That thing you had to force yourself to do-the actual act of writing-turns out to be the best part.

Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.

I do not at all understand the mystery of grace - only that it meets us where we are but does not leave us where it found us.

Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns.

Dogs are the closest we come to knowing the divine love of God on this side of eternity.

... the reason life works at all is that not everyone in your tribe is nuts on the same day. [pp. 65-66]

Sometimes I think that Jesus watches my neurotic struggles, and shakes his head and grips his forehead and starts tossing back mojitos.

Nothing heals us like letting people know our scariest parts: When people listen to you cry and lament, and look at you with love, it's like they are holding the baby of you.

Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining.

I thought the secret of life was obvious: be here now, love as if your whole life depended on it, find your life's work, and try to get hold of a giant panda.

Human lives are hard, even those of health and privilege, and don't make much sense. This is the message of the Book of Job: Any snappy explanation of suffering you come up with will be horseshit.

God is a circle whose center is everywhere, and its circumference nowhere.

I can give you two words, " I tell him. "The second is off. Can you guess the first?

Elliston thought consistency less important than vitality and intelligence and passion.

he made the poor choice of deciding that he couldn't live either. You can make a better choice. You can choose to get up and live.

It never hurts for potential opponents to think you're more than a little stupid and can hardly count all the money in your hip pocket, much less hold on to it.

It is easier to look wise than to talk wisely.

Each of us creates his or her own life largely by our attitude.

I'm writing this book because we're all going to die.

Working on the plot/story idea for my next novel ... It always takes time.

Research can trap you into the past.