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Oftentimes Great And Open Temptations Are The Most Harmless Because They Come With Banners Flying And Bands Playing And All The Munitions Of War In Full View, So That We Know We Are In The Midst Of Enemies That Mean Us Damage, And We Get Ready To Meet And Resist Them. Our Peculiar Dangers Are Those That Surprise Us And Work Treachery In Our Fort.

-Henry Ward Beecher

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Oftentimes Great And Open

Henry Ward Beecher

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Oftentimes Great And Open Temptations Are The Most Harmless Because They Come With Banners Flying And Bands Playing And All The Munitions Of War In Full View, So That We Know We Are In The Midst Of Enemies That Mean Us Damage, And We Get Ready To Meet And Resist Them. Our Peculiar Dangers Are Those That Surprise Us And Work Treachery In Our Fort.

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A Babe Is A Mother's Anchor.

Religion Is Only Another Word For The Right Use Of A Man's Whole Self, Instead Of A Wrong Use Of Himself.

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

All Human Affairs Follow Nature's Great Analogue, The Growth Of Vegetation. There Are Three Periods Of Growth In Every Plant. The First, And Slowest, Is The Invisible Growth By The Root; The Second And Much Accelerated Is The Visible Growth By The Stem; But When Root And Stem Have Gathered Their Forces, There Comes The Third Period, In Which The Plant Quickly Flashes Into Blossom And Rushes Into Fruit.

Only Have Enough Of Little Virtues And Common Fidelities, And You Need Not Mourn Because You Are Neither A Hero Nor A Saint.

It Is Not The Going Out Of Port, But The Coming In, That Determines The Success Of A Voyage.

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Oftentimes Great And Open Temptations Are The Most Harmless Because They Come With Banners Flying And Bands Playing And All The Munitions Of War In Full View, So That We Know We Are In The Midst Of Enemies That Mean Us Damage, And We Get Ready To Meet And Resist Them. Our Peculiar Dangers Are Those That Surprise Us And Work Treachery In Our Fort.

Flowers May Beckon Todwards Us, But They Speak Todward Heaven And God.

I Pray On The Principle That Wine Knocks The Cork Out Of A Bottle. There Is An Inward Fermentation, And There Must Be A Vent.

It Is Not What We Read, But What We Remember, That Makes Us Learned. It Is Not What We Intend, But What We Do That Makes Us Useful. It Is Not A Few Faint Wishes, But A Life Long Struggle, That Makes Us Valiant.

Some Men Are Like Pyramids, Which Are Very Broad Where They Touch The Ground, But Grow Narrow As They Reach The Sky.

Many A Man Has Been Dined Out Of His Religion, And His Politics, And His Manhood, Almost.

It Is Not Desirable That We Should Live As In The Constant Atmosphere And Presence Of Death; That Would Unfit Us For Life; But It Is Well For Us, Now And Then, To Talk With Death As Friend Talketh With Friend, And To Bathe In The Strange Seas, And To Anticipate The Experiences Of That Land To Which It Will Lead Us. These Forethinkings Are Meant, Not To Make Us Discontented With Life, But To Bring Us Back With More Strength, And A Nobler Purpose In Living.

One Should Go To Sleep As Homesick Passengers Do, Saying, "perhaps In The Morning We Shall See The Shore.

The Divine Mind Does Not Think For Us, Or Inspite Of Us, But Works In Us To Think, And To Will, And To Do.

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

The Prouder A Man Is, The More He Thinks He Deserves, And The More He Thinks He Deserves, The Less He Really Does Deserve.

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

Our Government Is Built Upon The Vote. But Votes That Are Purchasable Are Quicksands, And A Government Built On Them Stands Upon Corruption And Revolution.

Grim Care, Moroseness, Anxiety-all This Rust Of Life Ought To Be Scoured Off By The Oil Of Mirth. Mirth Is God's Medicine.

Work Is Not A Curse, But Drudgery Is.

Men Think God Is Destroying Them Because He Is Tuning Them. The Violinist Screws Up The Key Till The Tense Cord Sounds The Concert Pitch; But It Is Not To Break It, But To Use It Tunefully, That He Stretches The String Upon The Musical Rack.

Some People Think Black Is The Color Of Heaven, And That The More They Can Make Their Faces Look Like Midnight, The More Evidence They Have Of Grace. But God, Who Made The Sun And The Flowers, Never Sent Me To Proclaim To You Such A Lie As That.

