Our character is what we do when we think no one is looking. --H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Set Forth the Truth Plainly
Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves who everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. —2 Corinthians 4:1-2
If Pain Were Water
“If pain were water, the world would drown.” —Dennis Prager
Build Me a Son
“Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.
“Build me a son whose wishes will not take the place of deeds; a son who will know Thee - and that to know himself is the foundation stone of knowledge.
“Lead him, I pray, not in the path of ease and comfort, but under the stress and spur of difficulties and challenge. Here let him learn to stand up in the storm; here let him learn compassion for those who fail.
“Build me a son whose heart will be clear, whose goal will be high; a son who will master himself before he seeks to master other men; one who will reach into the future, yet never forget the past.
“And after all these things are his, add, I pray, enough of a sense of humor, so that he may always be serious, yet never take himself too seriously. Give him humility so that he may always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, and the weakness of true strength.
“Then I, his father, will dare to whisper, ‘I have not lived in vain.’” —General Douglas MacArthur, a prayer for his son
Love, Trust, Wrong
Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. --William Shakespeare
Poor Business
A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business. --Henry Ford
Decent and Indecent
“From all this we may learn that there are two races of men in this world, but only these two - the ‘race’ of the decent man and the ‘race’ of the indecent man. Both are found everywhere; they penetrate into all groups of society. No group consists entirely of decent or indecent people.” --Viktor E. Frankl
Weak and Strong
“Only the weak are cruel. Gentleness can only be expected from the strong.” —Leo Buscaglia
Struggle and Progress
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress….This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and those will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.” —Frederick Douglass, speech at Canandaigua, New York, 1857
If I Am
“If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?” —Rabbi Hillel
The Only Thing Necessary
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” —Edmund Burke
Feed a Hundred People
“If you can’t feed a hundred people, feed just one.” —Mother Teresa
Wicked and Innocent
“All things truly wicked start from innocence.” —Ernest Hemingway