Hosea Ballou was an American clergyman and leader of the early Universalist movement. He was born in 1771 and was ordained in 1793. He was a major figure in the development of Universalism in America, and his work helped to spread the movement to other parts of the world. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Hosea Ballou on life, leadership, love.
Too many people embrace religion from the same motives that they take a companion in wedlock, not from true love of the person, but because of a large dowry.
Tears of joy are like the summer rain drops pierced by sunbeams.
Education commences at the mother's knee, and every word spoken within hearsay of little children tends toward the formation of character.
Hatred is self-punishment. Hatred it the coward's revenge for being intimidated.
Disease is the retribution of outraged Nature.
There is no immunity from the consequences of sin; punishment is swift and sure to one and all.
We must not only read the Scriptures, but we must make their rules of life our own.
Brevity and conciseness are the parents of correction.
Theories are always very thin and insubstantial, experience only is tangible.
Hosea Ballou inspirational quote
Hosea Ballou Image Quotes
Tears of joy are like the summer rain drops pierced by sunbeams. — Hosea Ballou
Disease is the retribution of outraged Nature. — Hosea Ballou
Hosea Ballou Short Quotes
Hypocrisy is oftenest clothed in the garb of religion.
There is nothing that needs to be said in an unkind manner.
Pretension almost always overdoes the original, and hence exposes itself.
All our possessions are as nothing compared to health, strength, and a clear conscience.
A chaste and lucid style is indicative of the same personal traits in the author.
It is what we give up, not what we lay up, that adds to our lasting store.
The experience of others adds to our knowledge, but not to our wisdom; that is dearer bought.
True repentance always involves reform.
Mystery and innocence are not akin.
Hosea Ballou Quotes About Life
Preaching is to much avail, but practice is far more effective. A godly life is the strongest argument you can offer the skeptic. — Hosea Ballou
There is no better rule to try a doctrine by than the question, Is it merciful, or is it unmerciful? If its character is that of mercy, it has the image of Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life. — Hosea Ballou
Error is always more busy than truth. — Hosea Ballou
Be circumspect in your dealings, and let the seed you plant be the offspring of prudence and care; thus fruit follows the fair blossom, as honor follows a good life. — Hosea Ballou
It is in sickness that we most feel the need of that sympathy which shows how much we are dependent upon one another for our comfort, and even necessities. Thus disease, opening our eyes to the realities of life, is an indirect blessing. — Hosea Ballou
Our blessings are the least heeded, because the most common events of life. — Hosea Ballou
Hosea Ballou Quotes About Love
Faith, in order to be genuine and of any real value, must be the offspring of that divine love which Jesus manifested when He prayed for His enemies on the cross. — Hosea Ballou
With regard to manner, be careful to speak in a soft, tender, kind and loving way. Even when you have occasion to rebuke, be careful to do it with manifest kindness. The effect will be incalculably better. — Hosea Ballou
A mother's love, in a degree, sanctifies the most worthless offspring. — Hosea Ballou
The law of heaven is love. — Hosea Ballou
If we agree in love, there is no disagreement that can do us any injury,
but if we do not, no other agreement can do us any good.
