Best 112 quotes of Hosea Ballou on MyQuotes

A careless and blasphemous use of the name of the Divine Being is not only sinful, but it is also prima facie evidence of vulgar associations.

A good smile is the sunshine of wisdom.

All our possessions are as nothing compared to health, strength, and a clear conscience.

A single bad habit will mar an otherwise faultless character, as an ink-drop soileth the pure white page.

As the sun's rays will irradiate even the murky pool, and make its stagnant waters to shine like silver, so doth God's goodness and tender mercy, towards the greatest sinner, and the blackest heart, make his own image visible there!

As "unkindness has no remedy at law," let its avoidance be with you a point of honor.

A true religious instinct never deprived man of one single joy; mournful faces and a sombre aspect are the conventional affectations of the weak-minded.

Attempt to teach the young but little at a time; this will be easier to impart, easier to receive, and surer to be retained.

A wise Providence consoles our present afflictions by joys borrowed from the future.

Be circumspect in your dealings, and let the seed you plant be the offspring of prudence and care; thus fruit follows the fair blossom, as honor follows a good life.

Between the humble and contrite heart and the majesty of Heaven there are no barriers; the only password is prayer.

Brevity and conciseness are the parents of correction.

Death comes to us, under many conditions, with all the welcome serenity of sleep.

Disease is the retribution of outraged Nature.

Doubt is the incentive to truth and inquiry leads the way.

Doubt that creed which you cannot reduce to practice.

Duty itself is supreme delight when love is the inducement and labor. By such a principle the ignorant are enlightened, the hard-hearted softened, the disobedient reformed, and the faithful encouraged.

Education commences at the mother's knee, and every word spoken within hearsay of little children tends toward the formation of character.

Embark on no enterprise which you cannot submit to the test of prayer.

Envy may justly be called "the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity;" it is the most acid fruit that grows on the stock of sin, a fluid so subtle that nothing but the fire of divine love can purge it from the soul.

Error is always more busy than truth.

Exaggeration is a blood relation to falsehood and nearly as blamable.

Faith, in order to be genuine and of any real value, must be the offspring of that divine love which Jesus manifested when He prayed for His enemies on the cross.

Falsehood is cowardice, the truth courage.

Few things in this world more trouble people than poverty, or the fear of poverty; and, indeed, it is a sore affliction; but, like all other ills that flesh is heir to, it has its antidote, its reliable remedy. The judicious application of industry, prudence and temperance is a certain cure.

Folly is like the growth of weeds, always luxurious and spontaneous; wisdom, like flowers, requires cultivation.

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul; and the heart of man knoweth none more fragrant.

Hatred is self-punishment. Hatred it the coward's revenge for being intimidated.

Hatred is self-punishment.

Honest and courageous people have very little to say about either their courage or their honesty. The sun has no need to boast of his brightness, nor the moon of her effulgence.

How can there be pride in a contrite heart? Humility is the earliest fruit of religion.

How quickly a truly benevolent act is repaid by the consciousness of having done it!

How white are the fair robes of Charity as she walketh amid the lowly habitations of the poor!

Humanity, in the aggregate, is progressing, and philanthropy looks forward hopefully.

Idleness is emptiness; the tree in which the sap is stagnant, remains fruitless.

If gratitude is due from children to their earthly parent, how much more is the gratitude of the great family of men due to our father in heaven.

If our Creator has so bountifully provided for our existence here, which is but momentary, and for our temporal wants, which will soon be forgotten, how much more must He have done for our enjoyment in the everlasting world?

If we agree in love, there is no disagreement that can do us any injury, but if we do not, no other agreement can do us any good. Let us endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace.

If we are at peace with God and our own conscience, what enemy among men need we fear?

I have somewhere read that conscience not only sits as witness and judge within our bosoms, but also forms the prison of punishment.

It is a glorious occupation, vivifying and self-sustaining in its nature, to struggle with ignorance, and discover to the inquiring minds of the masses the clear cerulean blue of heavenly truth.

It is better to be the builder of our own name than to be indebted by descent for the proudest gifts known to the books of heraldry.

It is easy to be beautiful; it is difficult to appear so.

It is in sickness that we most feel the need of that sympathy which shows how much we are dependent upon one another for our comfort, and even necessities. Thus disease, opening our eyes to the realities of life, is an indirect blessing.

It is my humble prayer that I may be of some use in my day and generation.

It is the goodly outside that sin puts on which tempteth to destruction. It has been said that sin is like the bee, with honey in its mouth, but a sting in its tail.

It is the nature of intellect to strive to improve in intellectual power.

It is vain to trust in wrong; it is like erecting a building upon a frail foundation, and which will directly be sure to topple over.

It is very questionable, in my mind, how far we have the right to judge one of another, since there is born within every man the germs of both virtue and vice. The development of one or the other is contingent upon circumstances.

It is what we give up, not what we lay up, that adds to our lasting store.