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I Would Much Rather Fight Pride Than Vanity, Because Pride Has A Stand-up Way Of Fighting. You Know Where It Is. It Throws Its Black Shadow On You, And You Are Not At A Loss Where To Strike. But Vanity Is That Delusive, That Insectiferous, That Multiplied Feeling, And Men That Fight Vanities Are Like Men That Fight Midges And Butterflies. It Is Easier To Chase Them Than To Hit Them.

-Henry Ward Beecher

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I Would Much Rather

Henry Ward Beecher

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I Would Much Rather Fight Pride Than Vanity, Because Pride Has A Stand-up Way Of Fighting. You Know Where It Is. It Throws Its Black Shadow On You, And You Are Not At A Loss Where To Strike. But Vanity Is That Delusive, That Insectiferous, That Multiplied Feeling, And Men That Fight Vanities Are Like Men That Fight Midges And Butterflies. It Is Easier To Chase Them Than To Hit Them.

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A Library Is But The Soul's Burial Ground; It Is The Land Of Shadows. Yet One Is Impressed With The Thought, The Labor, And The Struggle, Represented In This Vast Catacomb Of Books. Who Could Dream, By The Placid Waters That Issue From The Level Mouths Of Brooks Into The Lake, All The Plunges, The Whirls, The Divisions, And Foaming Rushes That Had Brought Them Down To The Tranquil Exit? And Who Can Guess Through What Channels Of Disturbance, And Experiences Of Sorrow, The Heart Passed That Has Emptied Into This Dead Sea Of Books?

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Each Book Has A Secret History Of Ways And Means.

Beware Of Him Who Hates The Laugh Of A Child.

A World Without A Sabbath Would Be Like A Man Without A Smile, Like Summer Without Flowers, And Like A Homestead Without A Garden. It Is The Most Joyous Day Of The Week.

The Ability To Convert Ideas To Things Is The Secret Of Outward Success.

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It Is Not In The Nature Of True Greatness To Be Exclusive And Arrogant.

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Cant Is The Twin Sister Of Hypocrisy.

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Every Charitable Act Is A Stepping Stone Toward Heaven.

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If You Have Only Two Or Three Things That You Can Enjoy And They Are Things Which Time And Decay May Remove From You, What Are You Going To Do In Old Age?

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Faith Is A Recognition Of Those Things Which Are Above The Senses.

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Ignorance Is The Womb Of Monsters.

October Is The Opal Month Of The Year. It Is The Month Of Glory, Of Ripeness. It Is The Picture-month.

Love Is The Wine Of Existence. When You Have Taken That, You Have Taken The Most Precious Drop That There Is In The Cluster.

Gratitude Is The Fairest Blossom Which Springs From The Soul.

The Bibliophile Is The Master Of His Books, The Bibliomaniac Their Slave.

There Is No Greater Crime Than To Stand Between A Man And His Development; To Take Any Law Or Institution And Put It Around Him Like A Collar, And Fasten It There, So That As He Grows And Enlarges, He Presses Against It Till He Suffocates And Dies.

When A Man Has No Longer Any Conception Of Excellence Above His Own, His Voyage Is Done, He Is Dead,--dead In Trespasses And Sin Of Blear-eyed Vanity.

It's Easier To Go Down A Hill Than Up It But The View Is Much Better At The Top.

I Have Known Many An Instance Of A Man Writing A Letter And Forgetting To Sign His Name, But This Is The Only Instance I Have Ever Known Of A Man Signing His Name And Forgetting To Write The Letter.

Our Flag Means All That Our Fathers Meant In The Revolutionary War. It Means All That The Declaration Of Independence Meant. It Means Justice. It Means Liberty. It Means Happiness.... Every Color Means Liberty. Every Thread Means Liberty. Every Star And Stripe Means Liberty.

The Sphere That Is Deepest, Most Unexplored, And Most Unfathomable, The Wonder And Glory Of God's Thought And Hand, Is Our Own Soul!

Not Thine The Sorrow, But Ours, Sainted Soul! Thou Hast Indeed Entered Into The Promised Land, While We Are Yet On The March. To Us Remain The Rocking Of The Deep, The Storm Upon The Land, Days Of Duty And Nights Of Watching; But Thou Are Sphered High Above All Darkness And Fear, Beyond All Sorrow And Weariness. Rest, Oh, Weary Heart!

What If You Have Seen It Before, Ten Thousand Times Over? An Apple Tree In Full Blossom Is Like A Message, Sent Fresh From Heaven To Earth, Of Purity And Beauty.

A Babe Is A Mother's Anchor.

It Is A Higher Exhibition Of Christian Manliness To Be Able To Bear Trouble Than To Get Rid Of It.

Life Is A Plant That Grows Out Of Death.

No Man Is More Cheated Than The Selfish Man.

Of All The Music That Reached Farthest Into Heaven, It Is The Beating Of A Loving Heart.

