Thursday Thirteen: Words to Live By

I thought I would share this photo that I took with my daughter last autumn. It ended up looking like a fish eye shot and makes me look like a freak, but I love it of her... and I love the quote. I am a collector of thoughts. I have files on my computer stuffed full of quotes and favorite blog post snips by other inspirational homeschoolers. I feed off of the written word.

A word is huge. Words are the basis of our existence and our faith. They shape our reality. How you speak affects your attitude, your will, your belief system, your emotions, and those who listen to you. With just words, the God of the universe spoke creation into existence. With just words, Lincoln inspired the men and women of America to put down their mental chains of hostility after the Civil War. With just words, a weary soul can find comfort and a soldier can find the strength for battle when there is physically none left. Words are dangerous and yet as important as the air we breathe. We should do well to think about our words before we let them loose.

I've never done a Thursday Thirteen before, but I thought I would share with you thirteen of my favorite quotes. I'll take any excuse to share my favorite quotes. They are so inspiring. Even when we may not be living up to an ideal, the soul of man can usually see through to the heart of it and know if it is speaking truth. I hope you'll find some truth in these gems that stick with you long after you've clicked away to the next web page...

The Bible is like a telescope. If a man looks through his telescope, then he sees worlds beyond; but if he looks at his telescope, then he does not see anything but that. The Bible is a thing to be looked through, to see that which is beyond.

~ Phillips Brooks

We can forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.

~ Plato

I have read Plato and Cicero sayings that are very wise and beautiful; but I never read in either of them: 'Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give thee rest.'

~ St. Augustine

We are no more responsible for the evil thoughts that pass through our minds than a scarecrow for the birds which fly over the seedplot he has to guard. The sole responsibility in each case is to prevent them from settling.

~ John Churtom Collins

Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you yourself shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at yourself, at the richness of life which has come to you by the grace of God.

~ Phillips Brooks

If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate.

~ Nikka, age 6

Don't be afraid for tomorrow. God is already there.

~ Ethel Löfgren

Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.

~ Charles Spurgeon

One of the ways that our faith expresses itself is by our ability to be still, to be present, and not to panic or lose perspective. God still does his best work in the most difficult of circumstances.

~ Tim Hansel

Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind.

And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. ...How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar.

~ Julius Caesar

If you find God with ease, perhaps it is not God you have found.

~ Thomas Merton

When you come to the end of all the light you know,and it's time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things will happen: Either you will be given something solid to stand on or you will be taught to fly.

~ Edward Teller

Happy Autumn.


In Him,


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