C.N. Douglas, comp. Forty Thousand Quotations: Prose and Poetical. 1917.
Rest
Rest is the sweet sauce of labor.
Rest is the fitting of self to its sphere.
God giveth quietness at last.
Absence of occupation is not rest.
Thou hadst, for weary feet, the gift of rest.
Rest is sweet after strife.
The word “rest” is not in my vocabulary.
Straining breaks the bow, and relaxation relieves the mind.
Silken rest tie all my cares up.
Let the weary at length possess quiet rest.
For too much rest itself becomes a pain.
Thou hast made us for Thyself, and the heart never resteth till it findeth rest in Thee.
Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.
Weariness can snore upon the flint, when resty sloth finds the down pillow hard.
Diogenes found more rest in his tub than Alexander on his throne.
Repose demands for its expression the implied capability of its opposite,—energy.
Where can a frail man hide him? In what arms shall a short life enjoy a little rest?
That they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them.
Men, in whatever anxiety they may be, if they are men, sometimes indulge in relaxation.
It is not in understanding a set of doctrines; not in outward comprehension of the “scheme of salvation,” that rest and peace are to be found, but in taking up, in all lowliness and meekness, the yoke of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It thou seek rest in this life, how wilt thou then attain to the everlasting rest? Dispose not thyself for much rest, but for great patience. Seek true peace—not in earth, but in heaven; not in men, nor in any other creature, but in God alone.
It is not the placidity of stupid ease that we should covet, but the repose that is requisite for the renewal of exhausted strength, the serenity that succeeds the storm, and the salubrity that repays its ravages.
O rest! thou soft word! autumnal flower of Eden! moonlight of the spirit! Rest of the soul, when wilt thou hold our head that it may cease beating?
Rest is a fine medicine. Let your stomachs rest, ye dyspeptics; let your brain rest, you wearied and worried men of business; let your limbs rest, ye children of toil!
The Princess Elizabeth, of England, was found dead with her head resting on her Bible, open at these words, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” So may we all fall asleep at last when the day’s work for Jesus is over, and wake up in heaven to find ourselves in the delicious rest that remaineth for the people of God.
O, what is more sweet than when the mind, set free from care, lays its burden down; and, when spent with distant travel, we come back to our home and rest our limbs on the wished-for bed? This, this alone, repays such toils as these!