Quotes by David A. Bednar

Elder David A. Bednar has been a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints since 2004 . An educator by profession, he was also president of Brigham Young University-Idaho from 1997 to 2004.  Many have come to love the wise and comforting messages in his words. 

Here are some good quotes from a good man:

Becoming people of integrity and honesty does not occur quickly or all at once, nor is it merely a matter of greater personal discipline. It is a change of disposition, a change of heart. And this gradual change of heart is one that the Lord accomplishes within us, through the power of His Spirit, in a line-upon-line fashion.

I believe the best test of our integrity and honesty is when we personally enforce in our own lives that which ultimately cannot be enforced.

Giving a man a fish feeds him for one meal. Teaching a man to fish feeds him for a lifetime. As parents and gospel instructors, you and I are not in the business of distributing fish; rather, our work is to help our children learn ‘to fish’ and to become spiritually steadfast.

The Lord knows who we really are, what we really think, what we really do, and who we really are becoming.

The most meaningful and spiritual prayers I have experienced contained many expressions of thanks and few, if any, requests.

It frankly does not make sense to occasionally 'fill up' with water, with long periods of dehydration in between. The same thing is true spiritually. Spiritual thirst is a need for living water. A constant flow of living water is far superior to sporadic sipping.

It ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else.

The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live.

Feeling the security and constancy of love from a spouse, a parent, or a child is a rich blessing. Such love nurtures and sustains faith in God. Such love is a source of strength and casts out fear. Such love is the desire of every human soul. We can become more diligent and concerned at home as we express love—and consistently show it.

Both clean hands and a pure heart are required to ascend into the hill of the Lord and to stand in His holy place.

With faith... we must walk to the edge of the light and into the darkness. As we so walk I testify and promise that the light will move.

Smile!

Want to improve your life?  Start with a smile. It may sound simplistic, and you may already have read writings on this theory, but smiling more can contribute to your own personal growth and success. Think of smiling as an investment in yourself. Smiling can improve your mood, health, appearance, relationships, and even your career.

According to the facial feedback hypothesis, facial expressions can affect a person’s emotions. In other words, when you smile, you improve your mood. A smile causes physiological changes within the body. It cools your blood, making you feel happier. Endorphins and Serotonin are released; elevating your mood and helping you feel calm and relaxed. Endorphins also act as a natural pain killer.

This feeling of relaxation benefits your physical health. When your body is more relaxed, your immune system is stronger, reducing your risks for illnesses such as colds and the flu. One study suggests that smiling, in addition to reducing stress, may help the heart. Official paper reports that study participants who were instructed to smile had lower heart rates after recovering from a stressful event, such as plunging a hand into a bucket of ice water. The effect was greatest when the smile was genuine, but even participants who held chopsticks in their mouths so their muscles were forced hold a smiling position had lower heart rates than participants with neutral facial expressions.

If you want to improve your appearance, smiling can help. One study suggests that smiling can shave years off your appearance. Study participants looked at photos and judged smiling people to be an average of two years younger than photos of the same people with frowns or neutral expressions. One reason suggested for this finding is that smiling creates temporary wrinkles around the eyes and mouth, making it harder to tell if the person smiling has permanent wrinkles in those areas. Smiling also serves as an instant face lift, as the muscles used in smiling lift the face.

We’ve all heard smiling is contagious, but there is scientific evidence writing which supports this fact. Scientists in Sweden found that study participants had difficulty frowning at pictures of smiling people. Their facial muscles kept trying to smile on their own in response to the picture. This is why it’s so difficult to keep a straight face when everyone around you is smiling. It’s an easy way to “pay it forward”. When you smile at someone, you pass the benefits of smiling along to them, and they may return the favor to someone else. This also draws people to you. People enjoy being around someone who smiles and seems happy and relaxed.

Want a promotion? A smile may help you get one. According to scientific essay at pickthebrain.com, “smiles make a person seem more attractive, sociable and confident, and people who smile more are more likely to get a promotion.” Smiling makes you seem more approachable and helps people trust you. If you are a manager, smiling may impact your employees’ performance. In a job interview, you may be perceived to be easier to work with if you smile more. If you’re competing against an equally qualified candidate, smiling may land you the job.

The benefits of smiling are cumulative. When you smile, you feel happier and more contented, which lowers your stress. Because smiling is contagious, people are drawn to you and tend to enjoy your company, which makes them want to keep being around you. This may increase your confidence and help you meet other goals, such as improving your relationships, landing your dream job or earning a raise or a promotion. All of these things give you more reasons to smile!

