Wisdom of Solomon

"For they thought that all their heathen idols were gods, though these have neither the use of their eyes to see with, nor nostrils with which to draw breath, nor ears with which to hear, nor fingers to feel with, and their feet are of no use for walking. For a man made them, and one whose spirit is borrowed formed them; for no man can form a god which is like himself. He is mortal, and what he makes with lawless hands is dead, for he is better than the objects he worships, since he has life, but they never have.
-Wisdom of Solomon 15:15-17

Origen Rom7

"Is it the law of Moses that through which Adam knew his sin and hid himself from the presence of the Lord? Is it the law of Moses through which Cain knew his sin and said, 'My sin is greater than that I should be left alive'
...Rather, it is the law concerning which we have frequently said is in everyone's hearts, 'written not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God,' and teaches each man what ought to be done and what ought to be avoided. It is the same [law], then, through which a man knows his own sin. For it speaks to us within the conscience and says, 'You shall not covet.'"
--Origen commenting on Rom7 passage

Penthos

"A brother sought out an old man and said to him, 'What shall I do? I am tortured by pride.' The old man said to him, 'You are right to be proud, since it is you who made heaven and earth.' At this the brother katanugeis, touched with compunction, made a prostration and said, 'Forgive me, I have done nothing of the sort.'"
-Penthos:The Doctrine of Compunction in the Christian East p.9

TURN IN, TURN IN

"The Light of Christ Within, who is the light of the world, (and so a light to you, that tells you the truth of your condition,) leads all, that take heed unto it, out of darkness into God's marvellous light. For light grows upon the obedient; it is 'sown for the righteous,' and their way is a shining light, that shines forth more and more to the perfect day. Wherefore, O friends, TURN IN, TURN IN, I beseech you; where there is the poison there is the antidote. There you want Christ and there you must find Him; and blessed be God there you may find Him."
--William Penn

The Potter and the Clay

"...Suppose I were to describe to a person who was entirely ignorant of the subject the way in which a lump of clay is made into a beautiful vessel. I tell him first the part of the clay in the matter; and all I can say about this is that the clay is put into the potter's hands, and then lies passive there, submitting itself to all the turnings and overturnings of the potter's hands upon it. There is really nothing else to be done about the clay's part. But could my hearer argue from this that nothing else is done because I say that this is all the clay can do? If he is an intelligent hearer he will not dream of doing so, but will say, "I understand; this is what the clay must do. But what must the potter do?: "Ah," I answer, "now we come to the important part. The potter takes the clay thus abandoned to his working, and begins to mold and fashion it according to his own will. He kneads and works it; he tears it apart and presses it together again; he wets it and then suffers it to dry. Sometimes he works at it for hours together; sometimes he lays it aside for days, and does not touch it. And then, when by all these processes he has made it perfectly pliable in his hands, he proceeds to make it up into the vessel he had proposed. He turns it upon the wheel, planes it and smooths it, and dries it in the sun, bakes it in the oven, and finally turns it out of his workshop, a wessel to his honor and fit for his use."
--Hannah Whitall Smith

John Woolman

"...If compassion on the Africans in regard to their domestic troubles were the real motives of our purchasing them, that spirit of tenderness being attended to would incite us to use them kindly, that as strangers brought out of affliction their lives might be happy among us; and as they are human creatures, whose souls are as precious as ours and who may receive the same help and comfort of the Holy Scriptures as we do, we could not omit suitable endeavors to instruct them therein. But while we manifest by our conduct that our views in purchasing them are to advance ourselves, and while our buying captives taken in war animates those parties to push on that war and increase desolations amongst them, to say they live unhappy in Africa is far from being an argument in our favor."
--John Woolman