Quotes from Harry Emerson Fosdick

Every year the inventions of science weave more inextricably the web that binds man to man, group to group, nation to nation.

He is a poor patriot whose patriotism does not enable him to understand how all men everywhere feel about their altars and their hearthstones, their flag and their fatherland.

I hate war... for the dictatorships it puts in the place of democracies, and for the starvation that stalks after it.

Christians are supposed not merely to endure change nor even to profit by it but to cause it.

All intelligent faith in God has behind it a background of humble agnosticism.

Falsehood is never better than truth, theft better than honesty, treachery better than loyalty, cowardice better than courage.

We cannot all be great, but we can always attach ourselves to something that it great.

Peace is an awareness of reserves from beyond ourselves, so that our power is not so much in us as through us. Peace is the gift, not of volitional struggle, but of spiritual hospitality.

In the foothills of the Himalayas, one hears the prayer: "Oh Lord, we know not what is good for us. You know what it is. For it we pray."

Prayer opens our lives for God so his will can be done in and through us, because in true prayer we habitually put ourselves into the attitude of willingness to do whatever God wills.

God is not a cosmic bellboy for whom we can press a button to get things.

Nothing in human life least of all in religion is ever right until it is beautiful.

Hating people is like burning down your own house to get rid of a rat.

Preaching is personal counseling on a group basis.

He who chooses the beginning of the road chooses the place it leads to. It is the means that determines the end.

Every human life involves an unfathomable mystery, for man is the riddle of the universe, and the riddle of man in his endowment with personal capacities.

Life is like a library owned by the author. In it are a few books which he wrote himself, but most of them were written for him.

No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated, disciplined.

He who knows no hardships will know no hardihood. He who faces no calamity will need no courage. Mysterious though it is, the characteristics in human nature which we love best grow in a soil with a strong mixture of troubles.

Don't simply retire from something; have something to retire to.

Life asks not merely what you can do; it asks how much can you endure and not be spoiled.

It is cynicism and fear that freeze life; it is faith that thaws it out, releases it, sets it free.

No one can get inner peace by pouncing on it.

Picture yourself vividly as winning, and that alone will contribute immeasurably to success.