Lewis B. Smedes Quotes

I learned one thing in Watergate: I was well-intentioned but rationalized illegal behavior. You cannot live your life other than walking in the truth. Your means are as important as your ends.

The sins of teachers are the teachers of sin.

I would not hold that we must judge by the favorable or adverse result alone whether an undertaking was just or unjust.

You can't run a society or cope with its problems if people are not held accountable for what they do.

Most faults are not in our Constitution, but in ourselves.

Without a moral framework, there is nothing left but immediate self-indulgence by some and the path of least resistance by others. Neither can sustain a free society.

There is no sin but ignorance.

Laws control the lesser man... Right conduct controls the greater one.

Nations cannot endure in sin.

Good laws are the offspring of bad actions.

For years now I have been talking about personal responsibility and accountability, both in our private lives and in the halls of government. Those are important principles here in Idaho, and they will form the basis of this administration.

Don't let your sins turn into bad habits.

It takes courage to sit on a jury. How many of us want to decide the fate of another person's life or freedom? How many of us want to hold that kind of power in our hands?

I am announcing my resignation from Congress so my colleagues can get back to work, my neighbors can choose a new representative and most importantly that my wife and I can continue to heal from the damage I have caused.

Actions will be judged according to intentions.

Good laws are produced by bad actions.

Consciences keep silence more often than they should, that's why laws were created.

In times like the present, men should utter nothing for which they would not willingly be responsible through time and eternity.

Laws can embody standards; governments can enforce laws—but the final task is not a task for government. It is a task for each and every one of us. Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted—when we tolerate what we know to be wrong—when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy, or too frightened—when we fail to speak up and speak out—we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice.

Don't wait for the last judgment - it takes place every day.

When you see corruption, when you see injustice, you speak up. You don't just shut up and say it's none of my business.

They want to do the right thing, most people. For that little core that doesn't want to do the right thing and gets away with it routinely, most people want to see them get a good whupping. And I am your girl.

There will be good and bad, right and wrong. Your reaction of choice, good or bad, has consequences that affect you and those around you.

If you vote for evil, you are evil yourself.

To be a good patriot, a man must consider his countrymen as God's creatures, and himself as accountable for his acting towards them.