<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>Maxioms.com</title><description>Quotes, Famous Quotes, Sayings, Proverbs, Maxims, Axioms, Maxioms</description><link>http://maxioms.com</link><language>en-us</language><copyright>Copyright 2026 Maxioms.com. All Rights Reserved.</copyright><item><title><![CDATA[The impression somehow prevails that the true believer, particularly the religious individual, is a humble person. The truth is that ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/52268]]></link><description><![CDATA[The impression somehow prevails that the true believer, particularly the religious individual, is a humble person. The truth is that the surrendering and humbling of the self breeds pride and arrogance.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/52268</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Worldly riches are like nuts; many a tooth is broken in cracking them, but never is the stomach filled with ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/61449]]></link><description><![CDATA[Worldly riches are like nuts; many a tooth is broken in cracking them, but never is the stomach filled with eating them.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/61449</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[If you can't go around it, over it, or through it, you had better negotiate with it ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/12308]]></link><description><![CDATA[If you can't go around it, over it, or through it, you had better negotiate with it]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/12308</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[All the sounds of the earth are like music. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/43485]]></link><description><![CDATA[All the sounds of the earth are like music.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/43485</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[A man who is contented with what he has done will never become famous for what he will do. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/10002]]></link><description><![CDATA[A man who is contented with what he has done will never become famous for what he will do.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/10002</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/65643]]></link><description><![CDATA[We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/65643</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Italians can't win the game against you, but you can lose the game against the Italians. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/57772]]></link><description><![CDATA[Italians can't win the game against you, but you can lose the game against the Italians.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/57772</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[One might as well try to ride two horses moving in different directions, as to try to maintain in equal ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/44146]]></link><description><![CDATA[One might as well try to ride two horses moving in different directions, as to try to maintain in equal force two opposing or contradictory sets of desires.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/44146</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[You kiss away her tears. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/50537]]></link><description><![CDATA[You kiss away her tears.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/50537</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[The best of our theater is standing on tiptoe, striving to see over the shoulders of father and mother. The ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/629]]></link><description><![CDATA[The best of our theater is standing on tiptoe, striving to see over the shoulders of father and mother. The worst is exploiting and wallowing in the self-pity of adolescence and obsessive keyhole sexuality. The way out, as the poet says, is always through.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/629</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Those quick scores took the wind out of our players' sails. That was tough to overcome. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/31308]]></link><description><![CDATA[Those quick scores took the wind out of our players' sails. That was tough to overcome.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/31308</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Christmas Eve Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock. "Now they are all on their knees," An elder said as ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/7444]]></link><description><![CDATA[Christmas Eve Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock. "Now they are all on their knees," An elder said as we sat in a flock By the embers in herath side ease. We pictured the meek mild creatures where They dwelt in their strawy pen, Nor did it occur to one of us there To doubt they were kneeling then. So fair a fancy few would weave In these years! yet, I feel If someone said on Christmas Eve, "Come; see the oxen kneel, In the lonely barton by yonder coomb Our childhood used to know," I should go with him in the gloom, Hoping it might be so.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/7444</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/61373]]></link><description><![CDATA[And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/61373</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[If we have this agreement, everybody is going to gain, including Poland. And if we don't have this agreement, everybody ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/41587]]></link><description><![CDATA[If we have this agreement, everybody is going to gain, including Poland. And if we don't have this agreement, everybody will lose including Poland.