Henry Ward Beecher

“You have come into a hard world. I know of only one easy place in it, and that is the grave.”

“God asks no man whether he will accept life. This is not the choice. You must take it. The only question is how.”

“Never forget what a man says to you when he is angry.”

“Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore?”

“Our days are a kaleidoscope. Every instant a change takes place. ... New harmonies, new contrasts, new combinations of every sort. ... The most familiar people stand each moment in some new...”

“In things pertaining to enthusiasm, no man is sane who does not know how to be insane on proper occasions.”

“A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs, jolted by every pebble in the road.”

“The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.”

“Flowers may beckon towards us, but they speak toward heaven and God.”

“"I can forgive, but I cannot forget" is only another way of saying, "I will not forgive." Forgiveness ought to be like a canceled note-torn in two and burned up so that it never can be shown...”

“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!”

“The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart... will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.”

“God pardons like a mother, who kisses the offense into everlasting forgetfulness.”

“Happiness is not the end of life; character is.”

“No man is more cheated than the selfish man.”

“Mirthfulness is in the mind and you cannot get it out. It is just as good in its place as conscience or veneration.”

“It usually takes 100 years to make a law, and then, after it's done its work, it usually takes 100 years to be rid of it.”

“Interest works night and day in fair weather and in foul. It gnaws at a man's substance with invisible teeth.”

“It is not merely cruelty that leads men to love war, it is excitement.”

“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 again are plain, honest and uprigh...”