“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”

“God Will Change You Many plans are in a man’s mind, but it is the Lord’s purpose for him that will stand. PROVERBS 19:21 Even though you may still be operating in old habits, you still have hope of change, but you can’t change yourself. God will change you, if you seek Him with your whole heart. Don’t be in a hurry for God to finish working in your life. We want everything to be done instantly, but God is not interested in our schedule. The enemy may thwart your plans, but God’s plans don’t get thwarted, and He has a unique plan for you. Seek God’s plan for your life. Stay on fire, red hot, zealous. Pursue His purpose for you with every ounce of energy you have. There is nothing in this world that is worth seeking more.”

“They, they, they. That was the problem with people like Joyce. They talked about the richness of their multicultural heritage and it sounded real good, until you noticed that they avoided black people. It wasn't a matter of conscious choice, necessarily, just a matter of gravitational pull, the way integration always worked, a one-way street. The minority assimilated into the dominant culture, not the other way around. Only white culture could be neutral and objective. Only white culture could be nonracial, willing to adopt the occasional exotic into its ranks. Only white culture had individuals. And we, the half-breeds and the college-degreed, take a survey of the situation and think to ourselves, Why should we get lumped in with the losers if we don't want to? We become only so grateful to lose ourselves in the crowd, America's happy, faceless marketplace; and we're never so outraged as when a cabbie drives past us or the woman in the elevator clutches her purse, not so much because we're bothered by the fact that such indignities are what less fortunate coloreds have to put up with every single day of their lives-- although that's what we tell ourselves-- but because we're wearing a Brooks Brothers suit and speak impeccable English and yet have somehow been mistaken for an ordinary nigger. Don't know who I am? I'm an individual!”

“You are the salt of the earth. But remember that salt is useful when in association, but useless in isolation.”

“Dios ve el valor que usted tiene, y sabe en lo que le está convirtiendo. A veces nos miramos a nosotros mismos y pensamos: “Tengo muchas imperfecciones. Tengo mal genio. Tengo un problema con mi boca. No soy tan disciplinado”. Vemos el barro, pero Dios ve la hermosa taza. La buena noticia es que usted no es un producto terminado. Dios sigue obrando, y si trabaja usted con Dios y le permite eliminar esas impurezas, Él hará más con su vida de lo que usted nunca soñó.”

“He was fond of angling, and seemed proud of being able to like such a stupid occupation.”

“Even as a kid, my memories are of books taking me out of myself.”

“You are a special person, and without you, the world would be missing something wonderful. You can do whatever you set your mind to do, as long as it is within God’s will. You are talented, gifted by God, and you are able to accomplish great things in your life. You are amazingly unique, and you never need to compare yourself with anyone else. Be the amazing person that you are. God loves you unconditionally, and that will never change. Your future is so bright that you may need sunglasses to look at it!”

“There was no solution, but that universal solution which life gives to all questions, even the most complex and insoluble. That answer is: one must live in the needs of the day—that is, forget oneself. To forget himself in sleep was impossible now, at least till nighttime; he could not go back now to the music sung by the decanter-women; so he must forget himself in the dream of daily life.”

“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty, than those attending too small a degree of it.”

“people who do not forgive are hurting themselves much more than they’re hurting others.”

“Are we not all flung into the world for no other purpose than to hate each other, and so to torture ourselves and one another?”

“Write down somewhere in the margins on this page your answer to this question: How have you changed . . . lately? In the last week, let’s say? Or in the last month? The last year? Can you be very specific? Or must your answer be incredibly vague? You say you’re growing. Okay . . . how? “Well,” you say, “In all kinds of ways.” Great! Name one. You see, effective teaching comes only through a changed person. The more you change, the more you become an instrument of change in the lives of others. If you want to become a change agent, you also must change.2 Change the leader—change the organization.”

“If you’re not living your destiny as you journey, you won’t be able to live it after you reach your destination. Destiny is not only a destination, a goal, a dream, a purpose; it is an inner process of becoming all you were meant to be. You are educated before you get the degree.”

“don’t have to give in to those things that would keep you from the life God has for you—you may have in your past, but you don’t have to in your future. You can begin again! Jesus is sending away your accusers and offering you a new chance today. Today can be a brand-new start.”