A Man That Does Not Know How To Be Angry Does Not Know How To Be Good.

There Is Not A Person We Employ Who Does Not, Like Ourselves, Desire Recognition, Praise, Gentleness, Forbearance, Patience.

Take All The Robes Of All The Good Judges That Have Ever Lived On The Face Of The Earth, And They Would Not Be Large Enough To Cover The Iniquity Of One Corrupt Judge.

Self-denial Does Not Belong To Religion As Characteristic Of It; It Belongs To Human Life; The Lower Nature Must Always Be Denied When You Are Trying To Rise To A Higher Sphere.

When Men Enter Into The State Of Marriage, They Stand Nearest To God.

There Is In Youth A Purity Of Character Which, When Once Touched And Defiled, Can Never Be Restored; A Fringe More Delicate Than Frost-work, And Which, When Torn And Broken, Can Never Be Re-embroidered.

Nothing Can Be More Airy And Beautiful Than The Transparent Seed-globe-a Fairy Dome Of Splendid Architecture.

Nowhere Else Can One Find So Miscellaneous, So Various, An Amount Of Knowledge As Is Contained In A Good Newspaper.

We Have The Promises Of God As Thick As Daisies In Summer Meadows, That Death, Which Men Most Fear, Shall Be To Us The Most Blessed Of Experiences, If We Trust In Him. Death Is Unclasping; Joy, Breaking Out In The Desert; The Heart, Come To Its Blossoming Time! Do We Call It Dying When The Bud Bursts Into Flower?

The Little Troubles And Worries Of Life May Be As Stumbling Blocks In Our Way, Or We May Make Them Stepping-stones To A Nobler Character And To Heaven. Troubles Are Often The Tools By Which God Fashions Us For Better Things.

Tears Are Often The Telescope By Which Men See Far Into Heaven.

Repentance Is Another Name For Aspiration.

Though A Man Declares Himself An Atheist, It In No Way Alters His Obligations.

Selfishness At The Expense Of Others Happiness Is Demonism.

Others Happiness

Of All Man's Works Of Art, A Cathedral Is Greatest. A Vast And Majestic Tree Is Greater Than That.

He Is Rich Or Poor According To What He Is, Not According To What He Has.

John Wesley Quaintly Observed That The Road To Heaven Is A Narrow Path, Not Intended For Wheels, And That To Ride In A Coach Here And To Go To Heaven Hereafter, Was A Happiness Too Much For Man.

Badgered, Snubbed And Scolded On The One Hand; Petted, Flattered And Indulged On The Other-it Is Astonishing How Many Children Work Their Way Up To An Honest Manhood In Spite Of Parents And Friends. Human Nature Has An Element Of Great Toughness In It.

Success Is Full Of Promise Till One Gets It, And Then It Seems Like A Nest From Which The Bird Has Flown.

Perverted Pride Is A Great Misfortune In Men; But Pride In Its Original Function, For Which God Created It, Is Indispensable To A Proper Manhood.

Nowhere On The Globe Do Men Live So Well As In America, Or Grumble So Much.

Love Is Not A Possession But A Growth. The Heart Is A Lamp With Just Oil Enough To Burn For An Hour, And If There Be No Oil To Put In Again Its Light Will Go Out. God's Grace Is The Oil That Fills The Lamp Of Love.

Nature Is A Vast Repository Of Manly Enjoyments.

What Place Is So Rugged And So Homely That There Is No Beauty; If You Only Have A Sensibility To Beauty?

The Meanest, Most Contemptible Kind Of Praise Is That Which First Speaks Well Of A Man, And Then Qualifies It With A But.

Everyone Has Conscience Enough To Hate; Few Have Religion Enough To Love.

Now Comes The Mystery.

A Man's True Estate Of Power And Riches Is To Be In Himself; Not In His Dwelling Or Position Or External Relations, But In His Own Essential Character.

Some Men Think That The Globe Is A Sponge That God Puts Into Their Hands To Squeeze For Their Own Garden Or Flower-pot.

God Is The One Great Employer, Thinker, Planner, Supervisor.

God Is Like Us To This Extent, That Whatever In Us Is Good Is Like God.

God Appoints Our Graces To Be Nurses To Other Men's Weaknesses.

Suffering Well Borne Is Better Than Suffering Removed.

Many People Are Afraid To Embrace Religion, For Fear They Shall Not Succeed In Maintaining It.

The Truest Self-respect Is Not To Think Of Self.

Leaves Die, But Trees Do Not. They Only Undress.

The Highest Order That Was Ever Instituted On Earth Is The Order Of Faith.

A Mother Is As Different From Anything Else That God Ever Thought Of, As Can Possibly Be. She Is A Distinct And Individual Creation.

There Is No True And Abiding Morality That Is Not Founded In Religion.

