At the thought of God my heart leaps for joy and I cannot help my music doing the same.

Actor:"I'm a smash hit. Why, yesterday during the last act, I had everyone glued in their seats!" Oliver Herford: "Wonderful! Wonderful! Clever of you to think of it!"

A man had a habit of grumbling at the food his wife placed before him at family meals. Then he would ask the blessing. One day after his usual combination complaint-prayer, his little girl asked, "Daddy, does God hear us when we pray?" "Why, of course," he replied. "He hears us every time we pray." She on this a moment, and asked, "Does he hear everything we say the rest of the time?" "Yes, dear, every word," he replied, encouraged that he had inspired his daughter to be curious about spiritual matters. However, his pride was quickly turned to humility... "Then which does God believe?"

There's a wonderful story about a Chicago bank that once asked for a letter of recommendation for a young Bostonian being considered for employment. The Boston investment firm could not say enough about the young man. His father, they wrote, was a Cabot; his mother was a Lowell. Further back was a happy blend of Saltonstalls, Peabodys, and others of Boston's first families. His recommendation was given without hesitation. Several days later, the Chicago bank sent a note saying the information supplied was altogether inadequate. It read: "We are not interested in using the young man for breeding purposes. Just for work." Neither is God a respecter of persons but accepts those from every family, nation, and race who fear him and work for his kingdom.

A 4-year-old boy who was asked to return thanks before Christmas dinner. The family members bowed their heads in expectation. He began his prayer, thanking God for all his friends, naming them one by one. Then he thanked God for Mommy, Daddy, Brother, Sister, Grandma, Grandpa, and all his aunts and uncles. Then he began to thank God for the food. He gave thanks for the turkey, the dressing, the fruit salad, the cranberry sauce, the pies, the cakes, even the Cool Whip. Then he paused, and everyone waited--and waited. After a long silence, the young fellow looked up at his mother and asked, "If I thank God for the broccoli, won't he know that I'm lying?"

Suppose a young man goes off to the military and he sends his girlfriend a postcard every few weeks with one or two lines jotted on there: "thinking of you, dear!" "wish you were here" "can't wait until I see you again." contrast that with a young man who goes off to the military and every week sends his girlfriend a detailed letter describing his life and his feelings, and expressing undying devotion and love to her. Which one is demonstrating greater love? Suppose a young man invites a young girl on a very creative date filled with fun and surprises at every turn. Contrast that with the one who picks her up, takes her to see a movie he decides on at the last minute and then takes her to whatever restaurant is open. In both cases, planning beats out impulsiveness for genuine romance. Impulsiveness must be a part of true romance, there's no doubt about it. But so must planning. More to the point, there is a degree of authenticity in the one who subjects his emotions to his will that there is not in the one who lets his emotions dictate his will.

Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.

The lion must roar. -- C. S. Lewis (i.e. we must be true to our deepest creative desires whenever possible.)

The most decisive actions of our life… are most often unconsidered actions. – Andre Gide, 1869-1951