Robert H. Schuller Quotes & Sayings

Tough times never last. Tough people do — Robert H. Schuller

Goals must never be from your ego, but problems that cry for a solution. — Robert H. Schuller

One classical role of the pulpit in Protestantism has been to 'preach sermons' which imply indoctrination more than education. Within this from of communication, there is an inherent, intrinsic inclination to intimidate, manipulate, and, hence, offend the person's most prized quality of humanness - his dignity. — Robert H. Schuller

Every person is responsible for all the good within the scope of his abilities, and for no more, and none can tell whose sphere is the largest. — Robert H. Schuller

You can often measure a person by the size of his dream. — Robert H. Schuller

I have discovered that you can go from nowhere to somewhere, from nothing to something, from a nobody to a somebody, from an empty person to a fulfilled one, if you have faith in God. — Robert H. Schuller

The Cross sanctifies the ego trip. For the Cross protected our Lord's perfect self-esteem from turning into sinful pride. — Robert H. Schuller

I realized that every sermon I preached should be designed not to 'teach' or 'convert' people, but rather to encourage them, to give them a lift. I decided to adopt the spirit, style, strategy and substance of a 'therapist' in the pulpit. — Robert H. Schuller

I was called to start a mission, not a church. There is a difference. — Robert H. Schuller

Come to me. Are you lost? I can see another way from where I live. The heart can see a path that's out of sight to the head-a path you'll surely overlook, left alone on your lofty perch up there, too distracted by your world to see the real world where I live. I live on the level of laughter, tears, and-yes-prayer. — Robert H. Schuller

Possibility-thinking is the long sought-after fountain of youth. — Robert H. Schuller

Classical theology defines sin as 'rebellion against God.' The answer is not incorrect as much as it is shallow and insulting to the human being. Every person deserves to be treated with dignity even if he or she is a 'rebellious sinner'. — Robert H. Schuller

High achievers spot rich opportunities swiftly, make big decisions quickly and move into action immediately. Follow these principles and you can make your dreams come true. — Robert H. Schuller

Never underestimate the value of an idea. Every positive idea has within its potential for success if it is managed properly. — Robert H. Schuller

Lord, make my life A window for Your light To shine through And a mirror to reflect Your love To all I meet. Amen. — Robert H. Schuller

God's forgiving grace is incomplete until he gives me - and I accept - a new kingdom-building dream and opportunity. — Robert H. Schuller

What we need is a theology of salvation that begins and ends with a recognition of every person's hunger for glory. — Robert H. Schuller

Optimism refuses to believe that the road ends without options. — Robert H. Schuller

Failure doesn't mean you are a failure it just means you haven't succeeded yet. — Robert H. Schuller

Our greatest lack is not money for any undertaking, but rather ideas, If the ideas are good, cash will somehow flow to where it is needed. — Robert H. Schuller

If the gospel of Jesus Christ can be proclaimed as a theology of self-esteem, imagine the health this could generate in society! — Robert H. Schuller

We are all children starving to experience and know the heart of reality. — Robert H. Schuller

Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly. — Robert H. Schuller

Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future. — Robert H. Schuller

The secret of success is to find a need and fill it, to find a hurt and heal it, to find somebody with a problem and offer to help solve it. — Robert H. Schuller

You never suffer from a money problem, you always suffer from an idea problem. — Robert H. Schuller

Turn your scars into stars. — Robert H. Schuller

The real minister's name that we honor is Jesus, not Schuller. — Robert H. Schuller

The kingdom of God is that invisible collection of committed Christians that transcends cultures, ideologies ... and creeds- all bound by the golden commitment to say nothing and do nothing that would attack the self-esteem, the self-respect, and the dignity of any other human being, whether or not they are committed members of the kingdom of God. The dignity of the person then is the irreducible cell of true Christianity. — Robert H. Schuller

I tell people, 'I was born in a little house at the dead end of a dirt road that had no name and no number, and you can go anywhere from nowhere.' — Robert H. Schuller

Always look at what you have left. Never look at what you have lost. — Robert H. Schuller

Twentieth century history of Christianity will name Oral Roberts as the voice that brought the Pentecostal movement to be taken seriously by mainline Christianity. — Robert H. Schuller

Success may or may not mean that you've acquired a lot. It does mean that you have become a generous person. — Robert H. Schuller

Quitting is never an option. The cows have to be milked come Hell or High Water. — Robert H. Schuller

