#benevolence

[To have Faith in Christ] means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you. ↗

— C.S. Lewis

#christianity #faith #obedience #faith

I care not for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it. ↗

— Abraham Lincoln

#charity #dogs #generosity #hypocrisy #pets

To ease another’s heartache is to forget one’s own. ↗

— Abraham Lincoln

#charity #public-service #volunteerism #service

A benevolent mind, and the face assumes the patterns of benevolence. An evil mind, then an evil face. ↗

— Jimmy Sangster

#benevolence #benevolent #evil #face #mind

Omnipotent-benevolent simply means that God is all-powerful and well-meaning.' 'I understand the concept. It's just . . . there seems to be a contradiction.' 'Yes. The contradiction is pain. Man's starvation, war, sickness . . .' 'Exactly!' Chartrand knew the camerlengo would understand. 'Terrible things happen in this world. Human tragedy seems like proof that God could not possibly be both all-powerful and well-meaning. If He loves us and has the power to change our situation, He would prevent our pain, wouldn't He?' The camerlengo frowned. 'Would He?' Chartrand felt uneasy. Had he overstepped his bounds? Was this one of those religious questions you just didn't ask? 'Well . . . if God loves us, and He can protect us, He would have to. It seems He is either omnipotent and uncaring, or benevolent and powerless to help.' 'Do you have children, Lieutenant?' Chartrand flushed. 'No, signore.' 'Imagine you had an eight-year-old son . . . would you love him?' 'Of course.' 'Would you let him skateboard?' Chartrand did a double take. The camerlengo always seemed oddly "in touch" for a clergyman. 'Yeah, I guess,' Chartrand said. 'Sure, I'd let him skateboard, but I'd tell him to be careful.' 'So as this child's father, you would give him some basic, good advice and then let him go off and make his own mistakes?' 'I wouldn't run behind him and mollycoddle him if that's what you mean.' 'But what if he fell and skinned his knee?' 'He would learn to be more careful.' The camerlengo smiled. 'So although you have the power to interfere and prevent your child's pain, you would choose to show your love by letting him learn his own lessons?' 'Of course. Pain is part of growing up. It's how we learn.' The camerlengo nodded. 'Exactly. ↗

— Dan Brown

#faith #god #omnipotence #paradox #religion

The nicest feeling in the world is to do a good deed anonymously-and have somebody find out. ↗

— Oscar Wilde

#benevolence #epigram #reputation #wild

Benevolence alone will not make a teacher, nor will learning alone do it. The gift of teaching is a peculiar talent, and implies a need and a craving in the teacher himself. ↗

— John Jay Chapman

#benevolence #craving #gift #himself #implies

Government is either organized benevolence or organized madness; its peculiar magnitude permits no shading. ↗

— John Updike

#either #government #madness #magnitude #organized

Peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice. ↗

— Baruch Spinoza

#absence #benevolence #confidence #disposition #justice

Generosity during life is a very different thing from generosity in the hour of death; one proceeds from genuine liberality and benevolence, the other from pride or fear. ↗

— Horace Mann

#death #different #different thing #during #fear