The Country Parson
Part 1


Those of you who are a little older may recognize The Country Parson. It was once a common feature in many newspapers. The Country Parson would give short bits of thought-provoking wisdom. The advice was put together by Frank A. Clark and the Parson was illustrated by Denny Neal. What follows are some classic quotes from The Country Parson. I hope to post more in the future.


Time, like a snowflake, disappears while we’re trying to decide what to do with it.

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One of our faults is our tendency to ignore everything that has no commercial value.

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It’s hard for us to reform the world because each of us wants to start with somebody else.

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Sins, like weeds, seem to get started where nothing else is growing.

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I don’t remember ever seeing a happy man who had nothing to do.

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Sometimes the roughest road may be the best way to get you where you are going.

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A day ought to start with eager anticipation and end with pleasant memories.

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We used to teach our children to work— now we teach them how to get someone else to do the work for them.

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Environment must be important—I never saw a kid play in mud without getting some on him.

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I can remember when folks used to stay out of debt by going without—now we do neither.

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Most of the folks I know who have good luck seem to have good judgment too.

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I’ve known a lot of folks who didn’t have great minds who made up for it by having big hearts.

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A mind that isn’t being used, like an attic, usually gets filled with junk.

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A fellow who thinks greed won’t hurt him has never seen what happens to a hungry cow in a green alfalfa patch.

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Self-respect in a man is kind of like salt in the soup— the right amount is good— too much is awful.

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Poverty  may not be so bad— it’s what keeps most of us from behaving like rich folks do.

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Folks say it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you’re sincere—I wonder if they mean to include the fellow who sincerely believes poison would be good for him.

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Religion may not improve a child’s behavior—but it will build in an alarm system which may someday wake him up in the middle of a nightmare.

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It appears that some folks do great things easily—that’s because we don’t see them struggle through the necessary preparations.

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Straight people, like straight trees, usually were started straight.

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You don’t win the game of life by making goals—if you foul somebody doing it.

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I’d rather see  boy become a good street sweeper than a bad professor.

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The reason that nature’s laws always work is that Congress didn’t pass them.

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Parents try to protect their children from struggle—the very thing they must have in order to grow strong.

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Folks nobody ever heard of are busily influencing lives which will change the course of history.

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I'd rather a boy had a good father than a good preacher.

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5 comments:

Gorges Smythe said...

Those are almost as good as reading Proverbs!

becky3086 said...

Excellent post. I really enjoyed reading them.

mySavioReigns said...

Those are great!

Granny Miller said...

Love it! Reminds me of some of the proverbs from Poor Richard's Almanack.

Mark Clark said...

Just found this page. Frank A. Clark (1911-1991) was my father.