Henry Ward Beecher
189 quotes
Biography
Henry Ward Beecher was an American Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, and speaker, known for his support of the abolition of slavery, his emphasis on God's love, and his 1875 adultery trial. His rhetorical focus on the love of Christ has influenced mainstream Christianity through the 21st century.
"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures."
"To array a man's will against his sickness is the supreme art of medicine."
"Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?"
"It is not the going out of port, but the coming in, that determines the success of a voyage."
"Success is full of promise till one gets it, and then it seems like a nest from which the bird has flown."
"A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life."
"The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things."
"A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road."
"Laughter is not a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is the best ending for one."
"Tears are often the telescope by which men see far into heaven."
"We never know the love of a parent till we become parents ourselves."
"We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started."
"Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard master to yourself-and be lenient to everybody else."
"Adversity, if for no other reason, is of benefit, since it is sure to bring a season of sober reflection. People see clearer at such times. Storms purify the atmosphere."
"Hold yourself to a higher standard than anyone else expects of you. Never excuse yourself."
"Now comes the mystery! (last words)"
"We sleep, but the loom of life never stops, and the pattern which was weaving when the sun went down is weaving when it comes up in the morning."
"Where is human nature so weak as in a book store?"
"A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessaries of life."
"Oh, tell me not that they are dead — that generous host, that airy army of invisible heroes. They hover as a cloud of witnesses above this nation. Are they dead that yet speak louder than we can speak, and a more universal language? Are they dead that yet act? Are they dead that yet move upon society, and inspire the people with nobler motives, and more heroic patriotism?Ye that mourn, let gladness mingle with your tears. It was your son, but now he is the nation's. He made your household bright: now his example inspires a thousand households. Dear to his brothers and sisters, he is now brother to every generous youth in the land. Before, he was narrowed, appropriated, shut up to you. Now he is augmented, set free, and given to all. Before, he was yours: he is ours. He has died from the family, that he might live to the nation. Not one name shall be forgotten or neglected: and it shall by and by be confessed of our modern heroes, as it is of an ancient hero, that he did more for his country by his death than by his whole life."
"Humor is...nearer right than any emotion we have. Humor is the atmosphere in which grace most flourishes."
"Any law that takes hold of a man’s daily life cannot prevail in a community, unless the vast majority of the community are actively in favor of it. The laws that are the most operative are the laws which protect life."
"The common schools are the stomachs of the country in which all people that come to us are assimilated within a generation. When a lion eats an ox, the lion does not become an ox but the ox becomes a lion. So the immigrants of all races and nations become Americans, and it is a disgrace to our institutions and a shame to our policy to abuse them or drive them away."
"[N]o emotion, any more than a wave, can long retain its own individual form."
"There are a great many doors open; but a door must be of a man's size or it is not meant for him."