Tryon Edwards citations

“He that never changes his opinions, never corrects his mistakes, and will never be wiser on the morrow than he is today.”

“Preventives of evil are far better than remedies; cheaper and easier of application, and surer in result.”

“The first step to improvement, whether mental, moral, or religious, is to know ourselves – our weaknesses, errors, deficiencies, and sins, that, by divine grace, we may overcome and turn from them all.”

“Age does not depend upon years, but upon temperament and health. Some men are born old, and some never grow so.”

“Hell is truth seen too late — duty neglected in its season.”

“Right actions for the future are the best apologies for wrong ones in the past – the best evidence of regret for them that we can offer, or the world receive.”

“Abuse of any one generally shows that he has marked traits of character. The stupid and indifferent are passed by in silence.”

“Facts are God’s arguments : we should be careful never to misunderstand or pervert them.”

“Contemplation is to knowledge, what digestion is to food – the way to get life out of it.”

“Temperance is to the body what religion is to the soul, the foundation and source of health and strength and peace.”

“Have something to say; say it; and stop when you’ve done.”

“Prejudices are rarely overcome by argument; not being founded in reason they cannot be destroyed by logic.”

“He is one of the noblest conquerors who carries on a successful warfare against his own appetites and passions, and has them under wise and full control.”

“This world is the land of the dying; the next is the land of the living.”

“Never be so brief as to become obscure.”

“Thoroughly to teach another is the best way to learn for yourself.”

“There is often as much independence in not being led, as in not being driven.”

“We should be as careful of the books we read, as of the company we keep. The dead very often have more power than the living.”

“Science has sometimes been said to be opposed to faith, and inconsistent with it. But all science, in fact, rests on a basis of faith, for it assumes the permanence and uniformity of natural laws – a thing which can never be demonstrated.”

“Deference is the instinctive respect which we pay to the great and good. The unconcious acknowledgement of the superiority or excellence of others.”

“Anecdotes are sometimes the best vehicles of truth, and if striking and appropriate are often more impressive and powerful than argument.”

“The desires and longings of man are vast as eternity, and they point him to it.”

“Always have a book at hand, in the parlor, on the table, for the family; a book of condensed thought and striking anecdote, of sound maxims and truthful apothegms. It will impress on your own mind a thousand valuable suggestions, and teach your children a thousand lessons of truth and duty. Such a book is a casket of jewels for your household.”

“Accuracy of statement is one of the first elements of truth; inaccuracy is a near kin to falsehood.”

“True humility is not an abject, groveling, self-despising spirit; it is but a right estimate of ourselves as God sees us.”

“Deviation from either truth or duty is a downward path, and none can say where the descent will end. – 'He that despiseth small things shall fall by little and little.”

“We never do evil so thoroughly and heartily as when led to it by an honest but perverted, because mistaken, conscience.”

“Sense, brevity and point are the elements of a good proverb.”

“Sinful and forbidden pleasures are like poisoned bread; they may satisfy appetite for the moment, but there is death in them at the end.”