Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by James Freeman Clarke (American Clergyman)

James Freeman Clarke (1810–88) was an American Unitarian minister, theologian, and author known for introducing Transcendentalist ideas into American religious thought. He collaborated with notable figures such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Nathaniel Hawthorne, publishing their works in The Western Messenger (1839–41,) a magazine he edited in Louisville.

Born in Hanover, New Hampshire, Clarke was raised in a Unitarian family. After graduating from Harvard College in 1829 and Harvard Divinity School in 1833, he dedicated his life to liberal Christianity and social reform. In 1841, he founded the Church of the Disciples in Boston, which emphasized individual spirituality and social justice. A committed abolitionist, he also championed women’s rights, education, and civil liberties.

Clarke’s literary work reflected his deep interest in theology and philosophy. The Western Messenger (1839–41) served as a platform for early Transcendentalist thought. His influential book Ten Great Religions: Comparative Theology (1871) explored world religions with respect and scholarly rigor. Other notable publications include Self-Culture: Physical, Intellectual, Spiritual (1859,) Common-Sense in Religion (1873,) and Memorial and Biographical Sketches (1878.)

More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by James Freeman Clarke

The root of all discontent is self-love.
—James Freeman Clarke
Topics: Discontent

Never hurry; take plenty of exercise; always be cheerful, and take all the sleep you need, and you may expect to be well.
—James Freeman Clarke
Topics: Health

Seek to do good, and you will find that happiness will run after you.
—James Freeman Clarke
Topics: Happiness

Conscience is the root of all true courage; if a man would be brave let him obey his conscience.
—James Freeman Clarke

It may make a difference to all eternity whether we do right or wrong today.
—James Freeman Clarke
Topics: Right

All the strength and force of man comes from his faith in things unseen. He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions. The man strongly possessed of an idea is the master of all who are uncertain and wavering. Clear, deep, living convictions rule the world.
—James Freeman Clarke
Topics: Strength, Action, Conviction, Faith, Beliefs

If men gave three times as much attention as they now do to ventilation, ablution, and exercise in the open air, and only one third as much to eating, luxury, and late hours, the number of doctors, dentists, and apothecaries, and the amount of neuralgia, dyspepsia, gout, fever, and consumption, would be changed in a corresponding ratio.
—James Freeman Clarke
Topics: Health

We are either progressing or retrograding all the while; there is no such thing as remaining stationary in this life.
—James Freeman Clarke
Topics: Progress

Even where there is talent, culture, knowledge, if there is not earnestness, it does not go to the root of things.
—James Freeman Clarke
Topics: Sincerity

The art of life consists in taking each event which befalls us with a contented mind, confident of good … With this method … rejoice always, though in the midst of sorrows; and possess all things, though destitute of everything.
—James Freeman Clarke

A politician thinks of the next election; a statement of the next generation. A politician looks for the success of his party; a statesman for that of his country. The statesman wishes to steer, while the politician is satisfied to drift.
—James Freeman Clarke
Topics: Posterity, Politicians, Politics

I can do small things in a great way.
—James Freeman Clarke
Topics: Excellence

God, who has given the Bible, has also given us our reason with which to examine and understand it; and we are guilty before Him if we bury this talent in the earth and hide our Lord’s money.
—James Freeman Clarke
Topics: Reason

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