"Surely there occurs to every uncorrupted heart some stirrings of a diviner life; some consciousness, obscure and transient it may be, but deep and authoritative, of a nobler calling than we have yet obeyed; a rooted dissatisfaction with self, a suspicion of some poison in the will, a helpless veneration for something that is gazed at with a sigh as out of reach. It is the touch of God upon us, his hand laid upon our conscience, and felt by all who are not numb with the paralytic twist of sin. Even the indifferent mind of self-indulgence, drowsy with too much sense, complacent with too much self, scarcely escapes the sacred calling." Martineau.

"When the mother calls her children to her knees to speak to them of God, she is herself the greatest object in their affections. It is by her power over them that God becomes Venerable; by the purity of her eye that he becomes Holy; by the silence of the hour that he becomes Awe-inspiring; by the tenderness of her tones that he becomes Dear."

  "St. Claude, a man of deep faith and devotion, was unjustly imprisoned in the Bastille. At the same time there was a man confined of so ferocious and brutal a disposition that no one dared to approach him. He seldom spoke without a volley of threats and blasphemies, and struck every one who approached him with the utmost violence. Every possible plan to humanize this monster had proved in vain, when the governor entreated Claude to undertake the work. His humility would have induced him to decline, but persuasion prevailed. Accordingly, the humble Christian was shut up with this human brute, who exhausted his ferocity in reviling’s, blows, and yet more savage tokens of barbarity of his disposition. While this treatment continued, silence, patience, and mildness, were the only reply of the man of God. His prayers achieved the rest. The monster at length looked on the face of his companion, suddenly threw himself at his feet, and embracing them, burst into a flood of tears, entreated his forgiveness, and sought him to give him instructions in the religion which thus influenced his conduct. He became entirely changed, and even when his liberty was given him, he could scarcely be prevailed on to leave his Christian friend."

Author unknown.

"The godly mother of Rev. John Newton died when he was but seven years old, leaving him with only the memory of her religious teaching and goodness. At an early age he became a dissipated sailor. The memory of his mother brought him to himself and started a stream of incalculable influence. Through him Claudius Buchanan was converted, who became a missionary to India. He wrote, "The Star in the East," which made Adoniram Judson a missionary to India. Newton was also the means of converting Thomas Scott, the commentator. Through him Cowper was rescued from despondency and his harp tuned to the key of religion. His influence upon the career or Wilberforce is asserted, and also that the abolition of the slave trade was one of its results. Wilberforce wrote, "A Practical View of Christianity," a useful book, the instrument of converting Leigh Richmond the author of "The Dairyman's Daughter," which has saved thousands. And back of it all stands the faithful mother of John Newton."  

 "It is the prerogative of genius to confer a measure of itself upon inferior intelligences. In reading the works of Milton, Bacon and Newton, thoughts greater than the growth of our own minds are transplanted into them; and feelings more profound, sublime, or comprehensive, are, insinuated amidst our ordinary train; while, in the eloquence with which they are clothed, we learn a new language, worthy of the new ideas created in us. By habitual communion with superior spirits, we are not only enabled to think their thoughts, speak their dialect, feel their emotions, but our own thoughts are refined, our scanty language is enriched, our common feelings are elevated; and though we may never attain their standard, yet by keeping company with them, we shall rise above our own." James Montgomery.

  "He who spreads the most happiness and lessens the most distress within his own circle is undoubtedly the best friend to his country and the world, since nothing more is necessary than for all men to imitate his conduct, to make the greatest part of the misery of the world cease in a moment. While the ambitious passions of some, are merely to shine and be noticed, or to govern, and of some to accumulate. Let us have one great passion alone that influences our breasts, the passion which reason validates, which conscience approves, which heaven inspires, -- that of being and doing good." 

Robert Hall, photo by Steve McCurry.

 "It's true, that some men work themselves to death, but that is a small number compared to those who die from violating the laws of health; and death from excessive activity is far preferable to death from rust. The spirits may be exhausted by employment, but they are utterly destroyed by idleness. Burton, in his old book, sums up the causes of depression and reduces them to two, solitariness and idleness. Now when Charles Lamb was set free from the desk job which he was chained to for years, was in ecstasy and joy. He said, "I would not go back to my prison for ten years longer, for a million dollars. I am free! free as air! I will live another fifty years! Positively the best thing a man can do is nothing!"

Two weary years passed, and Lamb's feelings had undergone a complete change. He found that leisure, though a pleasant garment to look at, is a very bad one to wear. He found that his humdrum task the seemingly dreary drudgery of desk-work, was a blessing in disguise. He wrote his friend and said, "I assure you having no work is worse than overwork; the mind preys on itself, the most unwholesome of food. I have ceased to care for almost anything." How many like him, cursed with too much leisure, take too much of something else to make their gloom deeper and their misfortunes more! Colton observes that boredom has made more gamblers than greed, more drunkards than thirst, and more suicides than despair." William Matthews.