ACKNOWLEDGING GREAT WORK Artur Rodzinski, then conductor of the New York Philharmonic, was listening to a broadcast of a Lewisohn Stadium concert while he was on vacation. The program scheduled to be conducted by Fabien…
Sermon Illustrations
CHANGE THE ANSWERS A university alumnus, shown a list of examination questions by his old economics professor, exclaimed, "Why, those are the same questions you asked when I was in school 20 years ago!" "Yes,"…
PREACHING OUT OF SELF-PRESERVATION One day a Tzaddik (a righteous person) came to Sodom. He knew what Sodom was, so he came to save it from sin, from destruction. He preached to the people: "Please…
YOUR DREAMS MAY NOT COME TRUE Dwight Eisenhower once reminisced about his childhood. "When I was a boy in Kansas, a very good friend and I got to talking about what we wanted to do…
QUALITY V S. QUANTITY I was recently preaching on the theme of pride and was looking up the meaning of the word in the dictionary. I was reminded that one meaning of the word has…
CUT DOWN TO SIZE Former House Speaker Tip O'Neill tells about walking into the Denver Airport and being approached by a man who said, "Hi, Tip. How are you?" O'Neill replied, "Hi. How are you?…
UNDERSTANDABLE BRAGGING We need to differentiate between the sin of pride, and the things we call pride that are really other things, like being pleased about one's family, possessions or accomplishments. Even vanity, which is…
THE GREAT SIN Pride is one of the primary forms of wickedness. In his classic, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis refers to pride as The Great Sin: "There is one vice of which no man…
HOW THE MIGHTY ARE FALLEN One of the classic television come- uppances was the famous story about the actor Adolph Menjou who used to appear from time to time on the Jack Parr show. For…
GREAT PRIDE/GREAT HUMILITY There is no greater pride than in seeking to humiliate ourselves beyond measure! And sometimes there is no truer humility than to attempt great works for God. Abbe de Saint-Cyran
LEWIS ON EXPOSURE OF OUR SHAME C. S. Lewis makes a very interesting comment on shame in The Problem of Pain, where he is admittedly speculating. In the chapter on Human Wickedness he is dealing…
ASTONISHING Of all the marvelous things, perhaps there is nothing that angels behold with such supreme astonishment as a proud man. Charles Caleb Colton
ARROGANCE Alcibiades was telling Pericles, forty years his senior, how best to govern Athens. This did not amuse Pericles. He said, "Alcibiades, when I was your age, I talked just as you do now." Alcibiades…
THE BOTTOM LINE ON PRIDE St. Augustine says in The City of God that everyone in the world belongs to one of two cities: the City of God, which consists of "all who love God…
PROPHETIC BOASTING A friend was really tired of hearing Muhammad Ali boast about his physical prowess. His constant claiming "I am the best" was wearing thin." So a colleague asked him how he did at…
PRIDE AND HUMILITY It is with a great sense of pride as an American and with humility as a human being that I say to you today what no man have been privileged to say…
JOIN THE CROWD John Kenneth Galbraith is one of the better known economists of our day due to his frequent appearance on television. He is well-known for his teaching at Harvard, his several influential books…
ADMITTING MISTAKES Nikita Khrushchev and President Kennedy were having a vigorous exchange of strong opinions. Finally, Kennedy asked Khrushchev, "Do you ever admit a mistake?" The Soviet Premier responded, "Certainly I do. In a speech…
QUICK RESPONSE The well-known newspaper giver-of-advice, Ann Landers, was reported to be at an embassy reception and was approached by a pompous, arrogant senator. He said to her, "So you're the famous Ann Landers; say…
QUEEN ELIZABETH Pride and selfishness were characteristics of Queen Elizabeth, who ruled England for half a century, and she suffered much because of them. Her favorite courtier, the Earl of Essex, took part in a…
