Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore do not seek
to understand in order to believe, but believe that you may
understand.-Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel according to St. John, vol. i, Marcus Dods, ed., as vol. x of The Works of Aurelius Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Edinbugh: T & T Clark,
1873, p. 405

Satan’s “fiery darts” do not easily penetrate a mind captivated by the beauty of Christ. When our hearts beat with perpetual fascination and our thoughts are filled with the beauty and splendor and adequacy of God, little room is left for the devil to gain a foothold (see Phil. 4:8).-Sam Storms Tactics of Temptation, November 8, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com

Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind.- James Russell Lowell, 1819 - 1891

We profess that we know God, but by works we deny Him; for
beatitude doth not consist in the knowledge of divine things,
but in a divine life, for the devils know them better than man.- Walter Raleigh (1552?-1618), The Works of Sir Walter Ralegh, Kt., v. II, Oxford: The University press, 1829, p. 32

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106 - 43 BC

We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another.- Edward R. Murrow, 1908 - 1965

A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.- Edward R. Murrow, 1908 - 1965

To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful.- Edward R. Murrow, 1908 - 1965

The keystone of Kuyper's reasoning is that all the spheres of life are independent of each other. The state is the highest, to be sure, because it "protects the individual and defines the mutual lawful relations of the visible spheres of life,"yet the states sovereignty only extends over and does not penetrate into these spheres. The sovereignty of the state is a sovereignty derived from the only real, that is to say, divine sovereignty. And just as the state has receied its sovereignty from God, all spheres possess their sovereignty by the grace of God. Science to is such a sphere. it is free from the state, because the state cannot determine what is scientific. it is likewise free from the church. The church may never rule science by telling it what it has to think. And although there is a danger here that the church may suffer damage from science, it must recognize its limits. A church that remain spiritually alert will actually have nothing to fear from science. It can in fact eve confidently urge "that science, without ever becoming a slave, maintain the sovereignty that belongs to it in its own house and grounds and flourish by the grace of God."- Van Deursen, The Distinctive Character of the Free University in Amsterdam 1880-2005 on Kuyper's inaugural address (pp. 20-21):

Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God. Corrie Ten Boom

Sometimes He calms the storm
With a whispered peace be still
He can settle any sea
But it doesn’t mean He will
Sometimes He holds us close
And lets the wind and waves go wild
Sometimes He calms the storm
And other times He calms His child
Scott Krippane (from CD Wild Imagination)

I would rather be poor in a cottage full of books, than a king without the desire to read. Thomas Babington Macauley

But if vengeance is God's, I want to be His instrument.-Jerry B. Jenkins (1949- ) _The Last Operative_ [2010], Chapter 6

An error is the more dangerous in proportion to the degree of truth which it contains. -Henri Frederic Amiel

Cleverness is serviceable for everything, sufficient for nothing. -Henri Frederic Amiel

Conquering any difficulty always gives one a secret joy, for it means pushing back a boundary-line and adding to one's liberty. -Henri Frederic Amiel

Every life is a profession of faith, and exercises an inevitable and silent influence. -Henri Frederic Amiel

Everything you need for better future and success has already been written. And guess what? All you have to do is go to the library. -Henri Frederic Amiel

I'm not interested in age. People who tell me their age are silly. You're as old as you feel. -Henri Frederic Amiel

I need the opportunity to free my mind of sorrow, personal concerns; to see my world through the mirrored reflection of holiness. I need a time of prayer to leap beyond what is limiting in me as a person, to rediscover what is important and what is trivial, to take counsel with what my tradition stresses as the living faith. I need prayer.- Albert Silverman

Nothing is small or great in God's sight; whatever He wills
becomes great to us, however seemingly trifling, and if once
the voice of conscience tells us that He requires anything of
us, we have no right to measure its importance.0Jean Nicolas Grou (1731-1803), The Hidden Life of the Soul, London: Rivingtons, 1870, p. 217

They tell me I rub the fur the wrong way. I don’t. Let the cat turn around!-Billy Sunday

There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates' loot on Treasure Island and at the bottom of the Spanish Main .. and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life.- Walter Elias Disney, 1901 - 1966

Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him. - Maya Angelou

29 Jun 10

England's performance is to football, what John Prescott is to English oratory-Mark Wallace, TaxPayers' Alliance

Well, there goes the whole of American God-is-their-belly porkers-for-Jesus evangelicalism with its consumer-oriented free enterprise "ethic" and overeating!- Frank Schaefer, Eradicate Fundamentalism In All Its Forms

England showed sportsmanship by adhering to Harriet's new equality laws and did not take advantage by sending over players who had a prior knowlege of soccer.- Keith Downs

I would rather be poor in a cottage full of books, than a king without the desire to read. -Thomas Babington Macauley

The only freedom that man ever has is when he becomes a slave to Jesus Christ. - R.C. Sproul