My Little Book of Quotes and Poems and the Scriptures that Inspired Them

By D. Edward Osborn

This book is made up of many quotes that I thought up mostly while I was doing time in prison after I found Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. The same goes for the poems and the short writings. You will notice that the chapter headings are the nine fruits of the spirits that are listed in Galatians 5:16-26.

The holy scriptures tell us that we must build our faith in God Almighty and Jesus Christ. I hope through reading these quotes and short messages that the person reading this will increase their faith or come to find that Jesus Christ and God Almighty are real.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 30, 2022
• ISBN: 9781685264635

Book preview

Chapter 1

Love

Love is the willing, sacrificial giving of oneself for the benefit of another without thought of return.

Categories

Bravery

Bravery isn’t measured by how well someone preformed a difficult task but by the fact that they took it on knowing the outcome could be bad.

Being fearful about something does not equal to being a coward. Doing nothing positive about it does.

In the face of a dangerous or disagreeable situations that may instill fear or the desire to flee or the desire to do nothing, bravery is the ability to put forth enough intestinal fortitude to step up and do what is necessary to better the situations for the good of all involved, regardless of the personal consequences. Cowardice is the opposite.

Many people lack the bravery to do what’s right because they are afraid of what others will say about them. This is ‘crazy’ because if anyone would criticize you for doing right, then that is someone you don’t want to listen to in the first place!

Courage

Having an adrenaline rush isn’t the same thing as having true courage coursing through us.

You can take training in how to be a fireman, policeman, soldier, or rescue worker, but no one can teach you how to be a hero. That takes courage.

We all live somewhere between courage and cowardice, and until we are truly tested, it is hard to know which end we are living the closest to.

Sister Kenny says, ‘It’s better to be a lion for a day than a sheep all your life.’ I disagree because the lion is too arrogantly focused on the sheep to see his own demise coming upon him. Even though the sheep are too dumb to run from the danger coming toward them, the Good Shepard will protect His flock. So being a sheep led by Christ Jesus is much better than a lion trying to harm His flock.

Contributions

This first quote has been worded many ways. Here is my take on it.

We may think that our contributions to this world only amount to ‘a drop in the bucket,’ but remember that with enough drops, the bucket becomes full.

There cannot be a purpose to life without contributing to it, and there can be no worthwhile contribution without purpose.

We can all make contributions to society. Positive ones will earn us the love and respect of our fellow citizens. Negative ones will earn us prison time and scorn.

Hate

A heart that never lets in love will eventually fill itself with hate.

What’s the critical difference between a sinful act and an evil act? Sinful acts are usually spontaneous, thoughtless deeds. Evil acts take careful planning to accomplish.

Hatred consumes more emotional and spiritual energy than forgiveness because hatred must be fueled by anger, resentment, and pettiness. Forgiveness only has to be fueled by love and compassion (also in Forgiveness).

If you see nothing but evil and hatred everywhere you look, you’re not looking where or how you should (also in Evil).

"Yes, you have the absolute right to let your ignorance and hatred destroy your life. You don’t however have any right at all to cause it to destroy someone else’s life."

Heroes

You can take training in how to be a fireman, policeman, soldier, or rescue worker, but no one can teach you how to be a hero. That is a trait you are born with that will manifest when needed.

Movie and sports stars are not heroes. They are just people doing a good job at entertaining us. Police, doctors, firemen, and paramedics are our heroes because they keep us alive and safe so that we can enjoy the entertainment.

Every true hero I’ve ever seen was so full of humility. They didn’t even realize and were reluctant and embarrassed to acknowledge that they were heroes. On the other hand, every person I’ve met that bragged about their ‘heroic deeds’ was so full of themselves. It made me sick to hear them.

Humility

Arrogantly striving to be superior to others is futile because there will always be others striving to be superior to us because of a misguided notion that being better than someone else makes them not worthless. It can become an endless, useless, vicious struggle. What we need to strive for is excellence of character and a humble mindset within ourselves so that we can uplift everyone else.

If you can’t stay humble while receiving honest criticism, you will never be able to give criticism without being arrogant.

The number of times you have actually told someone you’re sorry should not be less than the amount of times you should have said it.

The amount of help someone is willing to give is almost never connected to the amount needed but rather to the manner in which it is asked for.

When offering an apology, never let the fact that someone says, ‘I don’t want your apology,’ stop you from making it because sometimes, people need things they don’t want.

Sometimes, accepting help has less to do with you needing the help and more to do with them needing to give the help.

I’ve met so many people over the years who have the attitude of, ‘What can you bring to this relationship?’ and if your answer is ‘only my friendship,’ then you are not wanted at this gathering. My response to that attitude is, ‘If my friendship is not good enough in your eyes, then I’m more than happy to go find someone whose eyesight is clearer, deeper, kinder because if you can only focus on my wallet and you can’t or don’t want to penetrate the outer shell and see the inner me, then a shallow existence between us is not what I want for our future.’"

Initiative

Why is it more difficult to be a leader than a follower? Because it is the leader who has to come up with all the right ideas.

"An old saying goes, ‘Take a chance, and let the cards fall where they may.’ I say, ‘No!’ If I’m going to take a chance, I want to be the one dealing the cards."

A big problem with the world today is that so many people wait to be told what to do even when they can plainly see what needs to be done.

Standing still never got anybody anywhere (James 1:22).

When forming a committee, if you have to ask, ‘Who should be in charge of this thing?’ the first answer given should be ‘Not you!’

Love

It’s no coincidence that love is the only emotion that we can’t control, and that’s because it’s the only one that can sustain us when all else fails.

What is the most important thing I’ve learned? That loving myself is the most important thing I can do.

Love, like everything else—except God—is supposed to change. It is also supposed to be nourished so it can grow, not be neglected to the point where it withers and dies.