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/41587</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Maybe we like the pain. Maybe we're wired that way. Because without it, I don't know; maybe we just wouldn't ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/59912]]></link><description><![CDATA[Maybe we like the pain. Maybe we're wired that way. Because without it, I don't know; maybe we just wouldn't feel real. What's that saying? Why do I keep hitting myself with a hammer? Because it feels so good when I stop.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/59912</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[You learn to like someone when you find out what makes them laugh, but you can never truly love someone ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/53257]]></link><description><![CDATA[You learn to like someone when you find out what makes them laugh, but you can never truly love someone until you find out what makes them cry.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/53257</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Now, by two-headed Janus, Nature hath framed strange fellows in her time. -The Merchant of Venice. Act i. Sc. 1. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/55539]]></link><description><![CDATA[Now, by two-headed Janus, Nature hath framed strange fellows in her time. -The Merchant of Venice. Act i. Sc. 1.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/55539</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[At this day... the earth sustains on her bosom many monster minds, minds which are not afraid to employ the ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/8059]]></link><description><![CDATA[At this day... the earth sustains on her bosom many monster minds, minds which are not afraid to employ the seed of Deity deposited in human nature as a means of suppressing the name of God. Can anything be more detestable than this madness in man, who, finding God a hundred times both in his body and his soul, makes his excellence in this respect a pretext for denying that there is a God? He will not say that chance has made him different from the brutes; ... but, substituting Nature as the architect of the universe, he suppresses the name of God.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/8059</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Dishonesty is so grasping it would deceive God himself, were it possible. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/12543]]></link><description><![CDATA[Dishonesty is so grasping it would deceive God himself, were it possible.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/12543</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[It's a recession when your neighbour loses his job; it's a depression when you lose your own. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/44384]]></link><description><![CDATA[It's a recession when your neighbour loses his job; it's a depression when you lose your own.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/44384</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right use of strength. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/57952]]></link><description><![CDATA[Greatness lies not in being strong, but in the right use of strength.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/57952</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/57598]]></link><description><![CDATA[I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/57598</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Tho' he inherit Not the pride, nor ample pinion,  That the Theban eagle bear,   Sailing with supreme ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/13094]]></link><description><![CDATA[Tho' he inherit Not the pride, nor ample pinion,  That the Theban eagle bear,   Sailing with supreme dominion    Thro' the azure deep of air.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/13094</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret forthe things we did not do ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/22598]]></link><description><![CDATA[Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret forthe things we did not do that is inconsolable.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/22598</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/43852]]></link><description><![CDATA[He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life away in fruitless efforts.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/43852</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Alas, we but chase feathers flying in the air, and tire our own spirits, for the froth and over-gilded clay ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/6353]]></link><description><![CDATA[Alas, we but chase feathers flying in the air, and tire our own spirits, for the froth and over-gilded clay of a dying life. One sight of what my Lord hath let me see within this short time, is worth a world of worlds.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/6353</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[The beauteous eyes of the spring's fair night With comfort are downward gazing. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/57793]]></link><description><![CDATA[The beauteous eyes of the spring's fair night With comfort are downward gazing.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/57793</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Go forth under the open sky, and list To Nature's teachings. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/43793]]></link><description><![CDATA[Go forth under the open sky, and list To Nature's teachings.