It may well be that success lies as much in our ability to behold the world before us in gratitude and wonder as it does in owning things and doing things. And it may be, too, that happiness really is a state of mind we choose for ourselves, a way of being that we cultivate from one moment to the next, rather than the result of realizing our ambitions or acquiring whatever it is we think we most desire.
— Katrina Kenison, The Gift of an Ordinary Day, p. 56
I put a life together with my family and friends and dogs. I learned to make use of the solitude I now had aplenty. I started writing, wanting to make something useful come from our catastrophe, and working hard, I began to be happy….
I lived with this shame a long time before I could speak of it. Finally I told my sister. “But it’s not about Rich’s accident,” Eliza said. “You don’t want to return to unhappiness. That’s all.” I will never forget that instant of absolute clarity. And just like that, I was free.
— Abigail Thomas, A Three Dog Life, p. 123
Nothing gives one a more spuriously good conscience than keeping rules, even if there has been total absence of all real charity and faith.
— C. S. Lewis, Letter, 20 February 1955
God really does want you to know who you are. He wants you to be able to understand the story of your life, to know where you have come from, and to know where you are going. There is freedom there. Freedom to be and to offer and to love….
Whatever your particular calling, you are meant to grace the world with your dance, to follow the lead of Jesus wherever he leads you. He will lead you first into himself; and then, with him, he will lead you into the world that he loves and needs you to love.
— John & Stasi Eldredge, Captivating, p. 216, 217
I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no-one any story but his own.
— Aslan, in The Horse and His Boy, by C. S. Lewis
There is no control and perfection is arrogant. Practice messiness, letting go, and doing things badly.
— SARK, Prosperity Pie, p. 78
The point of reading is not reading but living. Reading helps you live with greater appreciation, keener insight and heightened emotional awareness. For proof, look to the innumerable great readers who have been great doers, from John Adams to Teddy Roosevelt to Paul Theroux to George Plimpton. Reading and action reinforce each other in an ever-escalating manner.
Your well-read life is a path for living more fully.
— Steve Leveen, The Little Guide to Your Well-Read Life, p. 31
We are all here for a single purpose: to grow in wisdom and to learn to love better. We can do this through losing as well as through winning, by having and by not having, by succeeding or by failing. All we need to do is to show up openhearted for class.
— Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, Kitchen Table Wisdom, p. 80
Hatred, anger, mistrust, and fear enter our lives every day in a thousand different ways. We’re all wounded by these evils, but we can all be healed through the power of love and forgiveness — a power readily available to all of us when we have faith….
Faith is a living thing that must be nurtured every day through prayer, kindness, and acts of love. It will lead us through our darkest days and restore love and light to even the most troubled soul in the most dire of circumstances….
Faith has transformed my life, and it can transform yours. In fact, it is powerful enough to transform the entire world.
— Immaculee Ilibagiza, Led by Faith, p. 192
He had not yet learned that if you do one good deed your reward usually is to be set to do another harder and better one.
— C. S. Lewis, The Horse and His Boy