or our stupid success) always seem to us to be
intolerable, mean, humiliating, harmful. . . . Desperately
we call for
another, a cross made to our own size, a cross which will
be bearable,
spiritual, elevating, beneficial to ourselves and to
others.
Louis Evely (1910- )
We must do something about the cross, and one of two
things only we
can do-flee it or die upon it.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
What does the apotheosis of the cross mean, if not the
death of death,
the defeat of sin, the beatification of martyrdom, the
raising to the
skies of voluntary sacrifice, the defiance of pain?
Henri Frédéric Amiel (1821-1881)
What is the cross? It is a minus turned into a plus.
Robert Harold Schuller (1926- )
When Christ brings his cross, he brings his presence; and
where he is,
none is desolate, and there is no room for despair. As he
knows his
own, so he knows how to comfort them, using sometimes the
very grief
itself, and straining it to a sweetness of peace
unattainable by those
ignorant of sorrow.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)
Yesterday I hung on the cross with Christ; today I am
glorified with
him; yesterday I was dying with him; today I am brought to
life with
him; yesterday I was buried with him; today I rise with
him. Let us
become like Christ, since Christ also became like us. Let
us become
gods for him, since he became man for us.
Gregory of Nyssa (C. 335-C. 394)
All heaven is interested in the cross of Christ, all hell
terribly
afraid of it, while men are the only beings who more or
less ignore
its meaning.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Before lambs bled in
Before the worm tore
Somewhere, before earth's cornerstone was placed,
a hammer crashed in heaven-nails were driven.
Keith Patman
divide men into two classes, the saved and the lost.
Billy Graham (1918- )
always crucified, in the culture and intellect of men.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Christ did not die a martyr. He died-infinitely more
humbly-a common
criminal.
Simone Weil (1909-1943)
Christ in his weakest hour performed his greatest
work-dying on the
cross to redeem mankind.
For him to see me mended
I must see him torn.
Luci Shaw (1928- )
God proved his love on the cross. When Christ hung, and
bled, and died
it was God saying to the world-I love you.
Billy Graham (1918- )
God sat in silence while the sins of the world were placed
upon his
Son. Was it right? No. Was it fair? No. Was it love? Yes.
In a world
of injustice, God once and for all tipped the scales in
the favor of hope.
Max L. Lucado (1955- )
I argue that the cross be raised again at the center of
the
marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. . . .
that Jesus
was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but
on a cross
between two thieves; on the town garbage heap; at a
crossroads so
cosmopolitan that they had to write his title in Hebrew
and Latin and
in Greek; at the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and
thieves
curse, and soldiers gamble. Because that is where he died.
And that is
what he died about . . . that is where churchmen should be
and what
churchmen should be about.
George MacLeod
In surgery I cut delicately, using scalpel blades that
slice through
one layer of tissue at a time, to expose the intricacies
of nerves and
blood vessels and tiny bones and tendons and muscles
inside. I know
well what crucifixion must have done to a human hand.
Roman
executioners drove their spikes through the wrist, right
through the
carpel tunnel that houses finger-controlling tendons and the
median
nerve. . . . Later, his weight hung from them, tearing
more tissue,
releasing more blood. Has there ever been a more helpless
image than
that of the Son of God hanging paralyzed from a tree? The
disciples,
who had hoped he was the Messiah, cowered in the darkness
or drifted away.
Paul Brand
In the cross of Christ I glory,
Towering o'er the wrecks of time;
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.
Sir John Bowring (1792-1872)
It costs God nothing, so far as we know, to create nice
things: but to
convert rebellious wills cost him crucifixion.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
Love's as hard as nails,
Love is nails:
Blunt, thick, hammered through
The medial nerves of One
Who, having made us, knew
The thing he had done,
Seeing (with all that is)
Our cross, and his.
C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)
O my Savior, make me see
How dearly thou hast paid for me.
Richard Crashaw (C. 1613-1649)
One thing at least can be said with certainty about the
crucifixion of
Christ; it was manifestly the most famous death in
history. No other
death has aroused one hundredth part of the interest, or
been
remembered with one hundredth part of the intensity and
concern.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
Oneness with Christ means to be identified with Christ,
identified
with him in crucifixion. But we must go on to be
identified with him
in resurrection as well, for beyond the cross is
resurrection and the
manifestation of his presence.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
Suffering love, the cross, stands at the heart of the
church.
T. Z. Koo
The Bible says that God himself accepted the
responsibility for sin;
the cross is the proof that he did. It cost Jesus Christ
to the last
drop of blood to deal with the vast evil of the world.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The blood of Christ may seem to be a grim, repulsive
subject to those
who do not realize its true significance, but to those who
have
accepted his redemption and have been set free from sin's
chains, the
blood of Christ is precious.
Billy Graham (1918- )
The blood that from the Lord's beloved wounds does flow
Is the most precious dew he will on us bestow.
