Henry Ward Beecher

“Love is the river of life in the world.”

“Well married, a person has wings; poorly married, shackles.”

“Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?”

“A man's true state of power and riches is to be in himself.”

“Laughter is day, and sobriety is night; a smile is the twilight that hovers gently between both, more bewitching than either.”

“Law represents the effort of man to organize society governments, the efforts of selfishness to overthrow liberty.”

“In this world it is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich.”

“We should not judge people by their peak of excellence but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started.”

“Pride slays thanksgiving, but a humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow. A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.”

“Laughter is not a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is the best ending for one.”

“What we call wisdom is the result of all the wisdom of past ages. Our best institutions are like young trees growing upon the roots of the old trunks that have crumbled away.”

“Of all escape mechanisms, death is the most efficient.”

“Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.”

“God pardons like a mother, who kisses the offense into everlasting forgiveness.”

“We are always on the anvil by trials God is shaping us for higher things.”

“No matter what looms ahead, if you can eat today, enjoy today, mix good cheer with friends today; enjoy it and bless God for it.”

“The real democratic American idea is, not that every man shall be on a level with every other man, but that every man shall have liberty to be what God made him, without hindrance.”

“The dog is the god of frolic.”

“God made man to go by motives, and he will not go without them, any more than a boat without steam or a balloon without gas.”

“There are joys which long to be ours. God sends ten thousands truths, which come about us like birds seeking inlet but we are shut up to them, and so they bring us nothing, but sit and sing awhile upon the roof, and then fly away.”

“We steal if we touch tomorrow. It is God's.”

“Theology is a science of mind applied to God.”

“Mirth is the sweet wine of human life. It should be offered sparkling with zestful life unto God.”

“The dog was created specially for children. He is a god of frolic.”