> ## Content Index
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# The Book
- URL: https://www.smoothpebbles.org/the-book/
- Published: 2026-01-18T02:40:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-04T02:41:11.000Z
- Author: Richard Flanders

> There is one Book, and only one,  
> that embraces all the heights and depths of human nature.  
> It sounds every sorrow,  
> answers every cry of the human heart,  
> and speaks to every age and condition of men.  
>  
> The Bible belongs to those elemental things  
> like the sky, the wind, and the sea.  
> It is as free as the air,  
> as universal as the light.  
>  
> It belongs with bread and wine,  
> with the kisses of little children,  
> and with tears beside the grave.  
>  
> It is the Book of humanity,  
> because it is the Book of life.  
> \~TH Darlow. 1927

———————————————-  

> “The Book Our Mothers Read”  
> by John Greenleaf Whittier (circa 1890)  
>  
> We search the world for truth; we cull  
> The good, the pure, the beautiful,  
> From graven stone and written scroll,  
> From all old flower-fields of the soul;  
> And, weary seekers of the best,  
> We come back laden from our quest,  
> To find that all the sages said  
> Is in the Book our mothers read.