Quotes by Author R

Francois Rabelais One falls to the ground in trying to sit on two stools.-- Francois Rabelais Roger de Rabutin Absence is to love what wind is to fire; it extinguishes the small, it inflames the great. Bussy-Rabutin (Roger de Rabutin, Comte de Bussy; 1618 93) Karl Rahner In the torment of the insufficiency of everything attainable we eventually learn that here, in this life, all symphonies remain unfinished. KARL RAHNER Sir Walter Raleigh (1552 &endash; 1618) The gain of lying is, not to be trusted of any, nor to be believed when we speak the truth. --Sir Walter Raleigh I do account it, not the meanest, but an impiety montrous' to confound God and nature, be it but in terms. --Walter Raleigh, _History of the World_, 1614 Ayn Rand (1905 &endash; 1982) "There are no absolutes," they chatter, blanking out the fact that they are uttering an absolute. ----Ayn Rand: Galt's speech from _Atlas Shrugged_ America's abundance was not created by public sacrifices to 'the common good,' but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes.-- Ayn Rand And now I see the face of god, and I raise this god over the earth, this god whom men have sought since men came into being, this god who will grant them joy and peace and pride.This god, this one word: "I." --Ayn Rand, Anthem The purpose of the law is not to prevent a future offense, but to punish the one actually committed. --Ayn Rand, letter to John Hospers (April 29, 1961) People think that a liar gains a victory over his victim. What I've learned is that a lie is an act of self-abdication, because one surrender's one's reality to the person to whom one lies, making that person one's master, condemning oneself from then on to faking the sort of reality that person's view requires to be faked. And if one gains the immediate purpose of the lie--the price one pays is the destruction of that which the gain was intended to serve. The man who lies to the world, is the world's slave from then on.-- Hank Rearden, a hero in Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged, 1957 Part Three, "A is A", Chapter IV, "Anti-Life" Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual). Ayn Rand Every movement that seeks to enslave a country, every dictatorship or potential dictatorship, needs some minority group as a scapegoat which it can blame for the nation's troubles and use as a justification of its own demand for dictatorial powers. In Soviet Russia, the scapegoat was the bourgeoisie; in Nazi Germany, it was the Jewish people; in America, it is the businessmen. --Ayn Rand,_America's Persecuted Minority_ To discuss evil in a manner implying neutrality, is to sanction it. -- Ayn RandToday, racism is regarded as a crime if practiced by a majority -- but as an inalienable right if practiced by a minority. The notion that one's culture is superior to all others solely because it represents the traditions of one's ancestors, is regarded as chauvinism if claimed by a majority -- but as 'ethnic' pride if claimed by a minority. Resistance to change and progress is regarded as reactionary if demonstrated by a majority -- but retrogression to a Balkan village, to an Indian teepee or to the jungle is hailed if demonstrated by a minority. -- Ayn Rand, The Age of Envy G. Randolph Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget.---G. Randolph John Randolph A state can no more give up part of her sovereignty than a lady can give up part of her virtue.--John Randolph (attrib.) Jeannette Rankin (1880-1973) Men and women are like right and left hands; it doesn't make sense not to use both.- Jeannette Rankin (1880-1973) In "American Political Women." by Esther Stineman, 1980 Irfan Rasool Britain is an evil regime and it is corrupt. The idea of democracy goes against everything that Muslims should believe. Democracy is a man-made construct. Instead, everyone should live their life by the teachings of Allah. You ask me to follow Tony Blair, a man, or to follow Allah, our divine teacher? There is no contest. We believe that it is the obligation of every Muslim to fight to create an Islamic state that is based on the Koran. ... Every single Muslim should have a love of Jihad. They should want to go out on a Jihad. Every single Muslim should have these feelings. It would not bother me to shoot a British soldier in the least. Why should it? -- Irfan Rasool, 18-year-old member of radical Muslim group Al-Muhajiroun, quoted http://news.scotsman.com/opinion.cfm?id=1739392001I Rudolf Erich Raspe (1737-1794) A traveler has a right to relate and embellish his adventures as hepleases, and it is very impolite to refuse that deference and applause they deserve.--Rudolf Erich Raspe (1737-1794), _Travels of Baron Munchausen_ [1785],Chapter 21 Gregory Ratoff (1897 &endash; 1960) You're a parasite for sore eyes. - Gregory Ratoff (1897 &endash; 1960) Irina Ratushinskaya I started to believe in God when I was about 8 or 9 years old. I was simply puzzled by what my school teachers told me. They repeated to us many times that God did not exist. And I wondered who it was that did not exist with such power that people couldn't stop talking about him. It was useless to ask my teachers about it because I already knew what their answer would be. And it was useless to ask my parents because they always avoided the topic. So I thought this was some dangerous secret and I decided to find out for myself who this God is...It wasn't God's power that interested me. I was just a small girl and everyone around me was more powerful than me and could punish me...I learnt that God was kind and that he loves me. This is something I desperately needed. - Irina Ratushinskaya, a Ukrainian poet, who on her 29th birthday in March 1983, received a seven-year prison sentence for expressing "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda" in her verses; these seven years of hard labor were to be followed by five years of internal exile. Thomas Raucherstein For those who are adamant that "conscience" provides knowledge of an objective moral order, Nietzsche replies that such an "inner voice" is merely a construct of history, instinct and social practice. He asks, "But why do you listen to the voice of conscience? And what gives you the right to consider such a judgment true and infallible? … Your judgment "this is right" has a pre-history in your instincts, like,dislikes, experiences, and lack of experiences …. [T]hat you feel something to be right…may be due to the fact that you never thought much about yourself and simply have accepted blindly what you have been told ever since your childhood was right." "It is selfish to experience one's own judgment [of conscience] as a universal law ~~ Thomas Raucherstein, Nietzsche and Rorty on Morality and the Death of God (2000) [The] belief that a groundless ethic can promote an increase in tolerance and peace is simply false. Historical examples indicate that atheism has contributed (directly) to the most horrific totalitarian regimes the world has ever seen. If God is dead, then one can certainly conclude that humanity is dead as well. In the absence of God, there is no one to have mercy on our souls.~ Thomas Raucherstein, Nietzsche and Rorty on Morality and the Death of God (2000) Leonard Ravenhill A sinning man will stop praying. A praying man will stop sinning. - Leonard Ravenhill  John Ray (1627 &endash; 1705) He is Yorkshire--said of a shrewd man.-- quoted in John Ray, _A Compleat Collection of English Proverbs_, 1670 When we have gold we are in fear, we we have none we are in danger.-- John Ray English proverbs p 12 (1670) Sam Rayburn (1882 &endash; 1961) No one has a finer command of language than the person who keeps his mouth shut.-- Sam Rayburn Charles Read Not a day passes over the earth, but men and women of no note do great deeds, speak great words and suffer noble sorrows. Charles Read Thomas Buchanan Read (1822-1872) I hate the sin, but I love the sinner. --Thomas Buchanan Read (1822-1872) _What a Word May Do_ Ronald Reagan (1911 &endash; 2004) Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born. -- Ronald Reagan Millions of individuals making their own decisions in the market-place will always allocate resources better than any centralized government planning process. --Ronald W. Reagan I don't pay much attention to critics. The world is divided into two kinds of people: those who can, andthose who criticize.--Ronald Reagan (1911-2004)_New Yorker_ [October 6, 1997], "Prompting the President" As I looked out a moment ago from the Reichstag, that embodiment of German unity, I noticed words crudely spray-painted upon the wall, perhaps by a young Berliner: "This wall will fall. Beliefs become reality." Yes, across Europe, this wall will fall. For it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom. -- Reagan, "Tear Down This Wall" speech, West Berlin, June 12, 1987 Maybe the Lord brought down this plague", because "illicit sex is against the Ten Commandments "- In Reagan's official biography, Dutch, by Edmund Morris, the former US president is quoted as saying of the condition Aids: The taxpayer -- that's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take a civil-service exam. --Ronald W. Reagan I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I'm in a cabinet meeting.  - Ronald Reagan So in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, I urge you to beware the temptation of pride &emdash; the temptation blithely to declare yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong, good and evil. Let us be aware that while they preach the supremacy of the state, declare its omnipotence over individual man, and predict its eventual domination of all peoples of the earth &emdash; they are the focus of evil in the modern world. The Marxist vision of man without God must eventually be seen as an empty and a false faith &emdash; the second oldest in the world &emdash; first proclaimed in the Garden of Eden with whispered words of temptation: 'Ye shall be as gods.'-- Ronald Reagan. Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged. -- Ronald Reagan When cruelty is inflicted on innocent people, it discredits whatever cause. Ronald Reagan Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other. - Ronald Reagan (1911 &endash; ) Patrick Henry Reardon To relinquish any of the Psalms on the excuse that its sentiments are too violent for a Christian is a clear sign that a person has also given up the very battle that a Christian is summoned to fight. The Psalms are prayers for those who are engaged in an ongoing, spiritual conflict. No one else need bother even opening the book. ... Patrick Henry Reardon, Christ in the Psalms [2000] Harry Reasoner When 25 percent of the population believe the President should be impeached and 51 percent of the population believe in UFOs, you may or may not need a new President, but you definitely need a new population. -Harry Reasoner Lynn Redgrave God always has another custard pie up his sleeve. -Lynn Redgrave in "Georgy Girl" Ambrose Redmoon Courage is not the absence of fear, but the judgement that something else is more important than fear. --Ambrose Redmoon Sydney Redoble God may not always come when you call Him, but He's ALWAYS right on time. --Sydney Redoble Fred Reed Men of today's older generation grew up in the chivalric miasma of their time, which held that women were morally superior to men, and that civilized men protected women against any available vicissitude. A corollary was that women needed protecting. So common has this understanding been throughout history that one may suspect it of being based in ancient instinct: In a less hospitable world, if men didn't protect women, something disagreeable would eat them, and then there would be no more people. So men did. And do. --Fred Reed The French have a short-man's complex. I recently ran into a Frenchman who lectured me on the prowess of the Napoleonic armies, their last winning team. ("Cry havoc, and let slip the Frogs of yore," I thought.) -- Fred Reed, "In The Shadow Of Fort Terror" http://fredoneverything.net/LifeInGuad.shtml Kevin Michael Reed Never accept a drink from a urologist. -- Kevin Michael Reed Oliver Reed When a woman says she wants to go out and get a job to express herself, it usually means she's hopelessly behind in the ironing.~Oliver Reed (1978) Thomas Brackett Reed (1839 &endash;1902) One of the greatest delusions in the world is the hope that the evils in this world are to be cured by legislation. --Thomas Brackett Reed William Rees(1802-1883) On the mount of crucifixion, Fountains opened deep and wide, Through the floodgates of God's mercy, Flowed a vast and gracious tide, Grace and love like mighty rivers, Flowed incessant from above, Heaven's peace and perfect justice, Kissed a guilty world in love. William Rees(1802-1883) Hans Reesch A healthy population means a dead pharmaceutical industry. -Hans Reesch, Naked Express Second Witch  Charley Reese If malice or envy were tangible and had a shape, it would be the shape of a boomerang.-Charley Reese It is worth noting that the people today who so vehemently wish to sweep religion from all public spaces and institutions are also the same people who consistently oppose freedom. They want only one God &emdash; the state, which of course they intend to run. --Charley Reese, "Jefferson Speaks", Friday, November 29, 2002 Christopher Reeve I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. - Christopher Reeve - Still Me Max Reger (1873-1916) I am sitting in the smallest room of my house. I have your review before me. In a moment it will be behind me. Max Reger (1873-1916) German composer Responding to a savage review of his music (1906) In Nicolas Slonimsky, Lexicon of Musical Invective (1953) Suart Reid GOVERNMENT attempts to reduce high-risk sexual behaviour among teenagers have had exactly the opposite effect, according to a new study. Academics at Nottingham University are reported to have found that expanding contraceptive services and providing the morning-after pill free to teenagers have encouraged sexual behaviour rather than reducing it. They discovered that sexual activity and sexually transmitted diseases have risen fastest in those areas where the Government's policy has been most actively pursued. Critics said that the findings exploded the official line that the best way to tackle rising teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) was by making contraception more easily available. -- STUART REID, Action on teenage sex' backfiring', _Edinburgh News_ Theodore Reik (1888 &endash; 1969) Great innovators and original thinkers and artists attract the wrath of mediocrities as lightning rods draw the flashes. -- Theodor Reik The small share of happiness attainable by man exists only insofar as he is able to cease to think of himself. Theodore Reik G. E. Reindorp To say of an act done, "My conscience is quite clear", sounds smug and satisfactory. It does not by any means follow that the speaker's conscience ought to be clear. It may simply show that [it] is sadly unenlightened. ... G. E. Reindorp Agnes Repplier 1855 - 1950 Letter writing on the part of a busy man or woman is the quintessence of generosity.- Agnes Repplier, 1855 - 1950 James Reston (1909 &endash; 1995) All politics are based on the indifference of the majority.-- James Reston As society advances, the standard of poverty rises. - James Reston (1909 &endash; 1995) G. K. Chesterton, when he wrote his autobiography near the end of a long and useful life, set himself the task of defining in a single sentence the most important lesson he had learned. He concluded that the critical thing was whether one took things for granted or took them with gratitude. --James Reston _Sketches in the Sand_ Cecil Rhodes (1853 &endash; 1902) Remember that you are an Englishman, and have consequently won first prize in the lottery of life. -Cecil Rhodes 1902 Richard Rhodes Computing machines perhaps can do the work of a dozen ordinary men, but there is no machine that can do the work of one extraordinary man.- Richard Rhodes In "The Making of the Atomic Bomb." David Ricardo I wish that I may never think the smiles of the great and powerful a sufficient inducement to turn aside from the straight path of honesty and the convictions of my own mind.-- The Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, Vol. VII, p. 372. Grantland Rice (1880 &endash; 1954) I learned much more from defeat than I ever learned from winning. - Grantland Rice (1880 &endash; 1954) Richard of Chichester (1197-1253) Thanks be to thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits which Thou hast given us; for all the pains and insults which Thou hast borne for us. O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, may we know thee more clearly, love Thee more dearly, and follow Thee more nearly; For Thine own sake.... Richard of Chichester (1197-1253) John M. Richardson, Jr When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened. - John M. Richardson, Jr Jean Paul Richter Poverty is the only load which is the heavier the more loved ones there are to assist in bearing it.    - Jean Paul Richter Recollection is the only paradise from which we cannot be turned out. --Johann Richter [Jean Paul] (1763-1825) Nothing is more beautiful than cheerfulness in an old face. --Johann Richter [Jean Paul] (1763-1825) _Titan_ [1803] Let prayer be the key of the day, and the bolt of the night.-- Jean Paul Richter. It is not the end of joy that makes old age so sad, but the end of hope. Jean Paul Richter Eddie Rickenbacher Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared. -- Eddie Rickenbacher Hyman G. Rickover (1900 &endash; 1986) It is necessary for us to learn from others' mistakes. You will not live long enough to make them all yourself. - Hyman G. Rickover (1900 &endash; 1986) Johann Rist Arise, the kingdom is at hand, The King is drawing nigh; Arise with joy, thou faithful band, To meet the Lord most high! Look up, ye souls, weighed down with care, The Sovereign is not far; Look up, faint hearts, from your despair, Behold the Morning Star! Look up, ye drooping hearts, today, The King is very near; O cast your griefs and fears away, For, lo, your help is here! Hope on, ye broken hearts, at last The King comes in His might; He loved us in the ages past When we lay wrapped in night. O rich the gifts Thou bringest us, Thyself made poor and weak; O love beyond compare that thus Can foes and sinners seek! For this we raise a gladsome voice On high to Thee alone, And evermore with thanks rejoice Before Thy glorious throne. Johann Rist, 1651; translated Catherine Winkworth,1858. Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light, And usher in the morning; O shepherds, shrink not with afright, But hear the angel's warning. This Child, now weak in infancy, Our confidence and joy shall be, The power of Satan breaking, Our peace eternal making. Johann Rist, 1641; translated John Troutbeck, circa 1885. Joan Rivers (1933- ) The first time I see a jogger smiling, I'll consider it.