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1 " Perhaps this general degradation was the result of too much crowding, too little privacy, too much noise. You couldn't be decent if you weren't intelligent; you couldn't be intelligent if you couldn't think—and who could think in all this racket? Add the stench to the confusion of cramped quarters, and who could be self-respecting? "
― Lloyd C. Douglas , The Robe
2 " Hoarded things might easily become a menace; a mere fire-and-theft risk; a breeding-ground for destructive insects; a source of worry. Men would have plenty of anxieties, but there was no sense in accumulating worries over THINGS! That kind of worry destroyed your character. Even an unused coat, hanging in your closet—it wasn't merely a useless thing that did nobody any good; it was an active agent of destruction to your life. And your LIFE must be saved, at all costs. What would it advantage a man—Jesus had demanded—if he were to gain the whole world, and lose his own life? "
3 " Our life is like a land journey, too even and easy and dull over long distances across the plains, too hard and painful up the steep grades; but, on the summits of the mountain, you have a magnificent view--and feel exalted--and your eyes are full of happy tears--and you want to sing--and wish you had wings! And then--you can't stay there, but must continue your journey--you begin climbing down the other side, so busy with your footholds that your summit experience is forgotten. "
4 " I never thought much about flowers until I made the close acquaintance of a man who knew all about them. You would have thought that the butterflies and flowers were friends of his. 'See how richly they are clad,' he said. 'Even King Solomon did not have such raiment. "
5 " So much the better. The higher the price you have to pay, the more you will cherish it. "
6 " For many years a tree might wage a slow and silent warfare against an encumbering wall, without making any visible progress. One day the wall would topple--not because the tree had suddenly laid hold upon some supernormal energy, but because its patient work of self-defense and self release had reached fulfillment. The long-imprisoned tree had freed itself. Nature had had her way. "
7 " Viața noastră e ca o călătorie pe pământ: prea ușoară și monotonă de-a lungul întinselor câmpii, prea dură și neplăcută pe pantele abrupte; dar pe înălțimile munților te bucuri de o priveliște minunată, te simți exaltat, ochii se umplu de lacrimi, ai vrea să cânți, ai vrea să ai aripi. Dar nu poți să rămâi acolo, trebuie să-ți continui călătoria și începi să cobori pe partea cealaltă, atât de preocupat să alegi locul în care să-ți pui piciorul încât uiți plăcerea încercată pe culmi "
8 " E greu să-ți imaginezi lumea fără un creator, dar prefer să nu-mi închipui că faptele oamenilor sunt inspirate de ființe supranaturale. Îmi place mai mult să cred că oamenii și-au inventat brutalitatea fără ajutor divin. "
9 " Cauza necazurilor noastre nu se află în jilțul guvernului, ci în imediata apropiere, în trib, în familie, în noi înșine. "
10 " Nimic nu-i mai rău pentru caracterul omului decât să fi mândru de faptele tale bune. Fie că te mândrești cu musculatura, cu rapiditatea, cu forța, îndemânarea, îndurarea..., acestea sunt slăbiciuni comune nouă tuturor. Dar atunci când un om rămâne din virtutea lui doar cu îngâmfarea, este trist! "
11 " Lumea nu merită sacrificiul de a trăi pentru ea, cu atât mai puțin de a muri. "
12 " It is a queer thing. In a time of great need, when powerful leadership is demanded, the people—confused and excited—hear only the strident voices of the audacious, and refuse to listen to the voice of wisdom which, being wise, is temperate. "
13 " This faith, is not like a deed to a house in which one may live with full rights of possession. It is more like a kit of tools with which a man may build himself a house. The tools will be worth just what he does with them. When he lays them down, they will have no value until he takes them up again. "
14 " A talent for truth is real property. If a man loves truth better than things, people like to be around where he is. Almost everybody wishes he could be honest, but you can’t have the spirit of truth when your heart is set on dickering for things. "
15 " This faith...is not like a deed to a house in which one may live with full rights of possession. It is more like a kit of tools with which a man may build him a house. The tools will be worth just what he does with them. When he lays them down, they will have no value until he takes them up again. "
16 " This faith,' he declared deliberately, 'is not like a deed to a house in which one may live with full rights of possession. It is more like a kit of tools with which a man may build him a house. The tools will be worth just what he does with them. When he lays them down, they will have no value until he takes them up again. "
17 " Honorable men were keeping their word, my son, long before this Christian religion was proposed. "
18 " Are men and beasts of the same category? Is there no essential difference between them in respect to the quality of their value?…It is an offense to the majesty of the human spirit; for if any man deserves to be regarded as of the same quality as a beast of burden, then no man has any dignity left. "
19 " Her voice was unusually deep toned for a girl, he thought. Girls were always screaming what they had to say. Her throaty voice made you feel you had known her a long time. "
20 " Marcellus cudgeled his memory. What did he know about Arpino? Delicious little melons! Arpino melons! And exactly the right time for them, too. "