quotes by Peter Kreeft

"Cats don't need to be possessed; they're evil are their own."
— Peter Kreeft

"America does not know the difference between money and sex. It treats sex like money because it treats sex as a medium of exchange, and it treats money like sex because it expects its money to get pregnant and reproduce."
— Peter Kreeft (How to Win the Culture War: A Christian Battle Plan for a Society in Crisis)

"The national anthem of Hell is 'I did it my way.'"
— Peter Kreeft

"If God is the Creator of all things and evil is a thing, then God is the Creator of evil and He is to be blamed for its existence. No, evil is not a thing but a wrong choice, or the damage done by a wrong choice. Evil is no more a positive thing than blindness is, but it is just as real."
— Peter Kreeft

""One of the few things in life that cannot possibly do harm in the end is the honest pursuit of the truth."
— Peter Kreeft (Pocket Handbook of Christian Apologetics)

"Conscience is thus explained only as the voice of God in the soul."
— Peter Kreeft (Pocket Handbook of Christian Apologetics)

"In an age of hope men looked up at the night sky and saw “the heavens." In an age of hopelessness they call it simply “space."
"
— Peter Kreeft

"We can't avoid reasoning; we can only avoid doing it well."
— Peter Kreeft (Pocket Handbook of Christian Apologetics)

"We can't believe what we believe to be untrue, and we can't love what we believe to be unreal."
— Peter Kreeft (Pocket Handbook of Christian Apologetics)

"Argumentation is a human enterprise that is embedded in a larger social and psychological context. This context includes (1) the total psyches of the two persons engaged in dialogue, (2) the relationship between the two persons, (3) the immediate situation in which they find themselves and (4) the larger social, cultural and historical situation surrounding them."
— Peter Kreeft (Pocket Handbook of Christian Apologetics)

"An argument in apologetics, when actually used in dialogue, is an extension of the arguer. The arguer's tone, sincerity, care, concern, listening, and respect matter as much as his or her logic - probably more. The world was won for Christ not by arguments but by sanctity: "What you are speaks so loud, I can hardly hear what you say.""
— Peter Kreeft (Pocket Handbook of Christian Apologetics)

"Reason is flawless, de jure, but reasoners are not, de facto."
— Peter Kreeft (Pocket Handbook of Christian Apologetics)

"If you place [your bet] with God, you lose nothing, even if it turns out that God does not exist. But if you place it against God, and you are wrong and God does exist, you lose everything."
— Peter Kreeft (Pocket Handbook of Christian Apologetics)

"Only is a bird doesn't swim in the ocean but flies in the air can it enter the ocean from above; only because God is not temporal can he enter into time."
— Peter Kreeft (Pocket Handbook of Christian Apologetics)

"All life is an emergency."
— Peter Kreeft

"The very first step is to try to forget about the self altogether. He [C.S. Lewis] says elsewhere that that's the very definition of humility. Humility does not mean to have a low view of your self. It means to have no view of yourself. Having a low view of yourself is miserable--psychologists know that. And that's also the solution to the problem of introspection. If I ask myself, how am I doing, I come out with one of three answers: well, terribly, or so-so.

If I say I'm doing well, I'm a proud, self-righteous, arrogant, self-satisfied, priggish Pharisee; if I say I'm doing lousy, I'm a miserable worm with a guilt complex and I need some psychiatry; and if i say I'm sort of fair to midland then I'm dull, wishy-washy, Charlie Brown. So what's the solution? Don't look at yourself. Take your temperature when you're sick, otherwise look at other people and God. They're much more interesting. The first step is to try to forget about yourself altogether. Your real self, your new self, will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come only when you're looking for Him."
— Peter Kreeft