Harold Bell Wright > Quotes

“Eyes blinded by the fog of things
cannot see truth.
Ears deafened by the din of things
cannot hear truth.
Brains bewildered by the whirl of things
cannot think truth.
Hearts deadened by the weight of things
cannot feel truth.
Throats choked by the dust of things
cannot speak truth.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Uncrowned King

“…I never understood until the past months why the Master so often withdrew alone into the wilderness. There is not only food and medicine for one’s body; there is also healing for the heart and strength for the soul in nature. One gets very close to God…in these temples of God’s own building.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Shepherd of the Hills

“Here and there among men, there are those who pause in the hurried rush to listen to the call of a life that is more real… He who sees and hears too much is cursed for a dreamer, a fanatic, or a fool, by the mad mob who, having eyes, see not, ears and hear not, and refuse to understand… ”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Shepherd of the Hills

“There is a bond of fellowship in sorrow that knows no conventionality.”
― Harold Bell Wright

“And it was no shame to her that she so dreamed. It was no shame that she called before her, one by one, those who had asked her to cross with them the threshold (of marriage) and those who might still ask her. It was no shame that, while her heart said always, "no," she still waited - waited for one whom she knew not, but only knew that she would know him when he came. And it was no shame to her that, even while this was so, she saw herself in the years to come a wife and mother. ”
― Harold Bell Wright

“I have always been taught… that every man is divinely called to his work, if that work is for the good of all men. His faithfulness or unfaithfulness to the call is revealed in the motives that prompt him to choose his field.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Calling of Dan Matthews

“Here and there among men, there are those who pause in the hurried rush to listen to the call of a life that is more real… He who sees and hears too much is cursed for a dreamer, a fanatic, or a fool, by the mad mob who, having eyes, see not, ears and hear not, and refuse to understand… Only when we can no longer strive in the battle for earthly honors or material wealth, do we turn to the unseen but more enduring things of life; and.. we strive to hear and see the things we have so long refused to consider. Pete knew a world unseen by us, and we, therefore, fancied ourselves wiser than he. The wind in the pines, the rustle of the leaves, the murmur of the brook, the growl of thunder, and the voices of the night were all understood and answered by him. The flowers, the trees, the rocks, the hills, the clouds were to him, not lifeless things, but living friends, who laughed and wept with him as he was gay or sorrowful. ‘Poor Pete,’ we said. Was he in truth, poorer or richer than we?”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Shepherd of the Hills

“As he stood there, the audience was forgotten. The past, with all its mistakes and suffering, its doubt and sin,
came before him for an instant, then vanished, and his heart leaped for joy, because he knew that it was gone
forever. And the future, made beautiful by the presence of Christ and the conviction that he was right with
God, stretched away as a path leading ever upward, until it was lost in the glories of the life to come, while he
heard, as in a dream, the words of his confessed Master, “Follow: thou me.”
― Harold Bell Wright, That Printer of Udell's

“It is not the spirit of wealth, of learning, or of culture that can make the church of value, or a power for good in the world, but the spirit of Christ only.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Calling of Dan Matthews

“We, who live in the cities, see but a little farther than across the street. We spend our days looking at the work of our own and our neighbors' hands. Small wonder our lives have so little of God in them, when we come in touch with so little that God has made.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Shepherd of the Hills

“The only difference between the East and the West seems to be that you have ancestors and we are going to be ancestors.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Winning of Barbara Worth

“while they read and talked together, there was opened before them the great book wherein God has written, in the language of mountain, and tree, and sky, and flower, and brook, the things that make truly wise those who pause to read.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Shepherd of the Hills

“This was the beginning. The end is easily foreseen; for, given a young man of Dick's temperament, longing
for companionship, and another young man of Charlie's make−up, with a legitimate business to bring the two
together, and only a friendship of the David and Jonathan order could result.”
― Harold Bell Wright, That Printer of Udell's

“Eyes blinded by the fog of Things cannot see Truth. Ears deafened by the din of Things cannot hear Truth. Brains bewildered by the whirl of Things cannot think Truth. Hearts deadened by the weight of Things cannot feel Truth. Throats choked by the dust of Things cannot speak Truth.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Uncrowned King

