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Pithy Sayings To Think About
For many, many years I have collected quips, quotes, and pithy sayings. Now, a pithy saying gets to the essential or central part of an idea. It gives you something to think about and consider. Here are a few of those sayings you may want to think about and see what you can do with them. I do not claim ownership or originality, and in most cases do not recall where they came from. If you are the originator of any of these thoughts I say “thanks!”
1.
Men are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them.
2. When the summons comes,
accept the challenge, go forward, take the chance, and give something back to
life, for the drifting life can never be the happy life.
3. If you want dreams to
come true, you have to try things out and learn to accept failure as an
opportunity to learn.
4. The Bible is the only
book whose Author is always present when you read it.
5. When asked to explain
how he solved the problem, he said: “Lack of experience.” He meant that he
brought few preconceived notions to the task. Therefore, he had the mental
flexibility to consider novel approaches.
6. There are few things
that stimulate thought more than the prospect of tangling with a disgruntle
creditor.
7. You never know what you
can do without until you try.
8. If you want to give God a good laugh tell Him your future.
9. Money is not everything, but it is far ahead of whatever is in
second place.
10. The proverb says there are three things that never return: the
spent arrow, the spoken word, and the lost opportunity.
11. Nothing is too hard for God. Nothing is too big or too small. We
must be aware or we will erect man-made boundaries on God’s redemptive plan. We
must not hold God back by limited thinking, by small ideas, or by doing only
what is easy and comfortable.
12. When everything is said and done, a lot more will be said than
done.
13. Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.
14. He has been described as a man who talked a lot, but never had
anything to say.
15. Our troubles may be many-colored, but so is the grace of God.
There is no color in the human situation that the grace of God cannot match.
There is grace to match every trial and there is no trial without its grace.
16. In this world trials are not meant to take the strength out of us,
but to put strength into us.
17. There are a few truths that overarch all life and time. One is the
truth that a great idea must lead to action. When God gives us an
opportunity, He places us under a spiritual obligation. Our relationship to Him
is one that requires obedience to truth.
18. Most church members have a problem. We go to church and are
thrilled by a beautiful service of worship; challenged and inspired by the
sermon; enjoy singing the great hymns of the church with fervor, but when we
leave the special atmosphere within the church building, our spiritual
temperature drops to exactly what it was before.
19. It is possible to destroy in a few hours that which has taken
years to construct. To be a builder is much more fulfilling than being a
destroyer.
20. It is not the cares of life, as such, that crush and kill a
person; rather it is the lack of resources to bear them, and the failure of the
bearer to share them, that break people down.
21. If the wolf is not at your door, don’t go out and invite him to
come in.
22. No matter how you slice the pie, if you eat it all the calories
are the same.
23. The more complicated life becomes, the more necessary it is to see
that our priorities are right.
24. He has the ability to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory.
25. You cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
26. Our neighborhood was so tough, if you saw a cat come down our
street with it’s tail on, you knew it was a tourist.
27. He is the kind of person who can give a cup of decaf the coffee
nerves.
28. Both his feet are firmly planted - up in mid-air!
29. Don’t ever assume anything. And don’t overlook the obvious.
30. Behind some successful husbands, there are two women: a conniving
wife and a surprised mother-in-law.
31. My great concern is not that you have failed, but whether you are
content with your failure.
32. More baseball players are beaten by themselves than are ever
beaten by an opposing team.
33. Excuses, like opportunities, are a do-it-yourself project.
34. He was stupid! So stupid that he could clean both ears with one
long que-tip.
35. Never try to teach a pig to sing. It’s a waste of your time, and
it annoys the pig.
36. A real leader is someone who may be chased down the street by an
angry mob but will make it look like he is leading a triumphal parade.
37. One man said: “My idea of hell is the thought that I might have to
live in the world you seem itching to put together.”
38. Don’t think the Bible is dry on the inside just because it is
dusty on the outside.
39. Christ believed in investing Himself right up to the nails in His
hands and the crown of thorns on His head.
40. We have become increasingly an audience waiting to be entertained.
Never before have we been able to live in a world with so many forms of
unreality.
41. There are times when we need to be protected from the seduction of
eloquence.
42. Beware of the emphases of advertising and other liberal media.
They are becoming the creators of our moral ethic.
43. It is not exactly like living at the end of the world; but you can
see the city limits sign of the end of the world from there!
44. This guy was not a happy camper. In fact, he seemed to enjoy his
misery so much that I was able, in good conscience, to nominate him to the
Mourner’s Hall of Fame.
45. Fertilizer is most beneficial when evenly spread, but highly
damaging when so greatly concentrated.
