Quotes of William Barclay - somelinesforyou

“ There are two great days in a person’s life – the day we are born and the day we discover why. ”

- William Barclay

“ Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory. ”

- William Barclay

“ There are two great days in a person’s life – the day we are born and the day we discover why. ”

- William Barclay

“ So long as we judge ourselves by human comparisons, there is plenty of room for self-satisfaction, and self-satisfaction kills faith, for faith is born of the sense of need. But when we compare ourselves with Jesus Christ, and through Him, with God, we are humbled to the dust, and then faith is born, for there is nothing left to do but to trust to the mercy of God. ”

- William Barclay

“ Concluding a short series on education: The devout student is the best of all students. There are too many who are devout, but not students. They will not accept the discipline of study and of learning, and they even look with suspicion upon the further knowledge which study brings to men… ”

- William Barclay

“ Feast of William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1944 If Christianity has never frightened us, we have not yet learnt what it is.... Abp. William Temple November 7, 2001 Feast of Willibrord of York, Archbishop of Utrecht, Apostle of Frisia, 739 The social gospel is not an addendum to the gospel; it is the gospel… ”

- William Barclay

“ When we believe that God is Father, we also believe that such a father's hand will never cause his child a needless tear. We may not understand life any better, but we will not resent life any longer. ”

- William Barclay

“ I thank you for my friends, for those who understand me better than I understand myself. For those who know me at my worst, and still like me. For those who have forgiven me when I had no right to expect to be forgiven. Help me to be as true to my friends as I would wish them to be to me. ”

- William Barclay

“ When Jesus takes possession of our life, it is not only that the past is forgotten and forgiven; if that were all, we might well proceed to make the same mess of life all over again; but into life there enters this new power which enables us to be what by ourselves we could never be, and to do what by ourselves we could never do… ”

- William Barclay

“ To treat a man with kindness rather than vengeance is the way to move him. Vengeance may break his spirit; but kindness will break his heart. ”

- William Barclay

“ So often we have a kind of vague, wistful longing that the promises of Jesus should be true. The only way really to enter into them is to believe them with the clutching intensity of a drowning man. ”

- William Barclay

“ To treat a man with kindness rather than vengeance is the way to move him. Vengeance may break his spirit; but kindness will break his heart. ”

- William Barclay

“ It may well be that the world is denied miracle after miracle and triumph after triumph because we will not bring to Christ what we have and what we are. If, just as we are, we would lay ourselves on the altar of service of Jesus Christ, there is no saying what Christ could do with us and through us… ”

- William Barclay

“ For the Christian, heaven is where Jesus is. We do not need to speculate on what heaven will be like. It is enough to know that we will be for ever with Him. When we love anyone with our whole hearts, life begins when we are with that person; it is only in their company that we are really and truly alive… ”

- William Barclay

“ Feast of Harriet Monsell of Clewer, Religious, 1883 There is a certain kind of so-called conversion which separates a man from his fellow men. It may fill him with a self-righteousness which rejoices in its own superiority to those who have had no like experience… ”

- William Barclay

“ Joy has nothing to do with material things, or with a man's outward circumstance… a man living in the lap of luxury can be wretched, and a man in the depths of poverty can overflow with joy. ”

- William Barclay

“ We will often find compensation if we think more of what life has given us and less about what life has taken away. ”

- William Barclay

“ A conversion is incomplete if it does not leave one integrated into the Church. By this we do not mean any particular part of the Church; what we do mean is that conversion must leave one linked in loving fellowship with one's fellow believers. Conversion is not something simply between a man and Jesus Christ, with no other person involved… ”

- William Barclay

“ Love always involves responsibility, and love always involves sacrifice. And we do not really love Christ unless we are prepared to face His task and to take up His Cross. ”

- William Barclay

“ Feast of Harriet Monsell of Clewer, Religious, 1883 There is a certain kind of so-called conversion which separates a man from his fellow men. It may fill him with a self-righteousness which rejoices in its own superiority to those who have had no like experience… ”

- William Barclay

“ Feast of the Venerable Bede, Priest, Monk of Jarrow, Historian, 735 Commemoration of Aldhelm, Abbot of Mamsbury, Bishop of Sherborne, 709 Life is at its noblest and its best when our effort cooperates with God's grace to produce the necessary loveliness. ”

- William Barclay

“ A conversion is incomplete if it does not leave one integrated into the Church. By this we do not mean any particular part of the Church; what we do mean is that conversion must leave one linked in loving fellowship with one's fellow believers. Conversion is not something simply between a man and Jesus Christ, with no other person involved… ”

- William Barclay

“ Feast of William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1944 If Christianity has never frightened us, we have not yet learnt what it is.... Abp. William Temple November 7, 2001 Feast of Willibrord of York, Archbishop of Utrecht, Apostle of Frisia, 739 The social gospel is not an addendum to the gospel; it is the gospel… ”

- William Barclay

“ Feast of the Annunciation of our Lord to the Virgin Mary Concluding a Lenten series on prayer: Prayer is not a way of making use of God; prayer is a way of offering ourselves to God in order that He should be able to make use of us. It may be that one of our great faults in prayer is that we talk too much and listen too little… ”

- William Barclay

“ Commemoration of Margery Kempe, Mystic, after 1433 That crowd of Jews would have followed Christ at that moment because He was giving them what they wanted , and they wished to use Him for their plans and dreams and purposes. That attitude to Christ still lingers in men's minds… ”

- William Barclay

“ Concluding a short series on education: The devout student is the best of all students. There are too many who are devout, but not students. They will not accept the discipline of study and of learning, and they even look with suspicion upon the further knowledge which study brings to men… ”

- William Barclay

“ Feast of Teresa of Avila, Mystic, Teacher, 1582 O God, grant that today I may not disappoint any friend; I may not grieve any loved one; I may not fail anyone to whom I have a duty; I may not shame myself. Grant that today I may do my work with honesty and fidelity; I may take my pleasure in happiness and purity… ”

- William Barclay

“ Commemoration of Wilson Carlile, Priest, Founder of the Church Army, 1942 Here is the great truth that, only when we see things in the light of God, do we see things as they are. It is only when we see things in the light of God that we see what things are really important, and what things are not… ”

- William Barclay

“ For some extraordinary reason, the Church moves in an atmosphere of antiquity. I have no doubt that it makes for dignity; I have also no coubt that there are times when it makes for complete irrelevance; for, if there is one thing that is true of religion it is that it must always be expressible in contemporary terms… ”

- William Barclay

“ If we are to accept the teaching of Jesus at all, then the only test of the reality of a man's religion is his attitude to his fellow men. The only possible proof that a man loves God is the demonstrated fact that he loves his fellow men. ”

- William Barclay
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8