A prideful man always looks down on people; as long as you’re looking down, you can’t see something that’s above you.- C. S. Lewis

Hope is a good breakfast, but a bad supper. - Francis Bacon, 1561 - 1626

To eat well in England, you should have a breakfast three times a day. - W. Somerset Maugham, 1874 - 1965

He who cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which
he himself must pass.-Edward Herbert of Cherbury (1583-1648), The Autobiography of Edward, Lord Herbert of Cherbury, London: Walter Scott, 1888, p. 40

Religion is the possibility of the removal of every ground
of confidence except confidence in God alone. - Karl Barth (1886-1968), The Epistle to the Romans,translated from the 6th edition by Edwyn C. Hoskyns,London: Oxford University Press, H. Milford, 1933, 6th ed., Oxford University Press US, 1968, p. 88

Tax reform is taking the taxes off things that have been taxed in the past and putting taxes on things that haven't been taxed before. - Art Buchwald, 1925 - 2007

When it comes to finances, remember that there are no withholding taxes on the wages of sin. - Mae West, 1893 - 1980

The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets. - Will Rogers, 1879 - 1935

Remember still that you are both diseased persons, full of infirmities; and therefore expect the fruit of those infirmities in each other; and make not a strange matter of it, as if you had never known of it before. If you had married one that is lame, would you be angry at her for [limping]? Or if you had married one that had a putrid ulcer, would you fall out with her because it stinketh? Did you not know beforehand, that you married a person of such weakness, as would yield you some manner of daily trial and offense? If you could not bear this, you should not have married her; if you resolved that you could bear it then, you are obliged to bear it now. Resolve therefore to bear with one another; as remembering that you took one another as sinful, frail, imperfect, persons, not as angels, or as blameless and perfect .- Richard Baxter, A Christian Directory from Baxter’s Practical Works: v. 1, p. 125.

To realize God's presence is the one sovereign remedy against temptation.- Francois Fenelon

One’s ability to find hope in a seemingly hopeless situation is directly related to the ability to see God’s hand in that situation. If you are despairing…you are probably not focusing on what God intends to do in your life, and for His kingdom as a result of it.- Lou Priolo, Divorce: Before You Say “I Don’t,” 2007, P&R, p. 23.

Faith is not a hothouse plant that must be shielded from wind and rain, so delicate that it has to be protected, but is like the sturdy oak which becomes stronger with every wind that blows upon it. An easy time weakens faith, while strong trials strengthen it.- Katherine Workman

It is the grace of God that fallen men most detest. If lost men really thought that God is a harsh and cruel deity who deals severely with all who offend Him, they would cower in His presence, and they would do everything possible to avoid His wrath. Men do not fear God, however; they disdain Him. They interpret His grace as weakness and His delay of judgment as inability to achieve His purposes. Men who are sinners do not want to admit their own guilt and thus do not want to petition God for grace. They will have heaven on their own terms or not at all. Thus lost men will go to hell because they hate grace and will have none of it.- Bob Deffinbaugh, The Grace of God, Part I – Ephesians 1:5-12; 2:1-10,www.bible.org,

While sin is an occasion for grace, grace is never to be an occasion for sin.- Bob Deffinbaugh,The Grace of God, Part I – Ephesians 1:5-12; 2:1-10,www.bible.org,

Witnessing is not a spare-time occupation or a once-a-week activity. It must be a quality of life. You don't go witnessing, you are a witness.- Dan Greene

John Newton says, "Young Christians think themselves
little; growing Christians think themselves nothing;
full-grown Christians think themselves less than
nothing." -Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892) _Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit_, Volume 7 [1861]

It is a mark of self confidence: the English have not spent a great
deal of time defining themselves because they haven't needed to. - Jeremy Paxman, The English, 2002

I know of no other single practice in the Christian life more rewarding, practically speaking, than memorizing Scripture… No other single exercise pays greater spiritual dividends! Your prayer life will be strengthened. Your witnessing will be sharper and much more effective. Your attitudes and outlook will begin to change. Your mind will become alert and observant. Your confidence and assurance will be enhanced. Your faith will be solidified. - Chuck Swindoll, Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life

, Zondervan, 1994, p. 61.