The Clearest Window That Ever Was Fashioned If It Is Barred By Spiders' Webs, And Hung Over With Carcasses Of Insects, So That The Sunlight Has Forgotten To Find Its Way Through, Of What Use Can It Be? Now, The Church Is God's Window; And If It Is So Obscured By Errors That Its Light Is Darkness, How Great Is That Darkness!

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.

Someone Calls Biography The Home Aspect Of History.

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

A Man Who Does Not Know How To Be Angry, Does Not Know How To Be Good. Now And Then A Man Should Be Shaken To The Core With Indignation Over Things Evil.

Love Is The Wine Of Existence.

Success Surely Comes With Conscience In The Long Run, Other Things Being Equal. Capacity And Fidelity Are Commercially Profitable Qualities.

True Obedience Is True Freedom.

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?

The Religion Of Jesus Christ Is Not Ascetic, Nor Sour, Nor Gloomy, Nor Circumscribing. It Is Full Of Sweetness In The Present And In Promise.

Adversity Is The Mint In Which God Stamps Upon Man His Image And Superscription.

Love Is The Medicine Of All Moral Evil. By It The World Is To Be Cured Of Sin.

What A Mother Sings To The Cradle Goes All The Way Down To The Coffin.

Children Are Unpredictable. You Never Know What Inconsistency They Are Going To Catch You In Next.

True Elegance Becomes The More So As It Approaches Simplicity.

Love Is The World's River Of Life

The Worst Thing In This World, Next To Anarchy, Is Government.

All Things In The Natural World Symbolize God, Yet None Of Them Speak Of Him But In Broken And Imperfect Words.

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

Happiness Is Not The End Of Life: Character Is.

Men Must Read For Amusement As Well As For Knowledge.

Nobody Ever Sees Truth Except In Fragments.

Men Who Stand On Any Other Foundation Than The Rock Christ Jesus Are Like Birds That Build In Trees By The Side Of Rivers. The Bird Sings In The Branches, And The River Sings Below, But All The While The Waters Are Undermining The Soil About The Roots, Till, In Some Unsuspected Hour, The Tree Falls With A Crash Into The Stream; And Then Its Nest Is Sunk, Its Home Is Gone, And The Bird Is A Wanderer.

No Church Can Be Prospered In Which All The Ministration Comes From The Pulpit.

The Dog Was Created Specially For Children. He Is A God Of Frolic.

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

There Is No Friendship, No Love, Like That Of The Parent For The Child.

God's Grace Is The Oil That Fills The Lamp Of Love.

Nature Holds An Immense Uncollected Debt Over Every Man's Head.

Every Fresh Act Of Benevolence Is The Herald Of Deeper Satisfaction; Every Charitable Act A Stepping-stone Towards Heaven.

A Man In The Right, With God On His Side, Is In The Majority, Though He Be Alone, For God Is Multitudinous Above All Populations Of The Earth.

The Mystery Of History Is An Insoluble Problem.

Men Go Shopping Just As Men Go Out Fishing Or Hunting, To See How Large A Fish May Be Caught With The Smallest Hook.

It Usually Takes A Hundred Years To Make A Law, And Then, After It Has Done Its Work; It Usually Takes A Hundred Years To Get Rid Of It.

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

Each Book Has A Secret History Of Ways And Means.

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

Good-humor Makes All Things Tolerable

Religion Is Using Everything For God.

The Continuance And Frequent Fits Of Anger Produce In The Soul A Propensity To Be Angry; Which Oftentimes Ends In Choler, Bitterness, And Moronity, When The Mid Becomes Ulcerated, Peevish, And Querulous, And Is Wounded By The Least Occurrence.

In The Ordinary Business Of Life, Industry Can Do Anything Which Genius Can Do, And Very Many Things Which It Cannot.

We Are Apt To Believe In Providence So Long As We Have Our Own Way; But If Things Go Awry, Then We Think, If There Is A God, He Is In Heaven, And Not On Earth.

If There Is A God

Earthly Love Is A Brief And Penurious Stream, Which Only Flows In Spring, With A Long Summer Drought. The Change From A Burning Desert, Treeless, Springless, Drear, To Green Fields And Blooming Orchards In June, Is Slight In Comparison With That From The Desert Of This World's Affection To The Garden Of God, Where There Is Perpetual, Tropical Luxuriance Of Blessed Love.

