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E-Clips . . . quotes gathered through
three decades of Kris’ reading and study
New monthly updates are highlighted
Last updated 7/50/10
F
FAILURE
We approach things so negatively. If a kid only misses one question out of twenty he gets a big red X on his paper. What about all the ones he got right? There must also be reward
If you want to learn how to ski you’ve got to learn how to fall
If you aren't making any mistakes, it's a sure sign you're playing it too safe – John Maxwell
You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try – Beverly Sills
Failures are divided into 2 classes those who thought and never did, and those who did and never thought – John Charles Salak
The first step is quit doing things that have proven to not work! Quit tenaciously continue to pour effort into something that is obviously not working.
The ladder of life is full of splinters, but you never realize it until you slide down
In whatever man does without God, he must fail miserably, or succeed more miserably – Gordon MacDonald
The way to succeed is to double your failure rate – Thomas Watson, founder of IBM
I would rather fail in a cause that will ultimately succeed than to succeed in a cause that will ultimately fail – Abe Lincoln
Success is simply a matter of luck. Ask any failure – Earl Wilson
Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up – Thomas Edison
I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward – Thomas Edison
If you want to zoom down the expert slope tomorrow, you have to fall down the bunny slope today – Cynthia Copeland Lewis
An inventor fails 999 times, and if he succeeds once, he's in. He treats his failures simply as practice shots – Charles Keeting
Failure is an event, never a person; an attitude, not an outcome – Zig Ziglar
Failure is a detour, not a dead end street – Zig Ziglar
The way to succeed is to double your failure rate – Thomas Wilson
Even if you fall on your face, you're still moving forward – Robert Gallagher
You cannot fail without your consent, and you cannot succeed without your participation – Robb Thompson
Fail forward! – John Maxwell
Failure is not an event, but an opinion – Mike Murdock
There once was a time when Carl Lewis had to crawl
College freshman phoned home – “Mom, I’ve failed everything and am coming home. Prepare Pop”. Next day she replied, “Pop prepared. Prepare yourself!”
The man who succeeds may have been counted out many times but he didn’t listen to the referee
The man who leaves to set the world on fire often has to return home to get more matches
In the game of life, it's a good idea to have a few early losses, which relieves you of the pressure of trying to maintain an undefeated season – Bill Vaughan
When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound. Rebuild those plans and set sail once again toward your coveted goal – Napoleon Hill
Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently – Henry Ford
Failure-prone persons tend to make decisions in the valleys of life, while consistently successful persons have developed the habit of making decisions on the mountaintop – Robert Schuller
Failure is an experience, not an individual – Geneva Gay
We are not retreating - we are advancing in another direction – General Douglas Macarthur
Failure is an event, never a person – William D. Brown
Failure? Michael Jordan has missed over 12,000 shots, lost over 400 games and lost 27 games where he was called upon to make the game winning shot – “I’ve failed lot os times…I guess that is the cost of success”
Success without a successor is failure
Learn from the mistakes of others; you can’t live long enough to make them all yourself – Eleanor Roosevelt
It was said that Edison had some 2,000 unsuccessful experiments before he actually got the incandescent bulb he was developing to actually work. Someone asked him what it was like to fail 2,000 times. Edison replied, "I never failed, I only found out 2,000 ways it didn’t work."
I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody – Bill Cosby
Hollywood memo said of Fred Astaire, “Can’t act. Can’t sing. Can dance a little”.
Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind was turned down by 32 publishers. Einstein didn’t speak till he was four years old. One teacher described him as, “mentally slow, unsociable, and adrift forever in his foolish dreams”. He was expelled from one college and refused admission to another.
Willie Mays, the Hall-of-Famer with more than 3,000 hits and 600 home runs started his career with only one hit in his first 26 attempts.
All the mistakes I ever made were when I wanted to say “no” but said “yes” instead – playwright Moss Hart
An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field - Niles Bohr
From error to error one discovers the entire truth - Sigmund Freud
It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat - Theodore Roosevelt
Notice the difference between what happens when a man says to himself, "I failed three times", and what happens when he says, "I am a failure" - S.I. Hayakawa
The man who invented the eraser had the human race pretty well sized up. The person who never makes mistakes never makes anything else - John Mason
Remember a stumble is not a fall. In fact, a stumble may prevent a fall - John Mason- Tom Robbins
Go ahead and fail, but fail with wit, fail with grace, fail with style. A mediocre failure is as insufferable as a mediocre success. Embrace failure. Seek it out. Learn to love it
Whenever you fall, pick something up - Oswald Avery
Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times. But we remember him as the "Sultan of Swat" because he hit 714 homeruns - Rick Gelinas
You have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince - embroidered on a silk cushion on Princess Diana's bed
Don't think, "Just say no!" think, "Just say next!" There will be a next
Jesus didn't try to stop Peter's failure. He knew about it before it happened. Instead He planned to use it, after Peter was converted. On the Day of Pentecost, then, Peter pointed his finger in the people's faces and said "you crucified the Lord", not I crucified Him. He turned his mess into a message
Those who don't make mistakes end up working for those who do - John Maxwell
If at first you don't succeed, know that you're running about average
I learned more from the one restaurant that didn't work than from all the ones that were successes - Wolfgang Puck
Sometimes you win and sometimes you learn! - Robert Kiyosaki
Failure isn't so bad if it doesn't attack your heart. Success is all right if it doesn't go to the head - Sportswriter Grantland Rice
FAITH
One person with belief is worth 99 who only have an interest – philosopher John Stuart Mill
Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step – Martin Luther King
The sky is NOT the limit!
A little faith in a big God is better than a big faith in a little God
Faith turns a promise into a prophecy – “ye are healed”, “ye were healed”
Would a bankrupt man delay long in using blank checks signed by a millionaire? Why then are we so slow in cashing the promises of God?
When asked how he discovered the theory of relativity, Albert Einstein said, “I questioned and challenged an axiom”
Two nuns ran out of gas, took a bed pan and walked to the station then poured gas in the car with the bed pan. Two guys drove by, saw the nuns and reasoned – “Now that is faith!”
Get the Imp out of Impossible. Instead say, I’m Possible – Squire Rushnell
Dad Hagin used to interrupt people while they were praying and ask, “What are you praying for?” Most would answer, “Ah, nothing in particular”. “Well, that’s what you will receive”
Leap, and the net will appear – Julie Cameron
A little faith will bring your soul to heaven, but a lot of faith will bring heaven to your soul – D.L. Moody
Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree – M.L. King Jr
What great thing would you attempt if you knew you couldn't fail? – Robert Schuller
Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. And lo, no one was there
Heaven on earth is a choice you must make, not a place we must find – Wayne Dyer
If your knees are knocking, kneel on them
In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't – Blaise Pascal
Faith is spiritualized imagination – Henry Ward Beecher
Make your plans ten times as great as you first planned and twenty-five years from now you will wonder why you didn’t make them fifty times as great – Henry Curtis
Give me a lever long enough, and a prop strong enough, I can single-handed move the world - Archimedes
The African impala can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a 3-foot wall. The animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will fall. Faith is the ability to trust what we cannot see, and with faith we are freed from the flimsy enclosures of life that fear allows to entrap us.
We don’t need a big faith in a little God. All we need is a little faith in a big God
Jesus spoke to the storm and said, “Peace be still”. Instead of telling God how big the storm was, He told the storm how big His God was
Writing checks on faith is not faith, it’s felony – Van Crouch
It’s a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it – W. Somerset Maugham
Many people are waiting for their ship to come in when they haven’t sent one out yet
If you believe what you like in the Gospels and disbelieve what you don’t like, then it’s not the Gospel you believe, but your own self – Augustine
If you have to paper your wall with little yellow stick-em post-it notes with Bible promises then do it
The great danger for most is not that our aim is too high and we will miss it, but that it is too low and we will reach it
When praying for rain don’t leave your umbrella in the trunk. If you’re going fishing for a Moby Dick be sure to take some tartar sauce along. And if you’re intending to climb Mt. Everest take an American flag with you.
The faith that moves mountains also carries a pick
Going to God without faith is like going to Sears without money – John Hagee
Faith starts out before it works out – Hagee
Never measure the height of a mountain, until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was – Dag Hammarskjold
Checks made on the bank of heaven are cashed at the window of prayer
An avalanche begins with a snowflake – Joseph Compton
I’ve always lived hand to mouth – from His hand to my mouth
Faith is that stressful period of time between praying it in and paying it out
Faith comes in a CAN – doubt comes in a CAN’T
Faith keeps the person that keeps the faith – Mother Theresa
Opportunities will drop in your lap if you place your lap where opportunities drop
Faith is at the heart of life. You go to a doctor whose name you cannot pronounce. He gives you a prescription you cannot read. You take it to a pharmacist you have never seen. He gives you a medicine you do not understand and yet you take it – John Bisagno
There is a faith that reckons, a faith that risks and a faith that rests
As far as God can go faith can go. Faith is as limitless as God – Leonard Ravenhill
“Doubt sees the obstacles, faith sees the way,
Doubt sees the darkest night, faith sees the way,
Doubt dreads to take a step, faith soars on high,
Doubt questions, “Who believes?” Faith answers, “I”
God never responds to need, He only responds to faith – Mike Murdock
With a Niagara pouring what man would say, “I will take a cupful”? Or a midget that would echo, “I too will take a thimbleful”?
Faith is a leap into the light, not into the darkness - Reinhard Bonnke
Only God can move mountains, but faith and prayer move God - EM Bounds
Faith is the activity of the soul taking God at His word and confessing a thing as if it is already done - Mickey Bonner
Faith is the radar that sees through the fog - Corrie Ten Boom
In dark restaurant Vance Havner mumbled that he needed a flashlight to read the menu. He said he ate the meal, "By faith and not by sight"
Faith is infectious, and infection spreads where numbers congregate - J. Oswald Sanders
Prayer and faith are Siamese twins. One heart animates them both. Faith is always praying. Prayer is always believing - E.M. Bounds
There are three levels of knowledge: God is for me, God is with me, God is in me - Ed Cole
FAMILY
Sibling rivalry – one sister said, “I’m thankful that I grew out of sibling rivalry, but my fat, stupid, money-grabbing sister never did”
Every family tree produces some nuts
If there are not enough moral principles to make the family adhere, there will not be enough political principles to make the state adhere. The same storm that upsets the ship in which the family sails will sink the frigate of the Constitution – RG Lee
The light that shines farthest will shine brightest at home – Oswald J. Smith
Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city – George Burns
The family that prays together stays together. The family that buys together cries together
A man’s home is a real fortress… where a woman buckles on his armor in the morning…and soothes his wounds when he comes home at night – RG Lee
I can’t relate to my relatives
FASTING
The boy gave up his lunch for Jesus. Thousands were blessed. If all us would give up our lunch what miracle results would follow?
You’re on an all-liquid fast? I’ve got a blender too
Instead of using medicine, fast a day - Plutarch
Arthur Wallis mentions the 3,700 year old Edwin Smith papyrus which quotes an ancient Egyptian doctor as saying, "Man eats too much. Thus he lives on a quarter of what he consumes. The doctors, however, live on the remaining three-quarters" - God's Chosen Fast
FATHERHOOD
There are Dads who take time to tie up their hound dogs at night but let their sons run loose
A child will not likely find a father in God if he hasn’t seen some God in his father
It is easier to mold boys than to mend men
I talk and talk and talk, and I haven't taught people in 50 years what my father taught by example in one week – Mario Cuomo
FAVOR
Uncommon faith with uncommon favor brings uncommon fame
Favor is not the same as favors
One day of favor is worth more than a thousand days of labor
FEAR
The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one. – Elbert Hubbard
The opposite of faith is fear. You need to do three things with your fear – 1) face it, 2) replace it, 3) erase it. All of these are done by faith
Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others – Robert Louis Stevenson
Fear is the darkroom where all our negatives are developed
There are three Greek words for fear – phobos from which we get phobia, deilia from which we get delirious and entromos from which we get trauma
One sergeant said, “I don’t know of a single fist-fighting bully but what he makes a cowardly soldier”. It’s all just a cover-up for fear
Fear has been broken down in acrostic form as F – False, E – Evidence, A – Appearing, R – Real. False evidence appearing real.
Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death
Procrastination is the fear of success. People procrastinate because they are afraid of the success that they know will result if they move ahead now. Because success is heavy, carries a responsibility with it, it is much easier to procrastinate and live on the 'someday I'll' philosophy – Denis Waitley
An inferiority complex is a conviction by a jury of your fears
Fear can't hold a candle to unswerving faith, much less muster up the guts to even attempt to blow it out – B. G. Jett
No one should fear to undertake any task in the name of our Saviour, if it is just and if the intention is purely for His holy service - Christopher Columbus
What bothers me is not the wolfishness of the devil's wolves but the sheepishness of the Lord's sheep - Vance Havner
In fear, the brain starves the heart of its bravest blood - Kall
Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain - Ralph Waldo Emerson
One of the greatest mistakes we can make in life is to be in constant fear that we will make one - John Maxwell
Our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength - Charles Spurgeon
All men should strive to learn before they die what they are running from and to and why - James Thurber
Fear not that your life will come to an end but that it will never have a beginning - Cardinal J.H. Newman
Considering ho dangerous everything is, nothing is really frightening - Gertrude Stein
He is not worthy of the honeycomb that shuns the hive because the bees have stings - Shakespeare
The hero and the coward both feel exactly the same fear, only the hero confronts his fear and converts it into fire - Fight manager Cus D'Amato
Come to the edge. No, we will fall.
Come to the edge. No, we will fall.
They came to the edge. He pushed them and they flew - Guillaume Apollinaire
FELLOWSHIP
Remember, the banana only gets skinned when it gets away from the bunch
FEMINISM
Adam’s Rib and Satan’s Fib Made Women’s Lib
Feminism was created to combat chauvinism
There is a wide difference between feminism and femininity
Since marriage constitutes slavery for women, it is clear that the women’s movement must concentrate on attacking this institution. Freedom for women cannot be won without the abolition of marriage – Sheila Cronan
Lady running for state office told her husband, “I think we’re going to sweep the state!” He murmured, “Good, I wish you would start in the kitchen”
FINISHING
To finish first, you must first finish – Rick Mears
Jesus died saying, “It is finished”. When the job is finished there is no more reason to live, but don’t quit living until the job is finished – KJ
Stopping on third base is no better than striking out
If life is just a series of beginnings you will make no history
If the word quit is part of your vocabulary, then the word finish is likely not – B.G. Lett
Nobody remembers who finished second but the guy who finished second – Bobby Unser
FIRE OF GOD
The blower is still on but the furnace has gone out
It’s not enough to have the facts, we have to have the fire
We need to get fed up, fired up then filled up
Jesus said that the candle fire would be smothered by the bushel or the bed. The bushel represents business cares, materialism and moneymaking. The bed represents ease, sleep, sloth and compromise. There is a danger in letting things get busy, cozy, easy or lazy
We must desire the fire, require the fire, acquire the fire, then inspire the fire – never retire the fire
In fact, to the older ones let me say, it’s not time to retire, it’s time to re-fire!
We need men of flame not men of name or men of fame
The Lord isn’t looking for troubleshooters today – He’s looking for troublemakers, someone to trouble the waters and trouble men’s consciences. When Paul came to town trouble was raised. He had a revival or else a riot everywhere he went
Pharisees and Sadducees were once on fire but their coals got soaked instead of soaked and went out
We need to stand up and speak up or shut up!
The early church covered the globe without PA and without PR – they did it simply through the fire of the Spirit
Wanted: wicks to burn out for God; oil and light supplied - church sign
One brother waxed eloquent in prayer meeting - "Lord, if there should be a spark of fire in this meeting, please water that spark!"
