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Home  »  Dictionary of Quotations  »  Spurgeon

James Wood, comp. Dictionary of Quotations. 1899.

Spurgeon

Economy is half the battle of life; it is not so hard to earn money as to spend it.

Habits leave their impress upon the mind, even after they are given up.

Have a spécialité, a work in which you are at home.

If we are not famous for goodness, we are practically infamous.

If you have a special weakness, do not expose it by attempting to do things which will bring it out.

In all matters prefer the less evil to the greater, and solace yourself under any ill with the reflection that it might be worse.

It has been well said that our anxiety does not empty to-morrow of its sorrows, but only empties to-day of its strength.

It is a great pity when the man who should be the head figure is a mere figure-head.

It is always vitally important to ourselves to be scrupulously true.

It is far easier to make a great rush than to plod steadily on through a long life.

It is harder to weave than to gather wool.

It is not well to make great changes in old age.

Judgment must sway the feelings and keep them in their right place, or harm will be done where good was intended.

Judicious persons will think all the less of us because of the ill-judged praises of our silly friends.

Just a kind word and a yielding manner, and anger and complaining may be avoided.

Lazarus did not go to Abraham’s bosom because he was poor, or every sluggard would go there easily.

Learn to say No! and it will be of more use to you than to be able to read Latin.

Leave all piggies’ ears alone rather than seize upon the wrong one.

Let the matter be good, and let the manner befit it.

Man is often a wolf to man, a serpent to God, and a scorpion to himself.

Many a father might say,… “I put in gold into the furnace, and there came out this calf.”

Men like advising the women better than doing right themselves.

Men who earn nothing but compliments are not likely to be very diligent in so unprofitable a service.

Money is like an icicle, soon found at certain seasons, and soon melted under other circumstances.

Must is a hard nut to crack, but it has a sweet kernel.

Nobody knows who may be listening; say nothing which you would not wish put in the daily paper.

None are more unjust in their judgments of others than those who have a high opinion of themselves.

None is so wretched as the poor man who maintains the semblance of wealth.

Nowadays compromise and indifference rule supreme, and instead of solid grit we have putty or wax.

Persons who are very plausible and excessively polite have generally some design upon you, as also religionists who call you “dear” the first time they see you.

Revenge of a wrong only makes another wrong.

Said will be a little ahead, but Done should follow at his heel.

Say nothing, and none can criticise thee.

Sincerity makes the least man to be of more value than the most talented hypocrite.

The furiously wicked have but a short career. Bad for them, but good for the universe.

The goose that lays the golden eggs likes to lay where there are eggs already.

The more of the solid there is in a man, the less does he act the balloon.

The profession of riches without their possession leads to the worst form of poverty.

The wishing-gate opens into nothing.

The worst of many is that their goodness is distributed rather than concentrated. They are like a sheet of water instead of being like a running stream, which can be used to turn a wheel.

There is no fatigue so wearisome as that which comes from want of work.

There’s a medium in thoughtfulness and gaiety: find it out and keep to it.

Things must turn when they can go no farther.

Trust in that man’s promise who dares to refuse that which he fears he cannot perform.

We are all, at times, unconscious prophets.

When any one ceases to care for his home, it is one of the worst possible signs of moral sickness.

When people laugh at their own jokes, their wit is very small beer, and is lost in its own froth.

When the sheep is too meek, all the lambs suck it.

When you do not know what to do, it is a clear indication that you are to do nothing.

When you see a man with a great deal of religion displayed in his shop-window, you may depend upon it he keeps a very small stock of it within.

Yield to God’s word and will, and you will escape many a calamity.

Yon cannot put a quartern loaf into a child’s head; you must break it up, and give him the crumb in warm milk.

“You must be in the fashion,” is the utterance of weak-headed mortals.