A Babe Is Nothing But A Bundle Of Possibilities.

There Are Not Anywhere Else So Many Ways Of Trickery, So Many False Lights, So Many Veils, So Many Guises, So Many Illusive Deceits, As Are Practiced In Every Man's Conscience In Respect To His Motives, Thoughts, Feelings, Conduct, And Character.

Men Strengthen Each Other In Their Faults. Those Who Are Alike Associate Together, Repeat The Things Which All Believe, Defend And Stimulate Their Common Faults Of Disposition, And Each One Receives From The Others A Reflection Of His Own Egotism.

Selfishness Is That Detestable Vice Which No One Will Forgive In Others, And No One Is Without Himself.

Everyone Has Influence, For Good Or Bad, Upon Others.

May We Be Satisfied With Nothing That Shall Not Have In It Something Of Immortality.

While A Man Is Stringing A Harp, He Tries The Strings, Not For Music, But For Construction. When It Is Finished It Shall Be Played For Melodies. God Is Fashioning The Human Heart For Future Joy. He Only Sounds A String Here And There To See How Far His Work Has Progressed.

The Church Is Not A Gallery For The Exhibition Of Eminent Christians, But A School For The Education Of Imperfect Ones.

It Is Necessary, If One Would Read Aright, That He Should Read At Least Two Newspapers, Representing Both Sides Of Important Subjects.

Self-government By The Whole People Is The Teleologic Idea. The Republican Form Of Government Is The Noblest And The Best, As It Is The Latest.

Words Are But The Bannerets Of A Great Army, A Few Bits Of Waving Color Here And There; Thoughts Are The Main Body Of The Footman That March Unseen Below.

A Thoughtful Mind, When It Sees A Nation's Flag, Sees Not The Flag, But The Nation Itself.

Many Men Are Stored Full Of Unused Knowledge. Like Loaded Guns That Are Never Fired Off, Or Military Magazines In Times Of Peace, They Are Stuffed With Useless Ammunition.

He Will See Most Without Who Has The Best Eyes Within; And He Who Only Sees With His Bodily Organs Sees But The Surface.

In Engineering, That Only Is Great Which Achieves. It Matters Not What The Intention Is, He Who In The Day Of Battle Is Not Victorious Is Not Saved By His Intention.

Ordinarily Rivers Run Small At The Beginning, Grow Broader And Broader As They Proceed, And Become Widest And Deepest At The Point, Where They Enter The Sea. It Is Such Rivers That The Christian's Life Is Like. But The Life Of The Mere Worldly Man Is Like Those Rivers In Southern Africa, Which, Proceeding From Mountain Freshets, Are Broad And Deep At The Beginning, And Grow Narrower And More Shallow As They Advance. They Waster Themselves By Soaking Into The Sands, And At Last They Die Out Entirely. The Farther They Run The Less There Is Of Them.

A Man Without Ambition Is Like A Beautiful Worm - It Can Creep, But It Cannot Fly.

People May Talk About The Equality Of The Sexes! They Are Not Equal. The Silent Smile Of A Sensible, Loving Woman Will Vanquish Ten Men.

Difficulties Are God's Errands; And When We Are Sent Upon Them, We Should Esteem It A Proof Of God's Confidence.

Selfishness At The Expense Of Others Happiness Is Demonism.

Others Happiness

Love Is More Just Than Justice.

There Can Be No High Civilization Where There Is Not Ample Leisure.

Victories Are Easy And Cheap. The Only Victories Worth Anything Are Those Achieved Through Hard Work And Dedication.

The First Hour Of The Morning Is The Rudder Of The Day. It Is A Blessed Baptism Which Gives The First Waking Thoughts Into The Bosom Of God.

Mirth Is God's Medicine. Everybody Ought To Bathe In It. Grim Care, Moroseness, Anxiety,--all This Rust Of Life, Ought To Be Scoured Off By The Oil Of Mirth. It Is Better Than Emery. Every Man Ought To Rub Himself With It. A Man Without Mirth Is Like A Wagon Without Springs, In Which One Is Caused Disagreeably To Jolt By Every Pebble Over Which It Runs.

