There are a few authors who have had a disproportionate influence on my life. Often, I appreciate them for their perspective on a specific theme. An exception is Ellen White--a name especially well-known to many in my faith community. Her writings have profoundly influenced my views of life, God, education, health and a number of other topics. Here's a collection of the 10 chapters I revisit most often and quotes from them that I frequently think about.
- God with Us: http://www.whiteestate.org/books/da/da1.html
"Our little world is the lesson book of the universe."
"Only by love is love awakened." - Help in Daily Living: http://www.whiteestate.org/books/mh/mh40.html
"What a man is has more influence than what he says."
"Worry is blind and cannot discern the future; but Jesus sees the end from the beginning. In every difficulty He has His way prepared to bring relief. " - Source and Aim of True Education: http://www.whiteestate.org/books/ed/ed1.html
"Our ideas of education take too narrow and too low a range. There is need of a broader scope, a higher aim. True education means more than the pursual of a certain course of study. It means more than a preparation for the life that now is. It has to do with the whole being, and with the whole period of existence possible to man. It is the harmonious development of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual powers. It prepares the student for the joy of service in this world and for the higher joy of wider service in the world to come."
"Love, the basis of creation and of redemption, is the basis of true education."
"Unselfishness underlies all true development." - Least of These My Brethren: http://www.whiteestate.org/books/da/da70.html
"Those whom Christ commends in the judgment may have known little of theology, but they have cherished His principles. Through the influence of the divine Spirit they have been a blessing to those about them."
"We need not go to Nazareth, to Capernaum, or to Bethany, in order to walk in the steps of Jesus. We shall find His footprints beside the sickbed, in the hovels of poverty, in the crowded alleys of the great city, and in every place where there are human hearts in need of consolation."
- It is Finished: http://www.whiteestate.org/books/da/da79.html
"God could have destroyed Satan and his sympathizers as easily as one can cast a pebble to the earth; but He did not do this. Rebellion was not to be overcome by force. Compelling power is found only under Satan's government. The Lord's principles are not of this order. His authority rests upon goodness, mercy, and love; and the presentation of these principles is the means to be used. God's government is moral, and truth and love are to be the prevailing power." - Helping the Tempted: http://www.whiteestate.org/books/mh/mh10.html
"God rejoices to bestow His grace upon us, not because we are worthy, but because we are so utterly unworthy. Our only claim to His mercy is our great need."
"'We are saved by hope.' The fallen must be led to feel that it is not too late for them to be men."
"With a sense of our own infirmities, we shall have compassion for the infirmities of others." - Why was Sin Permitted? http://www.whiteestate.org/books/pp/pp1.html
"'God is love.' His nature, His law, is love. It ever has been; it ever will be."
"Since only the service of love can be acceptable to God, the allegiance of His creatures must rest upon a conviction of His justice and benevolence." - God's Purpose for His Church: http://www.whiteestate.org/books/aa/aa1.html
"Enfeebled and defective as it may appear, the church is the one object upon which God bestows in a special sense His supreme regard. It is the theater of His grace, in which He delights to reveal His power to transform hearts." - The Scriptures a Safeguard: http://www.whiteestate.org/books/gc/gc37.html
"God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines and the basis of all reforms. The opinions of learned men, the deductions of science, the creeds or decisions of ecclesiastical councils, as numerous and discordant as are the churches which they represent, the voice of the majority--not one nor all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any point of religious faith." - God's People Delivered: http://www.whiteestate.org/books/gc/gc40.html
"The mystery of the cross explains all other mysteries. In the light that streams from Calvary the attributes of God which had filled us with fear and awe appear beautiful and attractive." - If you're familiar with any of her writings, share your favorite chapter or quote in the comments below!