What appears to be the end of the road may simply be a bend in the road. — Robert H. Schuller

I see the invisible. I believe the incredible. I attempt the impossible. — Robert H. Schuller

If you listen to your fears, you will die never knowing what a great person you might have been. — Robert H. Schuller

I have a reputation worldwide of being tolerant of all people and their views. I'm too well-educated to criticize a certain religion or group of people for what they believe in. It's called freedom. — Robert H. Schuller

Believe in dreams. Never believe in hurts ... You can't let the grief and the hurts and the breaking experiences of life control your future decisions. — Robert H. Schuller

Every problem has a limited life span. — Robert H. Schuller

I built my church on Easter services, Christmas Eve services, and Norman Vincent Peale. — Robert H. Schuller

It takes guts to get out of the ruts. — Robert H. Schuller

Faith is the courage to face reality with hope. — Robert H. Schuller

A mission is a place where you ask nonbelievers to come and find faith and hope and feel love. — Robert H. Schuller

My family and I would never receive royalties on the revenue that my materials brought into the church; materials that were created on our own personal time. — Robert H. Schuller

Commit yourself to a dream. Nobody who tries to do something great, but fails, is a total failure. Why? Because he can always be assured that he succeeded in life's most important battle; he defeated the battle of not trying. — Robert H. Schuller

Impossible? The word is a roadblock to progress! — Robert H. Schuller

Anybody who succeeds is helping people. The secret to success is find a need and fill it; find a hurt and heal it; find a problem and solve it. — Robert H. Schuller

Historical theology has too often failed to interpret repentance as a positive creative force ... Essentially, if Christianity is to succeed in the next millennium, it must cease to be a negative religion and must become positive. — Robert H. Schuller

There exists only one person who has the power to cast the deciding vote that will kill your dream...you! — Robert H. Schuller

Again and again, the impossible problem is solved when we see that the problem is only a tough decision waiting to be made. — Robert H. Schuller

Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come. — Robert H. Schuller

If only we could love ourselves enough to dare to approach God, what constructive dreams he would give us! What noble possibilities God wants to reveal to us - possibilities that would offer stimulation plus real security in service. But we feel too unworthy. So one layer of negative behavior is laid upon another until we emerge as rebellious sinners. But our rebellion is a reaction, not our nature. By nature we are fearful, not bad. — Robert H. Schuller

Be the artist you were born to be. — Robert H. Schuller

Turn your scars into stars by realising how lucky you are that things aren't worse. — Robert H. Schuller

I have had more honors than I've deserved and more rewards than I expected. It can be tempting just to say, 'Well, I'm going to retire.' But what would I do then? Sit in a chair and watch TV? Don't let fulfillment throw away your tomorrow. — Robert H. Schuller

All it takes is one idea to solve an impossible problem. — Robert H. Schuller

There are two views of interpreting the Bible in America: that every word is literally the truth without qualification, and then the other view is, it's called plenary inspiration, which holds that all religious truth taught in the Bible is true from God, but each word is not necessarily interpreted literally. — Robert H. Schuller

A lack of resources may slow you down, but don't let it make you throw away a big idea. Give God five years, ten years, fifteen years, twenty years, twenty-five years, thirty years, forty years, or more. Give God all the time He needs to bring the resources to you! — Robert H. Schuller

Roman Catholics utter their Papal edicts, Protestants quote their Bible, Fundamentalists declare their orthodox theological dogmas, and we are all expected to renounce private reflection and peacefully acquiesce to these pronouncements. And the result is that the dignity of the person is violated by such oppressive, intelligence-smothering forms of communication. — Robert H. Schuller

I think that there are cancers of the body, but I think they are what I would call cancer of the emotional system, too. These are the kind of diseases or illnesses or sicknesses of the emotional system that are as incurable as cancer. — Robert H. Schuller

How we express ourselves in worship remains up in the air. — Robert H. Schuller

What would you do if you knew you could not fail? — Robert H. Schuller

Life is but a moment, death also is but another. — Robert H. Schuller

Goals are not only absolutely necessary to motivate us. They are essential to really keep us alive. — Robert H. Schuller

Inch by inch, it's a cinch. — Robert H. Schuller

If you're going to counsel people - and that's all my ministry is, it's a counseling ministry more than anything else - people have to believe that they can trust you and that they can listen to you, that you're going to try to help them and not just politically try to convert them to your views. — Robert H. Schuller