There Can Be No Barrenness In Full Summer. The Very Sand Will Yield Something. Rocks Will Have Mosses, And Every Rift Will Have Its Wind-flower, And Every Crevice A Leaf; While From The Fertile Soil Will Be Reared A Gorgeous Troop Of Growths, That Will Carry Their Life In Ten Thousand Forms, But All With Praise To God. And So It Is When The Soul Knows Its Summer. Love Redeems Its Weakness, Clothes Its Barrenness, Enriches Its Poverty, And Makes Its Very Desert To Bud And Blossom As The Rose.

Good Nature Is Often A Mere Matter Of Health.

There Is No Part Of Government Which Cannot Better Suffer Derangement Than The Ballot. If You Strike The Ballot With Disease, It Is Heart Disease.

The Advertisements In A Newspaper Are More Full Knowledge In Respect To What Is Going On In A State Or Community Than The Editorial Columns Are.

There Are Apartments In The Soul Which Have A Glorious Outlook; From Whose Windows You Can See Across The River Of Death, And Into The Shining City Beyond; But How Often Are These Neglected For The Lower Ones, Which Have Earthward-looking Windows.

No Grace Can Save Any Man Unless He Helps Himself.

This World Is Not A Platform Where You Will Hear Thalberg-piano-playing. It Is A Piano Manufactory, Where Are Dust And Shavings And Boards, And Saws And Files And Rasps And Sandpapers. The Perfect Instrument And The Music Will Be Hereafter.

Christianity Works While Infidelity Talks. She Feeds The Hungry, Clothes The Naked, Visits And Cheers The Sick, And Seeks The Lost, While Infidelity Abuses Her And Babbles Nonsense And Profanity. 'by Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them.'

Conceited Men Often Seem A Harmless Kind Of Men, Who, By An Overweening Self-respect, Relieve Others From The Duty Of Respecting Them At All.

There Are Joys Which Long To Be Ours. God Sends Ten Thousands Truths, Which Come About Us Like Birds Seeking Inlet; But We Are Shut Up To Them, And So They Bring Us Nothing, But Sit And Sing Awhile Upon The Roof, And Then Fly Away.

It Is One Of The Severest Tests Of Friendship To Tell Your Friend His Faults. So To Love A Man That You Cannot Bear To See A Stain Upon Him, And To Speak Painful Truth Through Loving Words, That Is Friendship.

A Person Without A Sense Of Humor Is Like A Wagon Without Springs. It's Jolted By Every Pebble On The Road.

A House Built On Sand Is, In Fair Weather, Just As Good As If Builded On A Rock. A Cobweb Is As Good As The Mightiest Chain Cable When There Is No Strain On It. It Is Trial That Proves One Thing Weak And Another Strong.

I Beseech You To Correct One Fault - Severe Speech Of Others; Never Speak Evil Of Any Man, No Matter What The Facts May Be.

When A Man Sells Eleven Ounces For Twelve, He Makes A Compact With The Devil, And Sells Himself For The Value Of An Ounce.

We Are Not To Make The Ideas Of Contentment And Aspiration Quarrel, For God Made Them Fast Friends. A Man May Aspire, And Yet Be Quite Content Until It Is Time To Raise; And Both Flying And Resting Are But Parts Of One Contentment. The Very Fruit Of The Gospel Is Aspiration. It Is To The Heart What Spring Is To The Earth, Making Every Root, And Bud, And Bough Desire To Be More.

Children Are The Hands By Which We Take Hold Of Heaven.

It Is Sometimes Of God's Mercy That Men In The Eager Pursuit Of Worldly Aggrandizement Are Baffled; For They Are Very Like A Train Going Down An Inclined Plane - Putting On The Brake Is Not Pleasant, But It Keeps The Car On The Track.

We Need Not Fear Shipwreck When God Is The Pilot.

God Made Man To Go By Motives, And He Will Not Go Without Them, Any More Than A Boat Without Steam Or A Balloon Without Gas.

A Noble Man Compares And Estimates Himself By An Idea Which Is Higher Than Himself, And A Mean Man, By One Lower Than Himself.

A Lie Is A Very Short Wick In A Very Small Lamp. The Oil Of Reputation Is Very Soon Sucked Up And Gone. And Just As Soon As A Man Is Known To Lie, He Is Like A Two-foot Pump In A Hundred-foot Well. He Cannot Touch Bottom At All.

