Great Throughts Treasury

"It is a fusion of two hearts - the union of two lives - the coming together of two tributaries, which after being joined in marriage, will flow in the same channel in the same direction… carrying the same burdens of responsibility and obligation."

"Spiritual reality is a matter of perception, not of proof."

"Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned"

"Give to us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for--because unless we stand for something, we shall fall for anything."

"A different world cannot be built by indifferent people."

"If you hug to yourself any resentment against anybody else, you destroy the bridge by which God would come to you."

"May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right."

"The measure of life is not its duration, but its donation."

"One person with a belief is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only interests."

"Teach us, O Lord, the disciplines of patience, for to wait is often harder than to work."

"Godly womanhood ... the very phrase sounds strange in our ears. We never hear it now. We hear about every other type of women: beautiful women, smart women, sophisticated women, career women, talented women, divorced women. But so seldom do we hear of a godly woman - or of a godly man either, for that matter. We believe women come nearer to fulfilling their God-given function in the home than anywhere else. It is a much nobler thing to be a good wife, than to be Miss America. It is a greater achievement to establish a Christian home than it is to produce a second-rate novel filled with filth. It is a far, far better thing in the realms of morals to be old-fashioned, than to be ultra-modern. The world has enough women who know how to be smart. It needs women who are willing to be simple. The world has enough women who know how to be brilliant. It needs some who will be brave. The world has enough women who are popular. It needs more who are pure. We need women, and men, too, who would rather be morally right than socially correct."

"God will not permit any troubles to come upon us, unless He has a specific plan by which great blessing can come out of the difficulty."

"Forgive us for thinking that prayer is a waste of time and help us to see that without prayer our work is a waste of time."

"I need Thee, O Lord, for a curb on my tongue; when I am tempted to making carping criticisms and cruel judgments, keep me from speaking barbed words that hurt, and in which I find perverted satisfaction. Keep me from unkind words and from unkind silences. Restrain my judgments. Make my criticisms kind, generous, and constructive. Make me sweet inside, that I may be gentle with other people, gentle in the things I say, kind in what I do. Create in me that warmth of mercy that shall enable others to find Thy strength for their weakness, Thy peace for their strife, Thy joy for their sorrow, Thy love for their hatred, Thy compassion for their weakness. In thine own strong name, I pray. Amen."

"It is better to fail in a cause that will ultimately succeed than to succeed in a cause that will ultimately fail."

"Most of us know perfectly well what we ought to do; our trouble is that we do not want to do it."

"Lord, where we are wrong, make us willing to change; where we are right, make us easy to live with."

"But, you may ask, ?How can we forget the unkind things that are said...the cruel and unfair treatment one has received?? How can we simply forget these things? It is not as simple as that! There is just one sure way. Never talk about them, and never think about them. If you want to forget something, never speak even to your dearest friend about it. When it bobs into your mind, banish it at once. It will surprise you how quickly you can forget anything by that treatment."

"No tabloid will ever print the startling news that the mummified body of Jesus of Nazareth has been discovered in old Jerusalem. Christians have no carefully embalmed body enclosed in a glass case to worship. Thank God, we have an empty tomb. The glorious fact that the empty tomb proclaims to us is that life for us does not stop when death comes. Death is not a wall, but a door."

"The aim is not therefore to liberate some 'essential self' by throwing off the burden of government and the State, but to develop the self in creative and voluntary relations with others."

"The modern challenge to motherhood is the eternal challenge--that of being a godly woman. The very phrase sounds strange in our ears. We never hear it now. We hear about every other type of women: beautiful women, smart women, sophisticated women, career women, talented women, divorced women. But so seldom to we hear of a godly woman--or of a godly man either, for that matter. I believe women come nearer to fulfilling their God-given function in the home than anywhere else."

"The proof of how real Jesus knew hell to be is that He came to earth to save us from it."

"The use of the right word, the exact word, is the difference between a pencil with a sharp point and a thick crayon."

"When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure."