In this world it is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich.

There are many persons of combative tendencies, who read for ammunition, and dig out of the Bible iron for balls. They read, and they find nitre and charcoal and sulphur for powder. They read, and they find cannon. They read, and they make portholes and embrasures. And if a man does not believe as they do, they look upon him as an enemy, and let fly the Bible at him to demolish him. So men turn the word of God into a vast arsenal, filled with all manner of weapons, offensive and defensive.

The power of hiding ourselves from one another is mercifully given, for men are wild beasts, and would devour one another but for this protection.

A noble man compares and estimates himself by an idea which is higher than himself, and a mean man, by one lower than himself.

It is defeat that turns bone to flint; it is defeat that turns gristle to muscle; it is defeat that makes men invincible. Do not then be afraid of defeat. You are never so near to victory as when defeated in a good cause.

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.

Providence is but another name for natural law. Natural law itself would go out in a minute if it were not for the divine thought that is behind it.