- by Kimberly Brownie

For some great quotes on smiling, see:
http://positivethinkersjournal.blogspot.com/2009/01/smile.html

The Nine Aspects of Life and The Poem of Life

Life.  Wow.  What a topic.  So much to be said, so much to learn. Here's some good poems on life, followed by a link for many great quotes:

The Nine Aspects of Life
The adventure of life is to learn.
The purpose of life is to grow.
The nature of life is to change.
The challenge of life is to overcome.
The essence of life is to care.
The opportunity of life is to serve.
The secret of life is to dare.
The spice of life is to befriend.
The beauty of life is to give.

- William Arthur Ward

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The Poem of Life
At times we’ve thought what is the use
To brave the world and its abuse?
Trouble and sorrow seem everywhere
Surely ’tis more than we can bear.

But then a still, small voice would say,
There’s joy for you if you’ll but pay.
Should roses grow without a thorn?
To unearned ease are mortals born?

The sweetest flowers ofttimes are found
Amid the thorns in roughened ground.
And richest joys you’ll find are those
Which spring from work and not repose.

- Hamblen


For some great quotes on Life, see:
http://positivethinkersjournal.blogspot.com/2008/12/life.html

The Beauty of Autumn

The Beauty of Autumn is inspiring and uplifting to the soul. As William Cullen Bryant said, "Autumn, the year’s last, loveliest smile."

I have enjoyed very much being outside during this time of year. Here are some photos I've taken, as well as a nice collection of thoughts on this beautiful time of year:

Photos by Ken R. Young

Every leaf speaks bliss to me, Fluttering from the autumn tree. - Emily Bronte

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. - George Eliot

There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October. - Nathaniel Hawthorne

If winter is slumber and spring is birth, and summer is life, then autumn rounds out to be reflection. It’s a time of year when the leaves are down and the harvest is in and the perennials are gone. Mother Earth just closed up the drapes on another year and it’s time to reflect on what’s come before. - Mitchell Burgess

There is a harmony in autumn, and a lustre in its sky,
Which through the summer is not heard or seen.
As if it could not be, as if it had not been!
- Percy Bysshe Shelley

I cannot endure to waste anything as precious as autumn sunshine by staying in the house. So I spend almost all the daylight hours in the open air. - Nathaniel Hawthorne

A few days ago I walked along the edge of the lake and was treated to the crunch and rustle of leaves with each step I made. The acoustics of this season are different and all sounds, no matter how hushed, are as crisp as autumn air. - Eric Sloane

Then summer fades and passes and October comes. We’ll smell smoke then, and feel an unexpected sharpness, a thrill of nervousness, swift elation, a sense of sadness and departure. - Thomas Wolfe

The leaves in autumn do not change color from the blighting touch of frost, but from the process of natural decay. They fall when the fruit is ripened, and their work is done. And their splendid coloring is but their graceful and beautiful surrender of life when they have finished their summer offering of service to God and man. And one of the great lessons the fall of the leaf teaches, is this: Do your work well, and then be ready to depart when God shall call. - Tryon Edwards

Who at this season does not feel impressed with a sentiment of melancholy? - A. Alison

Autumn is the eternal corrective. It is ripeness and color and a time of maturity; but it is also breadth, and depth, and distance. What man can stand with autumn on a hilltop and fail to see the span of his world and the meaning of the rolling hills that reach to the far horizon? - Hal Borland

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves. - John Muir

I love fall!

Fall is exciting.

It’s apples and cider.

It’s an airborne spider.

It’s pumpkins in bins.

It’s burrs on dog’s chins.

It’s wind blowing leaves.

It’s chilly red knees.

It’s nuts on the ground.

It’s a crisp dry sound.

It’s green leaves turning

And the smell of them burning.

It’s clouds in the sky.

It’s fall. That’s why…
I love fall.

- Unknown

In the entire circle of the year there are no days so delightful as those of a fine October, when the trees are bare to the mild heavens, and the red leaves bestrew the road, and you can feel the breath of winter, morning and evening — no days so calm, so tenderly solemn, and with such a reverent meekness in the air. - Alexander Smith

Even if something is left undone, everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn. - Elizabeth Lawrence

Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. - Albert Camus

For more scenes of beauty, see:

The Beauty of Winter

Quotes from John Wesley

John Wesley (1703-1791) was an Anglican cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley's teachings provided the seeds for the modern Methodist movement as well as other Christian churches. 

He was a deeply religious and scholarly man who provided the world with some wise thoughts.  Here are some that are quoted to this day:

 


Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion? Without all doubt, we may. Herein all the children of God may unite, notwithstanding these smaller differences.

Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.

Think yourself, and let think.

Every one, though born of God in an instant, yet undoubtedly grows by slow degrees.

When I was young I was sure of everything. In a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before. At present, I am hardly sure of anything but what God has revealed to me.

Though I am always in haste, I am never in a hurry

Having, First, gained all you can, and, Secondly saved all you can, Then give all you can.

Passion and prejudice govern the world; only under the name of reason. It is our part, by religion and reason joined, to counteract them all we can.

It cannot be that the people should grow in grace unless they give themselves to reading. A reading people will always be a knowing people.

But if God be for you, who can be against you?

O be not weary of well doing!

Beware you be not swallowed up in books! An ounce of love is worth a pound of knowledge.

What one generation tolerates, the next generation will embrace.

Vice does not lose its character by becoming fashionable.

We should be rigorous in judging ourselves and gracious in judging others.

Thanksgiving is inseparable from true prayer; it is almost essentially connected with it. One who always prays is ever giving praise, whether in ease or pain, both for prosperity and for the greatest adversity.

God grant that I may never live to be useless!

Light yourself on fire with passion and people will come from miles to watch you burn.

The neglect of prayer is a grand hindrance to holiness.

Proceed with much prayer, and your way will be made plain.

In souls filled with love, the desire to please God is continual prayer.

There is no love of God without patience, and no patience without lowliness and sweetness of spirit.

Humility and patience are the surest proofs of the increase of love.
Let your words be the genuine picture of your heart.

It is good to renew ourselves, from time to time, by closely examining the state of our souls, as if we had never done it before; for nothing tends more to the full assurance of faith, than to keep ourselves by this means in humility, and the exercise of all good works.

Happy are they who are sick, yea, or lose their life, for having done a good work.

The bottom of the soul may be in repose, even while we are in many outward troubles; just as the bottom of the sea is calm, while the surface is strongly agitated.

I met those of our society who had votes in the ensuing election, and advised them:
1) To vote, without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy.
2) To speak no evil of the person they voted against.
3) To take care their spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.

Some Things Never Change

Some things never change.

This hit me when just last week, I thought I had run out of staples. I rummaged through my desk to find an old box of staples I remember my dad using back from 1975 or so ... and they worked!
So, in a world of continual change, I have an appreciation for those things we can always bank on. Many things evolve or get improved over time, but here are a few classics that never seem to change:

• The QWERTY keyboard (even though it was designed so the most commonly used letters on old manual typewriters would not get tangled - not sure that problem exists anymore)

• Scotch tape (still as sticky as ever)

• The Slinky (still hours of fun for the young at heart)

• The light a smiling face emanates.

• The gratitude a helping hand elicits.

• The energy an encouraging word creates.

• The self-confidence that unconditional love builds.

Some things never change ... and shouldn't!

by Lee J. Colan

John Groberg's "The Other Side of Heaven": Excerpts, Part 2

This is part two of excerpts from John H. Groberg's inspirational autobiography, "The Other Side of Heaven", which was originally titled "In the Eye of the Storm".  A wonderful film was made based on this book, starring Christopher Gorham and Anne Hathaway, recounting Groberg's missionary experiences in Tonga.

My first posting of excerpts from this book, which is one of my favorites, occurred on August 6, 2010. They were from the book's first chapter.  To see this posting, go to http://positivethinkersjournal.blogspot.com/2010/08/excerpts-from-other-side-of-heaven-by.html.

After suffering the effects of a major, devastating hurricane that hit the Tongan islands, John Groberg made the following observations:

On the difference attitude makes:
By the end of the fifth week (following the hurricane), the food supply was low and there was still no boat.  Things started to look and feel grim.  I learned that attitude determined a lot.  As people began to think pessimistically, things did get worse for them.  The facts did not lend themselves to much optimism, but some on the island remained optimistic.  I noticed a marked division among the people: some slid into negativism and defeat while others kept their optimism and faith intact and kept moving.  Those who maintained their optimism seemed better off, physically and mentally.

On pondering the things of God:
It was a good time for pondering. I reflected on [Joseph Smith's] statement, "The things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out".  

Sometimes the situations that compel us to [ponder], such as illness or disasters, are seen as cursings rather than the blessings they can be if properly used. Is it possible that in our busy, work-a-day world, one of the great blessings the Lord gives us is to put us in a situation where we must be quiet, without a lot of outside disturbance and pressures?

If the purpose of life is to know and love God, then maybe one of Satan's best weapons to keep us from that knowledge is to keep us so busy, even in doing good things, and so occupied with commitments and pressures that we don't allow ourselves to be still so we can know that God is God!

