"Every one who wishes to gain true knowledge must climb the Hill Difficulty alone, and since there is no royal road to the summit, I must zigzag it in my own way. I slip back many times, I fall, I stand still, I run against the edge of hidden obstacles, I lose my temper and find it again and keep it better, I trudge on, I gain a little, I feel encouraged, I get more eager and climb higher and begin to see the widening horizon. Every struggle is a victory."
— Helen Keller
Source: The Story of My Life (1903), ch. XX
Adversity, difficulties, shaping
Views: 530
"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."
— C.S. Lewis
Source: Mere Christianity, Book IV, ch. 9 "Counting the Cost"
Pain, life, shaping
Views: 472
"If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him."
— C.T. Studd
Source: Norman P. Grubb, C. T. Studd: Athlete and Pioneer (1933), ch. 15
Glory, lost, road
Views: 474
"Are we actually saved by faith? No, we're saved by grace through faith. Faith is simply the channel through which God's grace to us is received. It is the hand that reaches out and receives the gift of His love."
— Billy Graham
Source: Peace with God, "The Nature of Faith"
Agreement, Faith
Views: 470
"Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward."
— Anonymous
Source: Popular saying (often misattributed to C.S. Lewis)
Pain, let go
Views: 464
"Well, I have God, and His Word is sure; and though the superstitions of the heathen were a million times worse than they are, if I were deserted by all, and persecuted by all, yet my hope, fixed on that sure Word, will rise superior to all obstructions, and triumph over all trials. God's cause will triumph, and I shall come out of all trials as gold purified by fire."
— William Carey
Source: Carey's journal, 19 April 1794, in George Smith, The Life of William Carey, Shoemaker & Missionary (1885), ch. IV