“The life of his parents is a daily study to the child. It is ever before him. The words spoken, the acts done by the father and the mother in the unrestrained freedom of the family circle are like a steady rain falling, not upon the rock, but upon the thirsty earth. They are drunk in and appropriated by the imitative and assimilating powers of the child.” — John L. Girardeau, “Family Religion,” in George A. Blackburn, ed., Sermons by John L. Girardeau, D.D., LL.D., Late Professor in the Theological Seminary, Columbia, S.C. (1907), p. 157