“Some are whigs, liberals, democrats, call them what you please. Others are tories, serviles, aristocrats, &c. The latter fear the people, and wish to transfer all power to the higher classes of society; the former consider the people as the safest depository of power in the last resort; they cherish them therefore, and wish to leave in them all the powers to the exercise of which they are competent.”

“The title of Reverend Wright’s sermon that morning was “The Audacity of Hope.”

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”

“Value yourself more.”

“Many people have ideas on how others should change; few people have ideas on how they should change. ”

“War is the most painful act of subjection to the laws of God that can be required of the human will.”

“Your mission is to become better today than you were yesterday.”

“Preach with authority. The authority for us is the Word of God. Preach with simplicity . . . Preach with urgency . . . heaven and hell are at stake. Preach for a decision.”

“Nations rise, they flourish for a time, and then they decline. Eventually every empire comes to an end; not even the greatest can last forever.”

“That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended - civilizations are built up - excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wrong. Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and the cruel people to the top and it all slides back into misery and ruin.”

“If you can not fly then run. If you can not run then walk. If you can not walk then crawl, but whatever you do keep moving forward”

“Charles Finney is probably the most outstanding exponent of prayer. He is known as the man who prayed down revivals. He had the greatest success, and his converts were the most consistent since the days of the Apostle Paul. It is common knowledge that eighty-five percent of his converts remained true to God. D. L. Moody was a great evangelist, but only about fifty percent of his converts remained faithful. We have had a mighty move over the past several years, but it is common knowledge that not more than fifty percent of the converts have remained true to the Lord. Finney had the greatest success numbers’ wise as far as keeping the fruit of his labor, since the days of the Apostle Paul — whole cities were stirred.”

“...never [enter] into dispute or argument with another. I never saw an instance of one of two disputants convincing the other by argument. I have seen many, on their getting warm, becoming rude, & shooting one another. ... When I hear another express an opinion which is not mine, I say to myself, he has a right to his opinion, as I to mine; why should I question it? His error does me no injury, and shall I become a Don Quixote, to bring all men by force of argument to one opinion? ... There are two classes of disputants most frequently to be met with among us. The first is of young students, just entered the threshold of science, with a first view of its outlines, not yet filled up with the details & modifications which a further progress would bring to their knoledge. The other consists of the ill-tempered & rude men in society, who have taken up a passion for politics. ... Consider yourself, when with them, as among the patients of Bedlam, needing medical more than moral counsel. Be a listener only, keep within yourself, and endeavor to establish with yourself the habit of silence, especially on politics. In the fevered state of our country, no good can ever result from any attempt to set one of these fiery zealots to rights, either in fact or principle. They are determined as to the facts they will believe, and the opinions on which they will act. Get by them, therefore, as you would by an angry bull; it is not for a man of sense to dispute the road with such an animal.”

“Higher and higher receded the sky, wider and wider spread the streak of dawn, whiter grew the pallid silver of the dew, more lifeless the sickle of the moon...”

“There is an old saying that "by the yard it's hard; but inch by inch, anything's a cinch!”