Let us endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace. — Hosea Ballou
That kind of discipline whose pungent severity is in the manifestations of paternal love, compassion, and tenderness is the most sure of its object. — Hosea Ballou
Duty itself is supreme delight when love is the inducement and labor. By such a principle the ignorant are enlightened, the hard-hearted softened, the disobedient reformed, and the faithful encouraged. — Hosea Ballou
Ministers who threaten death and destruction employ weapons of weakness. Argument and kindness are alone effectual, flavored by the principles of Divine love. — Hosea Ballou
Envy may justly be called "the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity;" it is the most acid fruit that grows on the stock of sin, a fluid so subtle that nothing but the fire of divine love can purge it from the soul. — Hosea Ballou
Hosea Ballou Quotes About Character
A single bad habit will mar an otherwise faultless character, as an ink-drop soileth the pure white page. — Hosea Ballou
Servility is disgusting to a truly noble character, and engenders only contempt. — Hosea Ballou
O sin, how you paint your face! how you flatter us poor mortals on to death! You never appear to the sinner in your true character; you make fair promises, but you never fulfil one; your tongue is smoother than oil, but the poison of asps is under your lip! — Hosea Ballou
Hosea Ballou Quotes About Truth
Doubt is the incentive to truth and inquiry leads the way. — Hosea Ballou
Falsehood is cowardice, the truth courage. — Hosea Ballou
Not the least misfortune in a prominent falsehood is the fact that tradition is apt to repeat it for truth. — Hosea Ballou
It is a glorious occupation, vivifying and self-sustaining in its nature, to struggle with ignorance, and discover to the inquiring minds of the masses the clear cerulean blue of heavenly truth. — Hosea Ballou
Hosea Ballou Quotes About Divine
Never let your zeal outrun your charity. The former is but human, the latter is divine. — Hosea Ballou
The act of divine worship is the inestimable privilege of man, the only created being who bows in humility and adoration. — Hosea Ballou
A careless and blasphemous use of the name of the Divine Being is not only sinful, but it is also prima facie evidence of vulgar associations. — Hosea Ballou
Hosea Ballou Famous Quotes And Sayings
Tears of joy are like the summer rain drops pierced by sunbeams. — Hosea Ballou
Disease is the retribution of outraged Nature. — Hosea Ballou
Suspicion is far more to be wrong than right; more often unjust than just. It is no friend to virtue, and always an enemy to happiness. — Hosea Ballou
The oppression of any people for opinion's sake has rarely had any other effect than to fix those opinions deeper, and render them more important. — Hosea Ballou
Of all the ingenious mistakes into which erring man has fallen, perhaps none have been so pernicious in their consequences, or have brought so many evils into the world, as the popular opinion that the way of the transgressor is pleasant and easy. — Hosea Ballou
Obedience, as it regards the social relations, the rules of society, and the laws of nature and nature's God, should commence at the cradle and end only at the tomb. — Hosea Ballou
The heavens and the earth, the woods and the wayside, teem with instruction and knowledge to the curious and thoughtful. — Hosea Ballou
To talk of luck and chance only shows how little we really know of the laws which govern cause and effect. — Hosea Ballou
As "unkindness has no remedy at law," let its avoidance be with you a point of honor. — Hosea Ballou
Obedience sums up our entire duty. — Hosea Ballou
It is but a step from companionship to slavery when one associates with vice. — Hosea Ballou
No reproof or denunciation is so potent as the silent influence of a good example. — Hosea Ballou
Those who commit injustice bear the greatest burden. — Hosea Ballou
A good smile is the sunshine of wisdom. — Hosea Ballou
The cloudy weather melts at length into beauty, and the brightest smiles of the heart are born of its tears. — Hosea Ballou
There is no doubt that religious fanatics have done more to prejudice the cause they affect to advocate than have its opponents. — Hosea Ballou
Obedience and resignation are our personal offerings upon the altar of duty. — Hosea Ballou
Prosperity often presages adversity. — Hosea Ballou
As the sun's rays will irradiate even the murky pool, and make its stagnant waters to shine like silver, so doth God's goodness and tender mercy, towards the greatest sinner, and the blackest heart, make his own image visible there! — Hosea Ballou
It is my humble prayer that I may be of some use in my day and generation. — Hosea Ballou
Few things in this world more trouble people than poverty, or the fear of poverty; and, indeed, it is a sore affliction; but, like all other ills that flesh is heir to, it has its antidote, its reliable remedy. The judicious application of industry, prudence and temperance is a certain cure. — Hosea Ballou
The eye is the inlet to the soul, and it is well to beware of him whose visual organs avoid your honest regard. — Hosea Ballou
Be more careful of your conscience than of your estate. The latter can be bought and sold; the former never. — Hosea Ballou
Purity in person and in morals is true godliness. — Hosea Ballou
None but the guilty know the withering pains of repentance. — Hosea Ballou
Remember, when incited to slander, that it is only he among you who is without sin that may cast the first stone. — Hosea Ballou
