Vance Havner Quotes

Don't ask the world to stop moving because you have doubts.

There are only two stories: either you go forward or you die.

When you receive criticism from well-meaning people, it pays to ask, ‘Are they right?’ And if they are, you need to adapt what they’re doing. If they’re not right, if you really have conviction that they’re not right, you need to have that long-term willingness to be misunderstood. It’s a key part of invention.

It's nice sometimes to be the river rather than the rock.

I am not who I was,' he whispered, gripping the edges of the column, 'but I know who I am.'... 'And I won't give up.

There are many who have grave scruples about deceiving but think it as nothing to deceive themselves.

Accept the difficulty of what you cannot yet change. But do not accept the impossibility of ever changing it.

When there is no turning back, then we should concern ourselves only with the best way of going forward.

Take a rest and the world catches up with you. Lesson in life--keep moving.

When the going gets tough, the tough reinvent.

Our torments also may in length of time Become our Elements.

That's what courage is. Taking your disappointments and your failures, your guilt and your shame, all the wounds received and inflicted, and sinking them in the past. Starting again. Damning yesterday and facing tomorrow with your head held high. Times change. It's those that see it coming, and plan for it, and change themselves to suit, that prosper.

You have to endure what you can't change.

You can be stubborn and successful or you can give it up a bit and change things around. For me it's important to have a bit of both.

This is what happens with a breakthrough. The first ones through the door often get bruised if not broken. Eventually, with a little political acumen and racial sensitivity and a lot of hard work, a smooth new place can emerge.

Tho' much is taken, much abides.

Great minds have always seen it. That is why man has survived his journey this long. When we fail to wish any longer to be otherwise than what we are, we will have ceased to evolve. Evolution has to be lived forward. I say this as one who has stood above the bones of much that has vanished, and at midnight has examined his own face.

When one door of hapiness closes, another opens.

What kept me sane was knowing that things would change, and it was a question of keeping myself together until they did.

It was important to keep moving. Certain struggles continued. Others had to be brought to a close. The wisdom was in deciding which.

Nobody’s journey is seamless or smooth. We all stumble. We all have setbacks. It’s just life’s way of saying, ‘Time to change course.’

We have to do what we have to do. Miracles happen. The life force of this planet is very strong. Dandelions poke through sidewalks. We don't know enough to give up. We only know enough to know that we have to try to change the course of human events.

To bear lightly the neck's yoke brings strength; but kicking against the goads is the way of failure.

Our own interests are still an exquisite means for dazzling our eyes agreeably.