Jeff Kinley > Quotes

“The awful reality of life is that kids can sometimes be ruthless toward one another. Kidding, teasing, taunting, and mocking with sadistic sarcasm, they have exterminated innumerable self-esteems. Some are more adept at Humiliation 101 than they are at math or science. It's a choice between homework and hassling a weaker member of the human race. And the latter often wins out. No wonder. It's much more fun to obliterate a person's already fragile self-image than it is to work fractions for some teacher who attended school with your grandmother. It's an art form, actually, with some kids as budding Rembrandts. Whether vocal or unspoken, direct or passive, it's always destructive. Like an arrow, the rejection a young person feels plunges deep within, causing a wound that can take decades to heal.”
― Jeff Kinley

“Greatness is something bestowed on those who are the first, the best, or who last the longest. Heroes are born, not out of mere accomplishments, but out of a life lived. How tragic these days when our images of heroes are stained and shattered by headlines of drug abuse, arrests, and criminal charges. Where are the young men and women who are worthy role models for our kids? Where are those who make footsteps in which America's youth can follow? When will we realize that heroes aren't made in the signing of a multi-million dollar contract, or just piling up sports records. On the contrary, heroes are not built from without, but rather bred from within. Bestowing the title of "hero" is, to be sure, an individual issue. And perhaps we should reserve it for a more select few. Maybe it should be more difficult to earn the status than it is to merely accept it. We have lowered the standards for our heroes.”
― Jeff Kinley

“Barbara was all too familiar with the reality that boys are very different from girls. For example, their sense of humor is different. A group of boys can watch old "Three Stooges" episodes and howl with laughter while girls just shake their heads in confusion, wondering what's so funny. Boys' eating habits (and preferences) are also very different than girls. It's not that one is right and the other wrong. It's just that a boy finds nothing strange about a ketchup-and-peanut butter sandwich, or a cold piece of pizza for breakfast, or putting French fries inside his hamburger. In a boy's room, it's not altogether unlikely to discover a petrified chicken bone or a year-old empty Coke can stuffed into the back of a sock drawer.”
― Jeff Kinley

“Just as baptism does not save us”
― Jeff Kinley, The Prophecy Pros' Illustrated Guide to Tough Questions About the End Times

“As in the "real" world---the adult world---there is a pecking order in a kid's world, as well. It's an unwritten code and pre-existing class system you'll never find recorded in the archives of the school library or indelibly etched into the archway of the administration building. Nonetheless, it is there, perhaps even more real than if it was written down. Those who have mastered its ways achieve a kind of "Jedi-knight" status, and with that comes a certain immunity from it ever "boomeranging" back at them. It's an adolescent adaptation of the old king of the hill game with hundreds continually clamoring toward the top.”
― Jeff Kinley

“Knowing that He returns three-and-a-half years after the tribulation begins removes imminence, as we would be able to predict the timing of His coming.”
― Jeff Kinley, The Prophecy Pros' Illustrated Guide to Tough Questions About the End Times

“It's one thing to raise three children. It's another thing altogether to raise three boys. There is a certain unique dynamic (or dynamite!) that boys bring to a household. The presence of even one girl in the home is at least some measure of comfort to a mom. There is always the hope that having one other female with which to identify might bring a calming influence on family life. But peace and quiet are usually the first of many casualties associated with an all-boy family. Mom is greatly outnumbered from the start, and she must possess the patience of Job, the wisdom of Solomon, and the tenacity of General Patton if she is to survive the ordeal.”
― Jeff Kinley

“A parent's words contain a power that can blast a child's fears and insecurities into oblivion.”
― Jeff Kinley

“A person doesn't become an accomplished musician by watching other people play. He becomes successful by himself, playing and practicing... daily... every day... for hours on end. Calloused fingers and cramping hands are just some of the inherent costs of becoming a guitar player. He spends the majority of his time tucked away in a back room mastering his craft.... Most great musicians are often born from a lifetime of daily grueling practice, behind the scenes and in relative obscurity. Most of what the public sees of these people is merely the finished product of years of work. The best ones make it look easy, almost effortless.”
― Jeff Kinley

“Isaiah 11:11—“It will happen on that day that the Lord will again recover the second time with His hand [the first being the Babylonian captivity in the sixth century”
― Jeff Kinley, The Prophecy Pros' Illustrated Guide to Tough Questions About the End Times

“You tend to forget the good things when caught in an emotional raincloud of defeat anyway. That's why all athletes need a regular reality check, giving them a sense of balance between sports and life. They need to be told again that life is for living and sports are for playing. One you do the whole time you're here on the planet and the other you only do for a few short years. There's a big difference between the two, though the boundary lines are not marked with the same white paint found on the field. Perspective in sports is tantamount to longevity and success. Effectively dealing with tough losses demands that an athlete re-align himself often.”
― Jeff Kinley