46. Sometimes I feel that I have set sail on the Sea of Ambiguity, in
the good ship Mediocrity, to the port of Wishful Thinking.
47. In matters of religion and politics, too many people seem to have
taken their principles of exegesis from Mark Twain. He said: “Get the facts
first; then you can distort them as you wish.”
48. If you just wait long enough, every dog has his day.
49. He never did go to Church very often. In fact, he actually was a
member of the Church of the Inner Springs, sometimes known as bedside Baptists.
50. It’s not only later than you think, it is sooner than you expect.
51. A fanatic is someone who redoubles his efforts long after he has
forgotten his aim.
52. He had such an Ego problem. He was always having a group portrait
taken of himself.
53. He was one of those people who give out of things to say long
before he stops talking.
54. Those who walk with God always reach their destinations.
55. He has the ability to use fine phrases that have no meaning.
56. He is able to evade taking a stand on important issues by a little
timely hypocrisy and a lot of smooth talking.
57. If you were to take all the people who sleep in church and lay
them end-to-end, they all would get much better rest.
58. Life got really boring when I was a child. Sometimes it was so
boring we would go to the local dime store and try on socks just for the
excitement.
59. I never did have much success with the stock market, and cannot
understand why. My investment brokers are Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe.
60. Worship is not a showcase for talented performers, a lecture on
Biblical criticism, nor is it a social gathering for friendly folks. Worship is
the most intimate relationship we can have with God through our Savior, Jesus
Christ.
61.
Divine guidance does not usually come to those who sit idly and speculate; or to
those who evade obligations; or to those who, having started, hesitate and stop.
Divine guidance comes to those who, knowing they are on the road to duty, have a
single-minded purpose to pursue it to the end.
62. God
may not be on time according to our schedule, but He is never late, for He has
His own schedule and His is the only one that matters.
63. There
are two things in life that are especially hard to deal with, one is failure and
the other is success.
64. Do
not dismiss the possibility that you may be wrong, that you may not know
everything there is to know.
65. In
matters of Christian faith there are some basics, easily understood by all.
There are also some mysteries about which we cannot be absolutely certain. We
therefore have the obligation to tolerance and the broadest kind of
inclusiveness.
66. The
Early Church banished people, declared their writings and views ungodly, and
required all serious thinking people to ignore them. They burned books and
sometimes boiled the writers in oil. Some people today seem to want to
reestablish these practices.
67. Those
who become self-appointed censors of everyone's morality are often ax-grinders
and witch-hunters in disguise. Deliver me from those self-appointed guardians of
my freedoms, for they seem to be taking away from me the very freedoms they are
self-appointed to guard.
68. When
viewing a news event, sometimes the story is in the noise, and sometimes the
story is in the silence.
69. When
you are looking for a needle in a haystack, don't burn down the haystack. There
must be other methods to use in finding the needle.
70. The
end and aim of life for every Christian is obedience to every command of
God. This is not an option but a central and pivotal truth to direct, mold, and
guide us.
71. When
a believer in Christ allows the Holy Spirit to set him/her free from pride and
selfishness, it is then that the miracle of His love begins to transform that
person's character, attitude, and behavior. What happened on Pentecost (Acts 2)
can happen again when we allow God's Spirit to control us.
72.
Beware of the tendency to settle down into a groove of dull ideas and drab
routine. That leads you to not think or do anything different from everyone
else. The result is a life that is dull, lazy, and complacent, without
imagination.
73. To
stifle and distort the development of another person is deadly wrong; to help
that person to expand his personality and opportunities for growth is divine.
74. Do we
give more time and attention than they deserve to events which others label a
"crisis?" Have they created an artificial urgency?
75. One
of the worst sins is hard-heartedness. To be cruel and not care is an
abomination to God, and He detests that kind of behavior. He requires us to show
pity, compassion, and concern for all people. Jesus is the example to follow.
76. Life
has many trials, and some of them are hard to understand or bear. Nevertheless,
we may be sure that in it all God is with us. He will guide and protect us. Look
to Him and trust His eternal goodness.
77.
Perhaps the greatest heritage you can leave your relatives and friends is the
tested experience of following God's guidance. Faith, hope, and love are
constant realities, and the only reality with eternal significance.
78. As we
review the history of an event, recent or ancient, there is always the danger
that the actual facts of the event will be put aside and our own commentary will
replace them as facts.
79. We
openly claim to be people of faith, yet we always long for some irrefutable
evidence that will clearly indicate the will of God.
80. The
average person will go to great lengths to avoid hard thinking about serious
issues. We allow some unknown columnist, commentator or celebrity to tell us
what to think.
