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Astronomers have built telescopes which can show myriads of stars unseen before; but when a man looks through a tear in his own eye, that is a lens which opens reaches in the unknown, and reveals orbs which no telescope, however skilfully constructed, could do; nay, which brings to view even the throne of God, and pierces that nebulous distance where are those eternal verities in which true life consists.

— Henry Ward Beecher Life Thoughts (1858)

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More quotes by Henry Ward Beecher

The call to religion is not a call to be better than your fellows, but to be better than yourself.

Life Thoughts (1858)

When laws, customs, or institutions cease to be beneficial to man, they cease to be obligatory.

Life Thoughts (1858)

He is the human owl, vigilant in darkness and blind to light, mousing for vermin, and never seeing noble game.

Lectures to Young Men (1844)

Flowers are the sweetest things that God ever made, and forgot to put a soul into.

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There is no such thing as preaching patience into people, unless the sermon is so long that they have to practise it while they hear.

Life Thoughts (1858)

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Life could not be lived wet, whether it be in rain or tears.

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In much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.

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In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all; and, to the young, it comes with bitterest agony, because it takes them unawares.

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Every joy that some experience is paid for by the sorrow of others.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Henry Ward Beecher (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.