There are 94 posts filed in Quotes (this is page 6 of 10).
“Recently, my son said to me after seeing a ballet on television: “It’s beautiful but I don’t like it.” And I thought, Are many grown-ups capable of such a distinction? It’s beautiful, but I don’t like it.
“Usually, our grown-up thinking is more along the lines of: I don’t like it, so it’s not beautiful. What would it meant to separate those two impressions for art making and for art criticism?”
“Some websites had too many distractions and some offered too many options for places to go. Click here, follow me, share this. Stuff like that.
“What I really wanted to do is read their content. I was more interested in the words on the page and what they were saying, but I was constantly bombarded with things that took me off course.”
This affected me and made me want to deliver my words and my thoughts in an even clearer, cleaner way. Not just online but in real life as well.
“Of all the delusions prevalent in these latter days, there is none greater than the common notion that “if a man is in serious about his religion he must be a good man!” Beware of being carried away by this delusion; beware of being led astray by ‘serious-minded men!’
“Seriousness is in itself an excellent thing; but it must be seriousness in behalf of Christ and His whole truth, or else it is worth nothing at all. The things that are highly esteemed among men are often abominable in the sight of God.”
“No one leads because he is worthy of the honor. In all of human history there has only been one person who was a worthy leader, and only one person who perfectly succeeded in his leadership.
“The rest of us, the best of us, are unworthy. We don’t lead because we are worthy, but because we are called.”
“Blank space in our thoughts means time to process what we’re doing, rather than just reacting to it. It means we can begin to develop opinions and values in regards to our choices, rather than just accepting what others tell us we should feel or do.”
This is something I’ve been thinking about of late. I fill up my days with so much reading, so much writing and so much doing that I rarely have time for thinking.
My wife encouraged me recently to set some time aside to just sit and think — to form opinions and worldviews on various things, to be innovative and to be creative.
These are creative values that I eschew in favor of GETTING THINGS DONE. A shame, too, because they’re very much a part of a purposeful life.
I’ve been reading this series from Tim Challies on productivity. It’s really helpful but there was an important and sobering reminder in there that the point of our lives isn’t to master a checklist.
“All the while we need to remember that we do not exist to get things done, but that we exist to glorify God by doing good to others.”
I loved this from Tim Challies on being an “ordinary Christian.”
“I still want to wear a label. I have learned that when I say I am ordinary, I am sometimes actually bragging and maybe even hoping that people will respond to my statement with some kind of a correction—’Oh, no, you’re not. Not you.’ That does something to me that my heart quite enjoys.”
The I still want to wear a label part really tinged my heart for some reason. I love wearing labels, I think. Challies continues.
I’m not sure why but I was incredibly moved by this blog post and, specifically, this part of it.
But the vast majority of your days — likely a day like today — will pass into obscurity unrecorded and irretrievable to your memory. But though today may be unremarkable, it is not unimportant. It is unique, priceless, and irreplaceable. (Desiring God)
I love the unremarkable days most because they’re where the rhythms are developed and the relationships cultivated. They are perfect in their unremarkable-ness.
Geoff Ogilvy is one of the most thoughtful golfers on the planet so it’s no surprise to see him offer up some great career advice like this. He’s talking about golf but it can be applied to anything.
“It’s also important to show yourself that you remember how to do it. Sometimes you get used to playing average. It’s just a human condition. The benefit to playing well and winning and contending readjusts your head where it should be at.”
As someone who never really knows how to describe his day job I thought this from Kottke was terrific.
I am an educated adult whose job is to read things so they make enough sense to tell others about them. That’s what I spend 8+ hours a day doing. (Kottke)
It was part of a larger rant about why Obamacare isn’t as helpful as it appears to be but as a blogger I thought it was perfect.
