Borrowing Wisdom: November 2011

Stephen King: "There are certain things..."

“There are certain things I do if I sit down to write. I have a glass of water or a cup of tea. There’s a certain time I sit down, from 8:00 to 8:30, somewhere within that half hour every morning. I have my vitamin pill and my music, sit in the same seat, and the papers are all arranged in the same places. The cumulative purpose of doing these things the same way every day seems to be a way of saying to the mind, you’re going to be dreaming soon.”

—Stephen King (on writing) from Lisa Rogak, Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King

Christopher Robin: "You're braver than you believe..."

"You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

—Christopher Robin to Pooh (A. A. Milne)

Leonard Cohen: "Ring the bells that..."

Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in

—Leonard Cohen

Jan Karon: "He was mildly alarmed..."

"He was mildly alarmed that everything seemed to be taken care of, that there were no loose ends. And why on earth should that be alarming? For the simple reason that it happened so seldom in one's life that it encouraged suspicion, that's why."

-Jan Karon, At Home in Mitford

Jan Karon: "Doesn't it feel grand..."

Cynthia: "Doesn't it feel grand to laugh over nothing? Why don't we laugh more?"

Father Tim: "I think we forget."

Cynthia: "How can we possibly forget to laugh, when it feels so good, and cures so much? How can we possibly?"

-Jan Karon, At Home in Mitford

Jan Karon: "My friend, if you keep..."

"My friend, if you keep your eyes on Christians, you will be diappointed every day of your life. Your hope is to keep your eyes on Christ."

-Jan Karon, At Home in Mitford

Jan Karon: "I hope when you...

"I hope when you grow old, there'll be someone to listen to you ramble."

-Jan Karon, At Home in Mitford

Jan Karon: "The firefly only shines..."

"The firefly only shines when on the wing. So it is with us - when we stop, we darken."

-Jan Karon, At Home in Mitford

Thoreau: "That man is the richest..."

"That man is th' richest whose pleasures are th' cheapest!"

-Jan Karon, At Home in Mitford (original quote by Thoreau)

Jan Karon: "Sometimes you have to...

"Sometimes you have to gag on fancy before you can appreciate plain..."

-Jan Karon, At Home in Mitford

Jan Karon: "Sorrow and joy..."

"Sorrow and joy... so inextricably entwined that he could scarely tell where one left off and the other began."

-Jan Karon, At Home in Mitford

Jan Karon: "... what God does with..."

"... what God does with our faith must be something like workouts. He sees to it that our faith gets pushed and pulled, stretched, and pounded, taken to its limits so its limits can expand."

-Jan Karon, At Home in Mitford

Oswald Chambers: "Common sense is not..."

"Common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense."

-Jan Karon, At Home in Mitford (original quote by Oswald Chambers)

Jan Karon: "Boldly! That was the..."

"Boldly! That was the great and powerful key. Preach boldly! Love boldly! Jog boldly! And most crucial of all, do not approach God whining or begging, but boldly - as a child of the King."

-Jan Karon, At Home in Mitford

Jan Karon: "... a man must hammer..."

"... a man must hammer out his theology alone."

-Jan Karon, At Home in Mitford

Jan Karon: "Life and the world..."

"Life and the world are astonishing things..."

-Jan Karon, At Home in Mitford (a quote from Wordsworth within the novel)

Marelisa Fabrega: "Gratitude should not be..."

"Gratitude should not be just a reaction to getting what you want, but an all-time gratitude, the kind where you notice the little things and where you constantly look for the good, even in unpleasant situations."

—Marelisa Fabrega

Charles Dickens: "Reflect upon your present..."

"Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty..."

—Charles Dickens

William Arthur Ward: "Gratitude can change common..."

"Gratitude can change common days into thanksgivings..."

—William Arthur Ward

Thornton Wilder: "We can only be..."

"We can only be said to be alive in those moments when are hearts are conscious of our treasures."

—Thornton Wilder

Khalil Gibran: "Wake at dawn with..."

"Wake at dawn with a winged heart and be grateful for another day of loving."

—Khalil Gibran

Martha Beck: "... he is no less beautiful..."

"... he is no less beautiful for being called ugly, no less wise for appearing dull, no less precious for being seen as worthless. And neither am I. Neither are you. Neither is any of us."

—Martha Beck, Expecting Adam

Martha Beck: "Whoever said that love..."

"Whoever said that love is blind was dead wrong. Love is the only thing on this earth that lets us see each other with the remotest accuracy."

—Martha Beck, Expecting Adam

Martha Beck: "The hardest lesson I..."

"The hardest lesson I have ever had to learn is that I will never know the meaning of my children's pain, and that I have neither the capacity nor the right to take it away from them."

—Martha Beck, Expecting Adam

Martha Beck: "The meaning of life..."

"The meaning of life is not what happens to people... The meaning of life is what happens between people."

—Martha Beck, Expecting Adam

Martha Beck: "I think there are few..."

"I think there are few experiences to match the very first time a mother lays eyes on her child."

—Martha Beck, Expecting Adam

Martha Beck: "Angels come in many..."

"Angels come in many shapes and sizes, and most of them are not invisible."

—Martha Beck, Expecting Adam

Martha Beck: "The real magic is..."

"The real magic is in the pumpkin, in the mice, in the moonlight; not beyond ordinary life, but within it."

—Martha Beck, Expecting Adam

Martha Beck: "If it were possible..."

"If it were possible to convey in words the true experience of a dream, we probably wouldn't need dreams in the first place. They come from someplace beyond our rational and verbal minds, and are by nature indescribable."

—Martha Beck, Expecting Adam

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