Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.- Martin Luther King, Jr, 1929 - 1968

On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, "Is it safe?" Expediency asks the question, "Is it politic?" And Vanity comes along and asks the question, "Is it popular?" But Conscience asks the question "Is it right?" And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.-Martin Luther King, Jr, 1929 - 1968

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent.- Martin Luther King, Jr, 1929 - 1968

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.- Martin Luther King, Jr, 1929 - 1968

Nothing is more responsible for the good old days than a bad memory.- Franklin Pierce Adams, 1881 - 1960

We are always in the presence of God, yet it seems to me that those who pray are in his presence in a very different sense.-Teresa of Avila

The great painter boasted that he mixed all his colours with brains, and the great saint may be said to mix all his thoughts with thanks.- G. K. Chesterton

Good when He gives, supremely good;
Nor less when He denies:
Afflictions, from His sovereign hand,
Are blessings in disguise.
Brother Lawrence (c.1605-1691), attributed, The Practice of the Presence of God, New York, Revell, 1895, p. 4

At the moment it seems quite effectively disguised.- Winston Churchill to his wife, 26 July 1945; she had suggested his election defeat might be a blessing in disguise.

The world's idea of greatness is to rule, but Christian greatness consists in serving. The world's ambition is to receive honor and attention, but the desire of the Christian should be to give rather than receive, and to attend on others rather than be attended on himself. In short, the man who lays himself out most to serve his fellow men, and to be useful in his day and generation, is the greatest man in the eyes of Christ.~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1985], 187.

It does not prove a thing to be right because the majority say it is so.- Friedrich Schiller, 1759 - 1805

To one, science is an exalted goddess; to another it is a cow which provides him with butter.- Friedrich Schiller, 1759 - 1805

Christ’s sacrifice and death for sinners, and Christ’s kingdom and future glory, are the light we must bring to bear on any book of Scripture we read. Christ’s cross and Christ’s crown are the clue we must hold fast, if we would find our way through Scripture difficulties. Christ is the only key that will unlock many of the dark places of the Word. Some people complain that they do not understand the Bible. And the reason is very simple. They do not use the key. To them the Bible is like the hieroglyphics in Egypt. It is a mystery, just because they do not know and employ the key.~ J.C. Ryle Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots, “Christ Is All”, [Moscow, ID: Charles Nolan Publishing, 2001], 374.

The Father never fails to cheer our hearts with sweet surprises of His Grace.  He hides them through all our fleeting years, and every day we are finding them:  friends old and new, the joys of home, new aspirations, new tasks, new fields of labor, new knowledge, new understandings of the heart of Christ, new experiences with Him.  Often they fall into our laps when we are least expecting them.  This is God’s antidote for weariness and dullness.  We greet each day with expectancy.  We grow old gracefully, eagerly waiting to know what is that grandest gift of all- eternal life.- Costen J. Harrell

[The solution lies] in a complete realization of what we
mean by asserting that God is Almighty. The two ideas of Free-
will and Divine Sovereignty can not be reconciled in our own
minds, but that does not prevent them from being reconcilable
in God's mind. We measure Him by our own intellectual standard
if we think otherwise. And so our solution of the problem of
Free-will and of the problems of history and of individual
salvation, must finally lie in the full acceptance and
realization of what is implied by the infinity and the
omniscience of God.-William Sanday (1843-1920) & Arthur C. Headlam (1862-1947), A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the
Epistle to the Romans, Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark,1896, 10th ed., New York: Scribners, 1905, p. 350

If we do not have some knowledge by faith of the glory of Christ here and now, it means that we have no real desire for His presence in heaven.-John Owen, Meditation on the Glory of Christ, 1684, ch. 7.

