James Freeman Clarke (April 4, 1810 – June 8, 1888) was an American theologian and author.
Conscience is the root of all true courage.
When we trust our brother, whom we have seen, we are learning to trust God, whom we have not seen.
Manliness means perfect manhood, as womanliness implies perfect womanhood. Manliness is the character of a man as he ought to be, as he was meant to be.
Conscience in the soul is the root of all true courage. If a man would be brave, let him learn to obey his conscience.
As the days of spring arouse all nature to a green and growing vitality, so when hope enters the soul it makes all things new. It insures the progress which it predicts. Rooted in faith, growing up into love; these make the three immortal graces of the Gospel, whose intertwined arms and concurrent voices shed joy and peace over our human life.
He who believes in goodness has the essence of all faith. He is a man of cheerful yesterdays and confident to-morrows.
This is the way to cultivate courage: First, by standing firm on some conscientious principle, some law of duty. Next, by being faithful to truth and right on small occasions and common events. Third, by trusting in God for help and power.
Whenever we do what we can, we immediately can do more.
Love is the spirit of life, and makes all things live.
If we desire to do what will please God, and what will help men, we presently find ourselves taken out of our narrow habits of thought and action; we find new elements of our nature called into activity; we are no longer running along a narrow track of selfish habit.
Seek to do good, and you will find that happiness will run after you.
Let us not torment each other because we are not all alike, but believe that God knew best what He was doing in making us so different. So will the best harmony come out of seeming discords, the best affection out of differences, the best life out of struggle, and the best work will be done when each does his own work, and lets every one else do and be what God made him for.
He who never looks up to a living God, to a heavenly presence, loses the power of perceiving that presence, and the universe slowly turns into a dead machine, clashing and grinding on, without purpose or end. If the light within us be darkness, how great is that darkness!
All the strength and force of man come from his faith in things unseen.
We are either progressing or retrograding all the while; there is no such thing as remaining stationary in this life.
The atheist has no hope.
One of the best things in the gospel of Jesus is the stress it lays on small things. It ascribes more value to quality than to quantity; it teaches that God does not ask how much we do, but how we do it.
He who believes is strong. Strong convictions precede great actions.
It may make a difference to all eternity whether we do right or wrong today.
Never hurry. Take plenty of exercise. Always be cheerful. Take all the sleep you need. You may expect to be well.