Henry Ward Beecher quotes

Born
June 24, 1813 Litchfield, Connecticut, US.

Died
March 8, 1887.

Occupation
Protestant Clergyman, abolitionist.

Henry Ward Beecher was an American Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, and speaker, known for his support of the abolition of slavery, his emphasis on God’s love, and his 1875 adultery trial.

Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself.
– Henry Ward Beecher

There is no friendship, no love, like that of the parent for the child.
– Henry Ward Beecher

We never know the love of a parent till we become parents ourselves.
– Henry Ward Beecher

The real man is one who always finds excuses for others, but never excuses himself.
– Henry Ward Beecher

We are always on the anvil; by trials God is shaping us for higher things.
– Henry Ward Beecher

Theology is a science of mind applied to God.
– Henry Ward Beecher

Of all the music that reached farthest into heaven, it is the beating of a loving heart.
– Henry Ward Beecher

Success is full of promise till one gets it, and then it seems like a nest from which the bird has flown.
– Henry Ward Beecher

Love is the river of life in the world.
– Henry Ward Beecher

Heaven will be inherited by every man who has heaven in his soul.
– Henry Ward Beecher

You and I do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.
– 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

Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.
– Henry Ward Beecher

Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made and forgot to put a soul into.
– 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

Selfishness is that detestable vice which no one will forgive in others, and no one is without himself.
– Henry Ward Beecher

The soul without imagination is what an observatory would be without a telescope.
– 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

Laughter is day, and sobriety is night; a smile is the twilight that hovers gently between both, more bewitching than either.
– Henry Ward Beecher

The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world’s joy.
– Henry Ward Beecher

It’s easier to go down a hill than up it but the view is much better at the top.
– Henry Ward Beecher

To become an able and successful man in any profession, three things are necessary, nature, study and practice.
– 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

The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things.
– Henry Ward Beecher

In this world, full often, our joys are only the tender shadows which our sorrows cast.
– Henry Ward Beecher

Children are unpredictable. You never know what inconsistency they are going to catch you in next.
– Henry Ward Beecher

The babe at first feeds upon the mother’s bosom, but it is always on her heart.
– Henry Ward Beecher

To array a man’s will against his sickness is the supreme art of medicine.
– Henry Ward Beecher

A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves.
– Henry Ward Beecher

The worst thing in this world, next to anarchy, is government.
– Henry Ward Beecher

Mirth is the sweet wine of human life. It should be offered sparkling with zestful life unto God.
– Henry Ward Beecher

Laughter is not a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is the best ending for one.
– 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

The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won’t.
– Henry Ward Beecher

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.
– Henry Ward Beecher

The mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom.
– Henry Ward Beecher

A library is not a luxury but one of the necessities of life.
– Henry Ward Beecher

A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs. It’s jolted by every pebble on the road.
– Henry Ward Beecher

We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started.
– Henry Ward Beecher

Every charitable act is a stepping stone toward heaven.
– 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

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

Our best successes often come after our greatest disappointments.
– Henry Ward Beecher

Tears are often the telescope by which men see far into heaven.
– Henry Ward Beecher

I never knew how to worship until I knew how to love.
– Henry Ward Beecher

It is not what we take up, but what we give up, that makes us rich.
– 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

Compassion will cure more sins than condemnation.
– 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

Every man should keep a fair-sized cemetery in which to bury the faults of his friends.
– Henry Ward Beecher

Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven.
– Henry Ward Beecher