Michael Lister > Quotes

“ventually Kathryn joined me by the lake with a blanket and picnic basket and entreated me to come away with her into the woods. Through her words and desire I could feel the pull of the divine and hear in her words the echo of the Song of Songs: “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away with me. The winter is past; the spring has come. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come. Arise, come, my love, my beautiful one, come with me.”
― Michael Lister, Six John Jordan Mysteries

“What else?”“I don’t know,” she said, frustration eating at the edge of her words. “Do you want me to say that I woke up a few mornings with my panties twisted and a funny feeling in my vagina? Maybe I did. I’m just not sure, but if I did, my panties get twisted up all the time when I sleep— I’m a tosser and turner. And as far as funny feelings in my private parts, well, that happens from time to time, too, and it’s never resulted in pregnancy before.”
― Michael Lister, Six John Jordan Mysteries

“thumb the safety off my Glock as I near the foyer.”
― Michael Lister, Blood Ties

“What is truth?” I said. “Is it the shallow assurance that something literally took place, or is it about something far deeper, something that is profoundly true— on all levels? Not just the literal one. It’s like poetry.”
― Michael Lister, Six John Jordan Mysteries

“and the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of ourselves and the world are all-powerful.”
― Michael Lister, Six John Jordan Mysteries

“All the talent in the world can’t make up for attitude,” he said. “But attitude go a long way in making up for talent.”
― Michael Lister, Six John Jordan Mysteries

“with”
― Michael Lister, Flesh and Blood

“The great irony for a man in my position is how little use I have for organized religion. I am essentially a member of the unchurched. Yet, since high school I’ve felt a strong sense of vocation, a paradoxical longing and belonging which somehow resulted in my becoming a nonreligious religious leader. I was on the very fringe of religion,”
― Michael Lister, Six John Jordan Mysteries

“James Powers, Lynn Mays, Dawn Bagwell, Hannah Holmes, Suzanne Mays, Angie Martin, JulieMartin, Tonya Oborne, Bobby Brewer, Mike Stanborough, Rob Stan- borough, Chip Poole, Teresa Bridges Lucas, Karl Horstmann, Gino Zalunardo,”
― Michael Lister, Innocent Blood

“The greatest redemption is between the war of two evils, their very retaliation reveals their goodly nature.”
― Michael Lister

“Jason”
― Michael Lister, The Murder Book: 10 Complete Crime Novels

“doing.”
― Michael Lister, The Big Beyond: A Jimmy "Soldier" Riley Noir Novel

“When I moved back home to northwest Florida after being a cop and a cleric in Atlanta, I never would’ve imagined I’d become a prison chaplain. But God works in mysterious ways, and when I fell from grace in Atlanta, this is the grace I fell into.”
― Michael Lister, Six John Jordan Mysteries

“night.”
― Michael Lister, The Burke and Blade Box Set: The First 3 Books in the Acclaimed "Night" Series

“Ironically, those with the least to say usually say the most and the most outwardly religious were often the most theologically unsophisticated.”
― Michael Lister, Six John Jordan Mysteries

“The truth of a story isn’t contingent on its being a factual account of actual events,” I said. “Think about Jesus’ parables. Is there anything more true than them?”
― Michael Lister, Six John Jordan Mysteries

“Actually, the Bible doesn’t say anything about masturbation,” I said, adding, “unless you count, ‘Whatever you find to do with your hand, verily I say, do it with all your might.’” He looked perplexed. I smiled. “It’s a joke. The Bible doesn’t say anything about it.”
― Michael Lister, Six John Jordan Mysteries

“I know time holds the winning”
― Michael Lister, Written in Blood: Volume 4

“Whatta you mean?” “Anything that shouldn’t be down there,” I say. “I don’t mean a sunken boat or old”
― Michael Lister, The Murder Book: 10 Complete Crime Novels

“inside. Daniels shook his head in confusion.”
― Michael Lister, Six John Jordan Mysteries

“I praise Thee for the desert road, And for the riverside; For all Thy goodness hath bestowed, And all Thy grace denied. I thank Thee for both smile and frown, And for the gain and loss; I praise Thee for the future crown And for the present cross. I thank Thee for both wings of love Which stirred my worldly nest; And for the stormy clouds which drove Me, trembling, to Thy breast.”
― Michael Lister, Out for Blood

“1860 by Jane Crewdson: ‘O Thou whose bounty fills my cup, With every blessing meet! I give Thee thanks for every drop— The bitter and the sweet. I praise Thee for the desert road, And for the riverside; For all Thy goodness hath bestowed,”
― Michael Lister, Out for Blood

“We live in cynical times,” he said. “It’s the age of the brain, and I’m afraid the soul is what suffers the most.”
― Michael Lister, The John Jordan Library: 12 Complete John Jordan Mysteries

“Smart man. Stay in your lane. Nearly every promotion takes us further away from what we’re best at.”
― Michael Lister, Out for Blood

“We seemed to be heading toward a revolution that would not only see a battle between the haves and have-nots, but between the fundamentalists and the progressives—actually that war had already begun, and it did so long before September 11.”
― Michael Lister, Blood Sacrifice

“there music’s so good, even if you take as directed it”
― Michael Lister, Six John Jordan Mysteries

“No, she’s not,” she said, shaking her head, looking right through me. “She’s the daughter of someone who no longer exists.” 67 Iwalked outside, the interior of the Jordan home feeling toxic and ugly.”
― Michael Lister, The Murder Book: 10 Complete Crime Novels

“I thank Thee for both wings of love Which stirred my worldly nest; And for the stormy clouds which drove Me, trembling, to Thy breast. I bless Thee for the glad increase, And for the waning joy; And for this strange, this settled peace Which nothing can destroy.’” I”
― Michael Lister, Out for Blood

“It was the wound that caused this scar, and the blood it shed, that had saved my life, and had given me the opportunity to save hers.”
― Michael Lister, Six John Jordan Mysteries

“True justice is often too slow to suit me, but it is sure. I also know that injustice is temporary, but justice is for eternity. If I worried about all of the injustice in the world, I wouldn’t be any good to anybody.”
― Michael Lister, Power in the Blood