81. One
of the main lessons we learn from history is that we do not learn many lessons
from history.
82. He
had a really dull personality. In fact, he could brighten up any room just by
leaving it.
83. The
largest room is always the room for improvement.
84. Doing
good deeds and living the good life is the right way, the Godly way, to live.
However, there is a caution to be kept in mind: do not expect applause.
The good person is sometimes misunderstood, opposed, or ridiculed, but it is
still the right way to live.
85. It is
uncanny how prayer and praise to God will open the doors of our lives to new
dimensions of opportunity and spiritual power.
86.
Things are not crucial to life.
87.
Homeostasis is the tendency of humans to maintain constant states, to achieve
equilibrium. God made us to have self-regulatory mechanisms in the achievement
of a balanced life. This applies to mind, body, and spirit. God has made all of
life to operate by this principle. Drives, motives, behaviors, and all
physiological systems have their point of balance. In a broad sense this
determines our health, general state of productivity, and overall well-being.
88. If
you do what you have always done, you will get what you've always gotten.
89. We
can say with confidence: God never mistakes His man, His instrument, or His time
for the initiation and development of His purposes. All seasons and all times
belong to God.
90.
Violent behavior is an expression of failure. It always takes more brains,
resourcefulness, and heroism to make peace than war.
91.
Reverence is the attitude and response of the soul, mind, and body to greatness
in any form. Perhaps the best expression of reverence is to humbly bow in awe
and silence, with heart-felt thanksgiving for the experience.
92. There
are individuals in every church who want to hear over and over again certain
magic formulas that seem to them to guarantee soundness of faith and a doctrine
that is comfortable. Religion for them consists in the good feelings aroused by
the repetition of their beloved formulas. Those of us who do not choose to
follow this path to piety may be denounced with extreme harshness by our holier
brethren. It is not easy to love those folks.
93. The
purpose of prayer is not to get God to do what we want, but to adjust ourselves
to receive His plan and answer.
94. It is
extremely important to keep our mind active and pure. The inner life of a person
generally determines the future destiny.
95. Great
music has the ability to organize our confused feelings into distinct
apprehensions of life.
96. The
church ought to be the loveliest, well cared for, clean building in the
community. Dignity, form, and seemliness must rule in the making of the
sanctuary and the performance of its worship services. Let everything be
carefully and lovingly planned.
97. There
are certain fundamentals of the faith, but care must be taken or those very
fundamentals will become revered relics guarded by well meaning but
mean-spirited Fundamentalists.
98. God's
revelation of Himself is always progressive and growing. Hard study, deep
thought, and a quiet mind are usually required for us to receive His revelation.
99. The only good argument against a strong north wind is to put on
your overcoat.
100.Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.
101.We seldom are as good as our words or intentions, or as bad as we
might be.
102.Even in the worst of times, God has always had His faithful few.
Whatever others may do we are to keep faith and hope alive and march forward.
103.God still sends His heavenly messengers to make our spirits
sensitive to His message. In quietness and wonder let us open both mind and
heart to hear His truth.
104.When Jesus was born to Mary she felt with great certainty what God
wanted her to know. She did not let the vision fade. She pondered in her heart.
105.The shepherds had a great experience. They heard the angel's
announcement; they discovered the Savior and worshipped Him; they returned to
their sheep and everyday life. But they returned as changed men. They felt glory
and praise to God for all they had seen and heard. They told everyone who would
listen.
106.Many people go through life riding the gaily-painted prancing
horse of a merry-go-round. The motion and music may be fun, but they discover
that after many revolutions they have gone nowhere.
107.Only a personal, saving faith can cause an individual to say,
"Glory to God in the highest..." Then, in that glory you can go out to work and
serve.
108.Life today presents us with plenty of ideas, but a dearth of deep
assurances. God alone is able to provide deep and soul-satisfying assurances.
109.Well-meaning people in the congregation are preventing a spirit of
true worship and reverence by their applause during the services. They take away
the sense of holy and "other-directedness" of the experience and turn it into a
spectator event. Reverential awe is our need and it goes unfulfilled.
110.The worship of God in Christ is the central activity of the
Christian. It is vital that we ask the Holy Spirit to protect us from every
lesser activity and all distracting elements.
111. Talk about a boring fellow – Percy spent his evenings admiring
his collection of corn flakes.
112. Peace among men is not
the priority of God in the incarnation. It is a wonderful result, but the
beginning is the adoration of God Himself. Our schemes for making peace, no
matter how noble, will come to nothing until God comes into our hearts as we
place faith in Him through Jesus Christ.
