Quotes from Charles R. Swindoll

One of my great goals in life is to live long enough to where I am in the pulpit, preaching my heart out, and I die on the spot, my chin hits the pulpit - boom! - and I'm down and out. What a way to die!

When a person does something, it has the man or woman look about it. It drips with humanity. You can follow the logic of it and see the meaning behind it.

We need discernment in what we see and what we hear and what we believe.

Each day of our lives we make deposits into the memory banks of our children.

Anything under God's control is never out of control.

Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our attitudes toward life. The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it.

When you have vision it affects your attitude. Your attitude is optimistic rather than pessimistic.

A family is a place where principles are hammered and honed on the anvil of everyday living.

Don't be afraid of outgiving God. It is impossible to do that.

The remarkable thing is, we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.

It is easy for Christians to have the false impression that once we have established a relationship with Christ, which we believe sets us right with God, the problems of life will somehow scoot away or they will slowly be removed from our lives.

I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let's face it, friends make life a lot more fun.

There is nothing more fearful for the average person in our society than to stand before a group of people and speak.

People who soar are those who refuse to sit back, sigh and wish things would change. They neither complain of their lot nor passively dream of some distant ship coming in. Rather, they visualize in their minds that they are not quitters they will not allow life's circumstances to push them down and hold them under.

Rejoicing is clearly a spiritual command. To ignore it, I need to remind you, is disobedience.

Stand still... and refuse to retreat. Look at it as God looks at it and draw upon His power to hold up under the blast.

The happiest people I know are the ones who have learned how to hold everything loosely and have given the worrisome, stress-filled, fearful details of their lives into God's keeping.

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude to me is more important than facts.... We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.

The secret of living a life of excellence is merely a matter of thinking thoughts of excellence. Really, it's a matter of programming our minds with the kind of information that will set us free.

The swift wind of compromise is a lot more devastating than the sudden jolt of misfortune.

We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.

The pursuit of happiness is a matter of choice...it is a positive attitude we choose to express. It is not a gift delivered to our door each morning, nor does it come through the window. And it is certain that our circumstances are not the things that make us joyful. If we wait for them to get just right, we will never laugh again.

We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.