FLATTERY
Flattery is soft soap, and soap is 90% lye
Tell her she’s too smart to be flattered and flattered she is
Flattery is like chewing gum – enjoy it briefly but don’t swallow it
FLESH
It is one thing to live in the flesh, and quite another to live according to the flesh – Thomas Merton
We cannot take the odor from a skunk by putting it in a perfume factory…we cannot make a porcupine’s quills soft as fur by dressing it in silk – RG Lee
The spirit worships God, loves people and uses things. The flesh loves things, worships people and uses God
The flesh wants, wants, wants, wastes, wastes, wastes and worries, worries, worries
All the fire which the devil can bring from hell could do us little harm if we had not so much fuel in our nature. It is the powder in the magazine of the old man which is our perpetual danger – Charles Spurgeon
The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors; that which it loves, and also that which it fears. It reaches the height of its cherished aspirations. It falls to the level of its unchastened desires - James Allen
One lady wanted the evangelist to cast the spirit of fat out. He answered, "This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting" - Frances Hunter
So we by faith also crucify it [flesh], and regard and treat it daily as an accursed thing that finds its rightful place on the accursed cross - Andrew Murray
Just as the curse upon the serpent to crawl on his belly forces him to conform to the contour of the earth, so his seed is confined to the natural realm - Rick Joyner
They live in the bitterness of Romans 7, not the blessedness of Romans 8 - Vance Havner
What the flesh is in the small circle of my own person, so the world is in the larger circle of mankind. "The flesh" and "the world" are two manifestations of the same "god of this world" who is served by both - Andrew Murray
A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has never overcome them - Carl Jung
Two natures beat within my breast,
The one is foul, the other blessed.
The one I love, the other I hate;
The one I feed will dominate
FLEXIBILITY
He that is flexible will not get bent out of shape
FOCUS
If I say Bill Gates you think computers, Tiger Wood, golf, Benny Hinn, healing. These guys all have single focus – Mike Murdock
Ever wonder why a lion tamer takes a stool into the ring with him? The lion can’t focus on all four legs at once. It paralyzes his thinking to a degree – John Maxwell
Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal – Henry Ford
He that is everywhere is nowhere – Thomas Fuller
Woodrow Wilson spoke of being defeated by one’s “secondary successes”
Sir Thomas Lipton, English sportsman won many yachting trophies but never managed to win the American Cup. Holding a shiny trophy he said, “I’d give them all for the one I didn’t get!”
Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find his right road – Dag Hammarskjold
What you look at longest is strongest – Paula White
If you can’t write your idea on the back of my business card, you don’t have a clear idea – David Belasco
99% of things in life I don’t need to know about. I try to focus on the 1% that gives me the highest return – John Maxwell
You’ve got to think about big things while doing the small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction – Alvin Toffler
One time I followed a golfer who neglected to put the pin back in the hole after he putted. Because I could not see my target, I couldn’t focus properly. My focus quickly turned to frustration and to poor play – John Maxwell
The immature mind hops from one thing to another; the mature mind seeks to follow through – Harry Overstreet
Focus on destiny, not history
A man with one watch knows what time it is; a man with two watches is never quite sure (James 1:8)
The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus - Bruce Lee
The key is to do one thing and do it extremely well
If you chase two rabbits, both will escape
Satan knows the old adage - "If you want to defeat them, distract them"
Like the soprano who can shatter glass by finding that high note and holding it, a leader who can hold that high note without wavering, can shatter walls - Laurie Beth Jones
FORGETTING (the past)
The past is a guidepost, not a hitching post
Don’t say anything to someone that you want them to forget – Mike Murdock
The windshield is big and wide. The rearview mirror is small and thin. There’s a reason for that
The past is to be a rudder to guide us, not an anchor to hold us down
Some memories are like bad TV reruns that we don’t even enjoy watching, yet we sit with our eyes transfixed on the screen. But if you don’t like the movie being played remember that you can hit the remote control – TD Jakes
We need to lay aside yesterdays’ fame, shame, blame and aim
There is no future in the past
One farmer said he had a mule that was very backward about going forward. A lot of people are like that too
Don't look back; something may be gaining on you - Satchel Paige
FORGIVENESS
He who will not forgive destroys the bridge over which he himself must pass
When a friend makes a mistake or offends you, don’t rub it in, rub it out!
Forgiveness is setting a prisoner free then finding that the prisoner was you
When you forgive someone, you set a prisoner free… and then you find that the prisoner was you – Lewis Smedes
Make the most of all that comes and the least of all that goes
I found a little remedy, To ease the life we live
And make each day a happier one: It is the word "forgive"
Patti Davis, the daughter of Ronald Reagan said that her dad made a lasting impression on her the day after the assassination attempt of 1982. She says, "The following day my father (Ronald Reagan) said he knew his physical healing was directly dependent on his ability to forgive John Hinckley. By showing me that forgiveness is the key to everything, including physical health and healing, he gave me an example of Christ-like thinking" – The Quote Letter, December, 1996
Admit it, quit it, forget it!
