Hosea Ballou Quotes & Sayings

Remember, when incited to slander, that it is only he among you who is without sin that may cast the first stone. — Hosea Ballou

Those who commit injustice bear the greatest burden. — Hosea Ballou

Prosperity seems to be scarcely safe, unless it be mixed with a little adversity. — Hosea Ballou

Disease is the retribution of outraged Nature. — Hosea Ballou

With regard to manner, be careful to speak in a soft, tender, kind and loving way. Even when you have occasion to rebuke, be careful to do it with manifest kindness. The effect will be incalculably better. — Hosea Ballou

Obedience sums up our entire duty. — Hosea Ballou

Suspicion is far more to be wrong than right; more often unjust than just. It is no friend to virtue, and always an enemy to happiness. — Hosea Ballou

Experience is retrospect knowledge. — Hosea Ballou

The law of heaven is love. — Hosea Ballou

Brevity and conciseness are the parents of correction. — Hosea Ballou

Reproof, especially as it relates to children, administered in all gentleness, will render the culprit not afraid, but ashamed to repeat the offence. — Hosea Ballou

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

To talk of luck and chance only shows how little we really know of the laws which govern cause and effect. — Hosea Ballou

Of all the ingenious mistakes into which erring man has fallen, perhaps none have been so pernicious in their consequences, or have brought so many evils into the world, as the popular opinion that the way of the transgressor is pleasant and easy. — Hosea Ballou

The cloudy weather melts at length into beauty, and the brightest smiles of the heart are born of its tears. — Hosea Ballou

It is but a step from companionship to slavery when one associates with vice. — Hosea Ballou

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

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. — Hosea Ballou

Most people who commit a sin count on some personal benefit to be derived therefrom, but profanity has not even this excuse. — Hosea Ballou

Prosperity is very liable to bring pride among the other goods with which it endows an individual; it is then that prosperity costs too dear. — Hosea Ballou

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

Preaching is to much avail, but practice is far more effective. A godly life is the strongest argument you can offer the skeptic. — Hosea Ballou

Theory, from whatever source, is not perfect until it is reduced to practice. — Hosea Ballou

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. — Hosea Ballou

A chaste and lucid style is indicative of the same personal traits in the author. — Hosea Ballou

That alone can be called true refinement which elevates the soul of man, purifying the manners by improving the intellect. — Hosea Ballou

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

The oppression of any people for opinion's sake has rarely had any other effect than to fix those opinions deeper, and render them more important. — Hosea Ballou

There is no doubt that religious fanatics have done more to prejudice the cause they affect to advocate than have its opponents. — Hosea Ballou

Never let your zeal outrun your charity. The former is but human, the latter is divine. — Hosea Ballou

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? — Hosea Ballou

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

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

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. — Hosea Ballou

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

Doubt is the incentive to truth and inquiry leads the way. — Hosea Ballou

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! — Hosea Ballou

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

There is no possible excuse for a guarded lie. Enthusiastic and impulsive people will sometimes falsify thoughtlessly, but equivocation is malice prepense. — Hosea Ballou

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

Obedience and resignation are our personal offerings upon the altar of duty. — Hosea Ballou

Prosperity often presages adversity. — Hosea Ballou

None but the guilty know the withering pains of repentance. — Hosea Ballou

There is one sure criterion of judgment as to religious faith in doctrinal matters; can you reduce it to practice? If not, have none of it. — Hosea Ballou

Pretension almost always overdoes the original, and hence exposes itself. — Hosea Ballou

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

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. — Hosea Ballou

The eye is the inlet to the soul, and it is well to beware of him whose visual organs avoid your honest regard. — Hosea Ballou

The heavens and the earth, the woods and the wayside, teem with instruction and knowledge to the curious and thoughtful. — Hosea Ballou

No one has a greater asset for his business than a man's pride in his work. — Hosea Ballou

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. — Hosea Ballou

That kind of discipline whose pungent severity is in the manifestations of paternal love, compassion, and tenderness is the most sure of its object. — Hosea Ballou

Lenity has almost always wisdom and justice on its side. — Hosea Ballou

Theories are always very thin and insubstantial, experience only is tangible. — Hosea Ballou

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

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

True repentance always involves reform. — Hosea Ballou

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. — Hosea Ballou

Obedience, as it regards the social relations, the rules of society, and the laws of nature and nature's God, should commence at the cradle and end only at the tomb. — Hosea Ballou

Mystery and innocence are not akin. — Hosea Ballou

Too many people embrace religion from the same motives that they take a companion in wedlock, not from true love of the person, but because of a large dowry. — Hosea Ballou

The eye is inlet to the soul. — Hosea Ballou

You cannot judge by outward appearances; the soul is only transparent to its Maker. — Hosea Ballou

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. — Hosea Ballou

Some clergymen make a motto, instead of a theme, of their texts. — Hosea Ballou

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. — Hosea Ballou

No reproof or denunciation is so potent as the silent influence of a good example. — Hosea Ballou

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

Moderation is the key of lasting enjoyment. — Hosea Ballou

There is no better rule to try a doctrine by than the question, Is it merciful, or is it unmerciful? If its character is that of mercy, it has the image of Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life. — Hosea Ballou

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. — Hosea Ballou

Never be so brief as to become obscure. — Hosea Ballou

A good smile is the sunshine of wisdom. — Hosea Ballou

The goodness of God to mankind is no less evinced in the chastisement with which He corrects His children than in the smiles of His providence; for the Lord will not cast off forever, but though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. — Hosea Ballou

A mother's love, in a degree, sanctifies the most worthless offspring. — Hosea Ballou

Hypocrisy is oftenest clothed in the garb of religion. — Hosea Ballou

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

Though ambition in itself is a vice, it often is also the parent of virtue. — Hosea Ballou

Servility is disgusting to a truly noble character, and engenders only contempt. — Hosea Ballou

True sympathy is putting ourselves in another's place; and we are moved in proportion to the reality of our imagination. — Hosea Ballou

There is nothing that needs to be said in an unkind manner. — Hosea Ballou

Everything in the world exists to end up in a book. — Hosea Ballou

Religion which requires persecution to sustain, it is of the devil's propagation. — Hosea Ballou

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

Ministers who threaten death and destruction employ weapons of weakness. Argument and kindness are alone effectual, flavored by the principles of Divine love. — Hosea Ballou

O sin, how you paint your face! how you flatter us poor mortals on to death! You never appear to the sinner in your true character; you make fair promises, but you never fulfil one; your tongue is smoother than oil, but the poison of asps is under your lip! — Hosea Ballou

Self-respect is the best of all. — Hosea Ballou

Doubt that creed which you cannot reduce to practice. — Hosea Ballou

There is no such things as 'best' in the world of individuals. — Hosea Ballou

Error is always more busy than truth. — Hosea Ballou

Moderation is the key to lasting enjoyment. — Hosea Ballou

Liberality should be tempered with judgment, not with profuseness. — Hosea Ballou

There is no such thing as "best" in the world of individuals. — Hosea Ballou

Rage is mental imbecility. — Hosea Ballou

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. — Hosea Ballou

Tears of joy are like the summer rain drops pierced by sunbeams. — Hosea Ballou

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. — Hosea Ballou

True charity is spontaneous and finds its own occasion; it is never the offspring of importunity, nor of emulation. — Hosea Ballou

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

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. — Hosea Ballou