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/43793</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[There are three kinds of death in this world. There's heart death, there's brain death, and there's being off the ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/11205]]></link><description><![CDATA[There are three kinds of death in this world. There's heart death, there's brain death, and there's being off the network. •Guy Almes   A dying man needs to die, as a sleepy man needs to sleep, and there comes a time when it is wrong, as well as useless, to resist. •Steward Alsop   I do not believe that any man fears to be dead, but only the stroke of death. •Francis Bacon   When one by one our ties are torn, and friend from friend is snatched forlorn; When man is left alone to mourn, oh! then how sweet it is to die! •Anna Letitia Barbauld   Living is death; dying is life. We are not what we appear to be. On this side of the grave we are exiles, on that citizens; on this side orphans, on that children. •Henry Ward Beecher   Loss and possession, Death and life are one. There falls no shadow where There shines no sun. •Hilaire Belloc   Death is as sure for that which is born, as birth is for that which is dead. Therefore grieve not for what is inevitable. •Bhagavad Gita   How long after you are gone will ripples remain as evidence that you were cast into the pool of life? •Grant M. Bright   No one's death comes to pass without making some impression, and those close to the deceased inherit part of the liberated soul and become richer in their humanness. •Hermann Broch   Though it be in the power of the weakest arm to take away life, it is not in the strongest to deprive us of death. •Sir Thomas Browne   Men are never really willing to die except for the sake of freedom: therefore they do not believe in dying completely. •Albert Camus   Well, there's a remedy for all things but death, which will be sure to lay us flat one time or other. •Miguel De Cervantes   Death is the liberator of him whom freedom cannot release, the physician of him whom medicine cannot cure, and the comforter of him whom time cannot console. •Charles Caleb Colton   I have wrestled with death. It is the most unexciting contest you can imagine. It takes place in an impalpable grayness, with nothing underfoot, with nothing around, without spectators, without clamor, without glory, without the great desire of victory, without the great fear of defeat. •Joseph Conrad   While I thought that I was learning how to live, I have been learning how to die. •Leonardo Da Vinci   Death be not proud, though some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so. For, those, whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow. Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me. •John Donne   A dead atheist is someone who is all dressed up with no place to go. •James Duffecy   Death is the king of this world: 'Tis his park where he breeds life to feed him. Cries of pain are music for his banquet •George Eliot   Death is the last enemy: once we've got past that I think everything will be alright. •Alice Thomas Ellis   The pride of dying rich raises the loudest laugh in hell. •John W. Foster   Why fear death? It is the most beautiful adventure in life. •Charles Frohman   Plan for this world as if you expect to live forever; but plan for the hereafter as if you expect to die tomorrow. •Ibn Gabirol   Fish die belly upward, and rise to the surface. Its their way of falling. •Andre Gide   Death is the only inescapable, unavoidable, sure thing. We are sentenced to die the day we're born. •Gary Mark Gilmore   Death is a commingling of eternity with time; in the death of a good man, eternity is seen looking through time. •Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe   Man has the possibility of existence after death. But possibility is one thing and the realization of the possibility is quite a different thing. •George Gurdjieff   Oh you who have been removed from God in his solitude by the abyss of time, how can you expect to reach him without dying? •Hallaj   Death is like an arrow that is already in flight, and your life lasts only until it reaches you. •Georg Hermes   The call of death is a call of love. Death can be sweet if we answer it in the affirmative, if we accept it as one of the great eternal forms of life and transformation. •Hermann Hesse   Death is feared as birth is forgotten. •Doug Horton   Ignore death up to the last moment; then, when it can't be ignored any longer, have yourself squirted full of morphia and shuffle off in a coma. Thoroughly sensible, humane and scientific, eh? •Aldous Huxley   In the democracy of the dead all men at last are equal. There is neither rank nor station nor prerogative in the republic of the grave. •John J. Ingalls   We are but tenants and shortly the great landlord will give us notice that our lease has expired. •Joseph Jefferson   It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives. The act of dying is not of importance, it lasts so short a time. •Samuel Johnson   It is hard to have patience with people who say "There is no death" or "Death doesn't matter." There is death. And whatever is matters. And whatever happens has consequences, and it and they are irrevocable and irreversible. You might as well say that birth doesn't matter. •C. S. Lewis   But life is sweet, though all that makes it sweet. Lessen like sound of friends departing feet; And death is beautiful as feet of friend. Coming with welcome at our journey's end. •James Russell Lowell   Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying. •Martin Luther   There is no such thing as death. In nature nothing dies. From each sad remnant of decay, some forms of life arise so shall his life be taken