Interlock PrayerNet

- Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope.  Nothing which is true or beautiful makes sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith.  Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we are saved by love.  No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint.  Therefore we must be saved by a final form of love which is forgiveness.
Reinhold Niebubr, The Irony of Human History (1952)

- The reasonable man adapts himself to the world, but the unreasonable man tries to adapt the world to him, therefore, all progress depends upon the unreasonable man.
George Bernard Shaw (and who also said that the truly reasonable man would never get married…)

- There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.
Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince

- We are either living out a new vision or the death of an old one.
Franklin D. Roosevelt

- You can’t stay in your corner of the forest waiting for others to come to you.  You have to go to them sometimes.
A. A. Milne, Pooh’s Little Instruction Book

- It is not the critic that counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.  The credit belongs to the man in the arena, where face is marred by dust, and sweat, and blood, who strives valiantly… who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievemnt, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who have never known neither victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt

[And one final quote to keep it all in perspective…]
- The Lord is my Pace Setter, I shall not rush,
He makes me stop and rest for quiet intervals,
He provides me with images of stillness, which restores my serenity;
He leads me in the way of efficiency through calmness of mind,
And His guidance is peace.
Even though I have a great many things to accomplish each day,
I will not fret, for His presence is here.
His timelessness, His all importance will keep me in balance.
He prepares refreshment and renewal in the midst of my activity
By anointing my mind with His oils of tranquility.
My cup of joyous energy overflows.
Surely harmony and effectiveness shall be the fruits of my hours,
For I shall walk in the power of the Lord, and dwell in His house forever.
A translation of the Japanese version by Toki Mujashina from Psalms 23 (St Andrews Press, Edinburgh, 1969)