As the tender dew which falls in the silent night makes the grass and herbs and flowers to flourish and grow more abundantly than great showers of rain which fall in the day; so secret prayer will more abundantly cause the sweet herbs of grace and holiness to grow and flourish in the soul, than all those more open, public, and visible duties of religion, which too, too often, are mingled and mixed with the sun and wind of pride and hypocrisy.”
Thomas Brooks (1608–1680) was an English Puritan preacher and author. Charles Spurgeon so valued his writings that he published his own collection of Brooks' quotes, entitled, "Smooth Stones Taken from Ancient Brooks."