Charles R. Swindoll

The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail.

I think it is important to begin with a statement in your speech that grabs the attention of the audience. I try to make my opening line 15 words or less.

Sometimes I wake up before dawn, and I love sitting up in the middle of the bed with all the lights off, pitch-black dark, and talking to the Father, with no interruptions and nothing that reminds me that there's anything in life but me and Him.

When we attempt to find meaning in the pursuit of pleasure, the commitment to a job, or through plumbing intellectual depths, we all eventually find in each of these pursuits a dead end.

Those who feed on rumors are small, suspicious souls.

Prejudice is a learned trait. You're not born prejudiced; you're taught it.

Encouragement is awesome. Think about it. It has the capacity to lift a mans or a womans shoulders. To breathe fresh air into the fading embers of a smoldering dream. To actually change the course of another human beings day week or life.

Noise and crowds have a way of siphoning our energy and distracting our attention, making prayer an added chore rather than a comforting relief

The swift wind of compromise is a lot more devastating than the sudden jolt of misfortune.

I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Lets face it friends make life a lot more fun.

Attitude is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than what people do or say. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill.

When you have vision it affects your attitude. Your attitude is optimistic rather than pessimistic.

I know of nothing more valuable, when it comes to the all-important virtue of authenticity, than simply being who you are.

An anniversary says, "Think of the dreams you have weathered together. They are intimate accomplishments.

We cannot change our past. We can not change the fact that people act in a certain way. We can not change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.

Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our attitudes toward life. The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it.

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.

Only you can determine your choice of attitude. Choose wisely choose carefully choose confidently

The skeptic may deny your doctrine or attack your church but he cannot honestly ignore the fact that your life has been changed.

We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.

The remarkable thing is, we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.

We must cease striving and trust God to provide what He thinks is best and in whatever time He chooses to make it available. But this kind of trusting doesn't come naturally. It's a spiritual crisis of the will in which we must choose to exercise faith.

Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.

Alleged "impossibilities" are opportunities for our capacities to be stretched.

We need discernment in what we see and what we hear and what we believe.

Encourage one another. Many times a word of praise or thanks or appreciation or cheer has kept people on their feet.

A teardrop on earth summons the King of heaven.

I cannot even imagine where I would be today were it not for that handful of friends who have given me a heart full of joy. Let's face it, friends make life a lot more fun.

I'm not against screens, or new songs, or innovation. I just don't like the gimmicks. I want to know when worship is over that that leader's sole purpose was to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.

A family is a place where principles are hammered and honed on the anvil of everyday living.

There is plenty of television. There are plenty of talk shows. There are plenty of comedians. But there is not plenty of worship of the true and living God.

As far back as I can remember, my mother would have me down by the bed at night with her, praying. I can still hear her voice calling my name to God and telling him that she wanted me to follow him in whatever he called me to do.

Alleged 'impossibilities' are opportunities for our capacities to be stretched.

People who soar, are those who refuse to sit back and wish things would change

We can't solve modern problems by going back in time. Retreating to the safety of the familiar is an understandable response, but God has called us to a life of faith. And faith requires us to face the unknown while trusting Him completely.

The world has changed and it's going to keep changing, but God never changes; so we are safe when we cling to Him.

On tough days, you gotta have heart. Don't quit, whatever you do. Persevere.

Our minds can be kept free of anxiety as we dump the load of our cares on the Lord in prayer.

Two words will help you cope when you run low on hope accept and trust.

The secret of living a life of excellence is merely a matter of thinking thoughts of excellence. Really, it's a matter of programming our minds with the kind of information that will set us free.

One of my great goals in life is to live long enough to where I am in the pulpit, preaching my heart out, and I die on the spot, my chin hits the pulpit - boom! - and I'm down and out. What a way to die!

It's the most exciting thing to watch God work when I've asked him about something, to listen to him and watch him work. It's like this friendship, and it just grows and grows and grows and grows.

When I think of vision, I have in mind the ability to see above and beyond the majority.

When you are giving people the gospel, you are giving them something to believe, and you have to set the stage for that. You don't just drive up and dump the truck and drive off.

Its a delightful thing to receive a good word just at your time of need. Encourage someone today.

I'm here today to warn you: I want you to watch out for the adversary. Guard yourself from any spirit of entitlement. Restrain any and all subtle temptation to gain attention or to find ways to promote yourself.

Servants must be big people. Big enough to go on, remembering the right and forgetting the wrong.