Kiersten > Kiersten's Quotes

“A man was defined, not by his flaws, but by how he overcame them.”
― Brandon Sanderson, The Well of Ascension

“No individual, by the very state of existence, can avoid life as a form of servitude; it only remains for us to decide, deny, or remain oblivious to, whom or what we serve.”
― Carolyn Weber, Surprised by Oxford

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

“I'm like an addict when it comes to books. Compelled to read, understand, savor, wrangle with, be moved by, learn to live from these silent companions who speak so loudly.”
― Carolyn Weber, Surprised by Oxford: A Memoir by Carolyn Weber

“What is important is that my identity doesn't lie primarily in being a professor, or being a wife, or even in being a mother. Those things will always fall short. Entire careers get swept away at a moment's notice at the presentation of a pink slip, a vote of the elders, an accusation of a student, a cut in the budget. Marriages face infidelities, for instance, and end up like car wrecks from which people can recover but are never again the same. Children grow up and move far away and forget to write or call--as they should...The point is, if you have your identity in any of these things, it's surefire disappointment. Anything man-made--or woman-made, for that matter--will and does fail you. Having my identity in Christ first and foremost gives me the courage--yes, the courage--to live my life boldly, purposefully, in everything I do, no matter what that is.”
― Carolyn Weber, Surprised by Oxford: A Memoir by Carolyn Weber

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art.... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

“The dark of the heart is a darkness deep
And the sweep of the night is wide
And the pain of the heart when the people weep
Is an overwhelming tide--

And yet! and yet! when the tide runs low
As the tide will always do
And the heavy sky where the bellows blow
Is bright at last and blue

And the sun ascends in the quiet morn
And the sorrow sinks away,
When the veil of death and dark is torn
Asunder by the day,

Then the light of love is the flame of spring
And the flow of the river strong
And the hope of the heart as the people sing
Is an everlasting song

The winter is whispering, "green and gold"
And the heart is whispering, too--
It's a story the Maker has always told
And the story, my child, is true.”
― Andrew Peterson, The Warden and the Wolf King

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As longs as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

“Simply put, humans are not wired to be constantly wired.”
― Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World

“Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

“Life is comfortable when you separate yourself from people who are different from you...But God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through.”
― Francis Chan, Crazy Love Overwhelmed By a Relentless God / Forgotten God Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

“These things--the beauty, the memory of our own past--are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

“Does God have a secret will of direction that He expects us to figure out before we do anything? And the answer is no. Yes, God has a specific plan for our lives. And yes, we can be assured that He works things for our good in Christ Jesus...But while we are free to ask God for wisdom, He does not burden us with the task of divining His will of direction for our lives ahead of time.”
― Kevin DeYoung, Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will

“God is not a Magic 8-Ball we shake up and peer into whenever we have a decision to make. He is a good God who gives us brains, shows us the way of obedience, and invites us to take risks for Him...Seek first the kingdom of God, then trust that He will take care of our needs, even before we know what they are and where we're going.”
― Kevin DeYoung, Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will

“If you are seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, you will be in God's will, so just go out and do something...Die to self. Live for Christ. And then do what you want, and go where you want, for God's glory.”
― Kevin DeYoung, Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will

“So next time you look up at the sun, moon and stars and wonder, remember: they are there because God loves, because the Father's love for the Son burst out that it might be enjoyed by many.”
― Michael Reeves, Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith

“Our sense that we lack time often leads us to want immediate and radical improvement in ourselves. We discover, to the contrary, that God has purposes in taking his time and that, since process itself is also a good aspect of the created wold, we should learn to honor rather than belittle it.”
― Kelly M. Kapic, You're Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design and Why That’s Good News