Barclay Quotes & Sayings

Religion fails if it cannot speak to men as they are. — William Barclay

Of the 545 Lok Sabha seats, two are reserved for Indians of European descent and filled up through nominations. — Francis Barclay

At Tulliallan Police College DI John Rebus based at St. Leonard's police station in Edinburgh DI James "Jazz" McCullough based in Dundee DI Francis Gray based in Glasgow DS Stu Sutherland based in Livingston DI Thomas "Tam" Barclay based in Falkirk DC Allan Ward based in Dumfries DCI Archibald Tennant the Resurrection Men's boss Andrea Thomson career analyst The Rico Lomax Murder Case Eric "Rico" Lomax murder victim Fenella Rico's widow "Chib" Kelly Fenella's current lover, Glasgow bar owner and criminal Richard "Dickie" Diamond Rico's friend Malky Dickie's nephew, barman in Edinburgh Jenny Bell Dickie's onetime girlfriend Bernie Johns deceased Glasgow drug baron — Ian Rankin

The essential fact of Christianity is that God thought all men worth the sacrifice of his son. — William Barclay

The greatest thing is a life of obedience in the routine things of everyday life. No amount of fine feeling can take the place of faithful doing. — William Barclay

Jesus' coming is the final and unanswerable proof that God cares. — William Barclay

For when I came into the silent assemblies of God's people I felt a secret power among them which touched my heart; and as I gave way unto it I found the evil weakening in me and the good raised up — Robert Barclay

True worship is when the spirit, the immortal and invisible part of man, speaks to and meets with God, who is immortal and invisible. — William Barclay

Switching over to a hybrid car is one of those right things, but, unfairly or not, it still has a reputation among car enthusiasts as something you have to pedal really fast when you're on the ramp merging into traffic on the 401. — Linwood Barclay

Instead of our petulant, fretful, irritable human hastiness we should cultivate in our souls the patience which has learned to wait on God. — William Barclay

I truly believe that a dirty church is a powerless church. Sin absolutely steals our confidence and our boldness in Christ. Absolutely, without a doubt, living a sinful life quenches the great Holy Spirit, who is the power of this gospel. — Mark T. Barclay

Jesus was clear that He had come, not to make life easy, but to make men great. — William Barclay

Love always involves responsibility, and love always involves sacrifice. And we do not really love Christ unless we are prepared to face His task and to take up His Cross. — William Barclay

I was filling entire school notebooks with stories by Grade 3. Of course, they were double-spaced, and the handwriting was huge. — Linwood Barclay

In the time we have it is surely our duty to do all the good we can to all the people we can in all the ways we can. — William Barclay

According to which principle or hypothesis all the objections against the universality of Christ's death are easily solved; neither is it needful to recur to the ministry of angels, and those other miraculous means which they say God useth to manifest the doctrine and history of Christ's passion unto such, who, living in the places of the world where the outward preaching of the Gospel is unknown, have well improved the first and common grace. — Robert Barclay

She cried herself to sleep, and I held her until she stopped. I rolled over and pushed my face into the pillow. I figured if I could muffle my own crying, I would not wake her. — Linwood Barclay

These men used to be failures and losers. They used to trip over each other. They were in debt. They were discontented and distressed, but they started in that cave with David, and they gathered into him and sat at his feet, and he "captained" them. They slowly changed and grew and turned into mighty men of God - not mighty men of David - mighty men if God. They gathered to David, but he made them mighty men of God. — Mark T. Barclay

All the places my mind took me were places I did not want to go. — Linwood Barclay

Why the red letters? Because they are spirit, and they are life - that's why. The entrance of these Words of Christ not only brings knowledge and understanding to the mind but light to the soul. These words bring to us the heart of Christ and His teachings, and they insert into us His opinion, attitude, and Spirit. The absence of these red letters eliminates all the above. — Mark T. Barclay

If a man fights his way through his doubts to the conviction that Jesus Christ is Lord, he has attained to a certainty that the man who unthinkingly accepts things can never reach. — William Barclay

We will often find compensation if we think more of what life has given us and less about what life has taken away. — William Barclay

For Paul, the centre of the Christian faith was that we can never earn or deserve the favour of God, nor do we need to. The whole matter is one of grace, and all that we can do is to accept in wondering love and gratitude and trust what God has done for us. — William Barclay

Self-defense is a part of the law of nature;
nor can it be denied the community,
even against the king himself. — William Barclay

Al Gore, the former vice-president of the United States, lives in a mansion that uses more electricity than the average family's bungalow! David Suzuki rides on a bus that uses more fuel than a Smart car to get across Canada! Oh my God! And this is just the tip of the vanishing iceberg! — Linwood Barclay

We are trying not so much to make God listen to us as to make ourselves listen to him; we are trying not to persuade God to do what we want, but to find out what he wants us to do. It so often happens that in prayer we are really saying, 'Thy will be changed,' when we ought to be saying, 'Thy will be done.' The first object of prayer is not so much to speak to God as to listen to him. — William Barclay

When we believe that God is Father, we also believe that such a father's hand will never cause his child a needless tear. We may not understand life any better, but we will not resent life any longer. — William Barclay

