We Hold These Truths Quotes

“If tomorrow all the things were gone, I’d worked for all my life, and I had to start again, with just my children and my wife. I’d thank my lucky stars to be living here today, cuz the flag still stands for freedom, and you can’t take that away.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“What is he going to do?” Richard shook his head in frustration. “He has a nuclear bomb and an airplane. What do you think he’s going to do?” Lance nodded in agreement at the unspoken fear. “He’ll kill as many people as he can, as soon as he can. That’s his nature. His fatwa. This is jihad.” Richard turned to look him in the eye. “That’s right. Chicago is the second largest city in the country, and all he has to do is fly straight down the coast a few hundred miles.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“I am the good shepherd, The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.” Suddenly, all his other cares melted away, all his questions on morality and philosophy, everything else blew away with the wind, and Josh was reduced to the essence of his soul – he was a shepherd – always had been. He had to stop Momin, had to stop the wolf, protect the flock. He loved the flock.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Jesus had said that to the ones who were killing him, and Josh had no doubt that Jesus had been sincere. “I’m not as good as you are God. I can’t do that. It would take a lifetime to learn how to love people like Momin, and in the meantime, I have to either kill him or watch him kill others. You’re asking too much!” But over the howling wind, an answer came back to him: clear, concise, understandable and irrefutable.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“An atheist is someone who believes that God does not exist.” “You’re kidding me! How could you not believe in God? He’s all around us!” Angela thought for a moment and nodded her head. “I can see that now, Phillip. But I was alone, and loneliness can confuse people sometimes. It makes them think stupid thoughts and do stupid things.” Her voice trailed off into nothingness. “I guess I did a lot of stupid things.” A protective look came over Phillip’s face, and Angela was surprised to see it, but also very happy about it. “Everybody does stupid things sometimes Angela. You know that.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“Jesus commanded us to love you, so I can’t go ahead and kill you, even though right now my fallen flesh wants . . . .” Josh let the sentence die unended. He walked over to Momin, picked up the duct tape and wrapped it around his head several times, securely covering his mouth. When he was done, he stood up and nodded his head in satisfaction. “There! You’re easier to love when you’re not talking.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“And now you know the truth! You are infidels, pagans, arrogant soldiers of the great Satan! And since you are soldiers, then you are enemies, and you must die. America and the weakness of Christianity has stood in Islam’s way far too long. And now, you will be crushed under the iron boot of Islam. It is time for America to die!”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“Later in the fatwa, Osama Bin Laden said: ‘We – with Allah’s help – call on every Muslim who believes in Allah and wishes to be rewarded to comply with Allah’s order to kill the Americans and plunder their money wherever and whenever they can find it. We also call on Muslim ulema, leaders, youths, and soldiers to launch the raid on Satan’s U.S. troops and the devil’s supporters allying with them, and to displace those who are behind them so that they may learn a lesson.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“I still don’t understand why they want to kill us all. Even if all of that is true, it doesn’t make any sense to me.” “It’s because they define pagan as anyone who doesn’t practice Islam. And, according to certain passages in the Koran, all pagans have to be converted or killed.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“so he simply claimed to have received a revelation from Allah that it was now lawful for him to take her as his wife. His step-son, who was a good Muslim, wanted to please the prophet, so he immediately divorced his wife so Muhammad could bed her. On another time, Muhammad, the great prophet of Allah, married a 6-year old girl, then consummated that marriage when she was only 9 years old. America must come to understand Islam for what it really is. Allah is not the god of Judaism and Christianity. He is not the god of love and tolerance.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“You don’t understand radical Islam. It was founded by one man, a man with self-serving interests, and he spread his power and influence by conquering others. Muhammad claimed to be God’s prophet, therefore, anything he said was considered equal to that of God. Did you know that Muhammad had 23 wives and concubines? Once he wanted to marry the wife of his step-son, something that was forbidden by Islamic law,”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“Osama Bin Laden said: ‘But when the forbidden months are past, then fight and slay the pagans wherever ye find them, seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem; and peace be upon our prophet Muhammad Bin-Abdullah, who said: I have been sent with the sword between my hands to ensure that no one but Allah is worshipped, Allah who put my livelihood under the shadow of my spear and who inflicts humiliation and scorn on those who disobey my orders.