Quotes about Praise

The more time you spend in the presence of Jesus, the less praise you'll need from others because you will have discovered for yourself that he is enough. And in the Presence, you will delight in the discovery of what it means to live by grace and not by posing.

Our clinging to the opinions of others reveals how superficial we are. We have little to stand on. We have to be kept alive by adulation and praise. Those who are deeply rooted in the love of God can enjoy human praise without being attached to it.

Your true identity is as a child of God. This is the identity you have to accept. Once you have claimed it and settled in it, you can live in a world that gives you much joy as well as pain. You can receive the praise as well as the blame that comes to you as an opportunity for strengthening your basic identity, because the identity that makes you free is anchored beyond all human praise and blame. You belong to God, and it is as a child of God that you are sent into the world.

If I were to ask about my seven months at the Abbey, Did it work, did I solve my problems? the simple answer would be, It did not work, it did not solve my problems. And I know that a year, two years, or even a lifetime as a Trappist monk would not have worked either. Because a monastery is not built to solve problems but to praise the Lord in the midst of them.

I am constantly surprised at how I keep taking the gifts God has given me - my health, my intellectual and emotional gifts - and keep using them to impress people, receive affirmation and praise, and compete for rewards, instead of developing them for the glory of God.

The basis of all ministry is the experience of God's unlimited and unlimiting acceptance of us as beloved children, an acceptance so full, so total, and all-embracing, that it sets us free from our compulsion to be seen, praised, and admired and frees us for Christ, who leads us on the road of service.

Even people who are immensely praised and have made an enormous amount of money, who have awards, success, and applause, can be deeply depressed. If you get closer and you prick the balloon, you realize they are just as insecure as everyone else. Underneath all that wealth, all that success, and all that praise, they are still a little person who asks, "Do you love me?" Nouwen, Henri J. M.. Following Jesus (p. 53). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

The life which men praise and regard as successful is but one kind. Why should we exaggerate any one kind at the expense of the others?

I value and trust those w^ho love and praise my aspiration rather than my performance.

Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls … yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:17—18

Praising God and trusting Him should not, therefore, fluctuate with our situation. Conditions may change, but God remains steadfast. He may not remove your problems, but He will keep His hand on you. So choose to rejoice. After all, God is ever faithful.

Ridicule is the tribute paid to the genius by the mediocrities.