I have somewhere read that conscience not only sits as witness and judge within our bosoms, but also forms the prison of punishment. — Hosea Ballou
It is better to be the builder of our own name than to be indebted by descent for the proudest gifts known to the books of heraldry. — Hosea Ballou
Idleness is emptiness; the tree in which the sap is stagnant, remains fruitless. — Hosea Ballou
Prosperity is very liable to bring pride among the other goods with which it endows an individual; it is then that prosperity costs too dear. — Hosea Ballou
It is the nature of intellect to strive to improve in intellectual power. — Hosea Ballou
How can there be pride in a contrite heart? Humility is the earliest fruit of religion. — Hosea Ballou
Prosperity seems to be scarcely safe, unless it be mixed with a little adversity. — Hosea Ballou
Rage is mental imbecility. — Hosea Ballou
Man, being not only a religious, but also a social being, requires for the promotion of his rational happiness religious institutions, which, while they give a proper direction to devotion, at the same time make a wise and profitable improvement of his social feelings. — Hosea Ballou
No outward change need trouble him who is inwardly serene. — Hosea Ballou
Hatred is self-punishment. — Hosea Ballou
Folly is like the growth of weeds, always luxurious and spontaneous; wisdom, like flowers, requires cultivation. — Hosea Ballou
Experience is retrospect knowledge. — Hosea Ballou
If gratitude is due from children to their earthly parent, how much more is the gratitude of the great family of men due to our father in heaven. — Hosea Ballou
How quickly a truly benevolent act is repaid by the consciousness of having done it! — Hosea Ballou
True sympathy is putting ourselves in another's place; and we are moved in proportion to the reality of our imagination. — Hosea Ballou
Most people who commit a sin count on some personal benefit to be derived therefrom, but profanity has not even this excuse. — Hosea Ballou
If we are at peace with God and our own conscience, what enemy among men need we fear? — Hosea Ballou
Liberality should be tempered with judgment, not with profuseness. — Hosea Ballou
It is vain to trust in wrong; it is like erecting a building upon a frail foundation, and which will directly be sure to topple over. — Hosea Ballou
There is no such thing as "best" in the world of individuals. — Hosea Ballou
Attempt to teach the young but little at a time; this will be easier to impart, easier to receive, and surer to be retained. — Hosea Ballou
A true religious instinct never deprived man of one single joy; mournful faces and a sombre aspect are the conventional affectations of the weak-minded. — Hosea Ballou
Unless we find repose within ourselves, it is vain to seek it elsewhere. — Hosea Ballou
It is the goodly outside that sin puts on which tempteth to destruction. It has been said that sin is like the bee, with honey in its mouth, but a sting in its tail. — Hosea Ballou
Humanity, in the aggregate, is progressing, and philanthropy looks forward hopefully. — Hosea Ballou
Some clergymen make a motto, instead of a theme, of their texts. — Hosea Ballou
It is easy to be beautiful; it is difficult to appear so. — Hosea Ballou
Self-respect is the best of all. — Hosea Ballou
Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul; and the heart of man knoweth none more fragrant. — Hosea Ballou
The severest punishment suffered by a sensitive mind, for injury inflicted upon another, is the consciousness of having done it. — Hosea Ballou
No one has a greater asset for his business than a man's pride in his work. — Hosea Ballou
A wise Providence consoles our present afflictions by joys borrowed from the future. — Hosea Ballou
How white are the fair robes of Charity as she walketh amid the lowly habitations of the poor! — Hosea Ballou
You cannot judge by outward appearances; the soul is only transparent to its Maker. — Hosea Ballou
There is one court whose findings are incontrovertible, and whose sessions are held in the chambers of our own breast. — Hosea Ballou
Honest and courageous people have very little to say about either their courage or their honesty. The sun has no need to boast of his brightness, nor the moon of her effulgence. — Hosea Ballou
There is one sure criterion of judgment as to religious faith in doctrinal matters; can you reduce it to practice? If not, have none of it. — Hosea Ballou
The eye is inlet to the soul. — Hosea Ballou
It is very questionable, in my mind, how far we have the right to judge one of another, since there is born within every man the germs of both virtue and vice. The development of one or the other is contingent upon circumstances. — Hosea Ballou
Doubt that creed which you cannot reduce to practice. — Hosea Ballou
Has not God borne with you these many years? Be ye tolerant to others. — Hosea Ballou
Death comes to us, under many conditions, with all the welcome serenity of sleep. — Hosea Ballou
Lay silently the injuries you receive upon the altar of oblivion. — Hosea Ballou
Life Lessons by Hosea Ballou
Hosea Ballou taught the importance of understanding and accepting people from all backgrounds, regardless of their beliefs or opinions. He also emphasized the importance of treating others with kindness and respect, even when we disagree with them. Lastly, he taught the importance of living a life of service and generosity, and using our resources to help those in need.
Citation
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