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“In I Corinthians 12:10, it talked about those who could discern the evil in another’s spirit. She quoted it inside her head now and the words brought her comfort. ‘To one there is given through the spirit, the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same spirit, to another faith by the same spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits. . . .’ And right now, Louise was distinguishing evil and falsehood inside this man. Something about him just didn’t feel right.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“In a few moments, I must leave you. My friend is outside holding back the hordes of evil that would possess your soul, but that will not last for long. So let me just leave you with these final words. The creator loves you. He wishes to take you home to Him. He wishes to wrap His arms around you as a father to a son. But the choice must be yours. If you choose Father God, the Creator, then all will be forgiven, and you will enter into your new life – heart pure – white as snow – free to choose and serve the creator who loves you.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“that they had been ready for death, in fact, always had been. His father had lived life close to his God, in full submission and obedience to all of God’s laws and ways. His father was, or had been, a good Jew. Richard didn’t know where he was now. He didn’t even want to think about it anymore. If he didn’t free himself, then he would soon freeze to death, or worse yet, Momin would return to finish the job personally.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“And we beseech thee, O mighty and righteous God, to pour the wealth of your mercy, though it be undeserved, onto the pour, lowly sinners of Lansing, Michigan. We implore thee, all powerful God, all knowing God, ever present and uncontainable God, we pray the magnanimousity of your love and grace.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“The liabilities were easy: He was locked in a trunk, bound and gagged; he had a nuclear bomb for a head rest, and there was a dead body lying beside him. The assets were a little more difficult. And then it hit him. If nothing occurred without God’s approval, and he left nothing to chance, then everything that happened to him was part of God’s larger plan. He thought about it. If all that were true, and God loved His creation, then . . . his liabilities were also his assets.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“wondered if God was working now, through him. Was it possible. He heard his father’s voice again. “God will not call you and then abandon you. Never will I leave thee. Never will I forsake thee.” Richard believed those words now for the first time in his life. He’d heard it said that the end of man was the beginning of God. He was at his own end, and it was time for God to take over. He closed his eyes and prayed. “Dear Jehovah, my provider, provide a way for me to escape and stop this man of evil.” And then the oddest thing happened. He felt a strange, relaxing, peaceful balm spread over his whole body. It warmed him despite the wind and cold raging outside him, filling him with hope, and strength and determination. One thought came to his mind: God allows nothing to happen outside His will. God leaves nothing to chance. There is no such thing as chance. If that were true, then everything that had happened to him so far, was the act of God. In the light of this new perspective, Richard once again took stock of his assets and liabilities.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“under his breath with rancor and unconcealed disdain. “We hold these truths, that all men are created equal!” Momin spat on the ground and swore aloud in Bengali, forever proclaiming his disagreement. “Equal? No! Shob manush shristitay shoman? Ashombhob!” They were just infidels, deserving death and destruction. The West would never be equal to Allah. And they would never turn from their Christian false god; therefore, they must die! The Koran commanded it!”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“because he was a Moslem, and dark skinned, no one dared touch him. He was seldom searched in airports. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was so politically correct that they were afraid of being accused of profiling. Momin thought it amazing that America was more concerned with what strangers thought of them, than of their own survival. He enjoyed watching old, white ladies being pulled out of line at the airport and being searched while they let him go by unmolested. They didn’t even dare look at him, much less search him. Arrogant, weak, fools! They valued their precious freedom and their Declaration of Independence more than they did their own lives.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“the purpose of all art was to lend cosmos to chaos, beauty to the land, and hope to those in despair. Lance had always believed that art should do more than just imitate life; it should guide it and steer it; keep it on the true north compass heading of our creator. That was the purpose of the Bible, and all other literature was subordinate to it.