A saint is someone whose life makes it easier to believe in God. — William Barclay

My life isn't much different than when I worked full time as a journalist. — Linwood Barclay

I don't subscribe much to the belief that things happen for a reason, that there's some higher power at the controls, directing all of us like we're in some cosmic summer stock production. Shit just happens is more or less my philosophy. — Linwood Barclay

And many to study so much are inclined, that utterly they fall out of their mind. — Alexander Barclay

There are certain things which are lost by being kept and saved by being used. Any individual talent is like that. If it is used, it will develop into something still greater. If someone refuses to use it, in the end that talent will be lost. Supremely so, life is like that. — William Barclay

The actor's relationship to the crew is really a big dynamic that influences everything. When actors are assholes, it becomes problematic. When actors are great and sensitive and prepared, it makes a huge difference. — Paris Barclay

The awful importance of this life is that it determines eternity. — William Barclay

You always want to go out there with the best book possible, so I listen to what my editors say, and even if they don't know how to fix it, I always seem to find a way. 'Trust Your Eyes' is the best book I've written, and I don't know if I can do any better. — Linwood Barclay

It may well be a sign of the decadence of the Church and the failure of Christianity that gifts have to be coaxed out of people, and that often they will not give at all unless they get something for their money in the way of entertainment or of goods. Giving which is real giving has a certain recklessness in it. — William Barclay

His voice might be stern, but in the sternness there was still the accent of yearning love; his eyes might flash fire, but the flame was the flame of love. — William Barclay

We come to the house of the Lord to study the Word of the Lord and learn how to live according to the teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, so when we step out of the church building and enter back into the activities of life, we can conquer the hindrances and attacks against us. — Mark T. Barclay

Remember yesterday.
Live for today.
Dream for tomorrow. — A. Barclay

The people who get the best out of others are those who insist on seeing them at their best. — William Barclay

If we find ourselves becoming critical of other people we should stop examining them, and start examining ourselves. — William Barclay

It's one thing, holding open the door for someone at a grocery store, or the library, or just about anyplace else. But the doughnut shop is a different thing altogether. This is a get-in-and-out-as-fast-as-you-can operation. There's no room for courtesy or chivalry here. — Linwood Barclay

The tragedy of life and of the world is not that men do not know God; the tragedy is that, knowing Him, they still insist on going their own way. — William Barclay

So often we have a kind of vague, wistful longing that the promises of Jesus should be true. The only way really to enter into them is to believe them with the clutching intensity of a drowning man. — William Barclay

Allow [Jesus] the access to that old nature through total surrender to Him and His Word. Once you do this without reservation, you will enter a new conquering lifestyle as well as a higher quality of life.

John 8:36
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. — Mark T. Barclay

To repent means to realize that the kind of life we are living is wrong and that we must adopt a completely new set of values. To that end, it involves two things. It involves sorrow for what we have been and it involves the resolve that by the grace of God we will be changed. — William Barclay

The Christian is a [person] of joy ... A gloomy Christian is a contradiction of terms, and nothing in all religious history has done Christianity more harm than its connection with black clothes and long faces. — William Barclay

The Christian man must aim at that complete obedience to God in which life finds its highest happiness, its greatest good, its perfect consummation, its peace. — William Barclay

The Christian is called upon to be the partner of God in the work of the conversion of men. — William Barclay

I suddenly became conscious that, for the first time in my whole life, I was essential to somebody. I could not enter a room without realising that he was instantly aware of my presence; I could not leave a room without knowing that he would at once feel and regret my absence. — Florence L. Barclay

The word grace emphasizes at one and the same time the helpless poverty of man and the limitless kindness of God. — William Barclay

Since we have placed justification in the revelation of Jesus Christ formed and brought forth in the heart, there working his works of righteousness and bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit. — Robert Barclay

I'm trying to compliment you," Barclay say. "Can't you just say thanks? — Elizabeth Norris

There is no joy in the world like the joy of bringing one soul to Christ. — William Barclay

Information is valuable. Librarians and libraries are, at best incidental; at worst, in the way. — Donald A. Barclay

You cannot relate to your pastor properly until you have thoroughly, in your heart, made him your pastor. — Mark T. Barclay

Some authors, when starting a novel, imagine a place first. Others, a character starts taking shape in their head. I start with a hook, a situation, a 'what if.' — Linwood Barclay

The only way to get our values right is to see, not the beginning, but the end of the way, to see things not only in the light of time but in the light of Eternity. — William Barclay

If being an asshole was all it took to get yourself killed, you and I would have been dead long ago. — Linwood Barclay

Jesus is the yes to every promise of God. — William Barclay

Christianity is unquestionably a personal experience. It is also unquestionably not a private experience. — William Barclay

It is characteristic of modern outlook that we want quick results. — William Barclay

It may be that one of our great faults in prayer is that we talk too much and listen too little. When prayer is at its highest we wait in silence for God's voice to us; we linger in His presence for His peace and His power to flow over us and around us; we lean back in His everlasting arms and feel the serenity of perfect security in Him. — William Barclay