Let it never surprise true Christians if they are slandered and misrepresented in this world. They must not expect to fare better than their Lord. Let them rather look forward to it as a matter of course, and see in it a part of the cross which all must bear after conversion. Lies and false reports are among Satan's choicest weapons. When he cannot deter men from serving Christ, he labors to harass them and make Christ's service uncomfortable. Let us bear it patiently, and not count it a strange thing. The words of the Lord Jesus should often come to our minds - "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you." [Luke 6:26] "Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake." [Matt. 5:11]~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1985], 329. {Mark 14:53-65}

Nothing like other folks' sin for distraction.- Toni Morrison

One of the most valuable aids to meditation is Scripture memorization. In fact, when I encounter someone who is battling discouragement or depression, I often ask two questions: “Are you singing to the Lord?” and “Are you memorizing Scripture?” These two exercises are not some magical formula to make all our problems go away, but they do have incredible power to change our perspective and attitude toward the issues we are facing.- Nancy Leigh DeMoss. A Place of Quiet Rest, Moody, 2000, p. 166.

God insists that we ask, not because He needs to know our situation, but because we need the spiritual discipline of asking.

-Catherine Marshall

Every man should have a fair-sized cemetery in which to bury the faults of his friends.- Henry Brooks Adams, 1838 - 1918

Every man who has at last succeeded, after long effort, in calling up the divinity which lies hidden in a woman's heart, is startled to find that he must obey the God he summoned.- Henry Brooks Adams, 1838 - 1918

He too serves a certain purpose who only stands and cheers - Henry Brooks Adams, 1838 - 1918

Let us gather comfort from these comfortable promises for all true-hearted servants of Christ. Persecuted, vexed, and mocked, as they are now, they shall find at length they are on the victorious side. Beset, perplexed, tried, as they sometimes are, they shall never find themselves entirely forsaken. Though cast down, they shall not be destroyed. Let them possess their souls in patience. The end of all that they see going on around them is certain, fixed, and sure. The kingdoms of this world shall yet become the kingdoms of their God and of his Christ. And when the scoffers and ungodly, who so often insulted them, are put to shame, believers shall receive a crown of glory that fades not away.~ J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: Mark, [Carlisle, PA:Banner of Truth, 1985], 280. {Mark 13:9-13}

The truth about man is that he needs to be loved the most when he deserves it the least. Only God can fulfill this incredible need. Only God can provide a love so deep it saves from the depths.-Unknown

As sin lures the body into sinful action, we call to mind a Christ-revealing word of Scripture and slay the temptation with the superior worth and beauty of Christ over what sin offers.-John Piper,Why Memorize Scripture? September 5, 2006

There are, no doubt, passages in the New Testament which
may seem at first sight to promise an invariable granting of
our prayers. But that cannot be what they really mean. For in
the very heart of the story we meet a glaring instance to the
contrary. In Gethsemane the holiest of all petitioners prayed
three times that a certain cup might pass from Him. It did not.
After that the idea that prayer is recommended to us as a sort
of infallible gimmick may be dismissed.-C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), "The Efficacy of Prayer" in The World's Last Night [1960], Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2002, p. 5

My wife was too beautiful for words, but not for arguments.- John Barrymore, 1882 - 1942

Choice, not chance, determines human destiny.-- Robert W. Ellis

To get the full value of a joy, you must have somebody to divide it with.-- Mark Twain

Whenever a Church keeps back Christ crucified, or puts anything whatsoever in that foremost place which Christ crucified should always have, from that moment a Church ceases to be useful. Without Christ crucified in her pulpits, a Church is little better than a dead carcass, a well without water, a barren fig-tree, a sleeping watchman, a silent trumpet, a dumb witness, an ambassador without terms of peace, a messenger without tidings, a lighthouse without fire, a stumbling-block to weak believers, a comfort to unbelievers, a hot-bed for formalism, a joy to the devil, and an offence to God.~ J.C. Ryle,Tract: Christ Crucified

The highest expression of the will of God in this age is the church which He purchased with His own blood. To be scripturally valid, any religious activity must be part of the church. Let it be clearly stated that there can be no service acceptable to God in this age that does not center in and spring out of the church. Bible schools, tract societies, Christian business men's committees, seminaries and the many independent groups working at one or another phase of religion need to check themselves reverently and courageously, for they have no true spiritual significance outside of or apart from the church.-A.W. Tozer

What I have today I have because of His mercy. I did not earn it. I do not deserve it. I did not pay for it. I have no rights to it. I cannot keep it except for one thing- God’s mercy. - David Crosby