Strive, O my soul, to maintain and keep alive impressions, first, of the constant presence of a holy, omniscient, omnipotent, but infinitely merciful and gracious God, of Christ our almighty shepherd, of the Holy Spirit, of the evil one, and the invisible world in general.
—William Wilberforce
The application of Christ to the soul effectually, though it be so far wrought in the first saving work of the Spirit, as truly to unite the soul to Christ: yet it is a work gradually advancing in the believer’s soul, whilst it abides on this side heaven and glory.
—John Flavel
There are four powers: memory and intellect, desire and covetousness. The two first are mental and the others sensual. The three senses sight, hearing, and smell cannot well be prevented; touch and taste not at all.
—Leonardo Da Vinci
“[…] I think a teacher is very unwise who does not come to hear the gospel preached and get a meal for his own soul. First be fed, and then feed.”
The fear of appearances is the first symptom of impotence.
—Fyodor Dostoevsky
Christ is perfectly and completely applied to the soul in the first act for righteousness.
—John Flavel
Every ceremony is fulfilled in Christ. Sunday is the day of resurrection.
Under the Old Testament the pattern was first work, then rest– that is, the worship of God.
—Herman Bavinck
Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.
—Sun Tzu
Man’s first law is to watch over his own preservation; his first care he owes to himself; and as soon as he reaches the age of reason, he becomes the only judge of the best means to preserve himself; he becomes his own master.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau
The existence of a prime mover- nothing can move itself; there must be a first mover. The first mover is called God.
—Thomas Aquinas
The application of Christ to the soul effectually, though it be so far wrought in the first saving work of the Spirit, as truly to unite the soul to Christ: yet it is a work gradually advancing in the believer’s soul, whilst it abides on this side heaven and glory.
—John Flavel
“For, first, we were dead in trespasses and sins, but having believed in Christ we have been quickened by the Holy Ghost, and we are dead no longer.”
– Charles Spurgeon
First realize that you are sick; then you can move toward health.
—Laozi
Strive, O my soul, to maintain and keep alive impressions, first, of the constant presence of a holy, omniscient, omnipotent, but infinitely merciful and gracious God, of Christ our almighty shepherd, of the Holy Spirit, of the evil one, and the invisible world in general.
—William Wilberforce
“Every first day of the week we should meditate upon the rising of our Lord, and seek to enter into fellowship with him in his risen life.”
– Charles Spurgeon
Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day.
—Charles Dickens
Your gifts lie in the place where your values, passions and strengths meet. Discovering that place is the first step toward sculpting your masterpiece, Your Life.
—Michelangelo
A First Sign of the Beginning of Understanding is the Wish to Die.
—Franz Kafka
Restlessness is discontent — and discontent is the first necessity of progress. Show me a thoroughly satisfied man — and I will show you a failure.
—Thomas Edison
Don’t go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first.
—Mark Twain
You thrash about, suffer and search for happiness everywhere, but it’s within you. It’s not in people’s love for you, as it appears at first, but in your love for them.
—Leo Tolstoy
First impressions are always unreliable.
—Franz Kafka
I’m not afraid of death, but I’m in no hurry to die, I have so much I want to do first.
—Stephen Hawking
After prayer comes peace—the first answer to prayer is the peace of God which passeth all understanding.
—Amy Carmichael
If you wish to control others you must first control yourself.
—Miyamoto Musashi
At the end of the table, the secretary was reading the decision in some case, but in such a mournful and monotonous voice, that the condemned man himself would have fallen asleep while listening to it. The judge, no doubt, would have been the first of all to do so, had he not entered into an engrossing conversation while it was going on.
—Nikolai Gogol
The first and final thing you have to do in this world is to last it and not be smashed by it.
—Ernest Hemingway
If you have time to think first before you speak, consider: is what you want to say worth it? Is it necessary? Could it hurt someone? And most of the time, if you think, you won’t speak.
—Leo Tolstoy
If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn’t turn out very well for the Native Americans.
—Stephen Hawking
The first rule is to keep an untroubled spirit. The second is to look things in the face and know them for what they are.
—Marcus Aurelius