Obedience and resignation are our personal offerings upon the altar of duty.

Theory, from whatever source, is not perfect until it is reduced to practice.

Theories are always very thin and insubstantial, experience only is tangible.

It is but a step from companionship to slavery when one associates with vice.

Idleness is emptiness; the tree in which the sap is stagnant, remains fruitless.

Servility is disgusting to a truly noble character, and engenders only contempt.

Hatred is self-punishment. Hatred it the coward's revenge for being intimidated.

Death comes to us, under many conditions, with all the welcome serenity of sleep.

Prosperity seems to be scarcely safe, unless it be mixed with a little adversity.

A chaste and lucid style is indicative of the same personal traits in the author.

Religion which requires persecution to sustain, it is of the devil's propagation.

No reproof or denunciation is so potent as the silent influence of a good example.

We must not only read the Scriptures, but we must make their rules of life our own.

You cannot judge by outward appearances; the soul is only transparent to its Maker.

A wise Providence consoles our present afflictions by joys borrowed from the future.

How quickly a truly benevolent act is repaid by the consciousness of having done it!

Humanity, in the aggregate, is progressing, and philanthropy looks forward hopefully.

As "unkindness has no remedy at law," let its avoidance be with you a point of honor.

If we are at peace with God and our own conscience, what enemy among men need we fear?

Never let your zeal outrun your charity. The former is but human, the latter is divine.

How can there be pride in a contrite heart? Humility is the earliest fruit of religion.

All our possessions are as nothing compared to health, strength, and a clear conscience.

The experience of others adds to our knowledge, but not to our wisdom; that is dearer bought.

How white are the fair robes of Charity as she walketh amid the lowly habitations of the poor!

There is no immunity from the consequences of sin; punishment is swift and sure to one and all.

A single bad habit will mar an otherwise faultless character, as an ink-drop soileth the pure white page.

To talk of luck and chance only shows how little we really know of the laws which govern cause and effect.

Not the least misfortune in a prominent falsehood is the fact that tradition is apt to repeat it for truth.

The cloudy weather melts at length into beauty, and the brightest smiles of the heart are born of its tears.

Be more careful of your conscience than of your estate. The latter can be bought and sold; the former never.

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul; and the heart of man knoweth none more fragrant.

The eye is the inlet to the soul, and it is well to beware of him whose visual organs avoid your honest regard.

Folly is like the growth of weeds, always luxurious and spontaneous; wisdom, like flowers, requires cultivation.

Remember, when incited to slander, that it is only he among you who is without sin that may cast the first stone.

True charity is spontaneous and finds its own occasion; it is never the offspring of importunity, nor of emulation.

Between the humble and contrite heart and the majesty of Heaven there are no barriers; the only password is prayer.

There is one court whose findings are incontrovertible, and whose sessions are held in the chambers of our own breast.

True sympathy is putting ourselves in another's place; and we are moved in proportion to the reality of our imagination.

The heavens and the earth, the woods and the wayside, teem with instruction and knowledge to the curious and thoughtful.

The act of divine worship is the inestimable privilege of man, the only created being who bows in humility and adoration.

That alone can be called true refinement which elevates the soul of man, purifying the manners by improving the intellect.

Most people who commit a sin count on some personal benefit to be derived therefrom, but profanity has not even this excuse.

Attempt to teach the young but little at a time; this will be easier to impart, easier to receive, and surer to be retained.

There is no doubt that religious fanatics have done more to prejudice the cause they affect to advocate than have its opponents.

The severest punishment suffered by a sensitive mind, for injury inflicted upon another, is the consciousness of having done it.

Preaching is to much avail, but practice is far more effective. A godly life is the strongest argument you can offer the skeptic.

It is better to be the builder of our own name than to be indebted by descent for the proudest gifts known to the books of heraldry.

I have somewhere read that conscience not only sits as witness and judge within our bosoms, but also forms the prison of punishment.

It is vain to trust in wrong; it is like erecting a building upon a frail foundation, and which will directly be sure to topple over.

Suspicion is far more to be wrong than right; more often unjust than just. It is no friend to virtue, and always an enemy to happiness.

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