Peter was the master of self-forgiveness. He preached, “Ye have denied the holy One”, when he had done the same just a month before
The only true forgiveness is that which is offered and extended even before the offender has apologized and sought it – Soren Kierkegaard
Why bring before God’s face what He has cast behind His back
The heaviest thing a person can carry is a grudge
It is man-like to punish, but God-like to forgive - Henry Von Winter
FORTUNE
You will never find your fortune in a cookie
FOUNDATION
Countless icebergs float in the frigid waters around Greenland. Some are tiny; others tower skyward. At times the small ones move in one direction while their gigantic counterparts go in another. Why is this? The small ones are pushed around by the winds blowing on the surface of the water, but the huge ice masses are carried along by deep ocean currents
FOUNDING FATHERS
We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion...Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other – John Adams
Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers – John Jay, First Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
Upon my arrival in the United States, the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention...The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other – Alexis de Tocqueville, French Historian
The religion which has introduced civil liberty, is the religion of Christ and his apostles, which enjoins humility, piety and benevolence; which acknowledges in every person a brother, or a sister, and a citizen with equal rights. This is genuine Christianity, and to this we owe our free constitutions of government – Noah Webster
And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep forever – Thomas Jefferson
Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle – George Washington
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable Rights; that among these, are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness; that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness - Thomas Jefferson
For the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor - Thomas Jefferson
The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected, in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity - John Quincy Adams
The first and almost the only Book deserving of universal attention is the Bible. The Bible is the book of all others, to be read at all ages in all conditions of human life. ...It is an invaluable and inexhaustible mine of knowledge and virtue. ...In all ages since the promulgation of Christianity the great mass of those who have risen to eminence ...have recognized and reverenced Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of the living God - John Quincy Adams
Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers - John Jay
FREEDOM
If a nation expects to be ignorant in a free civilization, what they expect never will or can be…if we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed – Thomas Jefferson
Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains on their appetites…Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things that men of intemperate methods cannot be free – Edmund Burke
The history of free men is never really written by chance but by choice; their choice! – Dwight Eisenhower
Many Americans will cross the ocean to fight for democracy but won’t cross the street to vote for it
About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the
Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier: "A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government…A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years."
During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:
1. from bondage to spiritual faith;
2. from spiritual faith to great courage;
3. from courage to liberty;
4. from liberty to abundance;
5. from abundance to complacency;
6. from complacency to apathy;
7. from apathy to dependence;
8. from dependence back into bondage
Words on the Lincoln Memorial – That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from earth
It is the Soldier, not the reporter,
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the Soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer,
Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the Soldier, not the lawyer,
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the Soldier, who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protestor to burn the flag – Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, United States Marine Corps
I love the scene at the end of the movie Saving Private Ryan. Ryan, who is now seventy years old, returns to Normandy, and he is looking at the grave marker of Captain Miller, the man who died to save him during World War II. Ryan is on his knees. The grave marker is a stark, white
cross. He addresses Miller, now long dead: "I’ve tried every day to live up to what you did for me. . . . I hope I’ve lived a life worthy of your sacrifice."