Angelus Silesius (1624-1677)
The cross for the first time revealed God in terms of
weakness and
lowliness and suffering; even, humanly speaking, of
absurdity. He was
seen thenceforth in the image of the most timid, most
gentle, and most
vulnerable of all living creatures-a lamb. Agnus Dei!
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
The cross has revealed to good men that their goodness has
not been
good enough.
Johann H. Schroeder (1642-1704)
The cross is a picture of violence, yet the key to peace,
a picture of
suffering, yet the key to healing, a picture of death, yet
the key to
life.
David Watson (1933-1984)
The cross is a way of life; the way of love meeting all
hate with
love, all evil with good, all negatives with positives.
Rufus Moseley
The cross is real wood, the nails are real iron, the
vinegar truly
tastes bitter, and the cry of desolation is live, not
recorded.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
The cross is the crystallized point in history where
eternity merges
with time.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The cross is the ladder to heaven.
Thomas Draxe (D. 1618)
The cross is where history and life, legend and reality,
time and
eternity, intersect. There, Jesus is nailed forever to
show us how God
could become a man and a man become God.
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
The cross of Christ destroyed the equation religion equals
happiness.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)
The cross of Christ is Christ's glory. Man seeks to win
his glory by
the sacrifice of others-Christ by the sacrifice of
himself. Men seek
to get crowns of gold-he sought a crown of thorns. Men
think that
glory lies in being exalted over others-Christ thought
that his glory
did lie in becoming "a worm and no man," a scoff
and reproach among
all that beheld him. He stooped when he conquered; and he
counted that
the glory lay as much in the stooping as in the conquest.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
The cross of Christ is God's last and endless word. There
the prince
of this world is judged, there sin is killed, and pride is
done to
death, there lust is frozen, and self-interest
slaughtered, not one
can get through.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The cross of Christ, on which he was extended, points, in
the length
of it, to heaven and earth, reconciling them together; and
in the
breadth of it, to former and following ages, as being
equally
salvation to both.
Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661)
The cross of Jesus Christ is not the cross of a martyr,
but the door
whereby God keeps open house for the universe.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The cross . . . reveals the vast difference between a god
who proves
himself through power and One who proves himself through
love.
Philip Yancey (1949- )
The cross stands high above the opinions of men, and to
that cross all
opinions must come at last for judgment.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
The cross strikes at the root of the tree rather than
simply the
branches.
Erwin W Lutzer (1941- )
The Crucifixion, however else we may interpret it, accuses
human
nature, accuses all of us in the very things that we think
are our
righteousness. . . . Our attitude to the Crucifixion must
be that of
self-identification with the rest of human nature-we must
say, "We did
it"; and the inability to adopt something of the same
attitude in the
case of twentieth-century events has caused our phenomenal
failure to
deal with the problem of evil.
Herbert Butterfield (1900- )
The death of Jesus goes away down underneath the deepest,
vilest sin
that human nature ever committed. Every pious mood must be
stripped
off when we stand before the cross.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The death of Jesus is the only entrance into the life he
lived. We
cannot get into his life by admiring him, or by saying
what a
beautiful life his was, so pure and holy. To dwell only on
his life
would drive us to despair. We enter into his life by means
of his
death. Until the Holy Spirit has had his way with us
spiritually, the
death of Jesus Christ is an insignificant thing, and we
are amazed
that the New Testament should make so much of it.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The hands of Christ
Seem very frail
were broken
By a nail.
But only they
Reach heaven at last
Whom these frail, broken
Hands hold fast.
John Richard Moreland (1880-1947)
The love on the cross is not what God suddenly became but
what God
always was and ever shall be.
William Barclay (1907-1978)
The passion of our Lord did not end on the cross
By night and also day he suffers still for us.
Angelus Silesius (1624-1677)
The purpose of the cross is to repair the irreparable.
Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
The sovereignty of Christ from the cross is a new
sovereignty. It has
destroyed forever the formula that might is right. It has
put to shame
the self-assertion of false heroism. It has surrounded
with
imperishable dignity the completeness of sacrifice. It has
made clear
to the pure heart that the prerogative of authority is
wider service.
The divine King rules forever by dying.
Brooke Foss Westcott (1825-1901)
The symbol of God's nature is the cross, whose arms
stretch out to
limitless reaches.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
The world crucified Jesus because they couldn't stand him!
There was
something in him that rebuked them, and they hated him for
it and
finally crucified him.
A. W. Tozer (1897-1963)
The world's one and only remedy is the cross.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892)
There is an amazing sanity in Jesus Christ that shakes the
foundations
of death and hell, no panic, absolute dominant mastery
over
everything-such a stupendous mastery that he let men take
his strength
from him.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
They mocked and railed on him and smote him, they scourged
and
crucified him. . . . He was executed by a corrupt church,
a timid
politician, and a fickle proletariat led by professional
agitators.
His executioners made vulgar jokes about him, called him
filthy names,
taunted him, smacked him in the face, flogged him with the
cat, and
hanged him on the common gibbet-a bloody, dusty, sweaty,
and sordid
business. If you show people that, they are shocked. So
they should
be. If that does not shock them, nothing can. If the mere
representation of it has an air of irreverence, what is to
be said
about the deed?
