-
Leaves die, but trees do not. They only undress.
Henry Ward Beecher -
By religion I mean perfected manhood,--the quickening of the soul by the influence of the Divine Spirit.
Henry Ward Beecher
-
The first merit of pictures is the effect which they can produce upon the mind; — and the first step of a sensible man should be to receive involuntary effects from them. Pleasure and inspiration first, analysis afterward.
Henry Ward Beecher -
Clothes and manners do not make the man; but when he is made, they greatly improve his appearance.
Henry Ward Beecher -
Sorrows are gardeners: they plant flowers along waste places, and teach vines to cover barren heaps.
Henry Ward Beecher -
Refinement that carries us away from our fellow-men is not God's refinement.
Henry Ward Beecher -
Most of the debts of Europe represent condensed drops of blood.
Henry Ward Beecher -
No man knows what he will do till the right temptation comes.
Henry Ward Beecher
-
I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive. Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note - torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one.
Henry Ward Beecher -
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.
Henry Ward Beecher -
None love to speak so much, when the mood of speaking comes, as they who are naturally taciturn.
Henry Ward Beecher -
Today is a goblet day. The whole heavens have been mingled with exquisite skill to a delicious flavor, and the crystal cup put to every lip. Breathing is like ethereal drinking. It is a luxury simply to exist.
Henry Ward Beecher -
Some men are, in regard to ridicule, like tin-roofed buildings in regard to hail: all that hits them bounds rattling off; not a stone goes through.
Henry Ward Beecher -
Refinement is the lifting of one's self upwards from the merely sensual; the effort of the soul to etherealize the common wants and uses of life.
Henry Ward Beecher
-
The great lever by which to raise and save the world is the unbounded love and mercy of God.
Henry Ward Beecher -
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." I found the following quote by Goethe that can serve as a commentary on these words. "We are shaped and fashioned by what we love." "The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.
Henry Ward Beecher -
The soul without imagination is what an observatory would be without a telescope.
Henry Ward Beecher -
What I spent, I had; What I kept, I lost; What I gave, I have.
Henry Ward Beecher -
Thorough selfishness destroys or paralyzes enjoyment. A heart made selfish by the contest for wealth is like a citadel stormed in war, utterly shattered.
Henry Ward Beecher -
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.
Henry Ward Beecher
-
Nothing dies so hard, or rallies so often as intolerance.
Henry Ward Beecher -
When our cup runs over, we let others drink the drops that fall, but not a drop from within the rim, and call it charity; when the crumbs are swept from our table, we think it generous to let the dogs eat them; as if that were charity which permits others to have what we cannot keep.
Henry Ward Beecher -
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.
Henry Ward Beecher -
Laws and institutions, like clocks, must occasionally be cleaned, wound up, and set to true time.
Henry Ward Beecher