113. What matters in life is not what we possess, but what we ask God
to do in the innermost reaches of our soul. The pity is that we forget this
truth and make the pursuit of false, temporary, and shallow satisfactions our
goals.
114. We need to ask God to lead us back to life's simplicities, to fresh, honest thoughts, and loving relationships that can make life rich and great.
115. The story of the birth of Jesus Christ into our world is one of heavenly contrasts. In simplicity and lowliness His life began, and it was with simple people and in simple places His work was done. He always made them see that matters of the soul were more important than everything they possessed.
116. It takes no skill to produce a child. Any uncouth nitwit can release enough sexual energy to do that, but it takes far more to become a parent. Being a parent is to be God-like, and there is always accountability to God.
117. Here is an axiom of faith: the child who has to go to the bathroom in the middle of a church service will always be sitting near the front pew.
118. Too many church musicians today only have the ability to produce ephemeral trifles that have neither good music, theology, nor lasting value.
119. There comes a point in writing a story when one more word ruins the story.
120. Thoreau once described a city as a place where people are lonely together. Loneliness is not the result of an absence of people; rather it is due to a lack of genuine caring relationships among people.
121. We must never forget the responsibility knowledge brings.
122. Isolation tends to produce a narrow environment and view of life. In such an environment people are likely to lose perspective, magnify trifles, and get on one another’s nerves. It is vital that we broaden our horizons, deepen our consciousness of fellowship with Christ, and take steps to keep growing.
123. The mercies of God are not limited by our failure to appropriate them. His mercy endures forever.
124. Remember the tiny mustard seed. If properly sown and cared for, it will grow and be quite large. Christian history furnishes us with many examples of small beginnings that have resulted in great movements for good. Never forget, growth is God’s affair.
125. There is always the danger that by the time a great idea gets organized and ready to be put into practice, the original impulse or motive will be forgotten. Minor details may be substituted for the great idea and become the preoccupation, thereby canceling the whole matter.
126. Christian prayer is to pray within the bounds of God’s love and nature, filled with a spirit of reverence and obedience to His will. The great danger is that our faith will place limits on God’s ability to change the world and us. There are mountains of evil and wrong that need to be moved, and all too often we have more faith in immovable mountains than in God’s ability to move them! Our faith many be directed toward keeping a status quo and that delays the coming of God’s Kingdom. Real and true prayer – real and true faith – provides a channel for the grace and power of God. We are called on to pray and have faith without placing limits on God! We are to set no limits on the possibilities of prayer. Jesus prayed, “Not My will, but Thine be done.” That is our example and guide for prayer.
127. It is a mistake to think of evil in general and abstract terms. It would be easy to resist temptation in general, because it never comes that way. Evil and temptation come upon us in specific details and particular situations. To win a victory we need spiritual and ethical sensitiveness to see the details of our situation, even details that may not seem to be of great importance. This kind of vigilant mental alertness will turn us to God for the help and protection we need.
128. Daily life is filled with inconsequential choices. Out task is to dismiss most and try to make sense of those that remain. The Holy Spirit will be our Guide to make the right and proper choices.
129. Robert Louis Stevenson in The Master of Ballantree speaks of the malady of not wanting. It is a malady from which many people suffer. We want a good life, power, position, education, skill, happiness, and the like, but not enough to pay the price. Many a person will deliberately choose not to be what he might have become, and has it in him to become, because he does not want to pay the price.
130. The word of God provides us with all the tools we need to stay globally minded and locally relevant at the same time.
131. It is always the details that test our claims made in general and sweeping terms.
132. When we face any situation in life with Jesus it becomes a new situation. He drives out fear and despair. He gives us faith and hope. All things become new with Jesus, for the last word always belongs to God.
133. With all the conflicts of the past in mind, the old European man said, “Always keep enough gold on hand to bribe the border guards.”
134. Dogs don’t bark at parked cars.
135. A Christian must see all things in the light of God’s eternity, for our life, whatever its length, is a journey toward God. It is this basic thought that decides the importance that we attach to anything and dictates our conduct. This idea is the dynamic of our life. It is only in the light of eternity that the true value of things can be seen.
136. It often happens that a person’s greatness lies not so much within himself but in the task he is given to do.
137. A lie is easily resisted when it is told as a lie. It is when it is presented as truth that it becomes menacing. All things must be tested by the words and presence of Jesus Christ.
138. It would be easier to win a dogsled race with a team of Chihuahuas than to win an argument with someone who knows all things about everything.
139. There is a strong movement today that demands we be politically correct in our speech and social conduct. It is very hard when those in control have a “gotcha” mentality.