It Is The Very Wantonness Of Folly For A Man To Search Out The Frets And Burdens Of His Calling And Give His Mind Every Day To A Consideration Of Them. They Belong To Human Life. They Are Inevitable. Brooding Only Gives Them Strength.

Men's Best Successes Come After Their Disappointments.

If Christ Is Not Divine, Every Impulse Of The Christian World Falls To A Lower Octave, And Light And Love And Hope Decline.

Never Excuse Yourself.

It Takes Longer For Man To Find Out Man Than Any Other Creature That Is Made.

Nature Is A Vast Repository Of Manly Enjoyments.

Reason Is A Permanent Blessing Of God To The Soul. Without It There Can Be No Large Religion.

The Great Lever By Which To Raise And Save The World Is The Unbounded Love And Mercy Of God.

Blessed Are The Happiness-makers! Blessed Are They That Take Away Attritions, That Remove Friction, That Make The Courses Of Life Smooth, And The Intercourse Of Men Gentle!

As The Imagination Is Set To Look Into The Invisible And Immaterial, It Seems To Attract Something Of Their Vitality; And Though It Can Give Nothing To The Body To Redeem It From Years, It Can Give To The Soul That Freshness Of Youth In Old Age Which Is Even More Beautiful Than Youth In The Young.

Living Is Death; Dying Is Life. We Are Not What We Appear To Be. On This Side Of The Grave We Are Exiles, On That Citizens; On This Side Orphans, On That Children.

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.

All Our Other Faculties Seem To Have The Brown Touch Of Earth Upon Them, But The Imagination Carries The Very Livery Of Heaven, And Is God's Self In The Soul.

The Natural Term Of An Apple-pie Is But Twelve Hours. It Reaches Its Highest State About One Hour After It Comes From The Oven, And Just Before Its Natural Heat Has Quite Departed. But Every Hour Afterward Is A Declension. And After It Is One Day Old, It Is Thence-forward But The Ghastly Corpse Of Apple-pie.

As Flowers Always Wear Their Own Colors And Give Forth Their Own Fragrance Every Day Alike, So Should Christians Maintain Their Character At All Times And Under All Circumstances.

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.

If A Boy Is Not Trained To Endure And To Bear Trouble, He Will Grow Up A Girl; And A Boy That Is A Girl Has All A Girl's Weakness Without Any Of Her Regal Qualities. A Woman Made Out Of A Woman Is God's Noblest Work; A Woman Made Out Of A Man Is His Meanest.

Your Honors Here May Serve You For A Time, As It Were For An Hour, But They Will Be Of No Use To You Beyond This World. Nobody Will Have Heard A Word Of Your Honors In The Other Life. Your Glory, Your Shame, Your Ambitions, And All The Treasures For Which You Push Hard And Sacrifice Much Will Be Like Wreaths Of Smoke. For These Things, Which You Mostly Seek, And For Which You Spend Your Life Only Tarry With You While You Are On This Side Of The Flood.

Blessed Are They Who Know How To Shine On One's Gloom With Their Cheer.

A Coat That Is Not Used, The Moths Eat; And A Christian Who Is Hung Up So That He Shall Not Be Tempted-the Moths Eat Him; And They Have Poor Food At That.

We Ought To Be Ten Times As Hungry For Knowledge As For Food For The Body.

A Reputation For Good Judgment, For Fair Dealing, For Truth, And For Rectitude, Is Itself A Fortune.

The Commerce Of The World Is Conducted By The Strong, And Usually It Operates Against The Weak.

I Think Half The Troubles For Which Men Go Slouching In Prayer To God Are Caused By Their Intolerable Pride. Many Of Our Cares Are But A Morbid Way Of Looking At Our Privileges. We Let Our Blessings Get Mouldy, And Then Call Them Curses.

We Pray For Those Who Have Ceased To Pray. We Pray For Those That Need Prayer More Than Ever, That Have Fewer And Fewer Seasons Even Of Thought, That Grow Hard With Years, That Are Less And Less Troubled By Sin, And That Are More And More Irreverent Of Religion. We Pray For The Children Of Christian Parents Who Sometimes Weep At The Memory Of Father And Mother, But Who Never Have Thought Of God.

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.

It Is Not Work That Kills Men; It Is Worry. Work Is Healthy; You Can Hard Put More Upon A Man Than He Can Bear. Worry Is Rust Upon The Blade. It Is Not The Revolution That Destroys The Machinery, But The Friction.