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“It had always been so, and from the beginning of time, man had been locked in an eternal and hopeless struggle against nature and nature’s ways – God’s ways. And the world had become so small, just one tiny vegetable garden, but the weeds had taken over, and, no matter how fast the gardeners pulled, the weeds just kept popping back up. Their roots ran too deep, and they threatened to choke out anything that caused beauty and caring to dominate the world. It was the way of all things – the history of the world, of all humanity.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“Things fall apart, the center does not hold.” And things were falling apart right now, falling apart at the seams, and perhaps were already beyond repair. Life and all things related to humanity were so fragile. They had created an artificial world, artificial and temporary, and all things man-made were destined from the start to return to the ways of God. His own small vegetable garden taught him that; his lawn taught him that. Without his constant and tireless care, barring his human intervention, the weeds would grow up and choke out the tasty tomatoes and beautiful flowers of his life. They would return to the ways of God. It had always been so, and from the beginning of time, man had been locked in an eternal and hopeless struggle against nature and nature’s ways – God’s ways. And the world had become so small, just one tiny vegetable garden, but the weeds had taken over, and, no matter how fast the gardeners pulled, the weeds just kept popping back up. Their roots ran too deep, and they threatened to choke out anything that caused beauty and caring to dominate the world. It was the way of all things – the history of the world, of all humanity.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“You’re faithful. You’re loyal. You’re kind. You protect and serve the ones you love. You seek the truth. You are the embodiment of every Boy Scout who ever lived. Sometimes you lack confidence, and you make silly jokes, but that’s okay, because even then you try to do the right thing. You have a humility about you that is very attractive. Your strength is subtle. You seem like an ordinary guy, but you’re anything but ordinary. I’ve been watching you Hank. I watch the way you treat people around you. I watch the way you play with your kids. There’s a lot of love inside you, more than I’ve ever seen inside anyone else. And everything I see in you just draws me closer. You’re almost selfless, and that’s hard to find now days. Most people spend their whole lives feeding and worshipping their own egos. They live to please themselves.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“Well, I’m not sure. It just seems like from the first moment I held Phillip in my arms, that life was no longer the same. One moment I was lost in my career and my ego, worried about how many points I scored, how much money I made, what kind of car I drove. And the next, I looked down and I was a daddy. And I knew at that moment that I’d found my calling in life. I’d suddenly reached out and touched someone greater than myself. From that moment on, I became a servant and a protector. My kids were bigger than me and anything else in life I may have thought I wanted. They became my reason for being.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“I was nodding at what Jimmy Stuart just said. I once thought like him. I thought I wanted to get out and see the world, to conquer it.” His voice took on the tone of mock pomp and importance. “To bravely go where no man has gone before!” Angela leaned closer. “So what happened?” “I had kids. And that changed everything. It changed me mostly I suppose.” “How so?”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“We don’t want you to answer all of our silly questions, Hank. We don’t want you to solve all our problems. We’re not broken, and you don’t have to fix us. Okay?”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“You say what’s on your mind, and for the most part you have integrity. But there’s just one thing that bothers me. Sometimes you think you’re better than other people. You feel superior to all these dumb farmers and rednecks around here. And that one thing is what keeps you from becoming a great reporter and a great writer, because it keeps you from seeing the value of those around you. The people in this little hick town are some of the most interesting on earth. You just don’t see it because you already have them stereotyped. And I guess I recognize it in you, because I used to be the same way. But I have to tell you straight from the hip, that I’ve learned more from these lowly rednecks in the past 10 years than all my stay in the ivy league. Harvard teaches books, but Freidham Ridge teaches life!”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“Every man, woman, and child is a story. We are all books waiting to be written. And inside the cover of each man, beneath the surface, we discover what makes him laugh and cry. Sometimes it’s best to hold off on first impressions. That’s what I’ve done with you.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths

“went back to her crossword puzzle - still looking for a five-letter word that meant “to believe in something without evidence”. She sat down in the old wooden rocker. She was patient; it would come to her – in time – in the Lord’s good time. She closed her eyes, and she rocked.”
― Skip Coryell, We Hold These Truths