“We can experience joy in adverse circumstances by holding God’s benefits in such esteem that the recognition of them and meditation upon them shall overcome all sorrow.”

The gospel is not a doctrine of the tongue, but of life.

We cannot rely on God’s promises without obeying his commandments.

We may rest assured that God would never have suffered any infants to be slain except those who were already damned and predestined for eternal death.

When I took the leap, I had faith I would find a net; Instead I learned I could fly.

We should ask God to increase our hope when it is small, awaken it when it is dormant, confirm it when it is wavering, strengthen it when it is weak, and raise it up when it is overthrown.

Unless God’s Word illumine the way, the whole life of men is wrapped in darkness and mist, so that they cannot but miserably stray.

It is therefore faith alone which justifies, and yet the faith which justifies is not alone.

Repentance is the true turning of our life to God, a turning that arises from a pure and earnest fear of Him; and it consists in the mortification of the flesh and the renewing of the Spirit.

If God does nothing random, there must always be something to learn.

A man that extols himself is a fool and an idiot.

We must not think that [God] takes no notice of us, when He does not answer our wishes: for He has a right to distinguish what we actually need.

But those who wish to prove to unbelievers that Scripture is the Word of God are acting foolishly, for only by faith can this be known.

There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make men rejoice.

Men will never worship God with a sincere heart, or be roused to fear and obey Him with sufficient zeal, until they properly understand how much they are indebted to His mercy.

Man’s mind is like a store of idolatry and superstition; so much so that if a man believes his own mind it is certain that he will forsake God and forge some idol in his own brain.

Whenever the Lord holds us in suspense, and delays his aid, he is not therefore asleep, but, on the contrary, regulates all His works in such a manner that he does nothing but at the proper time.

On the one hand, we’ll never experience childbirth. On the other hand, we can open all our own jars.

Age is nothing but experience, and some of us are more experienced than others

Unfortunately, in Hollywood, there are those directors that have some contempt for actors. We’ve all experienced that, in one way or another.

At Grinnell College, for the first time in my life, I was in an all-white setting. It was a shocking experience.

The head learns new things, but the heart forever practices old experiences.

The desire to play has always been in me. I remember my first experience at about four or five of really dying to sing and dying to play that came from no one telling me to do so.

Some of my best experiences are with writer/directors. Guy Ritchie is one. I feel they have a clearer view of what they want to do. They haven’t got to try and interpret someone’s writing; it’s all theirs. I really admire that.

From my experience and understanding, I believe money follows name and fame, while recognition calls for a huge amount of sacrifice. To get something, you have to lose something. That’s the rule of life.