Of All Joyful, Smiling, Ever-laughing Experiences, There Are None Like Those Which Spring From True Religion.

Caution And Conservatism Are Expected Of Old Age; But When The Young Men Of A Nation Are Possessed Of Such A Spirit, When They Are Afraid Of The Noise And Strife Caused By The Applications Of The Truth, Heaven Save The Land! Its Funeral Bell Has Already Rung.

Liberty Is The Soul's Right To Breathe And, When It Cannot Take A Long Breath, Laws Are Girdled Too Tight.

Repentance Is Another Name For Aspiration.

The Humblest Individual Exerts Some Influence, Either For Good Or Evil, Upon Others.

No Cradle For An Emperor's Child Was Ever Prepared With So Much Magnificence As This World Has Been Made For Man. But It Is Only His Cradle.

We Never Know How Much One Loves Till We Know How Much He Is Willing To Endure And Suffer For Us; And It Is The Suffering Element That Measures Love. The Characters That Are Great Must, Of Necessity, Be Characters That Shall Be Willing, Patient And Strong To Endure For Others. To Hold Our Nature In The Willing Service Of Another Is The Divine Idea Of Manhood, Of The Human Character.

Genius Unexerted Is No More Genius Than A Bushel Of Acorns Is A Forest Of Oaks.

We Know Much Of A Writer By His Style. An Open And Imperious Disposition Is Shown In Short Sentences, Direct And Energetic. A Secretive And Proud Mind Is Cold And Obscure In Style. An Affectionate And Imaginative Nature Pours Out Luxuriantly, And Blossoms All Over With Ornament.

This World Is Magnificent For Strangers And Pilgrims, But Miserable For Residents.

If One Should Give Me A Dish Of Sand, And Tell Me There Were Particles Of Iron In It, I Might Look For Them With My Eyes, And Search For Them With My Clumsy Fingers, And Be Unable To Detect Them; But Let Me Take A Magnet And Sweep Through It, And How Would It Draw To Itself The Almost Invisible Particles By The Mere Power Of Attraction. The Unthankful Heart, Like My Finger In The Sand, Discovers No Mercies; But Let The Thankful Heart Sweep Through The Day, And As The Magnet Finds The Iron, So It Will Find, In Every Hour, Some Heavenly Blessings.

No Matter What Looms Ahead, If You Can Eat Today, Enjoy The Sunlight Today, Mix Good Cheer With Friends Today, Enjoy It And Bless God For It. Do Not Look Back On Happiness -- Or Dream Of It In The Future. You Are Only Sure Of Today; Do Not Let Yourself Be Cheated Out Of It.

Thorough Selfishness Destroys Or Paralyzes Enjoyment. A Heart Made Selfish By The Contest For Wealth Is Like A Citadel Stormed In War, Utterly Shattered.

All True Religion Must Stand On True Morality.

There Is No Harder Shield For The Devil To Pierce With Temptation Than Singing With Prayer.

Sharp Men, Like Sharp Needles, Break Easy, Though They Pierce Quick.

There Is Tonic In The Things That Men Do Not Love To Hear. Free Speech Is To A Great People What The Winds Are To Oceans ... And Where Free Speech Is Stopped Miasma Is Bred, And Death Comes Fast.

Love Is The River Of Life In This World.

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

The Monkey Is An Organized Sarcasm Upon The Human Race.

Religion Is The Fruit Of The Spirit, A Christian Character, A True Life.

That Was A Judicious Mother Who Said, "i Obey My Children For The First Year Of Their Lives, But Ever After I Expect Them To Obey Me.

Take From The Bible The Godship Of Christ, And It Would Be But A Heap Of Dust.

Every Man Should Use His Intellect, Not As He Uses His Lamp In The Study, Only For His Own Seeing, But As The Lighthouse Uses Its Lamps, That Those Afar Off On The Seas May See The Shining, And Learn Their Way.

There Is A Temperate Zone In The Mind, Between Luxurious Indolence And Exacting Work; And It Is To This Region, Just Between Laziness And Labor, That Summer Reading Belongs.

Christianity Is Simply The Ideal Form Of Manhood Represented To Us By Jesus Christ.

God Bless The Good-natured, For They Bless Everybody Else.

Every Tomorrow Has Two Handles. We Can Take Hold Of It With The Handle Of Anxiety Or The Handle Of Faith.