Nobody has a money problem - there are only idea problems. — Robert H. Schuller

Marriage may restrict your activity, but it increases your pleasure. It permits sex without shame, fear, or guilt. — Robert H. Schuller

We all know that a church is not a building. — Robert H. Schuller

In difficult times, people too often lose the ability to face the future optimistically. They begin to think about their tomorrow's negatively. They forget that the tough times will pass. They concentrate on the problems of today rather than on the opportunities of tomorrow. In so doing, they not only lose the potential of today, they also throw away the beauty of tomorrow. — Robert H. Schuller

Through faith, the weak times can become peak times. — Robert H. Schuller

We are born to soar. We are children of God ... The Fatherhood of God offers a deep spiritual cure for the inferiority complex and lays the firm foundation for a solid spiritual self-esteem. — Robert H. Schuller

It's impossible to fail completely and it's impossible to succeed perfectly. — Robert H. Schuller

It's unfulfilled dreams that keep you alive. — Robert H. Schuller

The good news is that the bad news can be turned into good news when you change your attitude. — Robert H. Schuller

Doomed are the hotheads! Unhappy are they who lose their cool and are too proud to say, I'm sorry. — Robert H. Schuller

I was never close to Jerry Falwell because he had his ministry, I had mine. And we came from different theological training and from a different psychological education. — Robert H. Schuller

Don't violate the law, but don't reject an idea because it's illegal. You might be able to get the law changed. — Robert H. Schuller

Tough times never last, but tough people do. — Robert H. Schuller

God flourished my ministry and my career of creative thinking, communicating and writing back 50 years. — Robert H. Schuller

The classical error of historical Christianity is that we have never started with the value of the person. Rather, we have started from the 'unworthiness of the sinner,' and that starting point has set the stage for the glorification of human shame in Christian theology. — Robert H. Schuller

If you will make a deliberate decision to develop a positive attitude toward opportunities and obstacles, you are on your way toward having what is the most important quality in education: the power of positive thinking. — Robert H. Schuller

Giving never moves in a straight line - it always moves in circles. — Robert H. Schuller

Impossible situations can become possible miracles. — Robert H. Schuller

The core of sin is a lack of self-esteem ... Sin is psychological self-abuse ... the most serious sin is one that causes me to say, 'I am unworthy. I may have no claim to divine sonship if you examine me at my worst.' For once a person believes he is an 'unworthy sinner,' it is doubtful if he can really honestly accept the saving grace God offers in Jesus Christ. — Robert H. Schuller

Pessimism drops the curtain on tomorrow. — Robert H. Schuller

Every achiever that I have ever met says, 'My life turned around when I began to believe in me'. — Robert H. Schuller

Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the apples in a seed. — Robert H. Schuller

When you can't solve the problem, manage it. — Robert H. Schuller

Today's accomplishments were yesterday's impossibilities. — Robert H. Schuller

Labels such as, 'evangelical', 'fundamental', 'charismatic', 'liberal' contribute to polarization and produce a climate of implied or outspoken distrust. Respectful dialogue becomes virtually impossible. What we desperately need to offset this disunity and distrust is a new and cleansing theology of communication. — Robert H. Schuller

Grace is God's love in action for those who don't deserve it. — Robert H. Schuller

We are the Love, loving. — Robert H. Schuller

What do I mean by sin? Answer: Any human condition or act that robs God of glory by stripping one of His children of their right to divine dignity ... I can offer still another answer: 'Sin is any act or thought that robs myself or another human being of his or her self-esteem'. — Robert H. Schuller

Yes, you can be a dreamer and a doer too, if you will remove one word from your vocabulary: impossible. — Robert H. Schuller

I am not fully forgiven until I allow God to write his new dream for my life on the blackboard of my mind.. God has a great plan to redeem society. He needs me and wants to use me. — Robert H. Schuller

Nothing is more important than honesty in prayer. There are no pretensions in prayer, so the best place to begin is wherever you are. — Robert H. Schuller

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail? — Robert H. Schuller

The core of original sin, then is LOT - Lack of Trust. Or, it could be considered an innate inability to adequately value ourselves. Label it a 'negative self-image,' but do not say that the central core of the human soul is wickedness ... positive Christianity does not hold to human depravity, but to human inability. — Robert H. Schuller