Practical, Elevating, and Helpful—An indiscriminate class of articles should not be published in our periodicals. Cheap, worthless stories should find no place in them. There are articles of romance and fiction which contain no seeds that will bear good fruit. I would say to our editors, Be careful in the selection of the matter which is to go to the world. Show the greatest caution and discernment. Be careful that the Review and Herald and the Signs of the Times are kept free from worthless matter. Precious matter from what has already been printed can be found for our papers.
(CW 17.1)
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I hope that God will sanctify the perceptive faculties of our editors. I read an article in the Signs of a few weeks back which would have done very well for a comic almanac, but for such a paper as the Signs it was only as hay, wood, and stubble. My heart ached as I read it. If there was any germ of truth in the seed sown, I could not find it. I do not think the article could in any way benefit those who read it.
(CW 17.2)
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The tastes of some who write for our papers need to be educated and refined. The editors of the Review and Herald and the Signs of the Times should refuse to fill the columns of these papers with articles manufactured by minds which reveal themselves in their productions. Articles in any way coarse should be refused as matter unworthy of notice,—the production of those who know nothing of pure, elevated, and sanctified communion with God. Let no rough, uncouth presentation find place in our papers. The articles which go to thousands of readers should show purity, elevation, and sanctification of soul, body, and spirit on the part of the writer. The pen should be used as a means of sowing seed unto eternal life. This is a “Thus saith the Lord.”
(CW 17.3)
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