Jay Allison > Quotes

“In my humdrum life, the daily battle hasn't been good vs. evil. It's hardly so epic. Most days, my real battle is doing good vs. doing nothing. -Deirdre Sullivan”
― Jay Allison, This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women

“Beliefs are choices. No one has authority over your personal beliefs. Your beliefs are in jeopardy only when you don't know what they are.”
― Jay Allison, This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women

“I believe in the absolute and unlimited liberty of reading. I believe in wandering through the stacks and picking out the first thing that strikes me. I believe in choosing books based on the dust jacket. I believe in reading books because others dislike them or find them dangerous. I believe in choosing the hardest book imaginable. I believe in reading up on what others have to say about this difficult book and then making up my own mind. - Rick Moody”
― Jay Allison, This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women

“I am not the lonely human, plunked down on earth to aimlessly wander. I am a part of that earth and not going anywhere- just like the spider up in the corner, the dust on the sill, and the cat I buried in the backyard. -Jamaica Ritcher.”
― Jay Allison, This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women

“Presence is a noun, not a verb; it is a state of being, not doing. States of being are not highly valued in a culture that places a high priority on doing. Yet, true presence or "being with" another person carries with it a silent power.”
― Jay Allison, This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women

“Love is primal. It is comprised of compassion, care, security, and a leap of faith.”
― Jay Allison, This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women

“Soon, a national and international feminist movement was challenging the idea that what happened to men was political but what happened to women was cultural; that the first could be changed but the second could not. - Gloria Steinem”
― Jay Allison, This I Believe: The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women

“Knowledge is great; wisdom is even better.”
― Jay Allison

“I run to get out, when I have been stuck inside, reading to escape from life, not even able to sit up straight in my tiny bunk. I run to feel like I am doing something, when I am overwhelmed by all the things I can't do anything about.”
― Jay Allison