On faith:
What a tremendous blessing faith is! Faith is the opposite of fear.  We fear what we don't understand.  When we understand who God is, who we are, how he loves us, and what His plan for us is, fear evaporates.

On challenges and growth:
When we begin to understand the relationship of opposition to growth and start to sense the type of growth God has designed for us and is trying to help us achieve, we tend to give thanks rather than complain about obstacles to overcome.  People unchallenged are largely people undeveloped, be it physically, mentally, or spiritually.

Just as rockets must overcome the pull of gravity in order to roar into space, so we must overcome the pull of the world in order to soar into the eternal realms of understanding. That is where God is, and that is important!

Nine weeks after the hurricane, John Groberg and others on the small island were close to death for the lack of food.  It was a severely trying physical time, replete with deeply fulfilling spiritual experiences, in which he became very close to God and gained much spiritual strength. He learned that:

The only thing that is important is your standing in the sight of your Father in Heaven.  If that is as it should be, nothing else matters.  If that is not as it should be, nothing else counts.

Both physical and spiritual elements are necessary and are in effect when fully comprehended and perfected.

We must leave judgment to the Lord.  He alone knows all the facts.  We may have had some experiences with some people at some time, but only God comprehends all experiences with all people at all times. Only He can weigh everything in its proper context.

There aren't many things we must know to fulfill our purpose here, but the few vital things we must know must be known deeply and well.

Mortal life and its environment, while important in terms of growth, is really the abnormal rather than the normal state of things.  I suppose seeing things in their true relationships is among the greatest gifts we can receive.

When a boat with provisions finally arrived, John described his mixed feelings:
Some said how good it was to eat again and to feel this great gratitude to God for saving our lives.  But I felt something deeper. I would never say I was unhappy that life here would go on as before.  But there was a wistful feeling - a subtle sense of postponement, as when darkness finally closes the brilliant colors of a perfect sunset and you realize you must wait for another evening to enjoy such beauty again. 

That perfect sunset, though long since faded, never quite leaves our consciousness and is available for us to draw on as we come face to face with the sordidness and unpleasantness of this earth's challenges.

Here are some more lessons learned - excerpts from the book:
As [my] family called down on the powers of heaven to bless their missionary son in a way they could not physically do, the powers of heaven came down, lifted me up, and in a spiritual way allowed me for a brief moment to once again join my family circle in prayer.  I was one with them. I was literally swallowed up in the love and concern of a loving family and sensed for a moment what being taken into the bosom of Abraham might be like (see Luke 16:22).  

I was given to understand also that there are other circles of love and concern, unbounded by time or space, to which we all belong and from which we can draw strength.  God does not leave us entirely alone - ever!

I learned that when people are discouraged, they don't need criticism or lectures - they need positive examples of happiness.

If we humble ourselves before God and sincerely ask for His help, He will help us.  First, He will help us see ourselves as we really are, which is at the same time one of the hardest and one of the most blessed things we can understand.

Sometimes when things aren't going right, we think we need to get away from a place or a person. Sometimes that helps, but most of the time what we need is to get away from our old self and our selfish feelings.

There is no such place in this universe as a place too small or a people too few to not warrant our full effort and more.

To know that He suffered and died for others as well as for us is the greatest single force in the universe to give us the desire and the power to help others.  Literally, the universe is filled with His love, and we should be filled with love because of Him.  Oh, how we should try with all our hearts to become part of this infinite love!

I suppose we were bitten with about the same frequency, whether standing or swinging the machete, but you didn't notice the mosquitoes, the heat, or the smells so much when you were working hard.

It makes you feel good when you have finally accomplished something quite challenging.  You appreciate a home much more when you have labored for a long time to build it.

The more earnestly I prayed, the brighter the light became.  My thought was no longer, "How do I get out of this?" but rather, "What is God's will?  What should I do?  I'll do it, no matter what it is."  I felt much better.  I was still shaking, but light and courage were now replacing darkness and fear.

How sweet sleep is when you have done your duty and followed God's will - no matter what was required!

True faith in God does not require specific physical benefits but rather a sincere desire for God's will to be done, knowing that He knows best. When we understand His will through faith, no further questions or problems exist, for even if His will is different from our original will, His will becomes our will.

God will always provide a way for us to escape from danger if we seek him sincerely, even though the means he uses may sometimes be quite unusual.

The eternal question always has been and always will be not what people act like, or what they look like, or where they come from, or where or when they lived, or what language they speak, but what they are. 