-- Joan Rivers Johnny Rivers Beware of pretty faces that you find, A pretty face can hide an evil mind. Johnny Rivers _Secret Agent Man_ [1966] Tom Robbins Of the seven dwarves only Dopey had a shaven face This should tell us something about the custom of shaving. ~Tom Robbins, Skinny Legs and All (1990) Stephen Roberts Our democracy is currently facing a crisis that I would like to a consider a "tyranny of the minority." Under the guise of fighting for individual rights, which Americans hold as precious, homosexual activists are trying to obtain an artificial right that would in no way be individual. Using sympathetic judges, these activists are overstepping their bounds as citizens of this country. They believe that their individual freedoms are insufficient&emdash;they are trying to steal an institution that doesn't belong to them.They compare their quest to that of the civil rights activists of Martin Luther King's day.The difference between the two? Black-Americans simply sought the individual rights that they were entitled to under the Constitution. Is marriage an individual right? No, it is neither individual nor a right. Marriage is a social contract that at its basic meaning has the type of sexual relations that only opposite-gendered couples can perform as a requirement. This is thievery of a social institution. A single woman cannot claim the title "Mrs." because that would be misrepresenting who she is and would devalue the status preserved for married women. The definition is set, regardless of whether a single woman feels she is being discriminated against. In the same way, a definition of marriage is set so that it precludes homosexual relationships. For a homosexual couple to claim marriage status, they would be misrepresenting themselves and devaluing a status preserved for opposite-gendered couples. - Stephen Roberts http://www.townhall.com/clog/archive/040418.html#042703PM A.T. Robertson The greatest proof that the Bible is inspired is that it has stood so much bad preaching A.T. Robertson   Pat Robertson (1930 &endash; )  The key in terms of mental ability is chess. There's never been a woman Grand Master chess player. Once you get one, then I'll buy some of the feminism. ~Pat Robertson C. S. Robinson There are times when God asks nothing of his children except silence, patience and tears. -- C. S. Robinson John Robinson (1576?-1625) If God reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His, be as ready to receive it as ever you were to receive any truth by my ministry: for I am verily persuaded, the Lord has more truth yet to break forth out of His holy Word. John Robinson (1576?-1625) to the "Mayflower" emigrants I am verily persuaded that the Lord has more Truth yet to break forth out of His holy Word. For my part, I cannot sufficiently bewail the Condition of the Reformed Churches, who are come to a Period in Religion and will go at present no farther than the instruments of their Reformation. The Lutheran can't be drawn to go beyond what Luther saw; and the Calvinists, you see, stick fast where they were left by that great man of God, who yet saw not all things... I beseech you, remember, 'tis an Article of your Church Covenant, that you be ready to receive whatever Truth shall be made known to you from the written Word of God.... John Robinson [1620] Spider Robinson Just as there are laws of Conservation of Matter and Energy, so there are in fact Laws of Conservation of Pain and Joy. Neither can ever be created or destroyed But one can be converted into the other. --Spider Robinson, "The Law of Conservation of Pain" _Callahan's Chronicals_ Shared pain is lessened; shared joy is increased; thus do we refute entropy. -- Spider Robinson, "Post Toast", Callahan's Chronicals Shared grief diminishes, but shared joy increases. Spider Robinson Victor Robinson There is much satisfaction in work well done; praise is sweet; but there can be no happiness equal to the joy of finding a heart that understands. --Victor Robinson Thomas Roche ...one might wonder why anyone pays attention to people who are so acerbic in their personal presentation style, as to make it difficult to give them a hearing. - Thomas Roche ( with reference to Gary North) John D. Rockefeller Jr. (1874 &endash; 1960) I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty. - John D. Rockefeller Jr John D. Rockefeller, Sr. (1839 &endash; 1937) Charity is injurious unless it helps the recipient to become independent of it. - John D. Rockefeller, Sr. (1839 &endash; 1937) I had no ambition to make a fortune. Mere moneymaking has never been my goal. I had an ambition to build. --John D. Rockefeller, Sr, in Allen Nevins, _Study in Power: John D. Rockefeller_, v. 1 I believe the power to make money is a gift of God...to be developed and used to the best of our abiblity for the good of mankind. Having been endowed with the gift I possess, I believe it is my duty to make money and still more money, and to use the money I make for the good of my fellow man according to the dictates of my conscience. --John D. Rockefeller, Sr, in Matthew Josephson, _The Robber Barons_ Robert N. Rodenmayer There are three kinds of giving: grudge giving, duty giving, and thanksgiving. Grudge giving says, "I hate to," duty giving says, "I ought to," thanksgiving says, "I want to." The first comes from constraint, the second from a sense of obligation, the third from a full heart. Nothing much is conveyed in grudge giving since "the gift without the giver is bare." Something more happens in duty giving but there is no song in it. Thanksgiving is an open gate into the love of God. --Robert N. Rodenmayer, _Thanks Be To Dave Roever How could that woman love me so much? How could she look at a creature composed of inflammation and charred bone and yet look as though I were the man of her dreams come home? Only God could put it in a woman to love a man the way she did. Through His mercy He placed the knowledge of my true self, the person made in God's image, deep within her heart. --Dave Roever, _Welcome Home, Davey_ [1986] (Written after his wife's visit while hospitalized in an army medical center burn unit recovering from injuries sustained when a phosphorous grenade exploded in his hand while on patrol in Vietnam.) Clement F. Rogers It is easy to be tolerant when you do not care. Clement F. Rogers Malcolm Rogers The science of Psychiatry is now where the science of Medicine was before germs were discovered.-- Malcolm Rogers Will Rogers (1879 &endash; 1935) We can't all be heroes because somebody has to sit on the curb and clap as they go by. -- Will Rogers Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. -- Will Rogers Fanatical religion driven to a certain point is almost as bad as none at all, but not quite.~Will Rogers Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.- ROGERS, WILL (1879-1935, Democrats are the only reason to vote for Republicans.--Will Rogers If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out? - Will Rogers There are three types of men in the world. One type learns from books. One type learns from observations. And one type just has to urinate on the electric fence himself. -Will Rogers It's not a question of who's going to throw the first stone; it's a question of who's going to start building with it.--Sloan WilsonEvery man is ignorant -- just on different subjects.... Will Rogers (1879-1935)  Jim Rohn Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.... Jim Rohn As a leader you should always start with where people are before you try to take them to where you want them to go. ~ Jim Rohn R. Rolle It is solace to haue companie in peyne. --R. Rolle *Meditations on Passion* (1349) H.R. Rookmaaker If I am walking in an art gallery and see a beautiful painting, it may be good to praise the Lord, and to thank Him for that great gift. The thing is beautiful, and therefore a joy and spiritually rich . . . But more than likely it will not even occur to us, for we place the arts out of the context of life, making them something autonomous; or say that the gift is just 'natural,' so opposing nature to grace, forgetting that there is no 'nature' that is out of God's creation. No: let us give praise to God for every manifestation of His gifts.H.R. Rookmaaker, Modern Art and the Death of a Culture (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1994), p. 244.  Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 &endash; 1962) You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. Your are able to say for yourself, 'I lived through this horror I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you can not do.-Eleanor Roosevelt Happiness is not a goal; it is a by-product.- Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884 - 1962 Franklin D Roosevelt (1882 - 1945) The only thing we have to fear is fear itself--nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. F D Roosevelt, First Inaugural Address, March 4th, 1933 In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.--Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) (Message on the 74th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, [September 22, 1936]) A Conservative is a man with two perfectly good legs who, however, has never learned to walk forward. A Reactionary is a somnambulist walking backward. Franklin D. Roosevelt To reach a port, we must sail - sail, not tie at anchor - sail, not drift.- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1882 - 1945 Theodore Roosevelt (1858 &endash; 1919) Some reformers may urge that in the ages distant future, patriotism, like the habit of monogamous marriage, will become a needless and obsolete virtue; but just at present the man who loves other countries as much as he does his own is quite as noxious a member of society as the man who loves other women as much as he loves his wife. Love of country is an elemental virtue, like love of home." --Theodore Roosevelt Pray not for lighter burdens but for stronger backs.- Theodore Roosevelt, 1858 - 1919 There is only one quality worse than hardness of heart and that is softness of head.- Theodore Roosevelt, 1858 - 1919 Great thoughts speak only to the thoughtful mind, but great actions speak to all mankind.-- Theodore Roosevelt One of our defects as a nation is a tendency to use what have been called "weasel words." When a weasel sucks eggs the meat is sucked out of the egg. If you use a "weasel word" after another there is nothing left of the other. Theodore Roosevelt Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.-- Theodore Roosevelt It is better to be faithful than famous. ~ Theodore Roosevelt Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit softly.--Theodore Roosevelt It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to he man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew niether victory nor defeat.... Theodore Roosevelt Honesty is not so much a credit as an absolute prerequisite to efficient service to the public. Unless a man is honest we have no right to keep him in public life, it matters not how brilliant his capacity, it hardly matters how great his power of doing good service on certain lines may be. -- Roosevelt, Theodore. 