Pastoral Resources

The path of least resistance and least trouble is a mental rut already made. It requires troublesome work to undertake the alternation of old beliefs.

Superstitions are habits rather than beliefs.

This is a free country, and nobody should be criticized for their political beliefs. We're all allowed to have our opinions.

In Lincoln's day a President's religion was a very private affair. There were no public prayer meetings, no attempts to woo the Religious Right. Few of Lincoln's countrymen knew anything at all of his religious beliefs.

All business proceeds on beliefs, or judgements of probabilities, and not on certainties.

Rational beliefs bring us closer to getting good results in the real world.

A man must not swallow more beliefs than he can digest.

We are born believing. A man bears beliefs as a tree bears apples.

Happy is he who has gained the wealth of divine thoughts, wretched is he whose beliefs about the gods are dark.

When it comes to controlling human beings, there is no better instrument than lies. Because you see, humans live by beliefs. And beliefs can be manipulated. The power to manipulate beliefs is the only thing that counts.

My core beliefs revolve around the idea that we should live to the best of our abilities-we should live and let live.

If the truth contradicts deeply held beliefs, that is too bad.

I don't feel particularly comfortable about actors using whatever power they may have to push their beliefs, unless they're extremely well informed.

When she was younger, my mother was quite committed to Roman Catholicism. But she got disillusioned with it and moved closer to something like Buddhist beliefs near the end of her life.

You can't control people. You must understand them. You have to know where they're coming from, their beliefs and values, what turns them off, what they're against.

Research on child abuse suggests that religious beliefs can foster, encourage, and justify the abuse of children. When contempt for sex underlies teachings, this creates a breeding ground for abuse.

It takes a lot more energy to fail than to succeed, since it takes a lot of concentrated energy to hold on to beliefs that don't work.

The beliefs expressed in the Declaration of Independence remain a standard for our nation today. They also remain a standard for those nations across the globe striving to achieve democracy.

The only people available to change the world are the people now living in it, with all the beliefs they bring along - however retrograde those beliefs may appear to those of us who see ourselves as enlightened.

There are many qualities that make a great leader. But having strong beliefs, being able to stick with them through popular and unpopular times, is the most important characteristic of a great leader.