As The Cream Abandons The Milk From Which It Took Its Life, And Rises To The Top And Rides There, So Men, Because They Are Richer Than Those Around About Them, Separate Themselves, And All Mankind Below Them They Regard As Skim Milk.

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The Elms Of New England! They Are As Much A Part Of Her Beauty As The Columns Of The Parthenon Were The Glory Of Its Architecture.

You Can Imagine Thistle-down So Light That When You Run After It Your Running Motion Would Drive It Away From You, And That The More You Tried To Catch It The Faster It Would Fly From Your Grasp. And It Should Be With Every Man, That, When He Is Chased By Troubles, They, Chasing, Shall Raise Him Higher And Higher.

You Never Know Till You Try To Reach Them How Accessible Men Are; But You Must Approach Each Man By The Right Door.

Work Is Not A Curse, But Drudgery Is.

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Some People Are So Dry That You Might Soak Them In A Joke For A Month And It Would Not Get Through Their Skins.

Christians Should Be Like A Flower Store: The Odor Of Sanctity Should Betray Them Wherever They Are.

There Ought To Be Such An Atmosphere In Every Christian Church That A Man Going There And Sitting Two Hours Should Take The Contagion Of Heaven, And Carry Home A Fire To Kindle The Altar Whence He Came.

Let Parents Who Hate Their Offspring Rear Them To Hate Labor, And To Inherit Riches; And Before Long They Will Be Stung By Every Vice, Racked By Its Poison, And Damned By Its Penalty.

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Prayer Is Often An Argument Of Laziness: "lord, My Temper Gives Me A Vast Deal Of Inconvenience, And It Would Be A Great Task For Me To Correct It; And Wilt Thou Be Pleased To Correct It For Me, That I May Get Along Easier?" If Prayer Was Answered Under Such Circumstances, Independent Of Action Of Natural Laws, It Would Be Paying A Premium On Indolence.

True Politeness Is The Spirit Of Benevolence Showing Itself In A Refined Way. It Is The Expression Of Good-will And Kindness. It Promotes Both Beauty In The Man Who Possesses It, And Happiness In Those Who Are About Him. It Is A Religious Duty, And Should Be A Part Of Religious Training.

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The Worst Prison Is Not Of Stone. It Is Of A Throbbing Heart, Outraged By An Infamous Life.

A Boy Is A Piece Of Existence Quite Separate From All Things Else, And Deserves Separate Chapters In The Natural History Of Men.

The Soul Is Often Hungrier Than The Body And No Shop Can Sell It Food.

Learning, To Be Of Much Use, Must Have A Tendency To Spread Itself Among The Common People.

A Cup Of Coffee - Real Coffee - Home-browned, Home Ground, Home Made, That Comes To You Dark As A Hazel-eye, But Changes To A Golden Bronze As You Temper It With Cream That Never Cheated, But Was Real Cream From Its Birth, Thick, Tenderly Yellow, Perfect!

In Friendship Your Heart Is Like A Bell Struck Every Time Your Friend Is In Trouble.

May We Feel After Thee; Still Calling Out In The Darkness, As Children Waking In The Night Call "father," So May We Call Out For God; And, At Times, Even If We Do Not Hear Thy Voice, May There Be The Form Of A Hand Resting Upon Us, And That Shall Be Enough; For We Shall Take Hold Of It, Though It Be In The Dark, And It Shall Guide Us To The Growing Light; For The Day Shall Come, And The Release And Triumph.

The Thistle Is A Prince. Let Any Man That Has An Eye For Beauty Take A View Of The Whole Plant, And Where Will He See A More Expressive Grace And Symmetry; And Where Is There A More Kingly Flower?

Hold Yourself Responsible For A Higher Standard Than Anybody Expects Of You. Never Excuse Yourself.

Happiness Is Not The End Of Life: Character Is.

He Who Hunts For Flowers Will Finds Flowers; And He Who Loves Weeds Will Find Weeds.

Going Out Into Life--that Is Dying. Christ Is The Door Out Of Life.

The One Great Poem Of New England Is Her Sunday.

That Endless Book, The Newspaper, Is Our National Glory.

Man Is At The Bottom An Animal, Midway A Citizen, And At The Top Divine. But The Climate Of This World Is Such That Few Ripen At The Top.

I Never Knew An Early-rising, Hard-working, Prudent Man, Careful Of His Earnings, And Strictly Honest Who Complained Of Bad Luck.

There Is An Equator That Runs Just Under The Nose: All That Live Below The Equator Are Animals; All That Live Above It Are Men.

A Library Is Not A Luxury But One Of The Necessities Of Life.

A Tool Is But The Extension Of A Man's Hand, And A Machine Is But A Complex Tool. And He That Invents A Machine Augments The Power Of A Man And The Well-being Of Mankind.

Affliction Comes To Us All ...not To Impoverish, But To Enrich Us, As The Plough Enriches The Field; To Multiply Our Joy, As The Seed, By Planting, Is Multiplied A Thousand-fold.

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