away before he knoweth that he hath it. •Charles Mackay   We begin to die as soon as we are born, and the end is linked to the beginning. •Marcus Manilius   There is no death. the stars go down to rise upon some other shore. And bright in Heaven's jeweled crown, they shine for ever more. •John Luckey McCreery   At birth man is offered only one choice -- the choice of his death. But if this choice is governed by distaste for his own existence, his life will never have been more than meaningless. •Jean-Pierre Melville   Death is delightful. Death is dawn, the waking from a weary night of fevers unto truth and light. •Joaquin Miller   Men fear death, as if unquestionably the greatest evil, and yet no man knows that it may not be the greatest good. •William Mitford   We should weep for men at their birth, not at their death. •Charles De Montesquieu   I hate funerals and would not attend my own if it could be avoided, but it is well for every man to stop once in a while to think of what sort of a collection of mourners he is training for his final event. •Robert T. Morris   One should die proudly when it is no longer possible to live proudly. •Friedrich Nietzsche   Life is a dream walking; death is a going home. •Chinese Proverb   Every man goes down to his death bearing in his hands only that which he has given away. •Persian Proverb   Death gives us sleep, eternal youth, and immortality. •Jean Paul Richter   Death is more universal than life; everyone dies but not everyone lives. •A. Sachs   When the body sinks into death, the essence of man is revealed. Man is a knot, a web, a mesh into which relationships are tied. Only those relationships matter. The body is an old crock that nobody will miss. I have never known a man to think of himself when dying. Never. •Antoine De Saint-Exupery   Is death the last step? No, it is the final awakening. •Sir Walter Scott   For those who live neither with religious consolations about death nor with a sense of death (or of anything else) as natural, death is the obscene mystery, the ultimate affront, the thing that cannot be controlled. It can only be denied. •Susan Sontag   God's finger touched him and he slept. •Lord Alfred Tennyson  Death is an endless night so awful to contemplate that it can make us love life and value it with such passion that it may be the ultimate cause of all joy and all art. •Paul Theroux   Early to rise and early to bed makes a male healthy and wealthy and dead. •James Thurber   Death is not a period, but a comma in the story of life. •Amos Traver   Some people are so afraid to die that they never begin to live. •Henry Van Dyke   Dying is the most embarrassing thing that can ever happen to you, because someone's got to take care of all your details. •Andy Warhol   Death is nature's way of saying, Your table's ready. •Robin Williams   I balanced all, brought all to mind, the years to come seemed waste of breath, a waste of breath the years behind, in balance with this life, this death. •William Butler Yeats   In any man who dies there dies with him, his first snow and kiss and fight. Not people die but worlds die in them. •Yevgeny Yevtushenko  No evil is honorable: but death is honorable; therefore death is not evil.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/11205</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[We're trying to be responsible in our management of the Greenway. Everybody wants to save every tree possible, and so ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/40584]]></link><description><![CDATA[We're trying to be responsible in our management of the Greenway. Everybody wants to save every tree possible, and so do I.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/40584</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Is made more sacred by adversity. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/728]]></link><description><![CDATA[Is made more sacred by adversity.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/728</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Commemoration of Samuel Seabury, First Anglican Bishop in North America, 1796  If one thing is clear as soon as ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/6670]]></link><description><![CDATA[Commemoration of Samuel Seabury, First Anglican Bishop in North America, 1796  If one thing is clear as soon as the Church becomes serious about its missionary and ministerial calling for the world, it is that two difficult roads in particular have to be trodden: first, the road towards overcoming the scantiness of its knowledge of the world of today, and its ignoring of what really goes on in the world under its surface; secondly, the road towards reforming its spirit, atmosphere, and inherited structure, in so far as they give no room for new vitality... What can and must be said and resaid, with all gratitude for what in many places is already happening, is that a fearless scrutiny and revision of structure is one of the most urgent aspects of a renewal of the Church.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/6670</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[We are but as the instrument of Heaven. Our work is not design, but destiny. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/12069]]></link><description><![CDATA[We are but as the instrument of Heaven. Our work is not design, but destiny.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/12069</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[God bears with the wicked, but not forever. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/27963]]></link><description><![CDATA[God bears with the wicked, but not forever.