Quotes by Social Reformers

Victories that are cheap are cheap. Those only are worth having which come as the result of hard fighting.
Henry Ward Beecher
The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one often comes from a strong will and the other from a strong won't.
Henry Ward Beecher
Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two and I know it was not the last blow that did it but all that had gone before.
Jacob A. Riis
We steal if we touch tomorrow. It is God's.
Henry Ward Beecher
Do not look back on happiness or dream of it in the future. You are only sure of today do not let yourself be cheated out of it.
Henry Ward Beecher
Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.
Henry Ward Beecher
All men are tempted. There is no man that lives that can't be broken down provided it is the right temptation put in the right spot.
Henry Ward Beecher
The strength of a man consists in finding out the way in which God is going and going in that way too.
Henry Ward Beecher
None love to speak so much when the mood of speaking comes as they who are naturally taciturn.
Henry Ward Beecher
They serve God well Who serve his creatures.
Caroline Norton
Failure is a school in which the truth always grows strong.
Henry Ward Beecher
A door that seems to stand open must be of a man's size or it is not the door that providence means for him.
Henry Ward Beecher
Work as if everything depended upon work and pray as if everything depended upon prayer.
William Booth
Prayer covers the whole of man's life. There is no thought feeling yearning or desire however low trifling or vulgar we may deem it which if it affects our real interest or happiness we may not lay before God and be sure of sympathy. His nature is such that our often coming does not tire him. The whole burden of the whole life of every man may be rolled on to God and not weary him though it has wearied man.
Henry Ward Beecher
It is not well for a man to pray cream and live skim milk.
Henry Ward Beecher
The Lord's Prayer may be committed to memory quickly but it is slowly learnt by heart.
Frederick Denison Maurice
I pray on the principle that wine knocks the cork out of a bottle. There is an inward fermentation and there must be a vent.
Henry Ward Beecher
The meanest most contemptible kind of praise is that which first speaks well of a man and then qualifies it with a 'but'.
Henry Ward Beecher
Men have a trick of coming up to what is expected of them good or bad.
Jacob A. Riis
Act so as to elicit the best in others and thereby in thyself.
Felix Adler
The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies but the thankful heart... will find in every hour some heavenly blessings.
Henry Ward Beecher
The philosophy of one century is the common sense of the next.
Henry Ward Beecher
Clothes and manners do not make the man but when he is made they greatly improve his appearance.
Henry Ward Beecher
Any man can work when every stroke of his hands brings down the fruit rattling from the tree ... but to labor in season and out of season under every discouragement... that requires a heroism which is transcendent.
Henry Ward Beecher
With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance all things are attainable.
Sir Thomas Foxwell Buxton
So much perfection argues rottenness somewhere.
Beatrice Potter Webb
The dog is the god of frolic.
Henry Ward Beecher
What the mother sings to the cradle goes all the way down to the coffin.
Henry Ward Beecher
There is no friendship no love like that of the parent for the child.
Henry Ward Beecher
Fear is the soul's signal for rallying.
Henry Ward Beecher
Fear is a kind of bell or gong which rings the mind into quick life and avoidance upon the approach of danger. It is the soul's signal for rallying.
Henry Ward Beecher
A door that seems to stand open must be a man's size or it is not the door that Providence means for him.
Henry Ward Beecher
No matter what looms ahead if you can eat today enjoy the sunlight today mix good cheer with friends today enjoy it and bless God for it.
Henry Ward Beecher
The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will and the other from a strong won't.
Henry Ward Beecher
When nothing seems to help I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two and I know it was not that blow that did it but all that had gone before.
Jacob A. Riis
Flowers have an expression of countenance as much as men or animals. Some seem to smile some have a sad expression some are pensive and diffident others again are plain honest and upright.
Henry Ward Beecher
A door that seems to stand open must be of a man's size or it is not the door that providence means for him.
Henry Ward Beecher
Work as if everything depended upon work and pray as if everything depended upon prayer.
William Booth
Prayer covers the whole of man's life. There is no thought feeling yearning or desire however low trifling or vulgar we may deem it which if it affects our real interest or happiness we may not lay before God and be sure of sympathy. His nature is such that our often coming does not tire him. The whole burden of the whole life of every man may be rolled on to God and not weary him though it has wearied man.
Henry Ward Beecher
It is not well for a man to pray cream and live skim milk.
Henry Ward Beecher
The Lord's Prayer may be committed to memory quickly but it is slowly learnt by heart.
Frederick Denison Maurice
I pray on the principle that wine knocks the cork out of a bottle. There is an inward fermentation and there must be a vent.
Henry Ward Beecher
The meanest most contemptible kind of praise is that which first speaks well of a man and then qualifies it with a 'but'.
Henry Ward Beecher
Men have a trick of coming up to what is expected of them good or bad.
Jacob A. Riis
Act so as to elicit the best in others and thereby in thyself.
Felix Adler
The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies but the thankful heart... will find in every hour some heavenly blessings.
Henry Ward Beecher
The philosophy of one century is the common sense of the next.
Henry Ward Beecher
Clothes and manners do not make the man but when he is made they greatly improve his appearance.
Henry Ward Beecher
Any man can work when every stroke of his hands brings down the fruit rattling from the tree ... but to labor in season and out of season under every discouragement... that requires a heroism which is transcendent.
Henry Ward Beecher
With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance all things are attainable.
Sir Thomas Foxwell Buxton
So much perfection argues rottenness somewhere.
Beatrice Potter Webb
The dog is the god of frolic.
Henry Ward Beecher
What the mother sings to the cradle goes all the way down to the coffin.
Henry Ward Beecher
There is no friendship no love like that of the parent for the child.
Henry Ward Beecher
Fear is the soul's signal for rallying.
Henry Ward Beecher
Fear is a kind of bell or gong which rings the mind into quick life and avoidance upon the approach of danger. It is the soul's signal for rallying.
Henry Ward Beecher
A door that seems to stand open must be a man's size or it is not the door that Providence means for him.
Henry Ward Beecher
No matter what looms ahead if you can eat today enjoy the sunlight today mix good cheer with friends today enjoy it and bless God for it.
Henry Ward Beecher
The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one comes from a strong will and the other from a strong won't.
Henry Ward Beecher
When nothing seems to help I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two and I know it was not that blow that did it but all that had gone before.
Jacob A. Riis