The whistle is always waiting to be blown, and in some ways, it gets me to do better work.

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.

Oh, sometimes I like to put the sand of doubt into the oyster of my faith." (Br. Cadfael)

the depth of a person's character is not measured by his or her physical strength, but by the depth of his or her nobility.

HLADE’S LAW: If you have a difficult task give it to a lazy man — he will find an easier way to do it.

Let each person decide his or her fate.

To some of those girls, school will be the highlight of their lives. People like you…people who are beautiful inside and out…those are the ones who will shine in whatever they decide to do. [Alec]

If you can give your son or daughet only one gift, let it be enthusiasm.

Awareness of your weakness is the first step for correction

Books that are books are all that you want, and there are but a half dozen in any thousand.

The beautiful thing about faking a news show is the topicality is delayed.

The moon glows on the river, wind rustles the pines. Long night clear evening--what are they for?