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/27963</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[You could call 'show biz,' filmmaking, the original arena for outsourcing because ever since I've been making movies, Hollywood has ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/34216]]></link><description><![CDATA[You could call 'show biz,' filmmaking, the original arena for outsourcing because ever since I've been making movies, Hollywood has been threatened with outsourcing, be it Italy, be it Australia, New Zealand and, certainly, Canada,]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/34216</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Clothes don't make the man, but clothes have got many a man a good job. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/12963]]></link><description><![CDATA[Clothes don't make the man, but clothes have got many a man a good job.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/12963</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Better to have loved a short man than never to have loved a tall. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/2136]]></link><description><![CDATA[Better to have loved a short man than never to have loved a tall.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/2136</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[It is the dim haze of mystery that adds enchantment to pursuit. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/43585]]></link><description><![CDATA[It is the dim haze of mystery that adds enchantment to pursuit.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/43585</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Feast of the Naming & Circumcision of Jesus A LETTER FROM PAUL THE MISSIONARY TO THE SOCIETY OF CHRISTIANS IN ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/6936]]></link><description><![CDATA[Feast of the Naming & Circumcision of Jesus A LETTER FROM PAUL THE MISSIONARY TO THE SOCIETY OF CHRISTIANS IN ROME The following abridged paraphrase of the Epistle to the Romans aims at presenting in a plain way the continuous sequence of the argument, while suggesting the free epistolary form of the original: My DEAR FELLOW-CHRISTIANS OF ROME,  Wherever I go I hear of your faith, and I thank God for it. It is a part of my daily prayers that I may be permitted to visit you. I believe such a visit would do you good, and I am sure it would do me good. In fact, I have tried again and again to get to Rome, but hitherto something has always turned up to prevent me. I shall not feel that my work as missionary to the Gentiles is complete until I have preached in Rome. My mission is a universal one, knowing no bounds of race or culture--naturally, since my message is a universal one. It is a message of God's righteousness, revealed to men on a basis of faith. (Rom. 1:1-17)  Apart from this, there is nothing to be seen in the world of today but the Nemesis of sin. Take the pagan world: all men have a knowledge of God by natural religion; but the pagan world has deliberately turned its back upon this knowledge, and, for all its boasted philosophy, has degraded religion into idolatry. The natural consequence is a moral perversity horrible to contemplate. (Rom. 1:18-32)  But you, my Jewish friend, need not dwell with complacency upon the sins of the pagan world. You are guilty yourself. Do not mistake God's patience with His people for indulgence. His judgments are impartial. Knowledge or ignorance of the Law of Moses makes no difference here. The pagans have God's law written in their conscience. If they obey it, well; if not, they stand condemned. And as for you--you call yourself a Jew and pride yourself on the Law. But have you kept all its precepts? You are circumcised and so forth: that goes for nothing; God looks at the inner life of motive and affection. An honest pagan is better than a bad Jew in His sight. I do not mean to say there is no advantage in being a Jew: of this more presently ; but read your Bible and take to yourself the hard words of the prophets--spoken, remember, not to heathens, but to people who knew the Law, just as you do. No, Jew and pagan, we are in the same case. No one can stand right before God on the basis of what he has actually done. Law only serves to bring consciousness of guilt. (Rom. 2:1-3:20)  But now, Law apart, we have a revelation of God's righteousness, as I was saying (Rom. 1:17). It comes by faith, the faith of Jesus Christ; and it comes to every one, Jew or Gentile, who has faith. We have all sinned, and all of us can be made to stand right with God. That is a free gift to us, due to His graciousness. We are emancipated in Christ Jesus, who is God's appointed means of dealing with sin--a means operating by the devotion of His life, and by faith on our part. It is thus that God, having passed over sins committed in the old days when He held His hand, demonstrates His righteousness in the world of to-day; i.e., it is thus that He both shows Himself righteous, and makes those stand right before Him who have faith in Jesus Christ. No room for boasting here! No distinction of Jew and Gentile here! (Rom. 3:21-31)  But what about Abraham? you will say. Did not he win God's graciousness by what he did? Not at all. Read your Bible, and you will find that the promise was given to him before he was circumcised; and the Bible expressly says that "he had faith in God, and that counted for righteousness." The same principle applies to us all. (Rom. 4:1-25)  To return to the point, then, we stand right with God on the ground of faith, and we are at peace with Him, come what may. God's love floods our whole being--a love shown in the fact that Christ died for us, not because we were good people for whom anyone might die, but actually while we were sinners. He died, not for His friends, but for His enemies. Very well then, if while we were enemies Christ died for