1900. The Strenuous Life. , "OUTLOOK," MAY 12, 1900 The reason fat men are good-natured is they can neither fight or run.- Theodore Roosevelt Lord Rootes (1894-1964) No other man-made device since the shields and lances of ancient knights fulfills a man's ego like an automobile. --Lord Rootes (1894-1964) Giuseppe De Rosa According to Islamic law, the world is divided into three parts: dar al-harb (the house of war), dar al-islam (the house of Islam), and dar al-'ahd (the house of accord); that is, the countries with which a treaty was stipulated. [...] As for the countries belonging to the "house of war," Islamic canon law recognizes no relations with them other than "holy war" (jihad), which signifies an "effort" in the way of Allah and has two meanings, both of which are equally essential and must not be dissociated, as if one could exist without the other. In its primary meaning, jihad indicates the "effort" that the Muslim must undertake to be faithful to the precepts of the Koran and so improve his "submission" (islam) to Allah; in the second, it indicates the "effort" that the Muslim must undertake to "fight in the way of Allah," which means fighting against the infidels and spreading Islam throughout the world. Jihad is a precept of the highest importance, so much so that it is sometimes counted among the fundamental precepts of Islam, as its sixth "pillar." Obedience to the precept of the "holy war" explains why the history of Islam is one of unending warfare for the conquest of infidel lands. [...] In particular, all of Islamic history is dominated by the idea of the conquest of the Christian lands of Western Europe and of the Eastern Roman Empire, whose capital was Constantinople. Thus, through many centuries, Islam and Christianity faced each other in terrible battles, which led on one side to the conquest of Constantinople (1453), Bulgaria, and Greece, and on the other, to the defeat of the Ottoman empire in the naval battle of Lepanto (1571). But the conquering spirit of Islam did not die after Lepanto. The Islamic advance into Europe was definitively halted only in 1683, when Vienna was liberated from the Ottoman siege by the Christian armies under the command of John III Sobieski, the king of Poland. [...] In reality, for almost a thousand years Europe was under constant threat from Islam, which twice put its survival in serious danger. Thus, in all of its history, Islam has shown a warlike face and a conquering spirit for the glory of Allah. [...] against the "idolaters" who must be given a choice: convert to Islam, or be killed. [...] As for the "people of the Book" (Christians, Jews, and "Sabeans"), Muslims must "fight them until their members pay tribute, one by one, humiliated" (Koran, Sura 9:29). [...] - Giuseppe De Rosa S.I..Christians in Islamic Countries"La Civiltà Cattolica" no. 3680, October 18, 2003, http://213.92.16.98/ESW_articolo/0,2393,41931,00.html According to Muslim law, Christians, Jews, and the followers of other religions assimilated to Christianity and Judaism (the "Sabeans") who live in a Muslim state belong to an inferior social order, in spite of their eventually belonging to the same race, language, and descent. Islamic law does not recognize the concepts of nation and citizenship, but only the umma, the one Islamic community, for which reason a Muslim, as he is part of the umma, may live in any Islamic country as he would in his homeland: he is subject to the same laws, finds the same customs, and enjoys the same consideration. But those belonging to the "people of the Book" are subject to the dhimma, which is a kind of bilateral treaty consisting in the fact that the Islamic state authorizes the "people of the Book" to inhabit its lands, tolerates its religion, and guarantees the "protection" of its persons and goods and its defense from external enemies. Thus the "people of the Book" (Ahl al-Kitab) becomes the "protected people" (Ahl al-dhimma). In exchange for this "protection," the "people of the Book" must pay a tax (jizya) to the Islamic state, which is imposed only upon able-bodied free men, excluding women, children, and the old and infirm, and pay a tribute, called the haram, on the lands in its possession. As for the freedom of worship, the dhimmi are prohibited only from external manifestations of worship, such as the ringing of bells, processions with the cross, solemn funerals, and the public sale of religious objects or other articles prohibited for Muslims. A Muslim man who marries a Christian or a Jew must leave her free to practice her religion and also to consume the foods permitted by her religion, even if they are forbidden for Muslims, such as pork or wine. The dhimmi may maintain or repair the churches or synagogues they already have, but, unless there is a treaty permitting them to own land, they may not build new places of worship, because to do this they would need to occupy Muslim land, which can never be ceded to anyone, having become, through Muslim conquest, land "sacred" to Allah. In Sura 9:29 the Koran affirms that the "people of the Book," apart from being constrained to pay the two taxes mentioned above, must be placed under certain restrictions, such as dressing in a special way and not being allowed to bear arms or ride on horseback. Furthermore, the dhimmi may not serve in the army, be functionaries of the state, be witnesses in trials between Muslims, take the daughters of Muslims as their wives, be the guardians of underage Muslims, or keep Muslim slaves. They may not inherit from Muslims, nor Muslims from them, but legacies are permitted. - Giuseppe De Rosa S.I..Christians in Islamic Countries"La Civiltà Cattolica" no. 3680, October 18, 2003 Radical Islam, which proposes that shari'a law be instituted in every Islamic state, is gaining ground in many Muslim countries, in which groups of Christians are also present. It is evident that the institution of shari'a would render the lives of Christians rather difficult, and their very existence would be constantly in danger. This is the cause of the mass emigration of Christians from Islamic countries to Western countries: Europe, the United States, Canada, and Australia. [...] The estimated number of Arab Christians who have emigrated from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Israel in the last decade hovers around three million, which is from 26.5 to 34.1 percent of the estimated number of Christians currently living in the Middle East. Furthermore, we must not underestimate grave recent actions against Christians in some Muslim-majority countries. In Algeria, the bishop of Orano, P. Claverie (1996), seven Trappist monks from Tibehirini (1999), four White Fathers (1994), and six sisters from variou religious congregations have been brutally killed by Islamic fundamentalists, although the murders were condemned by numerous Muslim authorities. In Pakistan, which numbers 3,800,000 Christians among a population of 156,000,000 (96 percent Muslim), on October 28, 2001, some Muslims entered the Church of St. Dominic in Bahawalpur and gunned down 18 Christians. On May 6, 1998, Catholic bishop John Joseph killed himself for protesting against the blasphemy law, which punishes with death anyone who offends Mohammed, even only "by speaking words, or by actions and through allusions, directly or indirectly." For example, by saying that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, one offends Mohammed, who affirmed that Jesus is not the Son of God, but his "servant." With this kind of law, Christians are in constant danger of death. - Giuseppe De Rosa S.I..Christians in Islamic Countries"La Civiltà Cattolica" no. 3680, October 18, 2003 We must, finally, recall a fact that is often forgotten because Saudi Arabia is the largest provider of oil to the Western world, and the latter therefore has an interest in not disturbing relations with that country. In reality, in Saudi Arabia, where wahhabism is in force, not only is it impossible to build a church or even a tiny place of worship, but any act of Christian worship or any sign of Christian faith is severely prohibited with the harshest penalties. Thus about a million Christians working in Saudi Arabia are deprived by violence of any Christian practice or sign. They may participate in mass or in other Christian practices &endash; and even then with the serious danger of losing their jobs &endash; only on the property of the foreign oil companies. And yet, Saudi Arabia spends billions of petrodollars, not for the benefit of its poor citizens or of poor Muslims in other Muslim countries, but to construct mosques and madrasas in Europe and to finance the imams of the mosques in all the Western countries. - Giuseppe De Rosa S.I..Christians in Islamic Countries"La Civiltà Cattolica" no. 3680, October 18, 2003 Billy Rose (1899 &endash; 1966) It's hard for a fellow to keep a chip on his shoulder if you allow him to take a bow.--- Billy Rose Lord Rosebery He was a practical mystic, the most formidable and terrible of all combinations, uniting an aspiration derived from the celestial and supernatural with the energy of a mighty man of action; a great captain, but off the field seeming, like a thunderbolt, the agent of greater forces than himself ; no hypocrite, but a defender of the faith; the raiser and maintainer of the Empire of England. - Lord Rosebery, in W.C.Abbott, The Writings and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell. Christina Rossetti (1830 &endash; 1894) Were there no God, we would be in this glorious world with grateful hearts: and no one to thank. -- Christina Rossetti Gioacchino Rossini (1792 - 1868) Answer them [critics] with silence and indifference. It works better, Iassure you, than anger and argument...