Charles R. Swindoll Quotes

“One of the marks of maturity is the ability to disagree without becoming disagreeable”

“Patience is a bitter plant that produces sweet fruit.”

“Don't seek more days in your life but more life in your days.”

“Without a quest, life is quickly reduced to bleak black and wimpy white, a diet too bland to get anybody out of bed in the morning. A quest fuels our fire. It refuses to let us drift downstream gathering debris.”

“Let your life yield a sweet, winsome melody that this old world needs so desperately. Yes you can if you will.”

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

“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.”

“Every one of us can blame somebody for something that has happened in our lives. But don't waste your time. What we need most is a steady stream of love flowing among us. Love that quickly forgives, willingly overlooks, and refuses to take offense.”

“Adversity is a good test of our resiliency, our ability to cope, to stand back up, to recover from misfortune. Adversity is a painful pedagogue.”

“Who can ever measure the benefit of a mother's inspiration?”

“Learning more truth is a poor and cheap substitute for stopping and putting into action the truth already learned”

“Worry is a complete waste of energy. It solves nothing.”

“I let people see the cracks in my life. We can't be phony. We've got to keep it real.”

“Love has been called the most effective motivational force in all the world. When love is at work in us, it is remarkable how giving and forgiving, understanding and tolerant we can be.”

“Please, put aside all excuses and ask yourself, "What should I be doing?" Yes, you alone can make a difference. The question is, will you?”

“Home is the bottom line of life, the anvil upon which attitudes and convictions are hammered out the single most influential force in our earthly existence. No price tag can adequately reflect its value.”

“People who soar, are those who refuse to sit back and wish things would change”

“When a person does something, it has the man or woman look about it. It drips with humanity. You can follow the logic of it and see the meaning behind it.”

“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.”

“Do you want to be wise? Choose wise friends”

“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.”

“Lead with action and let the feelings follow.”

“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.”

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

“For there to be true maturity, people must be given room to grow, which includes room to fail.”

“I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude... When my attitudes are right theres no challenge too great for me.”

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

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

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

“The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is ten percent what happens to me and ninety percent of how I react to it. And so it is with you. we are in charge of our attitudes.”

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

“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.”

“Think first. Talk less. Start today.”

“If we choose to be offended when we don't get our own way,Then we're going to live constantly on the edge of anger.But if we say to ourselves, " A merry heart does good like a medicine,"It'll make all the difference in the world.”

“Vision encompasses vast vistas outside the realm of the predictable, the safe, the expected.”

“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.”

“If I ever wrote a book on preaching, it would contain three words: Preach the Word. Get rid of all the other stuff that gets you sidetracked; preach the Word.”

“Honesty has a beautiful and refreshing simplicity about it. No ulterior motives. No hidden meanings. An absence of hypocrisy, duplicity, political games, and verbal superficiality. As honesty and real integrity characterize our lives, there will be no need to manipulate others.”

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

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

“Anyone who influences others is a leader.”

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

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

“Sometimes people can't see past us to hear our message. We never have a second chance to leave a first impression.”

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

“Those who feed on rumors are small, suspicious souls.”

“There is nothing more fearful for the average person in our society than to stand before a group of people and speak.”

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

“Don't get older; get better: Live realistically. Give generously. Adapt willingly. Trust fearlessly. Rejoice daily.”

“I want to preach till the last breath in my lungs runs out.”