“Here and there among men, there are those who pause in the hurried rush to listen to the call of a life that is more real. How often have we seen them…, jostled and ridiculed by their fellows, pushed aside and forgotten, as incompetent or unworthy. He who sees and hears too much is cursed for a dreamer, a fanatic, or a fool, by the mad mob, who, having eyes, see not, ears and hear not, and refuses to understand.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Shepherd of the Hills

“Ain't nothin' to a flat country nohow. A man jes naturally wear hisself plumb out a walkin' on a level 'thout ary downhill t' spell him. An' then look how much more there is of hit! Take forty acres o' flat now an' hit's jest a forty, but you take forty acres o' this here Ozark country an' God 'lmighty only knows how much 'twould be if hit war rolled out flat. 'Taint no wonder 't all, God rested when he made these here hills; he jes naturally had t' quit, fer he done his beatenest an' war plumb gin out.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Shepherd of the Hills

“Here and there among men, there are those who pause in the hurried rush to listen to the call of a life that is more real. He who sees and hears too much is cursed for a dreamer, a fanatic, or a fool, by the mad mob who, having eyes, see not, ears and hear not, and refuse to understand. Only when we can no longer strive in the battle for earthly honors or material wealth, do we turn to the unseen but more enduring things of life; and we strive to hear and see the things we have so long refused to consider.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Shepherd of the Hills

“Her face was a face to go with one through the years, and to live still in one's dreams when the sap of life is gone.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Shepherd of the Hills

“Gethsemane ain't no place, it's somethin' that happens. When ever a man goes up against himself, right there is where Gethsemane is. And right there, too is sure to be a fight. A man may not always know about it at the time; he may be too busy fightin' to understand just what it all means; but he'll know about it afterwards-- No matter which side of him wins, he'll know afterwards that it was the one big fight of his life.”
― Harold Bell Wright, When a Man's a Man

“He saw the great hills heaving their dark forms into the sky, and in his soul he felt the spirit of the wilderness and the mystery of the hour.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Shepherd of the Hills

“And this is the stuff," said he to himself, "that makes possible the civilization that produces them.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Shepherd of the Hills

“The old scholar raised his head and looked long at the girl. Her splendid form, glowing with the rich life and strength of the wilderness, showed in every line the proud old southern blood. Could she learn to be a fine lady? Mr. Howitt thought of the women of the cities, pale, sickly, colorless, hot-house posies, beside this mountain flower. What would this beautiful creature be, had she their training? What would she gain? What might she not lose? Aloud he said, "My dear child, do you know what it is that you ask?”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Shepherd of the Hills

“…the beauty of the hour moved him deeply. “What a marvelous, what a wonderful sight!” He said at last in a low tone. “I do not wonder the boy loves to roam the hills a night like this. Look…! See how soft the moonlight falls on that patch of grass this side of the old tree yonder, and how black the shadow is under that bush, like the mouth of a cave, a witch’s cave. I am sure there are ghosts and goblins in there, with fairies and gnomes, and perhaps a dragon or two. And see, …, how the great hills rise into the sky. How grand, how beautiful the world is! It is good to live, …, though life be sometimes hard, still—still it is good to live.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Shepherd of the Hills

“There is a bond of fellowship in sorrow that knows no conventionalities.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Shepherd of the Hills

“To the churches, Christianity has become a question of fidelity to a church and creed, and not to the spirit of Christ.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Calling of Dan Matthews

“Public utility must be the first consideration.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Winning of Barbara Worth

“We spend our days looking at the work of our own and our neighbors' hands. Small wonder our lives have so little of God in them, when we come in touch with so little that God has made.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Shepherd of the Hills

“Without water the desert was worthless. With water the productive possibilities of that great territory were enormous. Without Capital the water could not be had. Therefore Capital was master of the situation and, by controlling the water, could exact royal tribute from the wealth of the land.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Winning of Barbara Worth

“Pete knew a world unseen by us, and we, therefore, fancied ourselves wiser than he. The wind in the pines, the rustle of the leaves, the murmur of the brook, the growl of the thunder, and the voices of the night were all understood and answered by him. The flowers, the trees, the rocks, the hills, the clouds were to him, not lifeless things, but living friends, who laughed and wept with him as he was gay or sorrowful.”
― Harold Bell Wright, The Shepherd of the Hills