-Gioacchino Rossini (1792 - 1868) Meyer Amschel Rothschild Give me control over a nations economy, and I care not who writes its laws." Meyer Amschel Rothschild. Quoted in The Federal Reserve Bank by H.S. Kenan. Henri Rousseau (1844-1910) Excuse my scribbling, it is late, and I have a poor candle.- Henri Rousseau (1844-1910) Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712 - 1778) One half of the children born die before their eighth year. This is nature's law; why try to contradict it? Jean Jacques Rousseau, "mile, ou de l'education", 1762 To endure is the first thing that a child ought to learn, and that which he will have the most need to know.  - Jean Jacques Rousseau, 1712 - 1778 Those who consider Calvin only as a theologian fail to recognize the breadth of his genius. The editing of our wise laws, in which have had a large share, does him as much credit as his Institutes ....So long as the love of country and liberty is not extinct among us, the memory of this great man will be held in reverence. - Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Du contrat social. 1792 Conscience is the voice of the soul; the passions are the voice of the body. --J. J. Rousseau As soon as public service ceases to be the chief business ot the citizens, and they would rather serve with their money than with their persons, the State is not far from its fall. JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU (1712 - 1778) A country cannot subsist well without liberty, nor liberty without virtue.--Jean Jacques Rousseau Our greatest evils flow from ourselves. - Jean-Jacques Rousseau A man says what he knows, a woman says what will please. --Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) Joseph Roux I look at what I have and think myself unhappy; others look at what I have and think me happy.-Joseph Roux We call that person who has lost his father, an orphan; and a widower, that man who has lost his wife. And that man who has known that immese unhappiness of losing a friend, by what name do we call him? Here every language holds its peace in impotence.-- Joseph Roux, _Meditations of a Parish Priest_ Carl Rowan (1925 &endash; 2000) There aren't any embarrassing questions -- only embarrassing answers. Carl Rowan (1925 &endash; 2000) Sheila Rowbotham When a man curls his lip, when he uses ridicule, when he grows angry, you have touched a raw nerve in domination.~ Sheila Rowbotham, Woman's Consciousness, Man's World Dick Rowe Groups are out, four piece groups with guitars particularly are finished. The boys won't go, Mr. Epstein. We know these things. You have a good business in Liverpool. Stick to that. -- Dick Rowe, Decca Records, 1962 quoted in Brian Epstein's "A Cellarful Of Noise" Andrew Rowell If we as a nation officially throw Christ off the throne of the nation and of the throne of the universe in our minds - who are we putting in His place? Whose word is going to be our law? - Andrew Rowell Helen Rowland (1876 - 1950) When a girl marries, she exchanges the attentions of many men for the inattention of one. Helen Rowland Before marriage, a man declares that he would lay down his life to serve you; after marriage, he won't even lay down his newspaper to talk to you. - Helen Rowland, 1876 - 1950 One man's folly is another man's wife. -- Helen Rowland (1876 - 1950) J K Rowling It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live. - J K Rowling,, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Vasily V. Rozanov At times, although one is perfectly in the right, one's legs tremble; at other times, although one is completely in the wrong, birds sing in one's soul.-Vasily V. Rozanov Russian philosopher Rita Rudner Cats are a waste of fur.-- Rita Rudner I was a vegetarian until I started leaning toward the sunlight.-Rita Rudner Wilma Rudolph (1940-1994) I had a series of childhood illnesses . . . scarlet fever . . . .pneumonia . . . . Polio. I walked with braces until I was at least nine years old. My life wasn't like the average person who grew up and decided to enter the world of sports. -- Wilma Rudolph (1940-1994) "USA Today," 6 Aug 1987 Donald Rumsfeld If you are not being criticized, you may not be doing much,- Donald Rumsfeld Weakness is provocative, - Donald Rumsfeld Stephen Runciman (1903 &endash; 2000) Unlike Christianity, which preached a peace that it never achieved, Islam unashamedly came with a sword.- Sir Stephen Runciman (1903 &endash; 2000) Augusta E. Rundel Christmas - that magic blanket that wraps itself about us, that something so intangible that it is like a fragrance. It may weave a spell of nostalgia. Christmas may be a day of feasting, or of prayer, but always it will be a day of remembrance - a day in which we think of everything we have ever loved. - Augusta E. Rundel Todd Rundgren (1948 - ) When I was a child, I thought as a child I spoke as a child I didn't know better But now I'm a man I look like a man I'm old as a man And I should know better... Todd Rundgren (1948 - ) K Runia The early church fought the christological battle because it believed that the gospel itself was at stake. I fully agree. The divinity of Jesus is not a dispensable extra that has no significance for our salvation. On the contrary, our salvation depends on it. We can be saved only by God Himself. K Runia. Christianity Today 4.1.74 Benjamin Rush (1746-1813) Controversy is only dreaded by the advocates of error. -- Benjamin Rush [L]iberty without virtue would be no blessing to us. Benjamin Rush Mirth, and even cheerfulness, when employed as remedies in low spirits, are like hot water to a frozen limb.-- Benjamin Rush (1746-1813) R J Rushdoony The lust for academic respectability is the major cause of intellectual whoredom. R J Rushdoony Cromwell was faced with churches who wanted an established national church still the old Roman model. The Presbyterians, who were the most powerful group, were emphatically for an established group. That to them was salvation. The Separatists disagreed with them, but the other groups wanted to command the establishment. Cromwell wanted not a church establishment, but a Christian establishment. He wanted England committed to a Christian faith, not to a church. That's what he worked for. He had to fight the churches. It was the churches that defeated Calvinism and most of all the Presbyterians. It's the great blot in Presbyterian history that they brought in Charles II, a thoroughly degenerate man, and believed he would keep his word to them that he would go along with their idea of an establishment. Of course, he broke his word to them and 2000 clergymen had to leave the Church of England. Over a course of time, the Presbyterians virtually died out in England. - RJ Rushdoony from the video series: God's Law and Society. Now as Christians we believe that the basic starting point is the regeneration of man. Then man takes and applies that faith. For Christians the basic government is the self-government of the Christian man. Then the basic governmental unit is the family. This means that every father and mother will be more important in the sight of God than heads of state, because He controls children, property and the future. Then the third is the church as the government, fourth the school as a government, fifth your job governs you, then sixth society governs you with its ideas, beliefs and standards, and seventh, one among many forms of government, is the civil government. Today, we are implicitly totalitarian. We speak of the state as the government. That's totalitarian. So we have to rid ourselves of such things. The Christian theonomic society will only come about as each man governs himself under God and governs his particular sphere. And only so will we take back government from the state and put it in the hands of Christians.- RJ Rushdoony , God's Law and Society. Because the Bible is a command word, it is not designed nor does it seek to satisfy our curiosity, but rather to declare God's purpose and law, and to command our faith in and obdience thereto. The command word of a sovereign God can only be an infallible word, and a law word. The Bible does not seek a rational man's assent, because this rational man is a myth. It speaks to a fallen and depraved man whose need is the word of life, and the way of life, Jesus Christ, and the law of that life and person. R.J Rushdoony, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, p. 25. As theology declined in most churches, and sociology became the major "Christian" concern, the churches became steadily more irrelevant, in that school and state were now the truly effective institutions, and the roll of a harmless club became progressively the function of the church. R. J. Rushdoony The Messianic Character of American Education The impatient may not always be wrong on issues, but they are almost always wrong in their attitudes. R. J. Rushdoony Do we need more laws? God forbid! We need more righteousness, more freedom, and more godly men -- and fewer laws. R.J. Rushdoony Now, our increasingly humanistic laws, courts, and legislators are giving us a new morality. They tell us, as they strike down laws resting upon Biblical foundations, that morality cannot be legislated, but what they offer is not only legislated morality but salvation by law, and no Christian can accept this. Wherever we look now, whether with respect to poverty, education, civil rights, human rights, peace, and all things else, we see laws passed designed to save man. Supposedly, these laws are going to give us a society free of prejudice, ignorance, disease, poverty, crime, war, and all other things considered to be evil. These legislative programs add up to one thing: salvation by law." R. J. Rushdoony Dean Rusk (1909-1994) One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears -- by listening to them. - Dean Rusk (1909-____) Continuity does not rule out fresh approaches to fresh situations. - Dean Rusk (1909-____) When you solve a problem, you ought to thank God and go on to the next one. - Dean Rusk (1909-____) On the Cuban missile crisis, in "Look," 6 Sep 1966. John Ruskin (1819-1900 Remember that the most beautiful things in the world are the most useless; peacocks and lilies, for example. John Ruskin, The Stones of Venice And the mistake of the best men through generation after generation, has been that great one of thinking to help the poor by almsgiving, and by preaching of patience or of hope, and by every other means, emollient or consolatory, except the one thing which God orders for them, justice. --John Ruskin, "Unto This Last" How can man understand God, since he does not yet understand his own mind, with which he endeavors to understand Him?