us, surely He will save us now that we are friends! If He reconciled us to God by dying for us, surely He will save us by living for us, and in us. There is something to boast about! (Rom. 5:1-11)  Christ died and lives for us all, I say. But, you ask, how can the life and death of one individual have consequences for so many? You believe that we all suffer for Adam's sin; and if so, why should we not all profit by Christ's righteousness? Of course there is really no comparison between the power of evil to propagate itself, and the power of good to win the victory, for that is a matter of God's graciousness. However, you see my point : one man sinned--a whole race suffers for it; one Man lived righteously--a whole race wins life by it. But what about Law? you say. Law only came in by the way, to intensify the consciousness of guilt. (Rom. 5:12-21) (Continued tomorrow)  ... paraphrased and abridged by C. Harold Dodd, from The Meaning of Paul for Today January 2, 2000 Feast of Basil the Great & Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops, Teachers, 379 & 389 Commemoration of Seraphim, Monk of Sarov, Mystic, Staretz, 1833 A LETTER FROM PAUL THE MISSIONARY TO THE SOCIETY OF CHRISTIANS IN ROME (This abridged paraphrase of the Epistle to the Romans is continued from yesterday)  Now I come to a difficulty. I have heard people say, "If human sin gives play to God's graciousness, let us go on sinning to give Him a better chance. Why not do evil that good may come?" (Rom. 3:8) What nonsense! To be saved through Christ is to be a dead man so far as sin is concerned. Think of the symbolism of Baptism. You go down into the water: that is like being buried with Christ. You come up out of the water: that is like rising with Christ from the tomb. It means, therefore, a new life, a life which comes by union with the living Christ. You will admit that, once a man is dead, there is no more claim against him for any wrong he may have committed. He is like a slave set free from all claims on the part of his late master. Think, then, of yourselves as dead. When you remember the death of Christ, think that you--i.e., your old bad selves--were crucified with Him. And when you remember His resurrection, think of yourselves as living with Him, a new life. And above all, bear in mind that Christ, once risen, does not die again: and so you, living the new life in Him, need not die again. I mean, the sin that once dominated you need not any longer control you; do not let it! You are freed slaves; do not sell yourselves into slavery again. Or, if you like to put it so, you are now slaves, not of Sin, but of Righteousness (a very crude way of putting it, but I want to help you out). Just as once you were the property of Sin, and all your faculties were instruments of wrong, so now you are the property of Righteousness, and every faculty you have must be an instrument of right. Freed from sin, you are slaves of God; that is what I mean. The wages your old master paid was death. Your new Master makes you a present of life. (Rom. 6:1-23)  Or take another illustration. You know that by law a woman is bound to her husband while he lives; when he is dead she is free; she can marry again if she likes and the law has no claim against her. So you may think of yourselves as having been married to Sin, or to Law. Death has now released you from that marriage bond, though here the illustration halts, for it is Christ's death that has freed you! Well, anyhow, you are free--free, shall I say, to marry Christ. You had a numerous progeny of evil deeds by your first marriage; you must now produce an offspring of good deeds to Christ. I mean, of course, you must serve God in Christ's spirit. (Rom. 7:1-6)  Now I admit that all this sounds as though I identified law with sin. That is not my meaning. But surely it is clear that the function of law is to bring consciousness of sin; e.g., I should never have known what covetousness was but that the law said, "Thou shalt not covet." Such is the perversity of human nature under the dominion of sin that the very prohibition provokes me to covet. There was a time when I knew nothing of Law, and lived my own life. Then Law came, sin awakened in me, and life became death for me. Of course, Law is good, but Sin took advantage of it, to my cost. I am only flesh and blood, and flesh and blood is prone to sin. I can see what is good, and desire it, but I cannot practice it; i.e., my reason recognizes the law, and yet I break it through moral perversity. If you like to put it so, there is one law for my reason, the Law of God, and another for my outward conduct, the law of sin and death. It is like a living man chained to a dead body. It is perfect misery. But, thank God, the chain is broken! The law of the Spirit of Life which is in Christ has set me free from the law of sin and death. Christ entered into this human nature of flesh and blood which is under the dominion of Sin. Sin put in its claim to be His master; but Christ won His case; Sin was non-suited, its claim disallowed, and human nature was free. The result is that all the Law stood for of righteousness, holiness, and goodness is fulfilled in those who live by Christ's Spirit. There are two possible forms of human life: there is the life of the lower nature of flesh and blood, of which I have spoken; and there is the life of the spirit. We have Christ's Spirit, and so we can live the life of the spirit. And in the end that Spirit will give new life to the whole human organism. (Rom. 7:7-8:11)  You see, then, that the flesh-and-blood nature has no claim upon us. We belong to the Spirit. Those who are actuated by that Spirit are sons of God. I used a while back the expression, "slaves of God "; but really we are not slaves but sons---sons and heirs of God, like