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President Lincoln had an early political rival named Edwin Stanton. He called Lincoln the original gorilla. When Lincoln was elected President he chose Stanton to be his secretary of war because he believed he was the best man for the job. At Lincoln’s funeral Stanton said, “There lies the most perfect ruler of men the world has ever seen.”

President Lincoln had learned not to take insults personally.

“The ravages of drink are greater than those of war, pestilence, and famine combined.”—William Gladstone

“Let my heart gracious God, be so effected with Your glory and majesty, that I may fulfill these weighty duties which You have required of me. I have called upon You to pardon me of my sins. Thank You for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, offered on the cross for me. You gave Your Son to die for me and have given me assurance of salvation.”—George Washington’s Diary

“Do not think that any work God gives you to do in the world is on too small a scale for you to do it.”—T. DeWitt Talmage

“I have seen, at different times, the smoke of a thousand villages—villages whose people are without Christ, without God, and without hope in the world.”—Robert Moffat

“I have but one passion—it is He, it is He alone. The world is the field and the field is the world; and henceforth that country shall be my home where I can be most used in winning souls for Christ.”—Count Zinzindorf

After witnessing to a band of people that had murdered some foreigners, David Livingstone wrote: “I had more than ordinary pleasure in telling these murderers of the precious blood which cleanseth from all sin. I bless God that He has conferred on one so worthless the distinguished privilege and honour of being the first messenger of mercy that ever trod these regions.”

Source: The Personal Life of David Livingstone, William Garden Blaikie

When Adoniram Judson was lying in a jail in Burma with thirty-two pounds of chains on his ankles which were tied to a bamboo pole, another prisoner asked, “Dr. Judson, what about the prospect of the conversion of the heathen?”

Judson replied, “The prospects are just as bright as the promises of God.”

Source: The Foreign Missionary, Arthur Judson Brown

Johann Sebastian Bach said, “All music should have no other end and aim than the glory of God and the soul’s refreshment; where this is not remembered there is no real music but only a devilish hub-bub.”

He headed all of his compositions: ”J. J.,” the initials for, ”Jesus Juva” which means “Jesus help me.”

He ended them “S.D.G.,” the initials for, “Soli Dei Gratia” which means “To God alone be the glory.”

Source: Light Steps, Timothy W. Bowes

Adoniram Judson labored faithfully in Burma for eighteen years without a furlough, and for the first six years he did not have a single Burmese convert. He said that he never saw a ship leave Burma without wanting to board it and go home. When his wife became sick and had to go home for two years without him, he wrote: ”If we could find some quiet resting place on earth where we could spend the rest of our days in peace, and perform the ordinary services of religion.” But he then wrote: ”Life is short. Happiness consists not in outward circumstances.

Late in his career, when the Yankees were comfortably ahead in the pennant race, Joe DiMaggio was asked why he continued to play so hard. He said, “Because there might be somebody out there who’s never seen me play.”

The Christian should live every day as if someone will see him who has never seen a Christian before.

Source: Summer of 49, David Halberstam

John Wesley wrote the following letter from his deathbed to William Wilberforce to encourage him in his prolonged fight against slavery in England:

“You would think that because Joshua was a man of God, had successfully led the children of Israel against the Canaanites, and had been victorious, that the Israelites would tell him that he could pick out any spot he wanted in which to settle. But that is not what happened. The Israelites did not offer him the choice spots in which to settle. Joshua made his own choice. It was a place called Timnathserah. It was about eleven miles from Shiloh. It was a barren place, and one of the worst spots Joshua could have chosen.

“Don’t be guilty of comparing your accomplishments or performances with those of any other preacher.  To do so is to lessen your own effectiveness and frustrate the grace of God.  You are you, and to attempt to become more is to become less.”—Dr. Raymond Barber

Source: Profile of a Preacher, Dr. Raymond Barber

Winston Churchill was once asked, “Doesn’t it thrill you to know that every time you make a speech, the hall is packed to overflowing?”

“It’s quite flattering,” replied Winston, “But whenever I feel that way, I always remember that if instead of making a political speech I was being hanged, the crowd would be twice as big.”

Source: Respectfully Quoted, Suzy Platt

“If God's today be too soon for thy repentance, thy tomorrow may be too late for God's acceptance.”—D. L. Moody

“God will pardon a repentant sinner more quickly than a mother would snatch her child out of the fire.”—John Vianney

“The same tears that break our hearts may also nourish us in ways that matter most to God.”—Dr. Paul Chappell

“If we put off repentance another day, we have a day more to repent of, and a day less to repent in.”—William Mason

“John 3:16 addresses a number of ‘isms.’ The phrase ‘For God’ responds to atheism, which claims there is no God. The phrase ‘so loved’ responds to fatalism, which asserts God is an impersonal force. The phrase ‘the world’ responds to nationalism, which says God loves only one group of people. The phrase ‘that He gave’ responds to materialism, which says it is more blessed to receive than to give. The phrase ‘His only begotten Son’ responds to Mohammedism, which says God has no Son.

Herman Edwards is the colorful and witty coach who was with the Kansas City Chiefs. When it came to his thoughts on teamwork he said, “The players that play on this football team will play for the name on the side of the helmet and not the name on the back of the jersey.”

Source: Houston Chronicle, 1/6/2010

“Titles really don’t matter. Freedom comes when we let them go, even if it means we have to eat a bit of humble pie.”—Dan Brokke

“When we lay down our lives in humility and forgiveness for someone else, we are following Jesus’ lead.”—Dan Brokke

“Coming together is a beginning; staying together is progress; working together is success.”—Henry Ford

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’”—M. A. Radmacher

The last paragraph of Patrick Henry’s will says, “I have now disposed of all my property for my family; there is one thing more I wish I could give them, and that is the Christian religion. If they had this, and I had not given them one shilling, they would be rich, and if they have not that, and I had given them all the world, they would be poor.”

“If we would find content[ment], let us go to homes where women are crippled with rheumatism, or dying of cancer, where comforts are few, where long hours of loneliness are not broken by the intrusion of friendly faces, where the pittance of public charity hardly suffices for necessary need, to say nothing of comfort, it is there that contentment reveals itself like a shy flower. How often in the homes of the wealthy one has missed it, to find it in the homes of the poor! How often it is wanting where health is buoyant, to be discovered where disease is wearing out the strength!

F. B. Meyer held meetings in Northfield, Massachusetts and large crowds thronged to hear him. Then G. Campbell Morgan came to Northfield and people flocked to hear his brilliant expositions of Scripture. Meyer confessed that at first he was envious. He said, “The only way I can conquer my feelings is to pray for Morgan daily, which I do.”

Source: Acts, Lou Nicholes