Dorothy L. Sayers (1893-1957)
Through his death on the cross Jesus Christ not only
readjusts a man
in conscience and heart to God, he does something grander,
he imparts
to him the power to do all God wants, he presences him
with divinity,
the Holy Spirit, so that he is garrisoned from within, and
enabled to
live without blame before God.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
To make a valentine God took two shafts of wood
And on that wood in love and anguish placed his Son,
Who gave his heart that mine might
Be made new.
Eleanor Whitesides
To ten men who talk about the character of Jesus there is
only one who
will talk about his cross.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
We go to
forgive others, to intercede on their behalf, to join the
noble band
of intercessors.
S. J. Reid
Crows are black all the world over.
Chinese proverb
Everyone in a crowd has the power to throw dirt: nine out
of ten
have the inclination.
William Hazlitt
A beast does not know that he is a beast, and the nearer a
man gets to
being a beast, the less he knows it.
George Macdonald (1824-1905)
All cruelty springs from weakness.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (C. 4 B.C.-A.D. 65)
Cruelty is a detested sport that owes its pleasures to
another's pain.
William Cowper (1731-1800)
Cruelty isn't softened by tears, it feeds on them.
Publilius Syrus (First Century B.C.)
Man's inhumanity to man
Makes countless thousands mourn.
Robert Burns (1759-1796)
Men are the only animals who devote themselves assiduously
to making
one another unhappy.
H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)
More than 90 percent of all the prisoners in our American
prisons have
been abused as children.
John Powell
That cause is strong, which has not a multitude, but a
strong man
behind it.
James Russell Lowell
No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to
risk his
well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great
cause.
Theodore Roosevelt
If you want to be an orator, first get your great cause.
Wendell Phillips
All cruelty springs from weakness.
Seneca
Men go on cruises for the fishing, girls go on cruises for
the
hunting.
It is no use crying over spilled milk.
What can't be cured must be endured.
Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain
characteristics of a
vigorous intellect.
Samuel Johnson
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
Albert Einstein
No man really becomes a fool until he stops asking
questions.
Charles P. Steinmetz
It is better to ask some of the questions than to know all
the
answers.
James Thurber
Too much curiosity lost
Avoid a questioner, for he is also a tattler.
Latin proverb
Half the world doesn't know how the other half lives but
is trying to find out.
Enough curiosity may enable you to learn, but too much of
it can get you into trouble.
Curiosity often gets mice into a trap ‑ just like it
does men and women.
The things most people want to know about are usually none
of their business.
Bright eyes indicate curiosity, and black eyes indicate
too much curiosity.
Few people suffer as do people in a small town when a
stranger drops in and won't tell his business.
Curiosity is nothing more than freewheeling intelligence.
Nothing so excites a man's curiosity as a woman's complete
silence.
In
accountant to talk him out of it.
An onion is the only thing that will make a cynic shed
tears.
A pessimist expects nothing on a silver platter except
tarnish.
A cynic is a person who knows everything and believes
nothing.
Most cynics look both ways before crossing a one‑way
street.
A cynic believes other people are as bad as he is.
A cynic can chill and dishearten with a single word.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around
for a coffin.
H. L. Mencken (1880-1956)
A cynic is not merely one who reads bitter lessons from
the past; he
is one who is prematurely disappointed in the future.
Sydney J. Harris (1917-1986)
A cynic looks at life with a magnifying glass.
Forrester Barrington
Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth.
Lillian Hellman (1905-1984)
Cynicism-the intellectual cripple's substitute for
intelligence.
Russell Lynes
Don't be cynical. There'll be deaths and disappointments
and failures.
When they come, you meet them. Nobody promises you a good
time or an
easy time.
James Gould
Cozzens (1903-1978)
I hate cynicism a great deal and worse than I do the
devil; unless,
perhaps, the two were the same thing.
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (1850-1894)
Jesus Christ never trusted human nature, yet he was never
cynical,
never in despair about any man, because he trusted
absolutely in what
the grace of God could do in human nature.
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Never, never, never be a cynic, even a gentle one. Never
help out a
sneer, even at the devil.
Vachel Lindsay (1879-1931)
Sour godliness is the devil's religion.
John Wesley (1703-1791)
The cynic is one who never sees a good quality in a man
and never
fails to see a bad one. He is the human owl, vigilant in
darkness and
blind to light, mousing for vermin and never seeing noble
game. The
cynic puts all human actions into two classes-openly bad
and secretly bad.
Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887)
Watch what people are cynical about, and one can often
discover what
they lack.
Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969)
What is a cynic? A man who knows the price of everything
and the value
of nothing.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
A man of correct insight among those who are duped and
deluded
resembles one whose watch is right while all the clocks in
the town
give the wrong time. He alone knows the correct time, but
of what use
is this to him? The whole world is guided by the clocks
that show the wrong time.
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)