Andy Alexis > Andy's Quotes

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. ... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others”
― Martha Graham

“If you are just starting out or if you are still in this phase, you gotta know it’s normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. . . . It is only by going through a volume of work that you’re going to catch up and close that gap. And the work you’re making will be as good as your ambitions.[”
― Mariann Edgar Budde, How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith

“To persevere in faithfulness is our greatest gift to this world.”
― Marianne Edgar Budde

“This is your life, he says softly. Lean into it. View your burden as a gift. It's the theme that has been given you to work with. This is the only life you'll have.”
― Mariann Edgar Budde, How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith

“My prayer is that, by grace, we all will be emboldened to lean into the wisdom, strength, power, and grace that come to us, whenever we find ourselves at a decisive moment. May you and I dare to believe that we are where we are meant to be when that moment comes, doing the work that is ours to do, fully present to our lives. For it is in this work that we learn to be brave.”
― Mariann Edgar Budde, How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith

“When we decide to start toward something that requires courage, we are often creating new possibilities for those who come after us. Our example may be the one to inspire others to turn toward their Jerusalem, whatever the path God has set before them.”
― Mariann Edgar Budde, How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith

“Let me be clear: the president just used a Bible, the most sacred text of the Judeo-Christian tradition, and one of the churches in my diocese, without permission, as a backdrop for a message antithetical to the teachings of Jesus. Everything he has said and done is to inflame violence. We need moral leadership, and he’s done everything to divide us.” [5]”
― Mariann Edgar Budde, How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith

“I want to be among the coalition of the faithful. I want to be among those working for the change we need now.” That’s the decision with which I need to align my life every day.”
― Mariann Edgar Budde, How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith

“I am convinced that we all have the capacity to live within a narrative of great adventure, no matter our life circumstances. The courage to be brave when it matters most requires a lifetime of small decisions that set us on a path of self-awareness, attentiveness, and willingness to risk failure for what we believe is right. It is also a profoundly spiritual experience, one in which we feel a part of something larger than ourselves and guided, somehow, by a larger Spirit at work in the world and in us. Decisive moments make believers out of everyone, for no matter what name we give to it, the inexplicable, unmerited experience of a power greater than our own working through us is real. The audacious truth is that we matter in the realization of all that is good and noble and true. I want to expand our notion of what constitutes a decisive moment, for they come in many forms and require a wide range of decisions, equally decisive yet different in their energy and outcome.”
― Mariann Edgar Budde, How We Learn to Be Brave: Decisive Moments in Life and Faith