When the congregation becomes the norm by which sermons are measured, a minister has put a mortgage on his soul.
A service of worship is primarily a service to God. When we realize this and act upon it, we make it a service to men.
True humility is intelligent self-respect which keeps us from thinking too highly or too meanly of ourselves. It makes us mindful of the nobility God meant us to have. Yet it makes us modest by reminding us how far we have come short of what we can be.
Good habits, which bring our lower passions and appetites under automatic control, leave our natures free to explore the larger experiences of life. Too many of us divide and dissipate our energies in debating actions which should be taken for granted.
Be careful that victories do not carry the seed of future defeats.
Let us not bankrupt our today’s by paying interest on the regrets of yesterday and borrowing in advance the troubles of tomorrow.
The roots of responsibility run out to the ends of the earth and we can no more isolate our consciences from world issues than we can fence off our oyster beds from the tides of the ocean.
Hoist the sails of your own spirit to catch the winds of God.
Our ground of hope is that God does not weary of mankind.
The forgiveness of the world can only be accomplished by the judgment of the world.
All our science and philosophy form only an island of knowledge surrounded by an ocean of mystery. The larger the island grows, the longer the shoreline where the known meets the unknown.
We cannot hoard life as we can money. When a person tries to be a miser of his health, he usually makes himself miserable. Mental talents, if buried and not used, tend to deteriorate. Whoever would save his memory by not using it will lose it.
In being realistic we do not always have to be pessimistic. Christ never blinked his eyes at bad things. But he never became so obsessed with human evil that he lost faith in man.
Advertising enriches life by quickening the imagination, arousing interest and enlarging the taste.
We seem to want mass production, but we must remember that men are individuals not to be satisfactorily dealt with in masses, and the making of men is more important than the production of things.
The hope of free people in a frightened world is the values which people put ahead of inventions when their backs are to the wall. These values are beauty, truth, goodness and having a faith, all of which are bombproof.
Whatever the right hand findeth to do, the left hand carries a watch on its wrist to show how long it takes to do it.
Love is the outreach of self toward completion.
In overcoming prejudice, working together is even more effective than talking together.
Our love for God is tested by the question of whether we seek Him or His gifts.
There are parts of a ship which taken by themselves would sink. The engine would sink. The propeller would sink. But when the parts of a ship are built together, they float. So with the events of my life. Some have been tragic. Some have been happy. But when they are built together, they form a craft that floats and is going someplace.