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Frank Ball writing in his study

The quote library

Frankisms

Short truths, collected over a lifetime of writing and teaching. Read a few, or lose an afternoon.

Collected
413
  • “The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it. — Charles R. Swindoll”

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  • “The Lord gave you two ends—one for sitting and one for thinking. Your success depends on which you use—heads you win, tails you lose. — Gas Flame”

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  • “The love we give away is the only love we keep. — Elbert Hubbard”

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  • “The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble. — Ralph Waldo Emerson”

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  • “The man who leaves money to charity in his will is only giving away what no longer belongs to him. — Voltaire, 1694–1778”

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  • “The more email we get, the shorter and more selective and more delayed our responses become. — Malcolm Gladwell”

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  • “The morning hour has gold in its mouth. — Benjamin Franklin”

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  • “The most acceptable service of God is doing good to man. — Benjamin Franklin”

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  • “The most important element in building new habits is not time but energy. — Thomas Harris”

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  • “The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself. — Bob Burg”

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  • “The nature of obligation presupposes that you do not want to take the actions you take. Why else would you need to be forcing yourself into those actions? — Robert Fritz”

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  • “The noblest revenge is to forgive. — Thomas Fuller”

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  • “The older generation thought nothing of getting up at five every morning—and the younger generation doesn’t think much of it either. — John J. Welsh”

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  • “The only difference between a rut and a grave is their dimensions. — Ellen Glasgos”

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  • “The person who knows how will always have a job. But the person who knows why will be his boss. — Carl C. Woon”

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  • “The person who steals an egg will steal a chicken. — H. Jackson Brown Jr”

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  • “The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom. — Horace Greeley”

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  • “The real problem is not why some pious, humble, believing people suffer, but why some do not. — C.S. Lewis”

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  • “The reason that most of us seem to have a consistent character is that most of us are really good at controlling our environment. — Malcolm Gladwell”

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  • “The redemption of God shines brighter on a darker canvas. — Ted Dekker”

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  • “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. — Karl Marx”

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  • “The same fence that shuts others out shuts you in. — Bill Copeland”

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  • “The search for happiness is one of the chief sources of unhappiness. — Eric Hoffer”

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  • “The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it. — Sydney J. Harris”

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  • “The truth is always the strongest argument. — Sophocles”

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  • “The unity that binds us all together, that makes this earth a family, and all men brothers and the sons of God, is love. — Thomas Wolfe”

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  • “The value of persistent prayer is not that he will hear us … but that we will finally hear him. — William McGill”

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  • “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. — Fanny Fern (1811–1872), Fern Leaves [1853]”

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  • “The wheel was man’s greatest invention until he got behind it. — Bill Ireland”

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  • “The world is full of cactus, but we don’t have to sit on it. — Will Foley”

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  • “The world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion. — Thomas Paine, Rights of Man”

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  • “The worst translations are those translations that try to be literal. — Eugene Peterson, Author of The Message”

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  • “There are not enough jails, not enough policemen, not enough courts to enforce a law not supported by the people. — Hubert H. Humphrey”

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  • “There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, “All right, then, have it your way.” — C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce”

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  • “There are two ways to be rich: one is to have a lot of money; the other is to have few needs. — William Sloane Coffin”

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  • “There is a God-shaped vacuum in every heart. — Blaise Pascal”

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  • “There is but one way to tranquility of mind and happiness, and that is to account no external things thine own, but to commit all to God. — Epictetus”

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  • “There is no more reason to believe that man descended from some inferior animal than there is to believe that a stately mansion has descended from a small cottage. — W. J. Bryan, 1925”

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  • “There is only one way to really “grow” in the position and to become an “all Pro.” You have to play the game. — Gene Getz”

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  • “There never was a good war or a bad peace. — Benjamin Franklin, Letter to Quincy”

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