Christ; and when we come into our inheritance, how glorious it will be! (Rom. 8:12-18)  This, however, is still in the future. At the present time the whole universe is in misery, and in its misery it waits for the revelation of God's sons. Now all existence seems futile in its transience; and even we still share creation's pangs. But we have hope; and the ground of that hope is the possession of God's Spirit--in a first installment only, but enough to reckon upon. The fact is that every prayer we utter--yes, even an inarticulate prayer--is the utterance of the Spirit within us. We know that all through God is working with us. His purpose is behind the whole process, and He is on our side. If He gave His Son, we can trust Him to give us everything else. He loves us, and nothing in the world or out of it can separate us from His love. (Rom. 8:18-39) (Continued tomorrow)  ... paraphrased and abridged by C. Harold Dodd, from The Meaning of Paul for Today January 3, 2000 Commemoration of Gladys Aylward, Missionary in China, 1970 A LETTER FROM PAUL THE MISSIONARY TO THE SOCIETY OF CHRISTIANS IN ROME (This abridged paraphrase of the Epistle to the Romans is continued from yesterday)  That concludes the present stage of my argument; but before I can proceed to final deductions, I must return to a difficulty already raised (Rom. 3:1-4). If there is no difference between Jew and Gentile, does all the great past of Israel go for nothing? Do all the promises of Scripture go for nothing? First, let me say how bitterly I regret the exclusion of the Jewish nation as a body from the new life. I would surrender all my Christian privileges if I could find a way to bring them in. But we must recognize facts; and the first fact is that the nation as a whole never was able to claim the promises; from the beginning, there was a process of selection. Of the sons of Abraham, Isaac alone was called; of the sons of Isaac, Jacob only. If we ask why, there is no answer save that God is bound by no natural or historical necessity, but intervenes according to His will. To question that will is as absurd as for the pot to arraign the potter. Then again, while some members of the Hebrew race have always fallen out, always God has declared His purpose ultimately to include others, not members of the Hebrew race--and that is just what is now happening. Now, as I said, I desire nothing more earnestly than that the whole nation should be saved. But the fact is that they have deliberately rejected the chance that was offered them. There is nothing remote or abstruse about the Christian message. It is a very simple thing: acknowledge Jesus as Lord, and believe that He is alive; that is all. And they cannot say that they have never heard the message, for Christ has His witnesses everywhere. It looks, then, as if God had rejected His people, as punishment for their obstinacy. I do not believe it. God's promises cannot go for nothing. In the first place, there has always been, and there still is, a faithful remnant of the Jewish people. And in the second place, as for the main body, their present rejection of the message is only a means in God's Providence for its extension to the Gentiles. The old olive-tree of Israel stands yet; many of its branches have been lopped off, and new branches of wild olive have been engrafted in their place. But God can engraft the lopped branches on again, if it be His will; and I believe it is His will, and that in the end the whole nation will return to Him and inherit the promises. And if the failure of Israel has meant such blessing to the world, how much greater blessing will its ultimate salvation bring! God's purpose, as I said at the beginning (Rom. 1:16), is universal: He has permitted the whole of humanity, Jew and Gentile alike, to fall under sin, only in order that He may finally have mercy on the whole of humanity, Jew and Gentile alike. How profound and unsearchable are His plans! (Rom. 9:1-11:36)  So now I can take up again my main argument. If this is the way of God's dealing with us, what ought to be our response? Can we do less than offer our entire selves to God as a sacrifice of thanksgiving? How will that work out? In a life lived as by members of one single body. Let each perform his part faithfully. Let love rule all your relations one to another, and to those outside, even to your enemies. Do not regard the Emperor as outside the scope of love, but obey his laws and pay his taxes. Yes, and pay all debts to every one. Love is, in fact, the one comprehensive debt of man to man. If you love your neighbour as yourself, you have fulfilled the whole moral law. But be in earnest about things, for the better day is already dawning. (Rom. 12:1-13:14)  I hear you have differences among yourselves about Sabbath-keeping and vegetarianism. Take this matter, then, as an example of what I mean by the application of brotherly love to all conduct. Remember that the Sabbatarian and the anti-Sabbatarian, the vegetarian and the meat-eater, are alike servants of one Master. Give each other credit for the best motives. Do not think of yourself alone; think of your Christian brother, and try to put yourself in his place. If he seems to you a weak-minded, over-scrupulous individual, remember that in any case he is your brother, and that Christ died for him as well as for you, and reverence his conscience. If through your example he should do an act which is harmless in you but sin to him, you have injured his conscience. Is it worth while so to imperil a soul for the sake of your liberty in such external matters? If the other man is weak-minded, and you strong-minded, all the more reason why you should help to bear his burden. Remember, Christ did not please Himself. In a word, Sabbatarian and anti-Sabbatarian, Jew and