Our children that die young are like those spring bulbs which have their flowers prepared beforehand, and leave nothing to do but to break ground, and blossom, and pass away. Thank God for spring flowers among men, as well as among the grasses of the field.
Henry Ward BeecherOctober is the opal month of the year. It is the month of glory, of ripeness. It is the picture-month.
Henry Ward BeecherThou, Everlasting Strength, hast set Thyself forth to bear our burdens. May we bear Thy cross, and bearing that; find there is nothing else to bear; and touching that cross, find that instead of taking away our strength, it adds thereto. Give us faith for darkness, for trouble, for sorrow, for bereavement, for disappointment; give us a faith that will abide though the earth itself should pass away--a faith for living, a faith for dying.
Henry Ward BeecherAs flowers carry dewdrops, trembling on the edges of the petals, and ready to fall at the first waft of wind or brush of bird, so the heart should carry its beaded words of thanksgiving; and at the first breath of heavenly flavor, let down the shower, perfumed with the heart's gratitude.
Henry Ward BeecherThat which distinguishes man from the brute is his power, in dealing with Nature, to milk her laws, and make them give forth their bounty.
Henry Ward BeecherHe that would look with contempt on the pursuits of the farmer, is not worthy the name of a man.
Henry Ward BeecherGood nature is worth more than knowledge, more than money, more than honor, to the persons who possess it.
Henry Ward BeecherWhat is the disposition which makes men rejoice in good bargains? There are few people who will not be benefited by pondering over the morals of shopping.
Henry Ward BeecherSuccess surely comes with conscience in the long run, other things being equal. Capacity and fidelity are commercially profitable qualities.
Henry Ward BeecherI think half the troubles for which men go slouching in prayer to God are caused by their intolerable pride. Many of our cares are but a morbid way of looking at our privileges. We let our blessings get mouldy, and then call them curses.
Henry Ward BeecherHuman life is God's outer church. Its needs and urgencies are priests and pastors.
Henry Ward BeecherAs plants take hold, not for the sake of staying, but only that they may climb higher, so it is with men. By every part of our nature we clasp things above us, one after another, not for the sake of remaining where we take hold, but that we may go higher.
Henry Ward BeecherOf all joyful, smiling, ever-laughing experiences, there are none like those which spring from true religion.
Henry Ward BeecherPrayer is often an argument of laziness: "Lord, my temper gives me a vast deal of inconvenience, and it would be a great task for me to correct it; and wilt thou be pleased to correct it for me, that I may get along easier?" If prayer was answered under such circumstances, independent of action of natural laws, it would be paying a premium on indolence.
Henry Ward BeecherThe clearest window that ever was fashioned if it is barred by spiders' webs, and hung over with carcasses of insects, so that the sunlight has forgotten to find its way through, of what use can it be? Now, the Church is God's window; and if it is so obscured by errors that its light is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Henry Ward BeecherIt is the color which love wears, and cheerfulness, and joy--these three. It is the light in the window of the face by which the heart signifies to father, husband, or friend that it is at home and waiting.
Henry Ward BeecherHe is the happiest man who is engaged in a business which tasks the most faculties of his mind.
Henry Ward BeecherYou may say, "I wish to send this ball so as to kill the lion crouching yonder, ready to spring upon me. My wishes are all right, and I hope Providence will direct the ball." Providence won't. You must do it; and if you do not, you are a dead man.
Henry Ward BeecherPrayer covers the whole of man's life. There is no thought, feeling, yearning, or desire, however low, trifling, or vulgar we may deem it, which if it affects our real interest or happiness, we may not lay before God and be sure of sympathy.
Henry Ward BeecherThere are persons so radiant, so genial, so kind, so pleasure-bearin g, that you instinctively feel in their presence that they do you good; whose coming into a room is like bringing a lamp there.
Henry Ward BeecherTo the great tree-loving fraternity we belong. We love trees with universal and unfeigned love, and all things that do grow under them or around them - the whole leaf and root tribe.
Henry Ward BeecherThe elms of New England! They are as much a part of her beauty as the columns of the Parthenon were the glory of its architecture.
Henry Ward BeecherWe not only live among men, but there are airy hosts, blessed spectators, sympathetic lookers-on, that see and know and appreciate our thoughts and feelings and acts.
Henry Ward BeecherWhat place is so rugged and so homely that there is no beauty; if you only have a sensibility to beauty?
Henry Ward BeecherNone love to speak so much, when the mood of speaking comes, as they who are naturally taciturn.
Henry Ward BeecherThe test of Christian character should be that a man is a joy-bearing agent to the world.
Henry Ward BeecherIt is a very good world for the purposes for which it was built; and that is all anything is good for.
Henry Ward BeecherA mother is as different from anything else that God ever thought of, as can possibly be. She is a distinct and individual creation.
Henry Ward BeecherThere is an ugly kind of forgiveness in this world,--a kind of hedgehog forgiveness, shot out like quills. Men take one who has offended, and set him down before the blowpipe of their indignation, and scorch him, and burn his fault into him; and when they have kneaded him sufficiently with their fiery fists, then--they forgive him.
Henry Ward BeecherThe way to avoid evil is not by maiming our passions, but by compelling them to yield their vigor to our moral nature.
Henry Ward BeecherWe sleep, but the loom of life never stops, and the pattern which was weaving when the sun went down is weaving when it comes up in the morning.
Henry Ward BeecherA man is a fool who sits looking backward from himself in the past. Ah, what shallow, vain conceit there is in man! Forget the things that are behind. That is not where you live. Your roots are not there. They are in the present; and you should reach up into the other life.
Henry Ward Beecher