[Bishop Hobson, in the Ohio Diocesan Messenger, as quoted in the Church Times, Milwaukee, Wisconsin]

The man of courage and faith faces the depression as a glorious opportunity. One man looks down, seeking in vain amid the material confusion of this world for a solid spot on which he can stand. The other man looks up, believing "that all things work together for good to them that love God," and sees a vision of a hard road which leads upward out of the valley of depression. The way is open to him who is not afraid to climb. Christian face the greatest chance of their lives. Time after time in the church's history it has been proved that a great victory can be won only when there is a strong enemy to overcome. The enemy "depression" is at hand and is shouting, "Less to live on! Less to live on!" The Christian's reply is, "More to live for!"

More to live for in our communities where we have an opportunity to show forth Christ's example of unselfish service and sacrificial love! More to live for in our nation in expressing a Christian patriotism and honesty in government! More to live for in the world which yearns for a new vision of God's fatherhood and man's brotherhood! More to live for in the church in establishing the supremacy of spiritual values! We can win a great victory in this year of depression if our spirit is expressed in the watchword: "Less to live on, but more to live for."

[Beatrice E. Green, in the News, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada]

These are times for thinking—serious thinking. Our ... power of thought can be put to wonderful advantage if we use it rightly; for when the final score is taken against us—or for us—the quality of our thinking is going to play a large part. We can make our minds storehouses of treasure, or they can be merely rubbish heaps, for there is much we can learn as we go through life; yet so many people seem willing to sit down, and just sit—not using the power of thought to any good purpose.

If they think at all, it is often in an aimless manner about things which will do no good, and often cause harm. On the other hand, we can augment the quality of our thoughts—we can make it a habit every day to learn something that is new and helpful, some one thing, it may be connected with our daily work, or it may be the thought of some great writer, the harmony of a great musician, some wonder of nature—what richness we would then be storing away!

We do not have to limit any real enjoyment or pleasure that it is wise for us to have, but, on the contrary, by so occupying our time we shall find more enjoyment, ... and more food for real thought, so that the whole richness not only of the present, but of the past, may be ours in happy retrospection, and the quality of our thoughts will become enriched a hundredfold, and leave their reflection on a happy countenance, by which men shall judge us.

[Rev. Benjamin E. Watson, as quoted in the Star-News, Pasadena, California]

I am not concerned about the year in which you were born, but I am concerned about how much the years of your life have counted for. ... Ripened maturity comes as the result of growth, and even after maturity there is growth if one is willing to learn. ... How much have you lived? ... What have you felt and hoped and aspired? Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind. Youth means a ... predominance of courage over timidity. ... This sometimes exists in a man of fifty more than a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years; people grow old by deserting their ideals. ... Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear, and despair—these are the long, long years that bow the head.

[Emil Gocker, in the Beaver Dam Argus, Wisconsin]

What we make of our lives depends primarily on the stuff we put into them. The stuff we use, in turn, is governed by the quality of our thoughts.

Is life to be a masterpiece? Then only the best thought material must be used to mould and shape life into its form of perfection. ... Send out abundance thoughts, thoughts of health, thoughts of goodness, fineness, and love, and into your lap will tumble these incomparable riches. Ask and you shall receive, Christ [Jesus] assures us, Seek and you shall find.

[From Great Thoughts, London, England]

If it be true that a good deed shines like a light in the world, it is much more true that a beautiful character is like a beacon; it not only illuminates, but it also warns and guides. It shines brightest when the clouds are black about it and the earth is hidden from view by the darkness. The most profound influence exercised by the loving and the devoted is unconsciously put forth. They serve others when they are unaware that any virtue passes from the hem of their garments; and the chief concern of a man or woman should be ... to keep the stream of influence which flows from them pure at the source; for an example is ten times more persuasive and searching than any reproof or direct suggestion. In a corrupt society a good man or a pure woman stands out with marvelous brightness; and the worse society is, the less excuse is there for corruption. Those who charge their faults upon their environment, and who mitigate their judgment of themselves by the reflection that the standards of those about them are low, fail to see that they are passing the severest condemnation upon themselves. To have seen the light and not to live by it is to sin, not only against the light, but against one's less fortunate fellows. ... So long as we are generous, appreciative, truth-loving, we ... shall have rendered it [the world] our best service.

[Frank M. Selover, in the Press-Telegram, Long Beach, California]

Those with whom righteousness is the first and only consideration will not be anxious about tomorrow. They are working in the vineyard of the Lord; and is it not said that "the labourer is worthy of his hire"? Nor is it required that the children of the righteous shall beg bread. Right thinking is the necessary forerunner of right working. Whether or not one has a "job" in the material sense, there is no barrier to the employment of one's thoughts along constructive lines. Whether or not one has lost his earthly possessions, he still may claim spiritual mansions. Whether or not one feels the loneliness of separation from home and loved ones, he still may be united with all good, through communion with his God.

[From Home Chat, London, England]

You put your heart into your daily work, or, at least, I hope you do, for no success will come your way unless you do. ... It is right you should. I do not believe in half-hearted folk who work and play as though it did not matter. They are little use to their masters, and little use to their playfellows. Men, yes, and women nowadays, train for athletic fitness, so that they may swim, or run, or jump better than another; and when the great occasion of a contest comes they strive with all their heart and mind and strength to win. Yes, they put their hearts into these things, and yet, when it comes to the greatest thing in the world, religion, they lose all keenness.

I am not thinking of worldly people who care nothing for the higher life. ... I am thinking of Christian who profess to love God. Do you put your heart into your profession of religion, or is it just a pat-ball, jog-trot, easy-going thing? I am sure the world is not going to be saved by easy-going, indolent, half-hearted religion. That tremendous task calls for intense conviction and intense zeal. It means earnest prayer and real work and conquering faith.

[From the Church Visitor, Dallas, Wisconsin]

Some are so engrossed with considering what is evil that they have no time to think about or hold to the good. Others are filled with such a sense of reverence for certain visions of loveliness already seen that they do not look farther. There is always something better for those whose eyes are turned toward the good, if they keep looking beyond. Those who think on things lovely, as well as view them, may press forward. Holding fast does not forbid going on. We need to embrace each good, but must not so tie ourselves to anything that we cannot look beyond to something better.

[Rev. Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick, as quoted in the New York Times, New York]

A man can start off well in any realm because he is eager, ardent, enthusiastic, susceptible to the thrill of new adventure, but if the enterprise lasts a long time and faces difficulties, as all worth-while enterprises do, he will not finish well without other qualities altogether—patience, constancy, perseverance, courage, steadfastness.

[From the Shreveport Journal, Louisiana]

Without God's help there will be no satisfactory solution of the problems that are trying the hearts and heads of men and women. It is profoundly appropriate, therefore, that people everywhere turn from programs that ignore or forget Providence and humbly seek His indispensable assistance.

[From the Congregationalist, Boston, Massachusetts]

Prayer with Paul was a commitment of his life. It was the means of more firmly attaching his life to the supreme purposes and goals of the gospel. In his thought prayer and thankfulness were associated. He urged the early Christians to let their requests be known to God with thanksgiving, and in all his praying there was the dominant thought, not of what he might get from God for himself, but of all that God's grace and love had already provided for him. His prayer was that he might be found worthy of that grace and that he might possess it in its richness and fullness, so that he might pass it on to others. Prayer was a means not so much of getting as of giving.

Why cannot we realize more effectually this spirit and fact of adventure in prayer? Why can we not commit our lives to great and noble things, even if these things involve sacrifice, ... making prayer the medium of our strength and guidance in seeking these goals that lie along the way of adventure for the Christian spirit?