Seven marks of spiritual health [in] our righteousness
toward others: (1) Christians work to glorify God in doing
good. (2) God's children cannot but naturally love one another.
(3) A compassionate heart, even toward enemies, is a Christian
heart. (4) Impartial reproving, a character of God's people.
(5) Admirable resisting of temptation. (6) A Christian bearing
of reproof an argument of much of Christ Jesus. (7) God's
people willing to lose all for God's glory.-Roger Williams (1603?-1683), Experiments of Spiritual Life and Health [1652], Westminster Press, 1951, p. 81-89

f the appetite alone hath sinned, let it alone fast, and
it sufficeth. But if the other members also have sinned, why
should they not fast, too? ... Let the eye fast from strange
sights and from every wantonness, so that that which roamed in
freedom in fault-doing may, abundantly humbled, be checked by
penitence. Let the ear, blameably eager to listen, fast from
tales and rumours, and from whatsoever is of idle import, and
tendeth least to salvation. Let the tongue fast from slanders
and murmurings, and from useless, vain, and scurrilous words,
and sometimes also, in the seriousness of silence, even from
things which may seem of essential import. Let the hand abstain
from ... all toils which are not imperatively necessary. But
also let the soul herself abstain from all evils and from
acting out her own will. For without such abstinence the other
things find no favour with the Lord.-Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, Selections from His Letters,Meditations, Sermons, Hymns and Other Writngs, tr. Horatio Grimley, CUP Archive, n.d., p. 208-209

The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt. - Bertrand Russell, 1872 - 1970

It is precisely when every earthly hope has been explored
and found wanting, when every possibility of help from earthly
sources has been sought and is not forthcoming, when every
recourse this world offers, moral as well as material, has been
drawn on and explored with no effect, when in the shivering
cold every stick of wood has been thrown on the fire and in the
gathering darkness every glimmer of light has finally flickered
out--it's then that Christ's hand reaches out, sure and firm.
Then Christ's words bring their inexpressible comfort, then his
light shines brightest, abolishing the darkness for ever.- Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990), The End of Christendom, W. B. Eerdmans, 1980, p. 56

Prayer is the main secret of success in spiritual business. It moves Him who can move heaven and earth. It brings down the promised aid of the Holy Spirit, without whom the finest sermons, the clearest teaching, and the most diligent labors, are all alike in vain. It is not always those who have the most eminent gifts who are most successful laborers for God. It is generally those who keep up closest communion with Christ and are most constant in prayer.~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1985], 123.

Jesus hath many lovers of His heavenly kingdom, but few
bearers of His Cross. He hath many seekers of comfort, but few
of tribulation. He findeth many companions of His table, but
few of His fasting. All desire to rejoice with Him, few are
willing to undergo anything for His sake. Many follow Jesus
that they may eat of His loaves, but few that they may drink of
the cup of His passion. Many are astonished at His miracles,
few follow after the shame of His Cross. Many love Jesus so
long as no adversities happen to them. Many praise Him and
bless Him, so long as they receive any comforts from Him. But
if Jesus hide Himself and withdraw a little while, they fall
either into complaining or into too great dejection of mind.-Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471), Of the Imitation of Christ [1418], Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1877, II.xi, p. 103

Prayer is one of the best and most powerful means of helping forward the cause of Christ in the world. It is a means within the reach of all who have the Spirit of adoption. Not all believers have money to give to missions. Very few have great intellectual gifts, or extensive influence among men. But all believers can pray for the success of the Gospel, and they ought to pray for it daily. Many and marvelous are the answers to prayer which are recorded for our learning in the Bible. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." (James 5:16.)
~ J.C. Ryle Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Luke volume 1, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 345.

It is not for us to attempt to explain why some receive and believe the Gospel, while others do not. The sovereignty of God in this matter is a deep mystery - we cannot fathom it. But one thing, at all events, stands out in Scripture, as a great practical truth to be had in everlasting remembrance. Those from whom the Gospel is hidden are generally "the wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight." [Isaiah 5:21] Those to whom the Gospel is revealed are generally humble, simpleminded and willing to learn. The words of the Virgin Mary are continually being fulfilled, "He has filled the hungry with good things. He has sent the rich away empty." (Luke 1:53.) ~ J.C. Ryle Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Matthew, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1986], 116.

A happy marriage is still the greatest treasure within the gift of fortune.- Eden Phillpotts, 1862 - 1960

We always think every other man's job is easier than our own. The better he does it, the easier it looks.- Eden Phillpotts, 1862 - 1960

You never know what a fool you can be till life gives you the chance.- Eden Phillpotts, 1862 - 1960