No man is free who is not a master of himself – Epictetus
It was religion that birthed our prosperity, then the daughter ate up the mother – Cotton Mather
To be born free is a great privilege, to die free is a great responsibility
I would rather be a lean bird in the woods than a fat bird in a cage – Spurgeon
None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free - Johann Wolfgang Goethe
Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports - George Washington
Freedom is indivisible - there is no "s" on the end of it. You can erode freedom, diminish it, but you cannot divide it and choose to keep "some freedoms" while giving up others - Ronald Reagan
Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again - Ronald Reagan
There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts - Ronald Reagan
The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of these United States are covenants we have made not only with ourselves, but with all mankind. Our founding documents proclaim to the world that freedom is not the sole prerogative of a chosen few. It is the universal right of all God's children - Ronald Reagan
You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done - Ronald Reagan
Is life so dear, and peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? - Patrick Henry
It is the nature of slavery to render its victims so abject that at last, fearing to be free, they multiply their own chains. You can liberate a freeman, but you cannot liberate a slave - Louis Halle
The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them - Thomas Jefferson
Our cause is just. Our union is perfect. Our internal resources are great, and, if necessary, foreign assistance is undoubtedly attainable. - We gratefully acknowledge, as signal instances of the Divine favour towards us, that his Providence would not permit us to be called into this severe controversy, until we were grown up to our present strength, had been previously exercised in warlike operation, and possessed of the means of defending ourselves. With hearts fortified with these animating reflections, we most solemnly, before God and the world, declare, that, exerting the utmost energy of those powers, which our beneficent Creator hath graciously bestowed upon us, the arms we have been compelled by our enemies to assume, we will, in defiance of every hazard, with unabating firmness and perseverance, employ for the preservation of our liberties; being with one mind resolved to die freemen rather than to live slaves - Thomas Jefferson
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure - Thomas Jefferson
While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when they lose their virtue they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader... If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security - Samuel Adams
Posterity…you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it - John Quincy Adams
The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.
I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.
The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government. Thomas Jefferson
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical - Thomas Jefferson quotes
FRIENDSHIP
A fair weather friend is always there when he needs you
We don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.
The best way to lose an enemy is to treat him like a friend – John Maxwell
Ty Cobb died alone and flat broke. He often said near the close of his life, “I wish I would have had a few less hits and a few more friends”
You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you – Dale Carnegie
Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind – Dr. Seuss
You cannot shake hands with a clenched fist – Indira Gandhi
He who has a thousand friends has not a friend to spare, and he who has one enemy shall meet him everywhere – Emerson
Sorrow shared is halved, and joy is doubled – Native American saying
A friend hears the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails – Reader’s Digest
A friend is a present you give yourself – Robert Louis Stevenson
He who wishes to secure the good of others has already secured his own – Confucius
No person has so many friends that he or she can afford to squander even one of them
A stranger is simply a friend you haven’t met
The ornaments of a house are the friends who frequent it – Emerson
When two beings who are not friends are near each other there is no meeting but when friends are far apart there is no separation
Real friends are those who, when you have made a fool of yourself, don’t believe that you have done a permanent job
If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man should keep his friendships in constant repair – Samuel Johnson
Friends that will sin with you eventually will sin against you – Mike Murdock
Those who would lie to help you likely will turn around and lie to hurt you
You don’t have to be Jonah to reap a storm. Just tolerate one in your life and the storm will come just the same
Friendship doesn’t make you wealthy, but true friendship will reveal the wealth within you
I value the friend who for me finds time on his calendar, but I cherish the friend who for me does not consult his calendar – Robert Brault
A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out – Walter Winchell
Each person assigned to you will solve a different problem for you. Some motivate you. Some educate you. Some correct you – Mike Murdock
So live that your friends can defend you but never have to – Arnold Glasgow
He alone has lost the art to live who cannot win new friends – S. Weir Mitchell
A candle loses nothing of its light by lighting another candle – James Keller
A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him, I may think aloud – Ralph Waldo Emerson
There are four types of people in your life, the ones that add, subtract, divide and multiply – Mike Murdock
Show me your friends and I'll show you your future
FRUIT BEARING
By the vinedresser, we are cut back so we don’t have to be cut off
Fruit is seasonal; you can’t always discern it immediately. When the season of trial or performance comes the fruit becomes evident
There is a difference between fruit and results. You can get results from following a formula, fruit only from following the Spirit
Results are counted and soon become silent statistics, but fruit remains and continues to multiply to the glory of God – Warren Wiersbe
FUN
Fun is like life insurance; the older you get, the more it costs – Kin Hubbard
FUNERAL
I cannot say and I will not say, That he is dead – he is just away!
With a cheery smile and a wave of the hand, He has wandered into an unknown land.
And left us dreaming how very fair, It needs must be since he lingers there,
And needs you – O you, who the wildest yearn, For the old-time step and the glad return,
Think of him faring on, as dear, In the love of There as the love of Here – John Whitcomb Riley
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