The Principle of the Path Quotes

“We don’t drift in good directions. We discipline and prioritize ourselves there.”
― andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“I've talked to many individuals who want to discuss their problems. But they don't really have problems. They have chosen to live in the wrong direction. They don't need a solution. They need a new direction.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“The direction you are currently traveling—relationally, financially, spiritually, and the list goes on and on—will determine where you end up in each of those respective arenas.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“prudent people look as far down the road as possible when making decisions.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“Direction—not intention—determines our destination.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“Lord, help us to see trouble coming long before it gets here. And give us the wisdom to know what to do and the courage to do it.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“To get from where we don’t want to be to where we do want to be requires two things: time and a change of direction.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“They ask what I often refer to as the best question ever: “In light of my past experience, and my future hopes and dreams, what’s the wise thing to do?”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Prov. 3:6)”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“Geographically speaking, you can't get to where you want to be unless you know where you are the begin with. You need a reference point. Similarly, you can't get to where you want to be in life until you are willing to admit where you are to begin with. Self-deception makes that next to impossible.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“My observation (and experience, for that matter) indicates that humans have a propensity for choosing paths that do not lead in the direction they want to go. For much of our decision making, we lean hard into our intentions and pay very little attention to the direction of the path we’ve chosen. I see it all the time. Even with very smart people. It breaks my heart how many people I speak with who don’t connect the dots between the choices they make and the outcomes they experience. They’ve come to believe the popular notion that as long as their intentions are good, as long as their hearts are in the right place (whatever that means), as long as they do their best and try their hardest, it doesn’t really matter which path they take. They believe somehow they will end up in a good place. But life doesn’t work that way.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“What gets our attention determines our direction and, ultimately, our destination. Or if you would prefer the short version: attention determines direction.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“It is next to impossible to hear the voice of wisdom if we are not really listening for it to begin with. The best counsel in the world is wasted counsel if our minds are already made up.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“Experience is often a brutal teacher. Experience eats up you most valuable commodity:time. Learning from experience can eat up years. It can steal an entire stage of life.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“But what’s perfectly obvious in the realm of geography is not so obvious in those other arenas. And, as we are about to discover, what’s true geographically is equally true relationally, financially, physically, and academically. There is a parallel principle that affects parenting, dating, marriage, our emotions, our health, and a host of other areas as well. Just as there are physical paths that lead to predictable physical locations, there are other kinds of paths that are equally predictable.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“One gets to the place one wants to be the same way one got to the place one didn’t want to be—by putting one foot in front of the other and moving in a specific direction.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“Now then, my sons, listen to me; pay attention to what I say. Do not let your heart turn to her ways or stray into her paths. (vv. 24–25)”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“We begin selling ourselves on what we want to do rather than what we ought to do. We listen to ourselves until we believe our own lies, and the we opt for happiness.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“We can give our attention to anything we choose to give it to. And that means we have the potential to harness this amazing principle to our benefit.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“Solomon’s story ends tragically. Being the wisest man in the world did not shelter him from making unwise decisions. He didn’t take his own advice. And apparently no one was in a position to offer him any.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“apply these three questions to every option that comes your way: 1. Does this option violate God’s law? 2. Does this option violate a principle? 3. In light of the story I want to tell, what is the wise thing to do? If, while in the throes of decision making, you pause and temporarily detach yourself from the emotion and the urgency of the moment and ask these three questions, you will gain extraordinary clarity. They will enable you to see each option in a new light.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“There’s a third thing about getting lost. The road I’m on always determines where I end up. Pretty insightful, eh? It really doesn’t matter where I intended to be; the path I take determines my ultimate destination. Plans, intentions, spousal expectations . . . none of that counts. I always end up where the road I’ve chosen takes me. And that, as you know by now, is the theme of this book.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“Actually, there was nothing sudden about his undoing. His fall was inevitable. The end of this story was determined years ago when he chose a path that, from the very beginning, had dishonor, disgrace, and dismissal as the destination. Direction determines destination. Every time.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“There are people and activities that have the potential to lure us away from the things to which we should be paying attention. And if we are honest, the cost of disentangling ourselves from unhealthy relationships and activities seems too high a price to pay. And at the same time, the benefits associated with paying attention to the right things seem so distant that they don’t whet our appetite for change. And so we continue to live our lives captive to the things that have captured our attention.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“Everything somehow works out. Every decision has an outcome, and every path has a destination.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“I always end up where the road I’ve chosen takes me.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

“Christians start talking about forgiveness as if somehow forgiveness serves as an escape hatch from the outcome of bad decisions.”
― Andy Stanley, The Principle of the Path: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be