Time & Perspective Quote by Marvin J. Ashton

A clergyman telling you to “give no time” to fault-finding isn’t offering a cute etiquette tip; he’s issuing a spiritual reallocation of attention. Marvin J. Ashton’s line is built like a budget: time is scarce, and criticism is framed as an expense with low moral return. The phrasing matters. “Finding fault” isn’t the same as noticing problems. It’s a scavenger hunt for deficiency, a posture that turns other people into projects and the self into judge. Ashton’s intent is preventative: cut off the habit before it becomes a personality.

The subtext is communal. In religious communities especially, criticism can masquerade as discernment, “standards,” even righteousness. Ashton quietly exposes that as a trap: if your days are spent auditing others, you’re not doing the harder work of serving, listening, repenting, or repairing. The line also dodges the ego-benefit of critique. Fault-finding feels like competence and control; it’s a shortcut to superiority. By recommending zero time, Ashton rejects the fantasy that you can be both spiritually generous and recreationally contemptuous.

Context helps. Ashton spoke in a 20th-century American religious culture that prized harmony, family cohesion, and lay leadership. In that setting, chronic criticism wasn’t just a private vice; it threatened unity, volunteer labor, and belonging. The quote’s rhetorical power comes from its blunt absolutism: not “less criticism,” but no time for it. It’s an antidote to the anxious modern pastime of ranking, reviewing, and dunking - a reminder that moral energy is finite, and you can spend it building people or breaking them down.