We do not obtain the most precious gifts by going in search of them but by waiting for them.
Real pain can alone cure us of imaginary ills.
A true and faithful Christian does not make holy living an accidental thing. It is his great concern. As the business of the soldier is to fight, so the business of the Christian is to be like Christ.
You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.
God is the highest good of the reasonable creature. The enjoyment of him is our proper; and is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Better than fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of any, or all earthly friends. These are but shadows; but the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean.
It is not by telling people about ourselves that we demonstrate our Christianity. Words are cheap. It is by costly, self-denying Christian practice that we show the reality of our faith.
When God is about to do a mighty new thing He always sets His people praying.
I'd like, each time out as a writer, to reinvent who I am and what I'm doing. That's one of the great pleasures and rewards of the occupation.
Although wrongs have been done me I live in hope. . . . Now we are together again to make peace.
. . . without health to enjoy love, and love to enjoy wealth, is not all vanity?
By-and-by is easily said.