“From Brandon's perspective, this kid possessed the unique ability (it was actually more of a gift) to get under his skin. Most of us know somebody like this. Through their words, actions, and even facial expressions, they evolve into a special breed of human able to push all the right buttons needed to get you upset, angry, or frustrated. It's an irritation really, like an inward pain you can't quite locate. These people needle you non-stop until they get the response they want. For reasons unknown, they somehow gain a sort of perverse pleasure out of making you upset. They decompose you. In the process your nerves resemble the ends of a frayed rope.
Come to think of it, those same people later grow up to be adults. And they don't go away, either. They work in your office, live in your neighborhood, and have children on your son's baseball team. Sometimes they even marry into your family! There is no escape from them.”
― Jeff Kinley

“It’s important to note that America is not found in Bible prophecy as any major superpower in the end times.”
― Jeff Kinley, The Prophecy Pros' Illustrated Guide to Tough Questions About the End Times

“Someone has said the test of a person's character is not whether he fails, but rather it's in how he handles that failure.”
― Jeff Kinley

“It used to be that only a professional player could wear the official team uniform. Now anyone with $75 can own an authentic game jersey. Somehow that cheapens the honor and privilege that go with that jersey. In reality, only the players themselves have earned the right to wear it. But we have done the same thing with our heroes. We throw the term around and slap it on just about anyone who has attained even a modicum of celebrity status, whether it is in the world of sports, music, or entertainment. But greatness is not merely for those fortunate enough to gain public notoriety. It is not for those who seek grandeur or personal glory. Rather it should be for those who, through quiet strength, demonstrate character on and off the field or the stage.”
― Jeff Kinley

“In fairness, though, no child likes to have his life rearranged from one school year to the next. Change is difficult for anyone, but even more so for an insecure adolescent. At that age, most kids are embarrassed just to be alive. With emotional antennae raised, they are acutely aware of their social standing at all times. Like an air traffic controller monitoring blips on a screen, a teenager is constantly tracking his small place in a big world, asking himself:
Am I accepted by my peers?
Do they like me?
Am I ugly?
How's my hair?
Will I be popular?”
― Jeff Kinley

“Nobody likes change. It's an unwelcome guest to your schedule. An uninvited intruder to your schedule. It rocks your routine and can even alter your way of living. Because we live in a world that is constantly changing, we learn to live anticipating the next modification in our lives. Technology, entertainment, fashion, and even the economy are forever in a state of flux. And that's okay as long as their changes don't affect us. But inevitably, it shows up at our doorstep unannounced, taking us by surprise.”
― Jeff Kinley

“This new sense of personal awareness also comes with many added social accessories (batteries included). Adolescent insecurity can be a devastating plague for a youngster, especially ones whose bodies are growing faster than their emotional and social maturity. One misstep can spell disaster from which recovery is next to impossible. Drop your books in the hall once between classes. Trip going up the school steps. Let a facial blemish emerge on the wrong day. Your voice cracks in class while asking a question. Suffer through the accusation of liking someone of the opposite sex. And pray hard that you don't wear the wrong clothes to your first dance. All these near-fatal mishaps can mark you forever in your classmates' eyes, socially branding you with a label that sticks like super-glue throughout your grade-school career. Most adults can recall childhood classmates from their childhood who failed to make the grade socially. Even today, though a former classmate may be a physician, she is still remembered for the time she cried and ran off stage during the school talent show. Or the successful businessman is forever known as the boy who wet his pants and had to go home early from school. We can still name the girl who always sat out during recess games because she was athletically uncoordinated.”
― Jeff Kinley

“Isn't it interesting how parents indelibly influence their children simply by being themselves? Like a soul tattoo, the mark a mom or dad leaves on their sons and daughters goes beneath the skin, yet is visible to all.”
― Jeff Kinley

“Premillennialism. Premillennialists see a literal thousand-year reign of Christ upon the earth, preceded by seven years of tribulation and His second coming at Armageddon”
― Jeff Kinley, The Prophecy Pros' Illustrated Guide to Tough Questions About the End Times

“After all, that's what a real hero does, right? He realizes what makes him an idol to millions is not just spectacular dives and near-miraculous catches during his tenure on the field. Instead, the test of greatness is how a hero treats people after he has changed out of his uniform. That's what makes any life worth imitating.”
― Jeff Kinley

“The midtribulation view claims Jesus will return at the halfway point of the seven-year tribulation. This halfway point represents the separation between the tribulation and the great tribulation. Here, His return coincides with Antichrist’s invasion of the Jewish temple and the enforcement of the “mark of the beast” (Revelation 12–13). This view believes the seal judgments (Revelation 6) are not God’s wrath but rather come from man. So, Christians will suffer three-and-a-half years of persecution.”
― Jeff Kinley, The Prophecy Pros' Illustrated Guide to Tough Questions About the End Times