Quotes to Ponder

[Uncle Buck]

I NEEDED THE QUIET

I needed the quiet so He drew me aside,
Into the shadows where we could confide,
Away from the bustle where all the day long
I hurried and worried when active and strong.

I needed the quiet though at first I rebelled.
But gently, so gently, my cross He upheld
And whispered so sweetly of spiritual things.
Though weakened in body, my spirit took wings
To heights never dreamed of when active and gay.
He loved me so greatly He drew me away.

I needed the quiet. No prison my bed,
But a beautiful valley of blessings instead–
A place to grow richer in Jesus to hide,
I needed the quiet so He drew me aside.

     –Alice Hansche Mortenson

[Uncle Buck]

"The boneless tongue, so small and weak,
      Can crush and kill," declared the Greek.
"The tongue destroys a greater horde,"
      The Turk asserts, "than does the sword."
The Persian proverb wisely saith,
      "A lengthy tongue, an early death."
Or sometimes takes this form instead,
      "Don't let your tongue cut off your head."
"The tongue can speak a word whose speed,"
      say the Chinese, "outstrips the steed."
While Arab sages this impart;
      "The tongue's great storehouse is the heart."
From Hebrew wit the maxim sprung,
      "Though feet should slip, ne'er let the tongue."
The sacred writer crowns the whole,
      "Who keeps the tongue, doth keep his soul."
                                                                               
     –From Charles Spurgeon's "Salt Cellars"

[Uncle Buck]

THE BIBLE AND THE TV GUIDE                                       
                                                                             
On the table side by side,
      The Holy Bible and the TV Guide.
One is well-worn but cherished with pride,
      Not the Bible, but the TV Guide.
One is used daily to help folks decide.
      No, it isn't the Bible; it's the TV Guide.
As pages are turned, what shall they see?
      Or what does it matter?  Turn on the TV!
Then confusion reigns and they can't all agree
      On what they shall watch on the old TV.
So they open the book in which they confide,
      No, not the Bible....It's the TV Guide.
The Word of God is seldom read,
     Ere maybe a verse as they fall into bed.
Exhausted and sleepy and tired as can be,
      Not from reading the Bible, but from watching TV.
Then back to the table side by side
      Is the Holy Bible and the TV Guide.
No time for prayer, No time for the Word.
      The plan of salvation is seldom heard.
Forgiveness of sin so full and free
      Is found in the Bible, not TV.

     –Author unknown

[Uncle Buck]

IT'S NOBODY'S BUSINESS

It's nobody's business what I drink;
I care not what my neighbors think
Or how many laws they choose to pass,
I'll tell the world I'll have my glass!
Here's one man's freedom cannot be curbed;
My right to drink is undisturbed.

So he drank in spite of law or man,
Then got into his old tin can,
Stepped on the gas and let it go
Down the highway to and fro.
He took the curves at fifty miles
With bleary eyes and a drunken smile.

Not long 'til a car he tried to pass;
Then a crash, a scream and breaking glass.
The other car was upside down
About two miles from the nearest town.

The man was clear, but his wife was caught,
And he needed the help of that drunken sot
Who sat in a maudlin, drunken daze,
And heard the scream and saw the blaze,
But too far gone to save a life
By helping the car from off the wife.

The car was burned, and a mother died,
While a husband wept and a baby cried
And a drunk sat by–and still some think
It's nobody's business what they drink.

     –George Y. Hammond

[Uncle Buck]

Reading the Bible

It's one thing to read the Bible through;
Another thing to read to learn and do.
Some read it as their duty once a week,
But no instruction from the Bible seek.
Some read to bring themselves into repute
By showing others how they can dispute.
While others read, because their neighbors do
To see how long 'twill take to read it through.
Some read it for the wonders that are there;
How David killed a lion and a bear.
While others read it with uncommon care,
Hoping to find some contradiction there.
But, read it prayerfully and you will see,
Although men contradict, God's words agree.
For what the early Bible prophets wrote,
We find that Christ and His apostles quote.
So trust no creed that trembles to recall
What has been penned by one and verified by all.
     –Author unknown

[Uncle Buck]

He that has light within his own clear breast,
May sit in the centre, and enjoy bright day;
But he that hides a dark soul, and foul thoughts
Benighted walks under the midday sun;
Himself is his own dungeon.
     –John Milton

[Uncle Buck]

I asked for strength that I might achieve–
He made me weak that I might obey.
I asked for health that I might do greater things–
I was given grace that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy–
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men–
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life–
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I received nothing that I asked for-
All that I hoped for.
My prayer was answered.
     –Author unknown

[Uncle Buck]

“If I had only served my God like I served my king!”

     –Cardinal Woolsey on his deathbed

[Uncle Buck]

"When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost."

Billy Graham

[Uncle Buck]

You can not put one little star in motion,
You can not shape one single forest leaf,
Nor fling a mountain up, nor sink an ocean,
Presumptuous pigmy, large with unbelief!

You can not bring one dawn of regal splendor,
Nor bid the day to shadowy twilight fall,
Nor send the pale moon forth with radiance tender,
And dare you doubt the One who has done all?

     –Ella Wheeler Wilcox

[Uncle Buck]

"Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened"

Billy Graham

[Uncle Buck]

Our Little Lord

Our little Lord, we give thee praise,
     that Thou hast deigned to take our ways.
Born of Mary, a man to be,
     and all the angels sing to thee.
The eternal Father's Son He lay,
     cradled in a crib of hay.
The everlasting God appears
     in our frail flesh and blood and tears.
What the globe could not enwrap,
     nestled lies in Mary's lap.
Just a baby, very wee,
     yet the Lord of all the world is He.
     –Martin Luther

[Uncle Buck]

"That crowd that followed Him, that said, 'Hosanna,' they never thought of Him as the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. But that same crowd that said, 'Hosanna,' one day, said 'Crucify Him' the next day."
     –Bishop Rule

[Uncle Buck]

You're Writing a Gospel, Someone Has Said…

You're writing a gospel, a chapter a day
By deeds that you do and words that you say.
Men read what you write, whether false or true.
What is the gospel according to you?

     –Author unknown

[Uncle Buck]

Marcus Aurelius: Famous Quotes on Character
Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be, be one.

Author Unknown: Famous Quotes on Character
Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Famous Quotes on Character
We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.

Aristotle: Famous Quotes on Character
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.

Francois Fenelon: Famous Quotes on Character
We can often do more for other men by trying to correct our own faults than by trying to correct theirs.

John Dryden: Famous Quotes on Character
We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.

Arthur Schopenhauer: Famous Quotes on Character
We forfeit three-fourths of ourselves in order to be like other people.

Winston Churchill: Famous Quotes on Character
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

Abraham Lincoln: Famous Quotes on Character
We should be too big to take offense and too noble to give it.

Unknown Author: Famous Quotes on Character
We teach what we live