John Lancaster Spalding Quotes

Our daily lives are so mundane, we get taken over by what is immediately in front of us and we don't see beyond that.

Small things amuse small minds.

It's no big thing, but you make big things out of little things sometimes.

Those who apply themselves too much to little things often become incapable of great ones

Beware not to get caught up in the thick of thin things.

It is always a sign of an unproductive time when it concerns itself with petty and technical aspects [in philology], and likewiseit is a sign of an unproductive person to pursue such trifles.

Little things are great to little men.

Small minds are captivated by trifles.

Of a little thing a little displeaseth.

When someone is seeking, it happens quite easily that he only sees the thing that he is seeking; that he is unable to find anything, unable to absorb anything, because he is only thinking of the thing he is seeking, because he has a goal, because he is obsessed with his goal. Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal. You, O worthy one, are perhaps indeed a seeker, for in striving towards your goal, you do not see many things that are under your nose.

All that shimmers on the surface of the world, all that we call interesting, is the fruit of ignorance and inebriation.

Names are but noise and smoke, Obscuring heavenly light.

It's dreadful what little things lead people to misunderstand each other.

It gives me a sense of tunnel vision.

Curiosity is the most superficial of all the affections; it changes its object perpetually; it has an appetite which is very sharp, but very easily satisfied, and it has always an appearance of giddiness, restlessness and anxiety.

One of the best ways of avoiding necessary and even urgent tasks is to seem to be busily employed on things that are already done.

Beauty is all about us, but how many are blind! They look at the wonder of this earth and seem to see nothing. People move hectically but give little thought to where they are going. They seek excitement ... as if they were lost and desperate.

He who can take no interest in what is small will take false interest in what is great.

They whom trifles distract and nothing occupies are but children.

If you're paying attention to your wardrobe, Rudy believed, your mind isn't sufficiently occupied.

Entertaining is one method of avoiding people. It is very often the negation of hospitality.

I wanted to try this new drink: That's all we do, isn't it - look at things and try new drinks?

I'm not making light of prayers here, but of so-called school prayer, which bears as much resemblance to real spiritual experienceas that freeze-dried astronaut food bears to a nice standing rib roast. From what I remember of praying in school, it was almost an insult to God, a rote exercise in moving your mouth while daydreaming or checking out the cutest boy in the seventh grade that was a far, far cry from soul-searching.

I think that we pay much more attention to fashion and our hair, skin and foreheads, our abdominal muscles and shoes than what is happening in the world. We willingly take that 'drug' and go along with that.

And yet, we know how fatal the pursuit of liveliness may be: it may result in ... tiresome acrobatics. ... Flashy effects distract the mind. They destroy their persuasiveness; you would not believe a man was very intent on ploughing a furrow if he carried a hoop with him and jumped through it at every other step. ... When virtuosity gets the upper hand of your theme, or is better than your idea, it is time to quit.