Henry Ward Beecher was an American clergyman, social reformer, and speaker. He was a prominent figure in the mid 19th century and was known for his strong support of the abolition of slavery and his outspokenness on other social issues. He was a popular preacher and was the pastor of the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, New York, from 1847 until his death in 1887.
The Church is not a gallery for the exhibition of eminent Christians, but a school for the education of imperfect ones.
We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started.
As for marigolds, poppies, hollyhocks, and valorous sunflowers, we shall never have a garden without them, both for their own sake, and for the sake of old-fashioned folks, who used to love them.
He is rich or poor according to what he is, not according to what he has.
Some men are like pyramids, which are very broad where they touch the ground, but grow narrow as they reach the sky.
The thistle is a prince. Let any man that has an eye for beauty take a view of the whole plant, and where will he see a more expressive grace and symmetry; and where is there a more kingly flower?
A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life.
Blessed are they who know how to shine on one's gloom with their cheer.
Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house.
Of all the music that reached farthest into heaven, it is the beating of a loving heart.
Vigilance is not only the price of liberty, but of success of any sort.
Never forget what someone says to you when they are angry.
Henry Ward Beecher Famous Quotes And Sayings
He is rich or poor according to what he is, not according to what he has. — Henry Ward Beecher
Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men or animals. Some seem to smile; some have a sad expression; some are pensive and diffident; others are plain, honest and upright, like the broad faced sunflower and the hollyhock. — Henry Ward Beecher
It is one of the severest tests of friendship to tell your friend his faults. So to love a man that you cannot bear to see a stain upon him, and to speak painful truth through loving words, that is friendship. — Henry Ward Beecher
Ones best success comes after their greatest disappointments. — Henry Ward Beecher
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. — Henry Ward Beecher
A book is a garden, an orchard, a storehouse, a party, a company by the way, a counselor, a multitude of counselors. — Henry Ward Beecher
Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith. — Henry Ward Beecher
In the sacred precinct of that dwelling where the despotic woman wields the sceptre of fierce neatness, one treads as if he carried his life in his hands. — Henry Ward Beecher
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. — Henry Ward Beecher
Some sorrows are but footprints in the snow, which the genial sun effaces, or, if it does not wholly efface, changes into dimples. — Henry Ward Beecher
Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past. — Henry Ward Beecher
God asks no man whether he will accept life. That is not the choice. You must take it. The only choice is how. — Henry Ward Beecher
A Christian is nothing but a sinful man who has put himself to school for Christ for the honest purpose of becoming better. — Henry Ward Beecher
A tool is but the extension of a man's hand, and a machine is but a complex tool. And he that invents a machine augments the power of a man and the well-being of mankind. — Henry Ward Beecher
A helping word to one in trouble is often like a switch on a railroad track-an inch between wreck and smooth-rolling prosperity. — Henry Ward Beecher
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. — Henry Ward Beecher
Young love is a flame; very pretty, often very hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. The love of the older and disciplined heart is as coals, deep-burning, unquenchable. — Henry Ward Beecher
If a man harbors any sort of fear, it percolates through all his thinking, damages his personality, makes him landlord to a ghost. — Henry Ward Beecher
It gives one a sudden start in going down a barren, stoney street, to see upon a narrow strip of grass, just within the iron fence, the radiant dandelion, shining in the grass, like a spark dropped from the sun. — Henry Ward Beecher
The world's battlefields have been in the heart chiefly; more heroism has been displayed in the household and the closet, than on the most memorable battlefields in history. — Henry Ward Beecher
I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive. Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note - torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one. — Henry Ward Beecher
When there is love in the heart, there are rainbows in the eyes, which cover every black cloud with gorgeous hues. — Henry Ward Beecher
No coffee can be good in the mouth that does not first send a sweet offering of odor to the nostrils. — Henry Ward Beecher
Greatness lies, not in being strong, but in the right using of strength; and strength is not used rightly when it serves only to carry a man above his fellows for his own solitary glory. He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most hearts by the attraction of his own. — Henry Ward Beecher
A world without a Sabbath would be like a man without a smile, like summer without flowers, and like a homestead without a garden. It is the most joyous day of the week. — Henry Ward Beecher
The thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings. — Henry Ward Beecher
A dull axe never loves grindstones, but a keen workman does; and he puts his tool on them in order that it may be sharp. And men do not like grinding; but they are dull for the purposes which God designs to work out with them, and therefore He is grinding them. — Henry Ward Beecher
The mother's heart is the child's schoolroom. — Henry Ward Beecher
The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things. — Henry Ward Beecher
If there be any one whose power is in beauty, in purity, in goodness, it is a woman. — Henry Ward Beecher
The strength of a man consists in finding out the way God is going, and going that way. — Henry Ward Beecher
One might as well attempt to calculate mathematically the contingent forms of the tinkling bits of glass in a kaleidoscope as to look through the tube of the future and foretell its pattern. — Henry Ward Beecher
People may talk about the equality of the sexes! They are not equal. The silent smile of a sensible, loving woman will vanquish ten men. — Henry Ward Beecher
I never knew how to worship until I knew how to love. — Henry Ward Beecher
Fear secretes acids; but love and trust are sweet juices. — Henry Ward Beecher
Well married a person has wings, poorly married shackles. — Henry Ward Beecher
The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world's joy. — Henry Ward Beecher
A thoughtful mind, when it sees a nation's flag, sees not the flag, but the nation itself. — Henry Ward Beecher
