Glen's Quotes Db (3174 total)

Principles are felt, propositions proved, and both with certainty though by different means. It is just as pointless and absurd for reason to demand proof of first principles from the heart before agreeing to accept them as it would be absurd for the heart to demand an intuition of all the propositions demonstrated by reason before agreeing to accept them. . . .

Although the 18th century writer Voltaire is widely recognized as an
opponent of religion, calling Christianity an "infamy" to be destroyed,
even he found the influence of faith to be useful. He wrote, "I want my
attorney, my tailor, my servants, even my wife to believe in God. . . then
I shall be robbed and cuckolded less often." Myers tells of how Voltaire
once silenced a discussion on atheism until he had excused his servants,
lest in forfeiting their faith they might lose their morality.

During the darkest hours of World War II, Britain faced a critical shortage of silver for the war industries. Informed of the crisis, Winston Churchill asked if there were any possible sources of silver, however remote. The answer came back: Yes, the churches, cathedrals, and abbeys held beautiful, sterling silver statues of the saints. From Churchill came the now-famous reply, "Well, it's time to put the saints into circulation!" And so they did.



Citation: John S. Barnett, "Saints in Circulation," Discipleship Journal (March/April 1986)

Saccharin was first discovered in 1879 when a research fellow at Johns Hopkins University found his bread extra sweet one night and figured that something from the lab must have followed him home. Incredibly, he set about to tasting nearly everything in his lab--and lived to find o-benzoic sulfimide--saccharin by another name. Chance not only favors the trained mind, but in this case, it favored a man brave enough to lick everything in sight till he could trace the source of his discovery.