Charles R. Swindoll Quotes

Encouragement is awesome. Think about it. It has the capacity to lift a man's or a woman's shoulders. To breathe fresh air into the fading embers of a smoldering dream. To actually change the course of another human being's day, week, or life.

Part of the thrill of guiding children into adulthood is the release. But it's also a parent's greatest act of surrender. Still, you have to let them go. Start now.

The stronger the winds, the deeper the roots, and the longer the winds, the more beautiful the tree.

This tendency to avoid problems and the emotional suffering inherent in them is the primary basis of all human mental illness

Someone has said,"Education is going from an unconscious to conscious awareness of one's ignorance."..No one has a corner on wisdom. All the name-dropping in the world does not heighten the significance of our character. If anything, it reduces it. Our acute need is to cultivate a willingness to learn and to remain teachable.

The beautiful thing about encouragement is that anybody can do it.

You can choose to be a drag and a burden, or an inspiration and encouragement.

It's a delightful thing to receive a good word just at your time of need. Encourage someone today.

In spite of our high-tech world and efficient procedures, people remain the essential ingredient of life.

We shouldn't deny the pain of what happens in our lives. We should just refuse to focus only on the valleys.

Real integrity stays in place whether the test in adversity or prosperity.

Excellence-moral, ethical, personal excellence-is worth whatever it costs.

Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.

Boldness in the course of a noble fight is worth the risk... If you stand on truth, you'll only regret your timidity later, but you'll never regret being bold.

There is only one you. God wanted you to be you. Don't you dare change just because you're outnumbered!

The past is over... forget it. The future holds hope... reach for it.

10% of life is made up of what happens to you. 90% of life is decided by how you react.

When you have vision it affects your attitude. Your attitude is optimistic rather than pessimistic.

The remarkable thing is, we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.

The pursuit of happiness is a matter of choice...it is a positive attitude we choose to express. It is not a gift delivered to our door each morning, nor does it come through the window. And it is certain that our circumstances are not the things that make us joyful. If we wait for them to get just right, we will never laugh again.

When I think of vision, I have in mind the ability to see above and beyond the majority.

Pride leaves no room for grace.

On tough days, you gotta have heart. Don't quit, whatever you do. Persevere.

The swift wind of compromise is a lot more devastating than the sudden jolt of misfortune.

Take charge of your thoughts!

One essential ingredient for being an original in the day of copies is courageous vision.

I am often the brunt of my own humor.

Prejudice is a learned trait. You're not born prejudiced; you're taught it.

If you never get criticized, chances are you aren't getting anything done.

Leaders need to cultivate two things: a righteous heart and a rhinoceros skin.

How important is the heart! It is there that character is formed. It alone holds the secrets of true success. It's treasures are priceless - but they can be stolen.

Servants must be big people. Big enough to go on, remembering the right and forgetting the wrong.

Attitude keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hopes. When my attitudes are right, there is no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me.

If we want the advantages of love, then we must be willing to take the risks of love. And that requires vulnerability. Of course, we can refuse this path and trod another one devoid of openness. But the toll on such a road is extremely high.

If you want to be a person with a large vision, you must cultivate the habit of doing the little things well.

If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters.

If the pace and the push, the noise and the crowds are getting to you, it's time to stop the nonsense and find a place of solace to refresh your spirit

You want to mess up the minds of your children? Here's how - guaranteed! Rear them in a legalistic, tight context of external religion, where performance is more important than reality. Fake your faith. Sneak around and pretend your spirituality. Train your children to do the same. Embrace a long list of do's and don'ts publicly but hypocritically practice them privately... yet never own up to the fact that its hypocrisy. Act one way but live another. And you can count on it - emotional and spiritual damage will occur.

I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let's face it, friends make life a lot more fun.

We cannot change our past. We can not change the fact that people act in a certain way. We can not change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.

In our rough and rugged individualism, we think of gentleness as weakness, being soft and virtually spineless. Not so! Gentleness includes such enviable qualities as having strength under control, being calm and peaceful when surrounded by a heated atmosphere, emitting a soothing effect on those who may be angry or otherwise beside themselves, and possessing tact and gracious courtesy that causes others to retain their self-esteem and dignity. Instead of losing, the gentle gain. Instead of being ripped off and taken advantage of, they come out ahead!

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Man is the only animal that when you pat him on the head, his head swells up.

The lens of fear magnifies the size of uncertainty.

I'm glad . . . that Edison didn't give up on the light bulb. That Luther refused to back down. That Michelangelo kept painting. That Lindbergh kept flying.

More often than not, when something looks like it's the absolute end, it is really the beginning.

Joy springs from a life lived with eternity's values in view.

People who soar are those who refuse to sit back, sigh and wish things would change. They neither complain of their lot nor passively dream of some distant ship coming in. Rather, they visualize in their minds that they are not quitters; they will not allow life's circumstances to push them down and hold them under.

Lead with action and let the feelings follow.

Think first. Talk less. Start today.

Discipline is training that corrects and perfects our mental faculties or molds our moral character. Discipline is control gained by enforced obedience. It is the deliberate cultivation of inner order.

The habit of always putting off an experience until you can afford it, or until the time is right, or until you know how to do it is one of the greatest burglars of joy. Be deliberate, but once you've made up your mind -jump in.

Nothing speaks louder or more powerfully than a life of integrity

Refuse to let your situation determine your attitude.

You will find a common dichotomy in life. Those who don't have vision or determination, and refuse to dream the impossible, are always in the majority.

Encourage one another. Many times a word of praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer has kept people on their feet.

The secret of living a life of excellence is merely a matter of thinking thoughts of excellence. Really, it's a matter of programming our minds with the kind of information that will set us free.

GRACE: All you can do is take it.

A family is a place where principles are hammered and honed on the anvil of everyday living.