I am convinced that learning another language helps us understand our own language better.  We see things we have never thought of before. The gift of tongues is much more than just saying or understanding words; it involves deeper understanding that come from a divine source far beyond mere words.

I'm not sure we can truly appreciate something until we have lost it, or at least been without it for a while. I wonder if we can actually be grateful for something we have never been without?  

I wondered if maybe even Jesus needed to feel what it was like to be without His Father, if only for a short time, in order to fully appreciate what it is to be with Him and be encompassed by His love.

I learned how important it is to constantly make deposits into this eternal kindness bank, not only for ourselves but also for others.  No kindness shown is ever lost.  It is always deposited and available, with added interest, to be drawn on in time of need by us or others. I wondered if the whole universe isn't balanced by depositing and withdrawing acts of kindness.  Maybe the total amount of kindness available to draw on and bless our lives is the total amount of kindness deposited by all of us as we bless others' lives.

It pays to be kind, not only for what it does to others, but also for what it does to us.

Every day and every situation was less than ideal, and if I let circumstances or conditions govern my actions, I would just sit and rot.  We had to decide ahead what we should do and then move forward and do it regardless of the weather, apathy, or opposition.

The Lord has ways of teaching us truths that many of us miss by refusing to go through some of the required "unpleasant" prerequisites.

If we pray with all of our heart for that which is right, that which is according to God's will, it will be granted as the scriptures promise. The key, of course, is to be willing to accept His will and ask for those things that are according to His will.

I know there are always lessons to learn, as well as blessings to gain, if we are only willing to pay the price for them. I am convinced that there is more potential in the smallest area, or in the seemingly least significant calling, than any of us will be able to achieve.

------

See also Part 3, Excerpts from "The Other Side of Heaven" by John H. Groberg at: 
Part 3, Excerpts from John Groberg's "The Other Side of Heaven"

Quotes by C.S. Lewis

C. S. Lewis was a novelist, poet, academic, literary critic, lay theologian, and Christian apologist from Belfast, Ireland. His Christian faith had a profound effect on his work, and his wartime radio broadcasts on the subject of Christianity brought him wide acclaim. He is known for both his fictional work, especially The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy and his non-fiction, such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain. Lewis's works have been translated into more than 30 languages and have sold millions of copies. The books that make up The Chronicles of Narnia have sold the most and have been popularized on stage, TV, radio, and cinema.

Here are some of his more popular quotes:

Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.

Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives.

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.

A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.

Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.

God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.

We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.

There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, "All right, then, have it your way."

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.

It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.

Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil.

Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God do you learn.

Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.

Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.

A man who is eating or lying with his wife or preparing to go to sleep in humility, thankfulness and temperance, is, by Christian standards, in an infinitely higher state than one who is listening to Bach or reading Plato in a state of pride.

If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair.

Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.

A young man who wishes to remain a sound atheist cannot be too careful of his reading.

Some people feel guilty about their anxieties and regard them as a defect of faith but they are afflictions, not sins. Like all afflictions, they are, if we can so take them, our share in the passion of Christ.

An explanation of cause is not a justification by reason.

Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are unanswerable.

I gave in, and admitted that God was God.

The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.

The safest road to hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.

Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.

Part of every misery is, so to speak, the misery's shadow or reflection: the fact that you don't merely suffer but have to keep on thinking about the fact that you suffer.

Thirty was so strange for me. I've really had to come to terms with the fact that I am now a walking and talking adult.

This is one of the miracles of love: It gives a power of seeing through its own enchantments and yet not being disenchanted.

We are what we believe we are.

Reason is the natural order of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning.

Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours.

What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step.

The real problem is not why some pious, humble, believing people suffer, but why some do not.

Miracles do not, in fact, break the laws of nature.

The long, dull, monotonous years of middle-aged prosperity or middle-aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather for the devil.

I sometimes wonder whether all pleasures are not substitutes for joy.

Though our feelings come and go, God’s love for us does not.

Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.

Do not waste time bothering whether you “love” your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone you will presently come to love him.

The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: “What! You too? I thought I was the only one.

What draws people to be friends is that they see the same truth. They share it.

Friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others.

God has not been trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality. He knew it already. It was I who didn’t. In this trial He makes us occupy the dock, the witness box, and the bench all at once. He always knew that my temple was a house of cards. His only way of making me realize the fact was to knock it down.

To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.

To enter heaven is to become more human than you ever succeeded in being on earth; to enter hell, is to be banished from humanity.

We want not so much a Father but a grandfather in heaven, a God who said of anything we happened to like doing, ‘What does it matter so long as they are contented?

You don’t have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body.