For the Christian, heaven is where Jesus is. We do not need to speculate on what heaven will be like. It is enough to know that we will be for ever with Him. — William Barclay

God himself took this human flesh upon him. — William Barclay

The danger of prosperity is that it encourages a false independence. — William Barclay

There is a time when to avoid trouble is to store up trouble, and when to seek for a lazy and a cowardly peace is to court a still greater danger. — William Barclay

If we are to accept the teaching of Jesus at all, then the only test of the reality of a man's religion is his attitude to his fellow men. The only possible proof that a man loves God is the demonstrated fact that he loves his fellow men. — William Barclay

Faith in God is the instrument which enables men and women to remove the hills of difficulty which block their path. — William Barclay

But in one thing I would go beyond strict orthodoxy - I am a convinced universalist. I believe that in the end all men will be gathered into the love of God. — William Barclay

Strict orthodoxy can cost too much if it has to be bought at the price of love. All the orthodoxy in the world will never take the place of love. — William Barclay

The great fish eat the small. — Alexander Barclay

Therefore 'Christ hath tasted death for every man:' not only for all kinds of men, as some vainly talk, but for every one, of all kinds; the benefit of whose offering is not only extended to such, who have the distinct outward knowledge of his death and sufferings, as the same is declared in the scriptures, but even unto those who are necessarily excluded from the benefit of this knowledge by some inevitable accident; — Robert Barclay

We're half an hour from Toronto, which offers everything you could want from a city, and a couple of hours from beautiful vacation country. We have it all here, plus George W. Bush is not our president. — Linwood Barclay

Pride is the ground in which all the other sins grow, and the parent from which all the other sins come. — William Barclay

It's hard to make things right for everyone."

"But if everybody helped just one person, lots of people would get helped. — Linwood Barclay

It is fatally easy to think of Christianity as something to be discussed and not as something to be experienced. — William Barclay

threatened Joel, intimidated him into doing it.' But even if that were — Linwood Barclay

You're not limited by your circumstances only by your imagination. — Paris Barclay

So long as we judge ourselves by human comparisons, there is plenty of room for self-satisfaction, and self-satisfaction kills faith, for faith is born of the sense of need. But when we compare ourselves with Jesus Christ, and through Him, with God, we are humbled to the dust, and then faith is born, for there is nothing left to do but to trust to the mercy of God. — William Barclay

Our God is a three-part being (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Mark T. Barclay-The Missing Red Letters — Mark T. Barclay

I thank you for my friends, for those who understand me better than I understand myself. For those who know me at my worst, and still like me. For those who have forgiven me when I had no right to expect to be forgiven. Help me to be as true to my friends as I would wish them to be to me. — William Barclay

There is only one way to bring peace to the heart, joy to the mind, and beauty to the life; it is to accept and do the will of God. — William Barclay

The glory of God is not that of a despotic tyrant, but the splendour of love before which we fall not in abject terror but lost in wonder, love and praise. — William Barclay

God tested Abraham. Temptation is not meant to make us fail; it is meant to confront us with a situation out of which we emerge stronger than we were. Temptation is not the penalty of manhood; it is the glory of manhood. — William Barclay

It's not who wins the fight that's important, it's being willing to fight. If you get challenged and renege, everyone wants to take a shot at you. — Barclay Plager

When I was in my early 20s, my dream was to write mystery novels. I wanted to do what my favourite crime writer, Ross Macdonald, did - crank out a book a year. The only problem - and it was a considerable one - was that I stank. — Linwood Barclay

Of course, I have Gene Roddenberry to thank for the creation of Barclay. — Dwight Schultz

We are chosen for joy. However hard the Christian way, it is both in the traveling and in the goal, the way of joy. — William Barclay

God does not choose a person for ease and comfort and selfish joy but for a task that will take all that head and heart and hand can bring to it. God chooses a man in order to use him. — William Barclay

Facebook, from what I can tell, is the virtual equivalent of dropping into the homes of several million people, all of whom say at the same time: 'Hey! Let's set up the slide projector!' — Linwood Barclay

Darren Criss in particular enjoys his spanking. In case you were curious. — Paris Barclay

Crime fiction makes money. It may be harder for writers to get published, but crime is doing better than most of what we like to call CanLit. It's elementary, plot-driven, character-rich story-telling at its best. — Linwood Barclay

She had once been described, by one who saw below the surface, as a perfectly beautiful woman in an absolutely plain shell. — Florence L. Barclay

The worship of beauty is to me a religion. Nothing bad was ever truly beautiful; nothing good is ever really ugly. — Florence L. Barclay

Our countenance, expressions, and communication style should be filled with Jesus. When people hear us, they should hear Jesus. — Mark T. Barclay

To see what God is like, we must look at Jesus. He perfectly represents God to men in a form which they can see and know and understand. — William Barclay

There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why. — William Barclay

I suggest you stick to your needlework." "Only if I can stitch your lips shut. — Suzanne Barclay

Christianity does not look on this world as one which God very occasionally invades; it looks on it as a world from which he is never absent. — William Barclay