Be a hard master to yourself - and be lenient to everybody else. — Henry Ward Beecher
Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right use of strength. — Henry Ward Beecher
The most dangerous people are the ignorant. — Henry Ward Beecher
In this world it is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich. — Henry Ward Beecher
The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings! — Henry Ward Beecher
It is not the going out of port, but the coming in, that determines the success of a voyage. — Henry Ward Beecher
Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven. — Henry Ward Beecher
To become an able and successful man in any profession, three things are necessary, nature, study and practice. — Henry Ward Beecher
To know that one has a secret is to know half the secret itself. — Henry Ward Beecher
The soul without imagination is what an observatory would be without a telescope. — Henry Ward Beecher
The head learns new things, but the heart forever practices old experiences. — Henry Ward Beecher
Life would be a perpetual flea hunt if a man were obliged to run down all the innuendoes, inveracities, and insinuations and misrepresentations which are uttered against him. — Henry Ward Beecher
If a man cannot be a Christian in the place where he is, he cannot be a Christian anywhere. — Henry Ward Beecher
The worst thing in this world, next to anarchy, is government. — Henry Ward Beecher
A thoughtful mind, when it sees a Nation's flag, sees not the flag only, but the Nation itself; and whatever may be its symbols, its insignia, he reads chiefly in the flag the Government, the principles, the truths, the history which belongs to the Nation that sets it forth. — Henry Ward Beecher
Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made and forgot to put a soul into. — Henry Ward Beecher
Next to ingratitude the most painful thing to bear is gratitude. — Henry Ward Beecher
Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul. — Henry Ward Beecher
Our government is built upon the vote. But votes that are purchasable are quicksands, and a government built on them stands upon corruption and revolution. — Henry Ward Beecher
Never forget what a person says to you when they are angry. — Henry Ward Beecher
A cunning man overreaches no one half as much as himself. — Henry Ward Beecher
No man is such a conqueror, as the one that has defeated himself. — Henry Ward Beecher
That is true culture which helps us to work for the social betterment of all. — Henry Ward Beecher
Sophistry is the fallacy of argument. — Henry Ward Beecher
A book is good company. It is full of conversation without loquacity. It comes to your longing with full instruction, but pursues you never. — Henry Ward Beecher
Indeed, unless a man can link his written thoughts with the everlasting wants of men, so that they shall draw more from them as wells, there is no more immortality to the thoughts and feelings of the soul than to the muscles and bones. — Henry Ward Beecher
It is not what we read, but what we remember, that makes us learned. It is not what we intend, but what we do that makes us useful. It is not a few faint wishes, but a life long struggle, that makes us valiant. — Henry Ward Beecher
No matter what looms ahead, if you can eat today, enjoy the sunlight today, mix good cheer with friends today, enjoy it and bless God for it. Do not look back on happiness -- or dream of it in the future. You are only sure of today; do not let yourself be cheated out of it. — Henry Ward Beecher
October is nature's funeral month. Nature glories in death more than in life. The month of departure is more beautiful than the month of coming - October than May. Every green thin loves to die in bright colors. — Henry Ward Beecher
But there have been human hearts, constituted just like ours, for six thousand years. The same stars rise and set upon this globe that rose upon the plains of Shinar or along the Egyptian Nile and the same sorrows rise and set in every age. — Henry Ward Beecher
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. — Henry Ward Beecher
Love cannot endure indifference. It needs to be wanted. Like a lamp, it needs to be fed out of the oil of another's heart, or its flame burns low. — Henry Ward Beecher
A grindstone that had not grit in it, how long would it take to sharpen an ax? And affairs that had not grit in them, how long would they take to make a man? — Henry Ward Beecher
Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page — Henry Ward Beecher
There are persons so radiant, so genial, so kind, so pleasure-bearin g, that you instinctively feel in their presence that they do you good; whose coming into a room is like bringing a lamp there. — Henry Ward Beecher
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. — Henry Ward Beecher
Of all man's works of art, a cathedral is greatest. A vast and majestic tree is greater than that. — Henry Ward Beecher
Beauty may be said to be God's trademark in creation. — Henry Ward Beecher
The first hour of the morning is the rudder of the day. — Henry Ward Beecher
It is defeat that turns bone to flint; it is defeat that turns gristle to muscle; it is defeat that makes men invincible. — Henry Ward Beecher
The Bible is God's chart for you to steer by, to keep you from the bottom of the sea, and to show you where the harbor is, and how to reach it without running on rocks or bars. — Henry Ward Beecher
Gambling with cards or dice or stocks is all one thing. It's getting money without giving an equivalent for it. — Henry Ward Beecher
In the family, happiness is in the ratio in which each
is serving the others, seeking one another's good,
and bearing one another's burdens. — Henry Ward Beecher
A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs-jolted by every pebble in the road. — Henry Ward Beecher
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. — Henry Ward Beecher
It is not work that kills men; it is worry. Work is healthy; you can hard put more upon a man than he can bear. Worry is rust upon the blade. It is not the revolution that destroys the machinery, but the friction. — Henry Ward Beecher
The clearest window that ever was fashioned if it is barred by spiders' webs, and hung over with carcasses of insects, so that the sunlight has forgotten to find its way through, of what use can it be? Now, the Church is God's window; and if it is so obscured by errors that its light is darkness, how great is that darkness! — Henry Ward Beecher
Life Lessons by Henry Ward Beecher
Henry Ward Beecher taught that life is a journey and that it is important to be open to learning and growing along the way. He also emphasized the importance of being kind and compassionate to others, as well as being generous with our time and resources. Finally, he encouraged people to strive for excellence in all aspects of life, and to never give up on their dreams.
Citation
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