AJ > AJ's Quotes

“When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse he understands his own badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

“From the very beginning— from the first moment, I may almost say— of my acquaintance with you, your manners, impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form the groundwork of disapprobation on which succeeding events have built so immovable a dislike; and I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry.”
― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

“There is no plateau in the Christian life. We are either growing closer to Christ's likeness or we are falling away.”
― Aimee Byrd, Theological Fitness: Why We Need a Fighting Faith

“Who is willing to suffer for a Savior they won't even trouble themselves to learn about?”
― Aimee Byrd, Theological Fitness: Why We Need a Fighting Faith

“Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.”
― Winston S. Churchill

“An idol is something that we look to for things that only God can give. Idolatry functions widely inside religious communities when doctrinal truth is elevated to the position of a false god. This occurs when people rely on the rightness of their doctrine for their standing with God rather than on God himself and his grace. It is a subtle but deadly mistake…. Another form of idolatry within religious communities turns spiritual gifts and ministry success into a counterfeit god…. Another kind of religious idolatry has to do with moral living itself… Though we may give lip service to Jesus as our example and inspiration, we are still looking to ourselves and own own moral striving for salvation…. Making an idol out of doctrinal accuracy, ministry success, or moral rectitude leads to constant internal conflict, arrogance and self-righteousness, and oppression of those whose views differ.”
― Timothy J. Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters

“When you see him dying to make you his treasure, that will make him yours.”
― Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters

“If we look to some created thing to give us the meaning, hope, and happiness that only God himself can give, it will eventually fail to deliver and break our hearts.”
― Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters

“If, when you wake up in the morning, you can think of nothing but writing . . . then you are a writer.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke "Letters to a Young Poet."

“We read to know we are not alone.”
― C.S. Lewis

“I like good strong words that mean something…”
― Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

“I'd rather take coffee than compliments just now.”
― Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

“Are the things you are living for worth Christ dying for?”
― Leonard Ravenhill

“They have concluded that it is their duty to rush forward on their journey no matter what the weather; I, on the other hand, am for waiting for favourable wind and current. They are for risking all for God at the snap of a finger; I am for taking advantage of every opportunity to secure my life and estate. They are for holding to their ideas even though all the world would be against them; I, however, am for religion insofar as the times, conditions, and my safety allow it. They are for religion when walking in rags and abuse; I am for it when it walks in silver slippers, in sunshine, and with applause.”
― Cheryl Ford, The Pilgrim's Progress

“What God says is best, is best, though all the men in the world are against it.”
― John Bunyan, The Pilgrims Progress

“You humans certainly have your hearts set on being happy, don’t you?”
― Allison Tebo, The Reluctant Godfather

“When you give another person the power to define you, then you also give them the power to control you. Here’s”
― Leslie Vernick, The Emotionally Destructive Relationship: Seeing It, Stopping It, Surviving It

“There are no chance encounters with God.”
― Kristy Cambron, The Butterfly and the Violin

“In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.”
― Douglas Adams, The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

“When we suffer, we long for God to speak clearly, to tell us the end of the story and, most of all, to show himself. But if he showed himself fully and immediately, if he answered all the questions, we’d never grow; we’d never emerge from our chrysalis because we’d be forever dependent. Jill was profoundly changed in her twenty-year wait. If God had instantly explained everything to her and healed Kim, that change would not have taken place. No one works like him. He is such a lover of souls.”
― Paul E. Miller, A Praying Life: Connecting With God In A Distracting World

“If the miracle comes too quickly, there is no room for discovery, for relationship.”
― Paul E. Miller, A Praying Life: Connecting With God In A Distracting World

“Run to and fro everywhere, holy fires, beautiful fires; for you are the light of the world, nor are you put under a bushel. He whom you cleave unto is exalted, and has exalted you. Run to and fro, and be known unto all nations.”
― Augustine of Hippo, Confessions

“A friend is one to whom one may pour out the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that gentle hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away.”
― Dinah Maria Craik

“What does a girl have, really, if her word cannot be trusted?”
― Stephanie Morrill, The Lost Girl of Astor Street

“For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV)”
― Anonymous, Holy Bible: New International Version

“When we leave the pen in His hands we will never be disappointed with the story of our lives.”
― Eric Ludy, When God Writes Your Life Story: Experience the Ultimate Adventure

“It takes courage to make art and put it out there for people to love or hate, or even worse—ignore.”
― Christopher Greenwood, Fighter: 5 Keys To Conquering Fear & Reaching Your Dreams

“If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”
― Mother Teresa

“WHEREVER WE HAD BEEN in Russia, in Moscow, in the Ukraine, in Stalingrad, the magical name of Georgia came up constantly. People who had never been there, and who possibly never could go there, spoke of Georgia with a kind of longing and a great admiration. They spoke of Georgians as supermen, as great drinkers, great dancers, great musicians, great workers and lovers. And they spoke of the country in the Caucasus and around the Black Sea as a kind of second heaven. Indeed, we began to believe that most Russians hope that if they live very good and virtuous lives, they will go not to heaven, but to Georgia, when they die. It is a country favored in climate, very rich in soil, and it has its own little ocean. Great service to the state is rewarded by a trip to Georgia. It is a place of recuperation for people who have been long ill. And even during the war it was a favored place, for the Germans never got there, neither with planes nor with troops. It is one of the places that was not hurt at all.”
― John Steinbeck, A Russian Journal

“Nothing weighs on us so heavily as a secret.”
― Jean de La Fontaine