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Virtue and Morality
Proverbs 14:34: Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” — Edmund Burke
“Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their appetites; in proportion as they are more disposed to listen to the counsels of the wise and good in preference to the flattery of knaves. Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere, and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.” — Edmund Burke
“Now most modern freedom is at root fear. It is not so much that we are too bold to endure rules; it is rather that we are too timid to endure responsibilities. And Mr. Shaw and such people are especially shrinking from that awful and ancestral responsibility to which our fathers committed us when they took the wild step of becoming men. I mean the responsibility of affirming the truth of our human tradition and handing it on with a voice of authority, an unshaken voice. That is the one eternal education; to be sure enough that something is true that you dare to tell it to a child.” — G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
“It’s not enough to belong to a religion. You also have to put it into practice. Religion is like medicine. You have to ingest it to combat the illness.” — Dalai Lama
“What a sad condition would the world be in without gospel light! All places would be dens of rapine, and mountains of prey. Certainly we owe much of our civil liberty, and outward tranquillity to gospel-light. If a sword, or variance, at any time, follow the gospel, it is but an accidental, not a direct and proper effect of it.” — John Flavel, minister of Dartmouth
“Morality, when vigorously alive, sees farther than intellect.” — J. A. Froude
“The motto of the Rotary Club is ‘Service above self.’ The motto of the Kiwanis Club is ‘we build.’ The motto of the Lions Club is ‘Liberty, intelligence, our nation’s safety.’ All of these ideas originated in Christianity. Lots of the pagan religions never had a service club. All of these organizations are really by-products of Christianity even when some of their members are not Christians. The perfume of Christ is in the fragrance of any and all social service.” — Billy Graham
“Let it [the Constitution] be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges. Let it be written in primers, in spelling books, and almanacs. Let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. In short, let it become the political religion of the nation.” — Heber J. Grant, former Mayor of Salt Lake City
“Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.” — Horace Greely
“I have carefully examined the evidences of the Christian religion, and if I was sitting as a juror upon its authenticity I would unhesitatingly give my verdict in its favor. I can prove its truth as clearly as any proposition ever submitted to the mind of man.” — Alexander Hamilton
“No free government can stand without virtue in the people, and a lofty spirit of patriotism.” — Andrew Jackson
“Providence has given our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” — John Jay
“One who condones evils is just as guilty as the one who perpetrates it.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
“The time is always right to do what is right.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts.” — John Locke
“Unless virtue guide us our choice must be wrong.” — William Penn
“Those who will not be governed by God, will be ruled by tyrants.” — William Penn
“[W]henever the civil government fails to make use of the means offered by the supernatural order, it is unable to check the plague in any way. Nor will civil authority ever be able to prevent other evils as long as it forgets or denies that all authority comes from God. IN such a case the only restraint a government can apply is force; but force can neither be constantly applied nor is it always available. A people suffering from a hidden disease soon becomes displeased with everything. They proclaim the right to act as they please, they stir up rebellions and., trampling on all rights, human and divine, they provoke revolutions within the State. Take away God, and all respect for civil laws and all regard for even the most necessary institutions disappear. Take away God and justice is spurned arid that liberty arising from the natural law is trodden underfoot. Take away God, and men will destroy the very structure of the family, the primary and indispensable foundation of the whole social structure. Consequently it is very difficult during these days so hostile to Christ to apply the powerful remedies for the orderly government of the people with which the Redeemer endows His Church.” — Saint Pius X, LUCUNDA SANE, 12 March, 1904
“A thorough knowledge of the Bible is worth more than a college education.” — President Theodore Roosevelt
“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.” — Haile Selassie
“The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependence; from dependency back again into bondage.” — Fraser Tyler, English historian
“I sought for the greatness and the genius of America in her ample rivers-it was not there; in her fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits ablaze with righteousness did I meet the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good-America will cease to be great.” — Alexis de Tocqueville
“Full of all diseases as he is, he fancies himself in perfect health. Fast bound in misery and iron, he dreams that he is at liberty. He says, "Peace! Peace!" while the devil, as "a strong, man armed," is in full possession of his soul. he sleeps on still and takes his rest, though hell is moved from beneath to meet him; though the pit from whence there is no return hath opened its mouth to swallow him up. A fire is kindled around him, yet he knoweth it not; yea, it burns him, yet he lays it not to heart.” — Charles Wesley, 1742
“In your private as well as public capacity; and as you are honored to be the representatives of a now flourishing increasing people: may you be directed in all your ways! May truth, justice, religion, and piety be established amongst you through all generations!” — George Whitefield, Preached before the Governor, and Council, and the House of Assembly, in Georgia, on January 28, 1770.
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