--John Ruskin (1819-1900) here is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. -- John Ruskin (attributed) This is the true nature of home--it is the place of peace; the shelter, not only from all injury, but from all terror, doubt, and division. --John Ruskin (1819-1900) _Sesame and Lilie of King' Treasuries_ Lately in a wreck of a Californian ship, one of the passengers fastened by a belt about him with two hundred pounds of gold in it, with which he was found afterward at the bottom. Now, as he was sinking --- had he the gold? or had the gold him? John Ruskin 1860 God always gives us strength enough, and sense enough, for every thing that He wants us to do.... John Ruskin (1819-1900 Bertrand Russell (1872 &endash; 1970) Social dealings in private life are filled with fear, especially in Britain. People take pains not to wear their heart on their sleeves for daws to peck at. As far as they can, they keep their emotions to themselves. The will behave in exactly the same way to you whether they like or dislike you, provided they have no motive of self-interest for making up to you. They are stiff and shy and unspontaneous. They wear an armour designed to conceal the frightened child within. The result is that social intercourse becomes boring, that friendships have little life in them, and that love is only a pale shadow of what it might be. Bertrand Russell, Life Without Fear New Hopes for a Changing World (1951) He is the father of the romantic movement, the initiator of systems of thought which infer non-human facts from human emotions, and the inventor of the political philosophy of pseudo-democratic dictatorships as opposed to traditional absolute monarchies. Ever since his time, those who considered themselves reformers have been divided into two groups, those who followed him and those who followed Locke.... At the present time [1945], Hitler is an outcome of Rousseau; Roosevelt and Churchill, of Locke. -- Bertrand Russell, _A History of Western Philosophy_ The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.... Bertrand Russell United with his fellowmen by the strongest of all ties, the tie of a common doom, the free man finds that a new vision is with him always, shedding over every daily task the light of love. The life of Man is a long march through the night, surrounded by invisible foes, tortured by weariness and pain, towards a goal that few can hope to reach, and where none may tarry long. One by one, as they march, our comrades vanish from our sight, seized by the silent orders of omnipotent Death. Very brief is the time in which we can help them, in which their happiness or misery is decided. Be it ours to shed sunshine on their path, to lighten their sorrows by the balm of sympathy, to give them the pure joy of a never-tiring affection, to strengthen failing courage, to instil faith in hours of despair. Let us not weigh in grudging scales their merits and demerits, but let us think only of their need, of the sorrows, the difficulties, perhaps the blindnesses, that make the misery of their lives; let us remember that they are fellow-sufferers in the same darkness, actors in the same tragedy with ourselves.-- Bertrand Russell The Free Man's Worship" [1903] Drunkenness is temporary suicide: the happiness that it brings is merely negative, a momentary cessation of unhappiness. Bertrand Russell It is in our hearts that evil lies, and it is from our hearts that it must be plucked out. --Bertrand Russell Religion is something left over from the infancy of our intelligence, it will fade away as we adopt reason and science as our guidelines. -- Bertrand Russel One should respect public opinion insofar as is necessary to avoid starvation and keep out of prison, but anything that goes beyond this is voluntary submission to an unnecessary tyranny. Bertrand Russell Most people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so. -- Bertrand Russell The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatever that it is not utterly absurd; indeed, in view of the silliness of the majority of mankind, a wide-spread belief is more likely to be foolish than sensible. Bertrand Russell, Marriage and Morals, 1929 There can be no universal panacea for happiness which is obvious to anyone who has studied, as I have, the root causes of happiness and its opposite. Happiness is a state which is created within us by a very large and very varied number of factors. One man is happy with nothing less than a luxurious mansion and estate and a fleet of fast cars; another man is happy in a monk's cell with the minimum requirements of life. It would seem, therefore, that it is not what we actually possess which provides us with happiness, but our reactions to what we possess. The secret of happiness, like the kingdom of heaven, must be within us, and the key to it is our attitude towards life and especially towards our personal life.- Bertrand Russell, from the "after-death" state Men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made stupid by education. -- Bertrand Russell If we were all given by magic power to read each other's thoughts, I suppose the first effect would be to dissolve all friendships. -Bertrand Russell The secret to happiness is to face the fact that the world is horrible.-Bertrand Russell There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge-- Bertrand Russell I've made an odd discovery. Everytime I talk to a genius I feel quite sure that joy and happiness is no longer a possibility. Yet, when I talk with my gardener, I'm convinced of the opposite; joy and happiness is just around the corner.-Bertrand Russell  [I]t seems to be the fate of idealists to obtain what they have struggled for in a form which destroys their ideals. Bertrand Russell Chapter 7 of _Marriage & Morals_. There is no nonsense so arrant that it cannot be made the creed of the vast majority by adequate governmental action. --Bertrand Russell It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly. --Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) Jeffrey Russell Our every defence against Satan rests upon the power of Jesus Christ. Drawing upon that power, the Protestant Reformation itself a a mighty fortress. Luther also used more direct means of defence, such as cheerfulness, laughter, boisterousness, bawdiness,scorn, insults and obscenity. Everything active, assertive, earthy and good humoured fends off the depression on which the prince of darkness thrives. One of Luther's best defences was to go to bed with Katie. --J Russell The Prince of Darkness p 173 Romantics regarded Milton's Satan as the most important symbol of the rebelliousness that they considered the greatest good. Jeffrey Russell, The Prince of Darkness, p205 Samuel Rutherford If it were no more than once to see the face of the Prince of this good land, and to be feasted for eternity with the fatness, sweetness, dainties of the rays and beams of matchless glory, and incomparable fountain-love, it were a well-spent journey to creep hands and feet through seven deaths and seven hells, to enjoy Him up at the well-head. Only let us not weary: the miles to that land are fewer and shorter than when we first believed. Strangers are not wise to quarrel with their host, and complain of their lodging. It is a foul way, but a fair home. Oh that I had but such grapes and clusters out of the land as I have sometimes seen and tasted in the place whereof your Ladyship maketh mention! But the hope of it in the end is a heartsome convoy in the way. If I see little more of the gold till the race be ended, I dare not quarrel. It is the Lord! Samuel Rutherford ,Letter CCCXVIII, to Lady Kenmure, written from London on January 26, 1646. Letters of Samuel Rutherford, pp 635-636 ,edited by A. A. Bonar , the Banner of Truth Trust. For at my first entry into this trial (being cast down and troubled with challenges and jealousies of His love, whose name and testimony I now bear in my bonds), I feared nothing more than that I was casten over the dyke of the vineyard, as a dry tree. But, blessed be His dear name, the dry tree was in the fire, and was not burnt; His dew came down and quickened the root of a withered plant. And now He is come again with joy, and has been pleased to feast His exiled and afflicted prisoner with the joy of His consolations. Now I weep, but am not sad; I am chastened, but I die not; I have loss, but I want nothing; this water cannot drown me, this fire cannot burn me, because of the good-will of Him that dwelt in the Bush. The worst things of Christ, His reproaches, His cross, are better than Egypt's treasures. I would not give, nor exchange, mybonds for the prelates' velvets; nor my prison for their coaches; nor my sighs for all the world's laughter. This clay-idol, the world, hasno great court in my soul. Christ has come and run away to heaven with my heart and my love, so that neither love is mine:- Samuel Rutherford, Letter XXVII. To LADY HALHILL,ABERDEEN, March 14, 1637 Brother, I may, from new experience, speak of Christ to you. Oh, if ye saw in Him what I see! A river of God's unseen joys has flowed from bank to brae over my soul since I parted with you. I wish that I wanted part, so being ye might have; that your soul might be sick of world, would seem to you then not worth a fig; time will eat you out of possession of it. - Samuel Rutherford, Letter XXVI. To JOHN GORDON OF RUSSO ABERDEEN, March 14, 1637 Why should I tremble at the plough of my Lord, that maketh deep furrows on my soul? I know He is no idle husbandman, He purposeth a crop.