Lloyd C. Douglas Quotes

An understanding of Jesus is not a mere matter of intelligence. He has to be accepted by faith.

I used to pass the flowers by without seeing them, as almost every man does.

It is a queer thing. In a time of great need, when powerful leadership is demanded, the people - confused and excited - hear only the strident voices of the audacious, and refuse to listen to the voice of wisdom which, being wise, is temperate.

For many years a tree might wage a slow and silent warfare against an encumbering wall, without making any visible progress. One day the wall would topple
not because the tree had suddenly laid hold upon some supernormal energy, but because its patient work of self-defense and self release had reached fulfillment. The long-imprisoned tree had freed itself. Nature had had her way.

This faith, is not like a deed to a house in which one may live with full rights of possession. It is more like a kit of tools with which a man may build himself a house. The tools will be worth just what he does with them. When he lays them down, they will have no value until he takes them up again.

Are men and beasts of the same category? Is there no essential difference between them in respect to the quality of their value? ... It is an offense to the majesty of the human spirit; for if any man deserves to be regarded as of the same quality as a beast of burden, then no man has any dignity left.

Perhaps this general degradation was the result of too much crowding, too little privacy, too much noise. You couldn't be decent if you weren't intelligent; you couldn't be intelligent if you couldn't think - and who could think in all this racket? Add the stench to the confusion of cramped quarters, and who could be self-respecting?

Our life is like a land journey, too even and easy and dull over long distances across the plains, too hard and painful up the steep grades; but, on the summits of the mountain, you have a magnificent view
and feel exalted
and your eyes are full of happy tears
and you want to sing
and wish you had wings! And then
you can't stay there, but must continue your journey
you begin climbing down the other side, so busy with your footholds that your summit experience is forgotten.

... they pick flowers, but they do not sweep the sky!

There are plenty of people, in need of our attention, who have very little with which to repay us. But I feel that we are well within our rights if we cultivate the acquaintance of persons whom we have discovered to be in possession of specialized talents in the field of character-building. One such acquaintance may serve as a stimulant to us; another a sedative. One man laughs his fears and frets away and another growls at them. It is fortunate for us if we can recognize the exact effect that other people have on us. Then we know when to seek or avoid them.

Honorable men were keeping their word, my son, long before this Christian religion was proposed.

A talent for truth is real property. If a man loves truth better than things, people like to be around where he is. Almost everybody wishes he could be honest, but you can't have the spirit of truth when your heart is set on dickering for things.