Quotes by Joseph Fort Newton

In his capacity as an American citizen, each man of our Craft will do what seems to him wise and just and right and to the best interest of his country; but let us hope and pray that no echo of angry debate may be heard in any Lodge of Masons . . . lest we injure what is priceless. . . . By the same token, the men who stand out in our history, to whom we pay the highest homage, are the men of personality, principle and ideals, who, combining sympathy and good will with unbending loyalty to great truths, defied the cynical spirit and wrought disinterestedly for the common good. By as much as Masonry creates such men and endows them with moral ideals, by so much does it render its highest service to the country and the Craft.

Love is lost in immensities; it comes in simple, gentle ways.

"People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges." Let us not erect walls without doors of friendliness or windows of love.

A duty dodged is like a debt unpaid; it is only deferred, and we must come back and settle the account at last.

We cannot tell what may happen to us in the strange medley of life. But we can decide what happens in us - how we can take it, what we do with it - and that is what really counts in the end. How to take the raw stuff of life and make it a thing of worth and beauty - that is the test of living.

Belief is a truth held in the mind. Faith is a fire in the heart.