Suffering Well Borne Is Better Than Suffering Removed.

If A Man Harbors Any Sort Of Fear, It Percolates Through All His Thinking, Damages His Personality, Makes Him Landlord To A Ghost.

You Have Come Into A Hard World. I Know Of Only One Easy Place In It, And That Is The Grave.

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

A Dull Axe Never Loves Grindstones, But A Keen Workman Does; And He Puts His Tool On Them In Order That It May Be Sharp. And Men Do Not Like Grinding; But They Are Dull For The Purposes Which God Designs To Work Out With Them, And Therefore He Is Grinding Them.

Heaven Will Be Inherited By Every Man Who Has Heaven In His Soul.

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

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

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.

Sorrows Are Gardeners: They Plant Flowers Along Waste Places, And Teach Vines To Cover Barren Heaps.

The Human Soul Is God's Treasury, Out Of Which He Coins Unspeakable Riches.

The Conditions Of City Life May Be Made Healthy, So Far As The Physical Constitution Is Concerned; But There Is Connected With The Business Of The City So Much Competition, So Much Rivalry, So Much Necessity For Industry, That I Think It Is A Perpetual, Chronic, Wholesale Violation Of Natural Law. There Are Ten Men That Can Succeed In The Country, Where There Is One That Can Succeed In The City.

The Tidal Wave Of God's Providence Is Carrying Liberty Throughout The Globe.

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.

Very Few Men Acquire Wealth In Such A Manner As To Receive Pleasure From It.

Remember God's Bounty In The Year. String The Pearls Of His Favor. Hide The Dark Parts, Except So Far As They Are Breaking Out In Light! Give This One Day To Thanks, To Joy, To Gratitude!

That Is True Culture Which Helps Us To Work For The Social Betterment Of All.

Conscience Is The Frame Of Character, And Love Is The Covering For It.

Religion, In One Sense, Is A Life Of Self-denial, Just As Husbandry, In One Sense, Is A Work Of Death.

Precise Knowledge Is The Only True Knowledge, And He Who Does Not Teach Exactly, Does Not Teach At All.

A Man That Has Lost Moral Sense Is Like A Man In Battle With Both Of His Legs Shot Off: He Has Nothing To Stand On.

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.

A Week Filled Up With Selfishness, And The Sabbath Stuffed Full Of Religious Exercises, Will Make A Good Pharisee, But A Poor Christian. There Are Many Persons Who Think Sunday Is A Sponge With Which To Wipe Out The Sins Of The Week. Now, God's Altar Stands From Sunday To Sunday, And The Seventh Day Is No More For Religion Than Any Other. It Is For Rest. The Whole Seven Are For Religion, And One Of Them For Rest.

It Is Defeat That Turns Bone To Flint, Gristle To Muscle, And Makes Men Invincible.

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

The Beginnings Of Moral Enterprises In This World Are Never To Be Measured By Any Apparent Growth. ... At Length Comes The Sudden Ripeness And The Full Success, And He Who Is Called In At The Final Moment Deems This Success His Own. He Is But The Reaper And Not The Labourer. Other Men Sowed And Tilled And He But Enters Into Their Labours.

The God Of The Bible Is A Moral Monstrosity.

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

A Lie Always Needs A Truth For A Handle To It. The Worst Lies Are Those Whose Blade Is False, But Whose Handle Is True.

Now, Men Think, With Regard To Their Conduct, That, If They Were To Lift Themselves Up Gigantically And Commit Some Crashing Sin, They Should Never Be Able To Hold Up Their Heads; But They Will Harbor In Their Souls Little Sins, Which Are Piercing And Eating Them Away To Inevitable Ruin.

Mirth Is God's Medicine. Everybody Ought To Bathe In It.

The Methods By Which Men Have Met And Conquered Trouble, Or Been Slain By It, Are The Same In Every Age. Some Have Floated On The Sea, And Trouble Carried Them On Its Surface As The Sea Carries Cork. Some Have Sunk At Once To The Bottom As Foundering Ships Sink. Some Have Run Away From Their Own Thoughts. Some Have Coiled Themselves Up Into A Stoical Indifference. Some Have Braved The Trouble, And Defied It. Some Have Carried It As A Tree Does A Wound, Until By New Wood It Can Overgrow And Cover The Old Gash.

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