This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
It is a folly to deny that which a man’s own nature witnesseth to him. The whole frame of bodies and souls bears the impress of the infinite power and wisdom of the Creator: a body framed with an admirable architecture, a soul endowed with understanding, will, judgment, memory, imagination. Man is the epitome of the world, contains in himself the substance of all natures, and the fullness of the whole universe; not only in regard of the universalness of his knowledge, whereby he comprehends the reasons of many things; but as all the perfections of the several natures of the world are gathered and united in man, for the perfection of his own, in a smaller volume. In his soul he partakes of heaven, in his body of the earth. There is the life of plants, the sense of beasts, and the intellectual nature of angels.
The being of a God is the guard of the world; the sense of a God is the foundation of civil order; without this there is no tie upon the consciences of men. What force would there be in oaths for the decision of controversies, what right could there be in appeals made to one that had no being? A city of atheists would be a heap of confusion; there could be no ground of any commerce, when all the sacred bonds of it in the consciences of men were snapt asunder, which are torn to pieces and utterly destroyed by denying the existence of God. What magistrate could be secure in his standing? What private person could be secure in his right? Can that, then, be a truth that is destructive of all public good?
Cause | Conscience | Evidence | Good | Justice | Man | Omniscience | Order | Providence | Witness | World |
If self-denial be the greatest part of godliness, the great letter in the alphabet of religion, self-love is the great letter in the alphabet of practical atheism. Self is the great antichrist and anti-God in the world, that sets up itself above all that is called God; self-love is the captain of that black band: it sits in the temple of God, and would be adored as God. Self-love begins; but denying the power of godliness, which is the same with denying the ruling power of God, ends the list.
Beginning | Dishonor | Duty | Enemy | Friend | God | Justice | News | Object | Perfection | Punishment | Sin | Wickedness | Will | God |
So a fool is one that hath lost his wisdom and right notion of God and divine things which were communicated to man by creation; one dead in sin, yet one not so much void of rational faculties as of grace in those faculties, not one that wants reason, but abuses his reason. In Scripture the word signifies foolish.
Desire | God | Good | Love | Man | Mind | Object | Order | Sense | Wisdom | God |
All streams flow to the sea because it is lower than they are. humility gives it its power. if you want to govern the people, you must place yourself below them. if you want to lead the people, you must learn how to follow them.
Courtesy | Education | Giving | Good | Intelligence | Life | Life | Love | People | Proficiency | Purpose | Purpose | Reflection | Smile | Time | Wit | Think | Value |
The lottery of honest labor, drawn by time, is the only one whose prizes are worth taking up and carrying home.
If a man had a servant that would go out and sow his seed very diligently and faithfully; but would come in, and sit down idle when it is sown, and forget to harrow it, and hide it with the earth; would the master be well pleased with him? yea, would he not be highly displeased, because the fowls would come and pick it up? So, O my soul, if thou shouldst be never so much concerned to get good seed, and never so faithful and diligent in sowing it; yet if after thou turn careless, and take not the way to cover it, by serious seeking to the Lord, that he may keep it in the hearts of people, and make it to prosper, the devil may pick it all up; and where is thy labour then; and how will the Lord be pleased with thee! Therefore pray more frequently, cry more fervently to God, when the public work is over, than thou hast done.
Better | Experience | Knowledge | Lord | Think |
The true Sovereign of the world, who molds the world like soft wax, according to his pleasure, is he who lovingly sees into the world.
Thomas Mann, fully Paul Thomas Mann
I will let death have no mastery over my thoughts! For therein, and in nothing else, lies goodness and love of humankind.
Death | Faith | Man | Power | Thought | Wickedness | Will | Thought |
I live in the woods out of necessity. I get out of the bed in the middle of the night because it is imperative that I hear the silence of the night, alone, and, with my face on the floor, say psalms, alone, in the silence of the night... the silence of the forest is my bride and the sweet dark warmth of the whole world is my love and out of the heart of that dark warmth comes the secret that is heard only in silence, but it is the root of all the secrets that are whispered by all the lovers in their beds all over the world.
God seeks Himself in us, and the aridity and sorrow of our heart is the sorrow of God who is not known in us, who cannot find Himself in us because we do not dare to believe or trust the incredible truth that He could live in us, and live there out of choice, out of preference.
Asceticism | Battle | God | Good | Gratitude | Life | Life | Light | Man | Perfection | Pleasure | Purity | Rest | Simplicity | Struggle | Terror | World | Asceticism | God | Afraid |
The Purposes of the United Nations are: To maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace, and to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace; To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace; To achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion; and To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.
Awe | Choice | Day | Eternal | Glory | God | Light | Lord | Love | Loyalty | Loyalty | Purity | Reverence | Sacred | Words | World | God |
Praised are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the Universe, Creator of light and darkness, who make peace and fashions all things. In mercy, You illuminate the world and those who live upon it. In Your goodness You daily renew creation. How numerous are You works, Adonai! In wisdom, You formed them all, filling the earth with Your creatures. Be praised, Adonai our God, for the excellent work of your hands, And for the lights You created; may they glorify You. Shine a new light upon Zion, that we may swiftly merit its radiance. Praised are You Adonai, Creator of heavenly lights.
Angels | Compassion | Dread | Earth | God | Honor | Light | Peace | People | Reverence | Solitude | Universe | Wisdom | Work | God | Blessed |
We bless You Adonai, our God, ruler of the universe. You create light and darkness, You make peace, And create all things. All acknowledge You, All praise Your unique holiness, All declare: None is holy like Adonai! All exalt You, for You create everything. Each day You burst open the doors of the eastern sky, And the windows of the globe surrounding the world, And You propel the sun and moon Out of their resting places. Each day You bring light to the world and its inhabitants, Each day You create the world all over again, Each day You demonstrate goodness. How abundant are your works, Adonai, All fashioned with wisdom; The entire world is filled with Your creations, For ages, we have praised You and glorified You. You are our exalted ruler, You are our eternal God. Have compassion on us, infinite source of compassion. You are our rock of strength, our shield of protection, our spring of salvation.
Waldemar Argow, fully Wendelin Waldemar Wieland Argow
The ideal religion is to establish the proper balance between mind and emotion.
Consecration | Law | Life | Life | Nobility | Present | Redemption | Religion | Sense | Vicissitudes |