140. This guy was born ignorant and has been losing ground ever since.
141. We need some solid reality in our rapidly changing world. Sometimes its not as bad as it looks. Its worse!
142. People today don’t think very often about the problem of evil and sin as a personal problem. We have been lulled to sleep, and perhaps been duped or brainwashed. We use many a ploy to rob evil of its reality and living terrors. The Bible, however, is bold and forceful as it describes the forces of evil performing daily work on individual persons, corporate bodies, or whole nations. Whether we like to admit it or not, the Bible clearly teaches that the devil is real, and fills the air with opportunities to sin and perform works of evil.
143. There are a few core ideas that define what it means to be an American. They are: 1) individuals are responsible for themselves, their behavior and actions, and for their own happiness. 2) individuals have natural and God-given rights essential to the pursuit of happiness. 3) government can properly promote only the general welfare of citizens, not the welfare of special and particular groups. 4) government exists to secure our rights, not to create and deliver us happiness.
144. He had neither the wisdom to speak clearly enough to be understood, nor the wit to sit down and shut up.
145. Zeal without knowledge may turn into fanaticism, even as knowledge without zeal may become dead. When zeal and knowledge are not in a proper balance there is the danger that we will become less than fully Christian.
146. Heresy-hunting for the sake of orthodoxy will kill love. Orthodoxy may be achieved but at the price of losing fellowship. When that happens, orthodoxy has cost too much, for all the orthodoxy in the world will not take the place of love.
147. The Bible teaches that some of the richest lessons are learned only in facing very difficult events and circumstances. For a Christian the difficult times ought always to be steppingstones in our spiritual growth, development, and usefulness. (see Psalm 119:71)
148. Whatever our age or stage in life, God still has much truth to teach us from His word. Our task is to listen, learn, and do what He reveals to us. There is always a “next step” He wants us to take.
149. True humility results when we realize that all we are and have are derived from God and others. We have not, in and of ourselves, brought about anything new. All we can do is receive, take, use, rearrange and reorder what was here before us. When we learn to live and walk under the strong direction, correction, and protection of God we begin to develop humility.
150. Artificial urgency has infected our society. We run helter-skelter trying to cram into today what could just as well be left until tomorrow. It’s an insidious disease that wrecks the lives of countless people.
151. One of the greatest experiences of being a Christian is that there is always more to learn, know, and do. The larger the sphere of light in which you stand, the more darkness there is on the circumference.
152. One of the first lessons to learn about living the good life is not to expect applause from those you help. The oppressed and needy are most often ungrateful to their benefactor. Do your goodness to serve God and to please Him. Do it well, with enthusiasm and thanksgiving. Do it for God’s sake alone.
153. The true greatness of a person is revealed by how he treats those who have no power or ability to do him any favor.
154. The more complicated life becomes, the more necessary it is that we have our priorities right. There are so many things of little value and importance that vie for first place.
155. You should never put liquid Joy in the dishwasher. It floods the kitchen with soap bubbles and makes your wife question your sanity.
156. The story of the birth of Jesus into our world is one of heavenly contrasts. In simplicity and lowliness His life began, and it was with simple people and in simple places His work was done. He always made people see that matters of the soul were more important than anything they possessed. We need to ask God to lead us back to life’s simplicities, to fresh, honest thoughts, and loving relationships. That is what will make life rich and great.
157. Peace among men is not the priority of God in the incarnation. It is a wonderful result, but the beginning is the adoration of God Himself. Our schemes for making peace, no matter how noble, will come to nothing until God comes into our hearts as we place faith in Him through Jesus Christ.
158. The priority of God is clear. The whole message of the New Testament is built on grateful response to God for His grace – His prevenient grace. When we realize that grace was at work in our life even before we knew God, it is an extremely humbling discovery. It leads us to open our heart, mind, and soul in thankfulness for what God has given in Jesus Christ. The result is a deep-soul peace that is beyond our ability to understand.
159. The worship of God in and through Christ is the central activity of the Christian. It is vital that we ask the Holy Spirit to protect us from every lesser activity and all disturbing elements.
160. Well-meaning people in the congregation are preventing a spirit of true worship and reverence by their applause during the services. This takes away the holy and “other directedness” of the experience and turns parts of the service into a spectator event. Reverential awe is our need when we encounter the Hoy God. I need to stand in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how He could love me, a sinner, condemned, and unclean.
161. The shepherds had a great experience. They heard the angel’s announcement; discovered the Savior and worshiped Him; and returned to their sheep changed men. They felt glory and praise to God for all they had seen and heard, and they told all who would listen. God still sends His heavenly messengers to make our spirits sensitive to His message. In quietness and wonder, let us hear His truth.