“What right does any church have even attempting to approve of lifestyles or certain acts for which God prescribed the death penalty in the Old Testament?”

“I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight, I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice.”

“God is for you and has a great plan for your life.”

“Maybe the critics are right. Maybe there's no escaping our great political divide, an endless clash of armies, and any attempts to alter the rules of engagement are futile. Or maybe the trivialization of politics has reached a point of no return, so that most people see it as just one more diversion, a sport, with politicians our paunch-bellied gladiators and those who bother to pay attention just fans on the sidelines: We paint our faces red or blue and cheer our side and boo their side, and if it takes a late hit or cheap shot to beat the other team, so be it, for winning is all that matters. But I don't think so. They are out there, I think to myself, those ordinary citizens who have grown up in the midst of all the political and cultural battles, but who have found a way-in their own lives, at least- to make peace with their neighbors, and themselves. ...I imagine they are waiting for a politics with the maturity to balance idealism and realism, to distinguish between what can and cannot be compromised, to admit the possibility that the other side might sometimes have a point. They don't always understand the arguments between right and left, conservative and liberal, but they recognize the difference between dogma and common sense, responsibility and irresponsibility, between those things that last and those that are fleeting. They are out there, waiting for Republicans and Democrats to catch up with them.”

“The greatest vision of sin that a person can ever receive is to look at the cross.”

“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

“-Why are you so sad? Because you speak to me in words and I look at you with feelings.”

“It supports a ruling class that lives as ruling classes have lived in all times while, beneath them, a semihuman mass of semislaves exists on the leavings…”

“Debo obedecer a Dios en fe. Siempre que confiemos en la sabiduría divina y hagamos todo lo que nos manda, aunque no lo entendamos, estaremos afianzando la amistad con Dios.”

“Strange how a single conversation can change you. Or maybe it only seems that way in retrospect.”

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

“half of our happiness is determined by factors other than biology. Ten percent is connected to “life circumstances” and the other 40 percent is dependent on our life decisions.

“We are all failures—at least, all the best of us are.

“How often do we lie simply because we are trying to build ourselves up in the eyes of others? How often do we gossip because we want to appear “in the know,”or because we are trying to make ourselves appear better than someone else? The Bible's command is clear: [“Have regard for good things in the sight of all men” (Romans 12:17 NKJV)].”

“Don’t let the horrible nature of the waters prevent you from crossing the rivers of life. The more horrible the challenges we face, the sweeter the joy of conquering them.”