- Samuel Rutherford Alas, we but chase feathers flying in the air, and tire our own spirits, for the froth and over-gilded clay of a dying life. One sight of what my Lord hath let me see within this short time, is worth a world of worlds.- Samuel Rutherford letter Feb. 9, 1637 Some have written to me that I am possibly too joyful at the cross;but my joy overleapeth the cross, it is bounded and terminated upon Christ. I know that the sun will overcloud and eclipse, and that I shall again be put to walk in the shadow: but Christ must be welcome to come and go, as He thinketh meet. I hope, when a change comets, to cast anchor at midnight upon the Rock which He has taught me to know in this daylight; whither I may run, when I must say my lesson without book, and believe in the dark. I am sure it is sin to tarrow at Christ's good meat. and not to eat when He saith, 'Eat, O well-beloved, and drink abundantly.' If He bear me on His back, or carry me in His arms over this water, I hope for grace to set down my feet on dry ground, when the way is better. But this is slippery ground: my Lord thought good I should go by a hold, and lean on my Well-beloved's shoulder. It is good to be ever taking from Him..- Samuel Rutherford, Letters XXII. To MR HUGH MACKAIL, ABERDEEN His cross is the sweetest burden that ever I bare; it is such a burden as wings are to a bird, or sails are to a ship, to carry me forward to my harbor.- Samuel Rutherford, Letters, XXIII. To JOHN EWART, ABERDEEN, March 13, 1637 I am fully agreed with my Lord. Christ has put the Father and me into each other's arms. Many a sweet bargain He made before, and He has made this among the rest. I reign as king over my crosses. I will not flatter a temptation, nor give the devil a good word: I defy hell's iron gates. God has passed over my quarreling of Him at my entry here, and now He feedeth and feasteth with me. Praise, praise with me; and let us exalt His name together.- Samuel Rutherford, Letters,XXIV. To WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE, ABERDEEN, March 13, 1637 I bless His glorious name, that my losses are my gain, my prison a palace, and my sadness joyfulness. At my first entry, my apprehensions so wrought upon my cross, that I became jealous of the love of Christ, as being by Him thrust out of the vineyard, and I was under great challenges, as ordinarily melted gold casteth forth a drossy scum, and Satan and our corruption form the first words that the heavy cross speaketh, and say, 'God is angry, He loveth you not.' But our apprehensions are not canonical, they indite lies of God and Christ's love. But since my spirit was settled, and the clay has fallen to the bottom of the well, I see better what Christ was doing. And now my Lord is returned with salvation under His wings. I see not how to be thankful, or how to get help to praise that Royal King, who raiseth up those that are bowed down. And, therefore, let no man scant at Christ's cross, or raise an ill report upon Him or it; for He beareth the sufferer and it both. - Samuel Rutherford, letters,XXV. To MR GEORGE GILLESPIE ABRDEEN, March 13, 1637 Be not afraid for little grace. Christ soweth His living seed, and He will not lose His seed. If He have the guiding of my flock and state, it shall not miscarry. Our spilled works, losses, deadness, coldness, wretchedness, are the ground upon which the Good Husbandman laboureth.- Samulel Rutherford, Letters, XX. To lady KENMURE, ABERDEEN He is come down as rain upon the mown grass; He has revived my withered root, and He is as the dew of herbs. I am most secure in this prison. Salvation is for walls in it, and what think ye of these walls? He maketh the dry plant to bud as the lily, and to blossom as Lebanon. The great Husbandman's blessing cometh down upon the plants of righteousness: who may say this, my dear brother, if I, His poor exiled stranger and prisoner, may not say it? Though all the world should be silent, I cannot hold my peace. No preaching, no book, no learing could have given me that which it behaved me t o come and get in this town.- Samulel Rutherford, Letters, XXII. To MR HUGH MACKAIL, ABERDEEN Let us be faithful, and care for our own part, which is to do and suffer for Him, and lay Christ's part on Himself, and leave it there. Duties are ours, events are the Lord's. When our faith goeth to meddle with events, and to hold a court (if I may so speak) upon God's providence, and beginneth to say, 'How wilt Thou do this and that?' we lose ground. We have nothing to do there. It is our part to let the Almighty exercise His own office, and steer His own helm. There is nothing left to us, but to see how we may be approved of Him, and how we may roll the weight of our weak souls in well-doing upon Him who is God Omnipotent: - Samulel Rutherford, Letters, XXI. To MR WILLIAM DALGLEISH, ABERDEEN Christ beareth me good company. He has eased me, when I saw it not, lifting the cross off my shoulders, so that I think it to be but a feather, because underneath are everlasting arms. - Samulel Rutherford, Letters, ABERDEEN, Feb. 16, 1637 He was never sweeter and kinder than He is now. My dear worthy Lady, I give it to your Ladyship, under my own hand, my heart as well as my hand welcome, welcome, sweet, sweet and glorious cross of Christ; welcome, sweet Jesus, with Thy light cross. Thou hast now gained and gotten all my love from me; keep what Thou hast gotten! - Samuel Rutherford, letters, XII. To lady KENMURE, on the eve of his banishment to Aberdeen, EDINBURGH, July 28, 1636 I know, as night and shadows are good for flowers, and moon-light and dews are better than a continual sun, so is Christ's absence of special use, and it hath some nourishing virtue in it, and giveth sap to humility, and putteth an edge on hunger, and furnisheth a fair field to faith to put forth itself, and to exercise its fingers in gripping, it seeth not what." --Samuel Rutherford (in a letter of Sept 7, 1637) I can let Christ grip me; but I cannot grip him. I love to sit on Christ's knee; but I cannot set my feet to the ground, for afflictions bring the cramp upon my faith. All I now do, is, to hold out a lame faith to Christ, like a beggar holding out a stump, instead of an arm or leg; and cry, Lord Jesus, work a miracle. ... Samuel Rutherford, letter [1637] Christ chargeth me to believe His daylight at midnight. -- Samuel Rutherford Since He looked upon me my heart is not my own. He hath run away to heaven with it. Samuel Rutherford. Christ, the prophets, and apostles of our Lord, went to heaven with the note of traitors, seditious men, and such as turned the world upside down: claumnies of treason to Caesar were an ingredient in Christ's cup, and therefore the author is the more willing to drink of that cup that touched his lip, who is our glorious Forerunner: what, if conscience toward God, and credit with men, cannot both go to heaven with the saints, the author is satisfied with the former companion, and is willing to dismiss the other. Truth to Christ cannot be treason to Caesar, and for his choice he judgeth truth to have nearer relation to Christ Jesus, than the transcendent and boundless power of a mortal prince. --Samuel Rutherford , preface to Lex Rex Christ triumphs in me, blessed be His Name. I have all things. I burden no man. I see that this earth and the fullness thereof is my Father's. Sweet, sweet is the Cross of my Lord. The blessing of God upon the Cross of my Lord Jesus! My enemies have contributed, beside their design, to make me blessed. This is my palace, not my prison ... I think this is all, to gain Christ. All other things are shadows, dreams, fancies, and nothing. Samuel Rutherford, Letter to William Gordon Grace tried is better than grace, and more than grace; it is glory in its infancy. S. Rutherford I rejoice in the hope of that glory to be revealed, for it is no uncertain glory that we look for. Our hope is not hung upon such an untwisted thread as, "I imagine so," or "It is likely," but the cable, the strong tow of our fastened anchor, is the oath and promise of Him who is eternal verity. Our salvation is fastened with God's own hand, and with Christ's own strength, to the strong stake of God's unchangeable nature. Samuel Rutherford, Letter to William Gordon I think it is possible on earth to build a young, new Jerusalem, a little, new heaven of this surpassing love. God, either send me more of this love, or take me quickly over the water, where I may be filled with his love. SAMUEL RUTHERFORD I exhort you and beseech you in the bowels of Christ, faint not, weary not. There is a great necessity of heaven; you must have it... Think it not easy; for it is a steep ascent to eternal glory; many are lying dead by the way, that were slain with security. SAMUEL RUTHERFORD (this quotation is from Letter 100) Dry wells send us to the fountain. Samuel Rutherford But oh. sincerity, sincerity, if I knew what sincerity meaneth!--S Rutherford, Letter 281, p 526 Alas, we but chase feathers flying in the air, and tire our own spirits, for the froth and over-gilded clay of a dying life. One sight of what my Lord hath let me see within this short time, is worth a world of worlds.... Samuel Rutherford (1600-1664) To believe Christ's cross to be a friend, as he himself is a friend, is also a special act of faith.... Samuel Rutherford, a letter [1640] I desire now to make no more pleas with Christ; verily, he hath not put me to a loss by what I suffer; he oweth me nothing; for in my bonds, how sweet and comfortable have the thoughts of him been to me, wherein I find a sufficient recompense of reward!... Samuel Rutherford, letter [1637] Come all crosses, welcome, welcome! so I may get my heart full of my Lord Jesus.... Samuel Rutherford (1600-1664) I am glad that you have been acquainted, from your youth, with the wrestlings of God, being cast from furnace to furnace; knowing, if you were not dear to God, and if your health did not require so much of him, he would not spend as much physic upon you. All the brethren and sisters of Christ must be conformed to his image in suffering, Rom. viii.17, and some do more fully resemble the copy than others.... Samuel Rutherford, letter [1629] Whenever I find myself in the cellar of affliction, I always look about for the wine. - S. Rutherford Grace grows better in the winter. - S. Rutherford Jesus Christ came into my prison cell last night, and every stone flashed like a ruby. - S. Rutherford Of all created comforts, God is the lender; you are the borrower, not the owner.