WIST Quotations

Billings, Josh -- Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1871-06 (1871 ed.)

Dave — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 21:09:21 +0000

Whenever a minister haz preached a sermon that pleazes the whole congregashun, he probably haz preached one that the Lord wont endorse.

[Whenever a minister has preached a sermon that pleases the whole congregation, he probably haz preached one that the Lord won’t endorse.]

Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1871-06 (1871 ed.)
(Source)

Taylor, Barbara Brown -- An Altar in the World, ch. 7 (2009)

Dave — Fri, 19 Nov 2021 22:39:19 +0000

It can be difficult to be an introvert in church, especially if you happen to be the pastor. Liking to be alone can be interpreted as a judgment on other people’s company. Liking to be quiet can be construed as aloofness. There is so much emphasis on community in most congregations that anyone who does not participate risks being labeled a loner.

Barbara Brown Taylor (b. 1951) American minister, academic, author
An Altar in the World, ch. 7 (2009)
(Source)

Johnson, Samuel -- Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, “Milton” (1781)

Dave — Fri, 10 May 2013 13:31:13 +0000

To be of no church is dangerous. Religion, of which the rewards are distant, and which is animated only by faith and hope, will glide by degrees out of the mind unless it be invigorated and reimpressed by external ordinances, by stated calls to worship, and the salutary influence of example.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, “Milton” (1781)
(Source)

Also known as Lives of English Poets and Lives of the Poets.