Quotes of Note

A good word can strike right to the heart of the matter.

Absolutes - "My analysis is that most faith based systems depend upon an absolute moral order. The declaration of things as absolutely evil or absolutely good, as sin or virtue, puts liberalism into a horrible position because it's founded on no judgment on anything. As a result, any faith that is seriously practiced or understood is a challenge to the politics that depend on constituencies that would rather not be told that their choices are bad and their lives are not virtuous." - Hugh Hewitt

Assumptions - "Assumptions close you to possibilities, while an open mind is constantly surprised by unforeseen joys." William Meisheid

Belief - "If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself." St. Augustine of Hippo

Blessings - "May there always be work for your hands to do,
May your purse always hold a coin or two.
May the sun always shine warm on your windowpane,
May a rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you,
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you!" - Irish blessing

Bullies - If you let a bully come in your front yard, he'll be on your porch the next day and the day after that he'll rape your wife in your own bed." Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th US President

Challenges - Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors. - African proverb

Choices - "When things are not working right and they don't feel right, they probably aren't right. But we all live our lives based on the opportunities that are presented to us at the time." -- Rebecca Mark, Former CEO, Enron International.

Christianity - "Christianity stands for freedom, we don't want to impose our religion on everyone else. We just don't want secular humanist values or homosexual values to be forced upon us under the guise of anti-harassment laws, speech codes, hate crime laws, or sensitivity training. We want to be free to think and express our views in the public arena or anywhere we want to. We want to be free to practice our religion with impunity because that was central to our founding in this country. We will accord you the exact same rights, whoever you are. You have the right to freedom of worship, but we just want a level playing field. We don't want to be singled out, discriminated against, or treated without tolerance by those for whom tolerance is the highest virtue." - David Limbaugh

Compromise - "Don't compromise yourself. You are all you've got." Janis Joplin.

"The New Testament makes it abundantly clear that whenever the Kingdom of God was concerned Jesus was absolutely uncompromising, even when he realized that for him personally the alternative to compromise was crucifixion." Ernest Fremont Title, Post WWI Methodist minister.

Conscience - “We are fighting the perversion of our healthiest instincts…That devilish: Thou shalt! Thou shalt! And that stupid: Thou shalt not…We commence hostilities against the so-called Ten Commandments; the tablets from Sinai are no longer in force. Conscience, like circumcision, is a mutilation of man.” - Adolf Hitler, quoted by Hannes Stein in, “Return of the Gods,” First Things, November, 1999).

Courage - "I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. This day we fight." - Aragorn, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Criticism - "Criticism should not be querulous and wasting, all knife and root-puller, but guiding, instructive, inspiring." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Doubts - "Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt." Shakespeare, Measure for Measure

Dreams - "It takes a person who is wide awake to make his dreams come true." Roger Ward Babson

"As long as you put in the work, you can own the dream. When the work stops, the dream disappears." Jim Dietz

Error - "I believe we were guilty of the Galatian error: having begun in the Spirit, we quickly degenerated into the flesh." - Derek Prince, who died last night in Jerusalem at the age of 88. He has heard, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Would that all Christian leaders had his willingness to admit error and repent. 9-25-03

Evangelism - "Apple is not sold with advertising despite the long series of clever advertisements produced for the company over the years. It is sold with evangelism, one person talking to another. The advertising reinforces the evangelist message."  Steve Hayden, former Chiat Day copywriter and writer of Apple's famous 1984 Super Bowl commercial.

The Enemy - "We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo, 1971, Simon and Schuster

Failure - "I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody." Bill Cosby

Fence sitting - "How well I have learned that there is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell. There is a deep, wide gulf, a chasm, and in that chasm is no place for any man." - Johnny Cash who died Friday, September 12, 2003 at the age of 71. Rest in peace Johnny.

Future - "I recently had a conversation with an EU official who, apropos a controversial proposal to tout the Continent's religious heritage in the new constitution, kept using the phrase "Europe's post-Christian future". The evidence suggests that, once you reach the post-Christian stage, you don't have much of a future." Mark Steyn

Goals - "A goal without a plan is just a wish." Larry Elder, columnist

Goodness - "Goodness is the only investment that never fails." - Henry David Thoreau
Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem vile. William Shakespeare (1564–1616), British dramatist, poet. Albany, in King Lear, act 4, sc. 2, l. 38.

Grace - ''Grace was in all her steps, heaven in her eye, In every gesture dignity and love." John Milton. "Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.Colossians 4:6.

Living - "Work like you don't need the money;
Love like you've never been hurt;
Dance as if no one were watching;
Sing as if no one were listening;
and live everyday as if it were your last." - Irish proverb

Loss -  "Any loss, especially when deep, opens the heart to the memory of loss itself. Our greatest loss has always been eternal, our born separation from God. Even being born again does not remove the deep memory of that loss." - William Meisheid

Obedience - "Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God." - Benjamin Franklin's choice for the Great Seal of the United States.

Persistence - ''Studies indicate that the one quality all successful people have is persistence. They're willing to spend more time accomplishing a task and to persevere in the face of many difficult odds. There's a very positive relationship between people's ability to accomplish any task and the time they're willing to spend on it.'' - Dr. Joyce Brothers

Pride - "No man ever had a point of pride that wasn't injurious to him." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Problems - "It’s remarkable how quickly a problem goes away once the people with a vested interest in there being a problem go away." - Mark Steyn.

Promises - "If you wish to be success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing." - Napoleon Bonaparte

"Leaders who win the respect of others are the ones who deliver more than they promise, not the ones who promise more than they can deliver." Mark A. Clement, American writer, author.

Prophets - "The true prophet disturbs consciences, and most people do not like to be disturbed. The false prophet is popular because he soothes the consciences of the wayward with his easygoing teaching." Bruce Vawter, The Conscience of Israel

Reason - Why have so many turned against reason? There are several explanations, but among the foremost must be failure of the quixotic hopes vested in it. Reason was misrepresented as an all-powerful, divine force, with its own supreme mission. In fact, it has no aim and no inherent goodness. Reason is simply and solely a tool, without any legitimate claim to moral content. - Donald B. Calne, neurologist and author

Repentance -  "Remorse is impotence; it will sin again. Only repentance is strong; it can end everything." - Honoré de Balzac in The Human Comedy.

Shortsightedness - If you're always chasing the next problem, you can't see three problems ahead because you are so focused on what is in front of you. Unknown

Simplicity - Simplicity is the discipline of common sense. - Bill Jensen, author and workplace consultant.

Striving - "A man's reach must exceed his grasp, or what's a Heaven for"? - Robert Browning

Success - "Successful people compare their achievements with their goals, while failures compare their achievements with those of other people." -  Unknown.

Time's demands  - "It's better to be 80% right today than 100% right tomorrow." - Becky Stein, Russell Reynolds Associates Inc.

Truth - "What is truth?" Pontius Pilate (John 18:38); "I am the way, the truth, and the life." - Jesus Christ (John 14:6); "For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." - the Apostle John (John 1:17)

Virtue - "Seek virtue and of that posest, to Providence resign the rest." - Benjamin Franklin

Vision and Focus - "In an uncertain world vision provides direction, while plans to implement that vision provide focus." William Meisheid

Words - "Our greatest human creation is not the tool but the word, not the technology that we so treasure and depend on but the language that has allowed us to talk about it. Language, not technology, is the most compelling artifact of the human intellect." - Dale Peterson, an accomplished student of primate life.