Quotes by Charles Edward Jefferson

“There is a feeling now prevalent that it is unwise for a man to confine himself to anyone religion or anyone particular statement of belief. It is better — so men say — not to pin your faith to the sleeve of anyone idea or truth, but hold yourself in readiness to accept every idea which may come your way. Keep the windows and doors of your mind wide open and let everything blow through which the winds may be able to catch up, but do not settle down upon any definite conceptions of God or the soul, of duty or destiny, because in so doing you narrow yourself and may ultimately degenerate into a bigot. With this sort of philosophy Jesus of Nazareth had no sympathy.”

“although nineteen centuries have swept away almost everything which was believed and taught in Jesus’ day, his ideas are still alive and the very words in which they are expressed seem destined to outlive the stars.”

“Close contact with the harsh world often makes the heart hard. Misunderstanding and ingratitude when long continued have a tendency to dry up the springs of the soul. Some men are turned to flint by suffering. It was not so with Paul. Tears are often in his eyes, because there is a divine tenderness in his heart.”