“I began to understand why so many people chose to be “born-again” and follow strict rules that would tell them what to do, once and for all. It was tempting to rely on a formula— “accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and savior,” for example—that became itself a form of idolatry and kept you from experiencing God in your flesh, in the complicated flesh of others. It was tempting to proclaim yourself “saved” and go back to sleep.”
― Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion
― Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion
“I discovered later, and I'm still discovering right up to this moment, that is it only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith. By this-worldliness I mean living unreservedly in life's duties, problems, successes and failures. In so doing we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God, taking seriously, not our own sufferings, but those of God in the world. That, I think, is faith.”
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“It has always seemed strange to me...The things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second.”
― Cannery Row
― Cannery Row
“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.”
― Their Eyes Were Watching God
― Their Eyes Were Watching God
“To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man's life.”
― The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism
― The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism
Around the World in 80 Books
— 30827 members
— last activity 18 hours, 49 min ago
Reading takes you places. Where in the world will your next book take you? If you love world literature, translated works, travel writing, or explorin ...more
Phyllis’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Phyllis’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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