From time to time I think about quotes I've heard through the years and I wonder about the origin of some of them. You may have done the same thing, too. Sometimes just remembering a meaningful quote and applying it to your own life can make quite a difference; try it sometime. You won't become a scholar by reading this column, but it might help you learn something that you, too, have wondered about, such as who said that:
"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them." -- John Fitzgerald Kennedy
"Change your thoughts and you change your world." -- Norman Vincent Peale
"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant." -- Robert Louis Stevenson
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." -- Nelson Mandela
"Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it." -- Confucious
"Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom." -- Thomas Jefferson
"I have not failed, I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." -- Thomas Edison
"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light." -- Artistotle
"Life's most persistent and urging question is what are you doing for others?" -- Martin Luther King
"No act of kindness, no matter how small is ever wasted." -- Aesop
"Problems are not stop signs, they are solutions." -- Robert Schuller
"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts." -- Winston Churchill
"The best and most beautiful things in the world can not be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart." -- Helen Keller
"The secret of getting ahead is getting started." -- Mark Twain
"When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on." -- Franklin Roosevelt
One thing that people may not realize is that some quotes we hear from time to time actually originated in the Bible. Rather than give you the full Bible verse that contains the quote I will just list the book, chapter, and verse where the quote is found. Most of us have heard someone say that we can remember something better if we look it up ourselves, besides that most of us don't open our Bibles enough so there's another good reason. The verses may be slightly different depending on which version of the Bible you use, the one I used to research most of this column is the New King James Version.
"A house divided against itself can not stand." Matthew 12:25
"Anger lodges in the hearts of fools." Ecclesiastes 7:9
"Eat, drink, and be merry." Ecclesiastes 8:15
"Faith can move mountains." Matthew 17:20
"I'm at my wits end." Psalm 107:27
"In everything give thanks." With Thanksgiving very near this is an especially good one to remember. 1 Thessolonians 5: 16
"Love is patient, love is kind." 1 Corinthians 13: 4
"The blind leading the blind." Matthew 15:14
"The land of milk and honey." Exodus 3: 8
"The Lord's love endures forever. Psalms 107:1
"With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26
Another interesting point is there are many quotes that we think originated in the Bible but did not. The general idea of the quote may have come from a story or verse in the Bible but the actual quote below that people use today is not in the Bible. I' found that in some cases the quote may have actually originated many many years later.
"God won't give us more than we can handle." I've heard that said for years and I always thought it came from the Bible, I now know it didn't.
"Cleanliness is next to Godliness."
"Money is the root of all evil."
"Spare the rod, spoil the child."
As you see there are many inspirational quotes that came from the Bible and others that may sound Biblical but are not actually in the Bible. The quote from the Bible that I think of as one of my favorites is "The Golden Rule," it is written various ways depending on which version of the Bible you are using. I think most people know it as "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," if everyone would put that one rule into practice all the time the world would be much different.
Thanksgiving will soon be here; remember to give thanks to God for all our many blessings and to pray for those in need. Happy Thanksgiving everybody.
If you have any comments or questions my e-mail address is deh63shs@yahoo.com.