The true secret of giving advice is, after you have honestly given it, to be perfectly indifferent whether it is taken or not, and never persist in trying to set people right.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
The glory of Christianity is to conquer by forgiveness. It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Forgiveness is a powerful virtue that triumphs over conflict, even in challenging relationships.
Henry Ward Beecher emphasizes the profound strength of Christianity in promoting forgiveness, suggesting that true glory lies in resolving conflicts through this moral act. He also highlights the paradox of forgiveness, noting that it can often be more difficult to forgive those we are close to, such as friends, than to forgive those who may harm us from a distance.
Themes
ForgivenessChristianityStrengthRelationshipsPeace
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon discussing the power of forgiveness in faith.
More from Henry Ward Beecher
All quotes βA man who cannot get angry is like a stream that cannot overflow, that is always turbid. Sometimes indignation is as good as a thunderstorm in summer, clearing and cooling the air.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
No one can deal with the hearts of men unless he has the sympathy which is given by love.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
We are always on the anvil; by trials God is shaping us for higher things.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
No man can tell if he is rich or poor by turning to his ledger. It is the heart that makes a man rich. He is rich according to what he is, not according to what he has.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
There are joys which long to be ours. God sends ten thousands truths, which come about us like birds seeking inlet; but we are shut up to them, and so they bring us nothing, but sit and sing awhile upon the roof, and then fly away.
Henry Ward BeecherRead
Similar quotes
The most notable thing about Time is that it is so purely relative. A large amount of reminiscence is, by common consent, conceded to the drowning man; and it is not past belief that one may review an entire courtship while removing one's gloves.
O. HenryRead
Calumny is only the noise of madmen.
DiogenesRead
Sob, heavy world Sob as you spin, Mantled in mist Remote from the happy.
W. H. AudenRead
Take away the cause, and the effect ceases.
Miguel De CervantesRead
Child,' said the Lion, 'I am telling you your story, not hers. No one is told any story but their own.
C. S. LewisRead
Life is simply the reification of the process of living.
Ernst MayrRead