The First Step Towards Knowledge

When A Founder Has Cast A Bell He Does Not Presently Fix It In The Steeple, But Tries It With His Hammer, And Beats It On Every Side To See If There Be Any Flaw In It. So Christ Doth Not Presently After He Hath Converted A Man, Convey Him To Heaven; But Suffers Him First To Be Beaten Upon By Many Temptations And Then Exalts Him To His Crown.

It Is Much Easier To Settle A Point Than To Act On It.

Every Man Will Have His Own Criterion In Forming His Judgment Of Others. I Depend Very Much On The Effect Of Affliction. I Consider How A Man Comes Out Of The Furnace; Gold Will Lie For A Month In The Furnace Without Losing A Grain.

Philosophy Is A Proud, Sullen Detector Of The Poverty And Misery Of Man. It May Turn Him From The World With A Proud, Sturdy Contempt; But It Cannot Come Forward And Say, Here Are Rest, Grace, Pardon, Peace, Strength, And Consolation.

He Who Sows, Even With Tears, The Precious Seed Of Faith, Hope, And Love, Shall Doubtless Come Again With Joy, Bringing His Sheaves With Him, Because It Is The Very Nature Of That Seed To Yield A Joyful Harvest.