Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

James Freeman Clarke

American Unitarian Leader, Theologian and Writer

"The root of all discontent is self-love."

"A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman of the next generation. A politician looks for the success of his party; a statesman for that of his country. The statesman wishes to steer, while the politician is satisfied to drift."

"All the strength and force of man comes from his faith in things unseen. He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions. The man strongly possessed of an idea is master of all who are uncertain or wavering. Clear, deep, living convictions rule the world."

"Art itself, in all its methods, is the child of religion. The highest and best works in architecture, sculpture and painting, poetry and music, have been born out of the religion of Nature."

"Conscience in the soul is the root of all true courage. If a man would be brave, let him learn to obey his conscience."

"Do not run after happiness, but seek to do good, and you will find that happiness will run after you. The day will dawn full of expectation, the night will fall full of repose. This world will seem a very good place, and the world to come a better place still."

"In the spirit of faith let us begin each day, and we shall be sure to “redeem the time” which it brings to us, by changing it into something definite and eternal. There is a deep meaning n this phrase of the apostle, to redeem time. We redeem time, and do not merely use it. We transform it into eternity by living it aright."

"If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way."

"If men gave three times as much attention as they now do to ventilation, ablution, and exercise in the open air, and only one third as much to eating, luxury, and late hours, the number of doctors, dentists, and apothecaries, and the amount of neuralgia, dyspepsia, gout, fever, and consumption would be changed in corresponding ratio."

"Never hurry; take plenty of exercise; always be cheerful, and take all the sleep you need, and you may expect to be well."

"Religion is life, philosophy is thought; religion looks up, friendship looks in. We need both thought and life, and we need that the two shall be in harmony."

"When we trust our brother, whom we have seen, we are learning to trust God, whom we have not seen."

"Conscience is the root of all true courage; if a man would be brave let him obey his conscience."

"Variety is the condition of harmony."

"Each of us has his gift. Let us not imagine that we are disinherited by our heavenly Father, any one of us. Let us be ourselves, as God made us, then we shall be something good and useful."

"We are either progressing or retrograding all the while. There is no such thing as remaining stationary in this life."

"All the strength and force of man comes from his faith in things unseen. He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions."

"See to do good, and you will find that happiness will run after you."

"I can do small things in a great way."