- S. Rutherford Think it not hard if you get not your will, nor your delights in this life; God will have you to rejoice in nothing but himself.... Samuel Rutherford, a letter [1630] I have been benefited by praying for others; for by making an errand to God for them I have gotten something for myself.- S. Rutherford My faith hath no bed to sleep upon but omnipotency.- S. Rutherford I shall think it mercy to my soul, if my faith shall out- watch all this winter-night, and not nod or slumber, till my Lord's summer-day dawn upon me.... Samuel Rutherford, letter [1637] If God have given you the earnest of the Spirit, as part of the payment of the principal sum, ye have to rejoice; for our Lord will not lose His earnest, neither will He go back, or repent Him of His bargain. - Samuel Rutherford, Letters IV. To LADY KENMURE, ANWOTH, Feb. 1, 1630 ..show yourself a Christian, by suffering without murmuring; - in patience possess your soul: they lose nothing who gain Christ. I commend you to the mercy and grace of our Lord Jesus. - Samuel Rutherford, Letters, II. To LADY KENMURE, on the occasion of the death of her infant daughter, ANWOTH, Jan, 15, 1629 I know you are in grief and heaviness; and if it were not so, you might be afraid, because then your way would not be so like the way that our Lord saith leadeth to the New Jerusalem. Sure I am, if you knew what were before you, or if you saw some glances of it, you would, with gladness, swim through the present floods of sorrow, spreading forth your arms out of desire to be at land. - Samuel Rutherford, Letters IV. To LADY KENMURE, ANWOTH, Feb. 1, 1630 Build your nest upon no tree here; for ye see God hath sold the forest to death; and every tree whereupon we would rest is ready to be cut down, to the end we may fly and mount up, and build upon the Rock, and dwell in the holes of the Rock. - Samuel Rutherford, Letters, II. To LADY KENMURE, on the occasion of the death of her infant daughter, ANWOTH, Jan, 15, 1629 I have comfort in this, that my Captain, Christ, hath said, I must fight and overcome the world, and with a weak, spoiled, weaponless devil, 'the prince of this world comets, and hath nothing in me'....Remember Zion. Hold fast that which you have, that no man take the crown from you. The Lord Jesus be with your spirit. - Samuel Rutherford, Letters,III. To MARION MCNAUGHT, when his wife was ill ANWOTH, Nov. 17, 1629 MADAM, - Grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied upon you. I received your Ladyship's letter, in the which I perceive your case in this world smelleth of a fellowship and communion with the Son of God in His sufferings. Ye cannot, ye must not, have a more pleasant or more easy condition here, than He had, who 'through afflictions was made perfect' (Heb. 2.10). We may indeed think, Cannot God bring us to heaven with ease and prosperity? Who doubteth but He can? But His infinite wisdom thinketh and decreeth the contrary; and we cannot see a reason for it, yet He hath a most just reason. We never with our eyes saw our own soul; yet we have a soul. We see many rivers, but we know not their first spring and original fountain; yet they have a beginning. Madam, when ye are come to the other side of the have set down your foot on the shore of glorious eternity, and look back again to the waters and to your wearisome journey, and shall see, in that clear glass of endless glory, nearer to the bottom of God's wisdom, ye shall then be forced to say, 'If God had done otherwise with me than He hath done, I had never come to the enjoying of this crown of glory.' It is your part now to believe, and suffer, and hope, and wait on; for I protest, in the presence of that all-discerning eye, who knoweth what I write and what I think, that I would not want the sweet experience of the consolations of God for all the bitterness of affliction. Nay, whether God come to His children with a rod or a crown, if He come Himself with it, it is well. Welcome, welcome, Jesus, what way soever Thou come, if we can get a sight of Thee! And sure I am, it is better to be sick, providing Christ come to the bedside and draw by the curtains, and say, 'Courage, I am thy salvation ', than to enjoy being lusty and strong, and never to be visited of God - Samuel Rutherford, Letters , V. To LADY KENMURE ANWOTH, June 26, 1630. For there be many Christians most like unto young sailors, who think the shore and the whole land doth move, when the ship and they themselves are moved; just so, not a few do imagine that God moveth and saileth and changeth places, because their giddy souls are under sail, and subject to alteration, to ebbing and flowing. But 'the foundation of the Lord abideth sure'. God knoweth that ye are His own. Wrestle, fight, go forward, watch, fear, believe, pray; and then ye have the infallible symptoms of one of the elect of Christ within you. - Samuel Rutherford, Letter I. To LADY KENMURE ANWOTH, July 27, 1628 Believe, then, believe and be ye saved: think it not hard, if ye get not your will nor your delights in this life; God will have you to rejoice in nothing but Himself. 'God forbid that ye should rejoice in any thing but the cross of Christ.- Samuel Rutherford, Letters IV. To LADY KENMURE, ANWOTH, Feb. 1, 1630 Ye contracted with Christ, I hope, when first ye began to follow Him, that ye would bear His cross. Fulfill your part of the contract with patience, and break not to Jesus Christ. Be honest, brother, in your bargaining with Him; for who knoweth better how to bring up children than our God? For (to lay aside His knowledge, of the which there is no finding out) He has been practiced in bringing up His heirs these five thousand years; and His bairns are all well brought up, and many of them are honest men now at home, up in their own house in heaven, and are entered heirs to their Father's inheritance. Now, the form of His bringing up was by chastisements, scourging, correcting, nurturing; and see if He maketh exception of any of His bairns; no, His eldest Son and His Heir, Jesus, is not excepted (Rev. 3.19; Heb. 12.7-8; 2.10). Suffer we must; ere we were born God decreed it, and it is easier to complain of His decree than to change it. Forward then, dear brother, and lose not your grips. - Samuel Rutherford, Letters , VIII. To JOHN KENNEDY, on his deliverance from shipwreck ANWOTH, Feb. 2, 1632 Howbeit Christ's green cross, newly laid upon me, be somewhat heavy, while I call to mind the many fair days sweet and comfortable to my soul and to the souls of many others, and how young ones in Christ are plucked from the breast, and the inheritance of God laid waste; yet that cross of Christ is accompanied with sweet refreshments, with the joy of the Holy Ghost, with faith that the Lord hears the sighing of a prisoner, with undoubted hope (as sure as my Lord liveth) after this night to see daylight, and Christ's sky to clear up again upon me, and His poor kirk; Samuel Rutherford, Letters , XII. To lady KENMURE, on the eve of his banishment to Aberdeen, EDINBURGH, July 28, 1636 Abram Joseph Ryan A land without ruins is a land without memories--a land without memories is a land without history. --Abram Joseph Ryan Faith is to the soul what life is to the body. Prayer is to faith what breath is to the body. How a person can live and not breathe is past my comprehension, and how a person can believe and not pray is past my comprehension too. ... J. C. Ryle, "A Call to Prayer" J. C. Ryle (1816-1900) The names and number of the elect are a secret thing, no-- doubt...But if there is one thing clearly and plainly laid down about election, it is this - that elect men and women may be known and distinguished by holy lives. J. C. RYLE I am convinced that the first step toward attaining higher standard of holiness is to realize more fully the amazing sinfulness of sin. J. C. RYLE Fear not because your prayer is stammering, your words feeble, and your language poor. Jesus can understand you. Just as a mother understands the first lispings of her infant, so does the blessed Savior understand sinners. He can read a sigh, and see a meaning in a groan. ... J. C. Ryle (1816-1900), "A Call to Prayer" Faith is to the soul what life is to the body. Prayer is to faith what breath is to the body. How a person can live and not breathe is past my comprehension, and how a person can believe and not pray is past my comprehension too. ... J. C. Ryle, "A Call to Prayer" To be prayerless is to be without God, without Christ, without grace, without hope, and without heaven. ... J. C. Ryle (1816-1900), "A Call to Prayer" To reform a man, you must begin with his grandmother. Victor HugoLet men say what they will, or pick holes where they may, they will never succeed in disproving these facts. To the Reformation, Englishmen owe an English Bible, and liberty for every man to read it. To the Reformation, they owe the knowledge of the way of peace with God, and of the right of every sinner to go straight to Christ by faith, without bishop, priest, or minister standing in his way. To the Reformation, they owe a Scriptural standard of morality and holiness such as our ancestors never dreamed of. For ever let us be thankful for these inestimable mercies.-- J. C. Ryle (1816-1900), Five English Reformers