Gentile, treat one another as Christ has treated you, and God be with you. (Rom. 14:1-15:13)  Well, friends, I hardly think you needed this long exhortation from me. You are intelligent Christians, and well able to give one another good advice. Still, I thought I might venture to remind you of a few points ; for after all, I do feel a measure of responsibility for you, as missionary to the Gentiles. I have now accomplished my mission as far West as the Adriatic. Now I am going to Jerusalem to hand over the relief fund we have raised in Greece. After that I hope to start work in the West, and I propose to set out for Spain and take Rome on my way. Pray for me, that my errand to Jerusalem may be successful, so that I may be free to visit you. (Rom. 15:14-33)  I wish to introduce to you our friend Phoebe. She renders admirable service to our congregation at Cenchrea. Do all you can for her; she deserves it.  Kind regards to Priscilla and Aquila, Epaenetus, Mary, and all friends in Rome.   (P.S.--Beware of folk who make mischief. Be wise; be gentle; and all good be with you.)  Timothy, Lucius, Jason, Sosipater, and all friends at Corinth send kind regards. (So do I--Tertius, amanuensis!)  Glory be to God!  With all good wishes,  Your brother,  PAUL, Missionary of Jesus Christ.  ... paraphrased and abridged by C. Harold Dodd, from The Meaning of Paul for Today January 4, 2000  Nothing shall be lost that is done for God or in obedience to Him.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/6936</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[The truth that survives is simply the lie that is pleasantest to believe. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/26143]]></link><description><![CDATA[The truth that survives is simply the lie that is pleasantest to believe.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/26143</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Prison'd in a parlour snug and small, Like bottled wasps upon a southern wall. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/48260]]></link><description><![CDATA[Prison'd in a parlour snug and small, Like bottled wasps upon a southern wall.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/48260</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[The tone of the market was already negative, and that was reinforced today by the news from Brazil. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/35873]]></link><description><![CDATA[The tone of the market was already negative, and that was reinforced today by the news from Brazil.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/35873</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Art at its most significant is a Distant Early Warning System that can always be relied on to tell the ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/3200]]></link><description><![CDATA[Art at its most significant is a Distant Early Warning System that can always be relied on to tell the old culture what is beginning to happen to it.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/3200</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[I believe they talked of me, for they laughed consumedly. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/27705]]></link><description><![CDATA[I believe they talked of me, for they laughed consumedly.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/27705</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Politeness is the art of choosing among one's real thoughts. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/10440]]></link><description><![CDATA[Politeness is the art of choosing among one's real thoughts.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/10440</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[I Need To Know ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/41425]]></link><description><![CDATA[I Need To Know]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/41425</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more, Men were deceivers ever,— One foot in sea and one on shore, To ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/55428]]></link><description><![CDATA[Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more, Men were deceivers ever,— One foot in sea and one on shore, To one thing constant never. -Much Ado about Nothing. Act ii. Sc. 3.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/55428</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/43756]]></link><description><![CDATA[Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/43756</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Bat and the WeaselsA BAT who fell upon the ground and was caught by a Weasel pleaded to be ...]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/1512]]></link><description><![CDATA[The Bat and the WeaselsA BAT who fell upon the ground and was caught by a Weasel pleaded to be spared his life. The Weasel refused, saying that he was by nature the enemy of all birds. The Bat assured him that he was not a bird, but a mouse, and thus was set free. Shortly afterwards the Bat again fell to the ground and was caught by another Weasel, whom he likewise entreated not to eat him. The Weasel said that he had a special hostility to mice. The Bat assured him that he was not a mouse, but a bat, and thus a second time escaped. It is wise to turn circumstances to good account.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/1512</guid></item><item><title><![CDATA[It does not need that a poem should be long. Every word was once a poem. ]]></title><link><![CDATA[http://maxioms.com/maxiom/46759]]></link><description><![CDATA[It does not need that a poem should be long. Every word was once a poem.]]></description><guid>http://maxioms.com/maxiom/46759</guid></item></channel></rss>