The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
The glory of Christianity is to conquer by forgiveness. It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Forgiveness is a powerful virtue that triumphs over conflict, even in challenging relationships.
Henry Ward Beecher emphasizes the profound strength of Christianity in promoting forgiveness, suggesting that true glory lies in resolving conflicts through this moral act. He also highlights the paradox of forgiveness, noting that it can often be more difficult to forgive those we are close to, such as friends, than to forgive those who may harm us from a distance.
Themes
ForgivenessChristianityStrengthRelationshipsPeace
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon discussing the power of forgiveness in faith.
More from Henry Ward Beecher
All quotes βA man who cannot get angry is like a stream that cannot overflow, that is always turbid. Sometimes indignation is as good as a thunderstorm in summer, clearing and cooling the air.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
No one can deal with the hearts of men unless he has the sympathy which is given by love.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
We are always on the anvil; by trials God is shaping us for higher things.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
No man can tell if he is rich or poor by turning to his ledger. It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
There are joys which long to be ours. God sends ten thousands truths, which come about us like birds seeking inlet; but we are shut up to them, and so they bring us nothing, but sit and sing awhile upon the roof, and then fly away.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
Similar quotes
We say primarily that the priority of this struggle is class. That Marx and Lenin and Che Guevara and Mao Tse-Tung, and anybody else who ever said or knew or practiced anything about revolution, always said that a revolution is a class struggle.
Fred HamptonRead
Every human being has an assortment of diverse identities, and it greatly matters which one is triggered by social situations, which hold up different kinds of mirrors. The same is true for nations.
Cass SunsteinRead
To preserve the freedom of the human mind then and freedom of the press, every spirit should be ready to devote itself to martyrdom; for as long as we may think as we will, and speak as we think, the condition of man will proceed in improvement
Thomas JeffersonRead
I am a lover of truth, a worshipper of freedom, a celebrant at the altar of language and purity and tolerance.
Stephen FryRead
If you find yourself loving any pleasure more than your prayers, any book better than the Bible, any house better than the house of the Lord, any table better than the Lord's table, any persons better than Christ, or any indulgence better than the hope of heaven β be alarmed.
Thomas GuthrieRead
If two people agree, one of them is unnecessary.
Henry FordRead