True politeness is the spirit of benevolence showing itself in a refined way. It is the expression of good-will and kindness. It promotes both beauty in the man who possesses it, and happiness in those who are about him. It is a religious duty, and should be a part of religious training.
Henry Ward BeecherNo man ever learned to love God with all his heart, and his neighbour as himself, in a day.
Henry Ward BeecherMany men are stored full of unused knowledge. Like loaded guns that are never fired off, or military magazines in times of peace, they are stuffed with useless ammunition.
Henry Ward BeecherPoverty is very good in poems but very bad in the house; very good in maxims and sermons but very bad in practical life.
Henry Ward BeecherThe thistle is a prince. Let any man that has an eye for beauty take a view of the whole plant, and where will he see a more expressive grace and symmetry; and where is there a more kingly flower?
Henry Ward BeecherAs warmth makes even glaciers trickle, and opens streams in the ribs of frozen mountains, so the heart knows the full flow and life of its grief only when it begins to melt and pass away.
Henry Ward BeecherThere is no such thing as white lies; a lie is as black as a coalpit, and twice as foul.
Henry Ward BeecherNever forget what a man has said to you when he was angry. If he has charged you with anything, you had better look it up.
Henry Ward BeecherI think you might dispense with half your doctors if you would only consult Dr. Sun more.
Henry Ward BeecherIf a boy is not trained to endure and to bear trouble, he will grow up a girl; and a boy that is a girl has all a girl's weakness without any of her regal qualities. A woman made out of a woman is God's noblest work; a woman made out of a man is His meanest.
Henry Ward BeecherThe methods by which men have met and conquered trouble, or been slain by it, are the same in every age.
Henry Ward BeecherThe strength of a man consists in finding out the way God is going, and going that way.
Henry Ward BeecherThe world is to be cleaned by somebody, and you are not called of God if you are ashamed to scrub.
Henry Ward BeecherNo man can tell if he is rich or poor by turning to his ledger. It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has.
Henry Ward BeecherThe glory of Christianity is to conquer by forgiveness. It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.
Henry Ward BeecherA person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road.
Henry Ward BeecherA good digestion is as truly obligatory as a good conscience; pure blood is as truly a part of mankind as a pure faith; and a well ordered skin is the first condition of that cleanliness which is next to Godliness.
Henry Ward BeecherA man without ambition is like a beautiful worm - it can creep, but it cannot fly.
Henry Ward BeecherOf all man's works of art, a cathedral is greatest. A vast and majestic tree is greater than that.
Henry Ward BeecherIt usually takes a hundred years to make a law, and then, after it has done its work; it usually takes a hundred years to get rid of it.
Henry Ward BeecherAny law that takes hold of a mans daily life cannot prevail in a community, unless the vast majority of the community are actively in favor of it. The laws that are the most operative are the laws which protect life.
Henry Ward BeecherLet the GRATEFUL HEART sweep through the day that it may recognize in every hour some sweet blessing.
Henry Ward BeecherLiberty is the soul's right to breathe and, when it cannot take a long breath, laws are girdled too tight.
Henry Ward BeecherNo man rides so high and in such good company as the man that allies himself to a truth.
Henry Ward BeecherThinking cannot be clear until it has had expression-we must write, or speak, or act our thoughts, or they will remain in half torpid form. Our feelings must have expression, or they will be as clouds, which, till they descend in rain, will never bring up fruit or flowers. So it is with all the inward feelings; expression gives them development-thought is the blossom; language is the opening bud; action the fruit behind it.
Henry Ward BeecherWhen our cup runs over, we let others drink the drops that fall, but not a drop from within the rim, and call it charity; when the crumbs are swept from our table, we think it generous to let the dogs eat them; as if that were charity which permits others to have what we cannot keep.
Henry Ward BeecherSo we fall asleep in Jesus. We have played long enough at the games of life, and at last we feel the approach of death. We are tired out, and we lay our heads back on the bosom of Christ, and quietly fall asleep.
Henry Ward BeecherAge and youth look upon life from the opposite ends of the telescope; it is exceedingly long,--it is exceedingly short.
Henry Ward BeecherGod made the human body, and it is the most exquisite and wonderful organization which has come to us from the divine hand.
Henry Ward BeecherNo one can deal with the hearts of men unless he has the sympathy which is given by love.
Henry Ward BeecherInterest works night and day in fair weather and in foul. It gnaws at a man's substance with invisible teeth.
Henry Ward BeecherA world without a Sabbath would be like a man without a smile, like summer without flowers, and like a homestead without a garden. It is the most joyous day of the week.
Henry Ward BeecherNo man is good for anything who has not some particle of obstinacy to use upon occasion.
Henry Ward BeecherLaws and institutions, like clocks, must occasionally be cleaned, wound up, and set to true time.
Henry Ward BeecherThere are sorrows that are not painful, but are of the nature of some acids, and give piquancy and flavor to life.
Henry Ward BeecherI know it is more agreeable to walk upon carpets than to lie upon dungeon floors, I know it is pleasant to have all the comforts and luxuries of civilization; but he who cares only for these things is worth no more than a butterfly, contented and thoughtless, upon a morning flower; and who ever thought of rearing a tombstone to a last summer's butterfly?
Henry Ward Beecher