Today I thought I would share a sampling of quotations that I've happened upon over the past few years and jotted down in my "inspiration" spiral. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
"Lord, do Thou turn me all into love,
and all my love into obedience,
and let my obedience be
without interruption."
-Jeremy Taylor
“A good wife is Heaven’s last, best gift to man, his angel and minister of graces innumerable, his gem of many virtues; her voice his sweetest music, her smiles his brightest day, her kiss the guardian of his innocence, her arms the pale of his safety, the balm of his health, the sure balsam of his life; her industry his surest wealth, her economy his safest steward, her lips his faithful counselor, her bosom the softest pillow of his cares, and her prayers the ablest advocate of Heaven’s blessing on his head.”
J.R. Miller, Home Making
"Some people think God does not like to be troubled with our constant coming and asking. The way to trouble God is not to come at all."
-D.L. Moody
"Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is in the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit."
Jeremiah 17:7-8
"For they say when you marry in June... you're a bride all your life!" - Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
"Chastity is so essential and natural to your sex, that every declination from it is a proportional receding from your womanhood. An immodest woman is a kind of monster, distorted from its proper form."
A Letter of Genteel and Moral Advice to a Young Lady
Wetenhall Wilkes, 1741
"My greatest ambition is to have a successful, happy marriage." -Nancy Reagan
"She is grace herself. . . . That is what a woman ought to be. She ought to produce the effect of exquisite music." -George Eliot
"A woman's worth is to be estimated by the real goodness and sweetness of her character; and a woman with a kindly disposition and well-balanced temper, is both lovely and attractive, be her face ever so plain and her figure ever so homely; she makes the best of wives and the truest of mothers."
- T.L. Haines & L.W. Yaggy ('To Young Women', 1876)
"Thy husband is thy lord, thy life, thy keeper,
Thy head, thy sovereign, one that cares for thee,
And for thy maintenance; commits his body
To painful labor, both by sea and land;
To watch the night in storms, the day in cold,
Whilst thou li’st warm at home, secure and safe;
And craves no other tribute at thy hands
But love, fair looks, and true obedience-
Too little payment for so great a debt.
Such duty as the subject owes the prince,
Even such a woman oweth to her husband;
And when she is froward, peevish, sullen, sour,
And no obedient to his honest will,
What is she but a foul contending rebel,
And graceless traitor to her loving lord?
I asham’d that women are so simple
‘To offer war where they should kneel for peace,
Or seek for rule, supremacy, and sway,
When they are bound to serve, love, and obey.
Why are our bodies soft, and weak, and smooth,
Unapt to toil and trouble in the world,
But that our soft conditions, and our hearts,
Should well agree with our external parts?"
-Kate, “The Taming of the Shrew"
"Ladies should also remember that gentlemen look more to the effect of a dress in setting off the figure and countenance of a lady than to its cost. Very few gentlemen have any idea the value of ladies' dresses. This is a subject for female criticism. Beauty of person and elegance of manners in women will always command more admiration from the opposite sex than beauty, elegance or costliness of clothing."
The Scholars' Companion and Ball Room Vade Mecum
Thomas Hillgrove, 1857
"Father, I know that all my life is portioned out for me, and the changes that are sure to come, I do not fear to see; but I ask Thee for a present mind intent on pleasing Thee."
-Anna L. Waring
