Jeffrey Rasley > Quotes

“Chasing angels or fleeing demons, go to the mountains.”
― Jeffrey Rasley, Bringing Progress to Paradise: What I Got from Giving to a Mountain Village in Nepal

“Beliefs divide us, values unite us."

from Godless – Living a Valuable Life beyond Beliefs”
― Jeff Rasley

“too young to live, too old to die”
― Jeff Rasley, Island Adventures: Disconnecting in the Caribbean and South Pacific

“My mama told me to be careful and not get into trouble. I got in trouble, but it was good trouble.
John Lewis
Dedication in Anarchist, Republican... Assassin”
― Jeffrey Rasley, Anarchist, Republican... Assassin: a political novel

“curling leaves and twining branches outside my bay window look like a Van Gogh in the starlight - there is a river out there somewhere”
― jeff rasley

“He wasn't a great man, but he had a great life.”
― Jeffrey Rasley, Light in the Mountains -- A Hoosier Quaker Finds Communal Enlightenment in Nepal

“I started out a human being. But pretty much had all the humanity wrung out of me after passing the Bar and practicing law for ten years. Not sure what I am now.”
― Jeffrey Rasley, False Prophet: A Legal Thriller

“To prepare for the mountains develop mind, body, will and spirit as strong as a sword, soft as a pillow and fluid as water.”
― Jeff Rasley

“The more I learn, the less I know.”
― Jeffrey Rasley, Godless-- Living a Valuable Life Beyond Beliefs

“Marriage is sleeping together in a bed a little too narrow.”
― Jeffrey Rasley, False Prophet: A Legal Thriller

“The number of infections kept rising. By the end of March the US led the world in infections and deaths caused by the virus. What does Trump do? He refuses to wear a mask. He’s not going to look like a weakling. Testing? Overrated. It increases the number of infections. Why doesn’t the country have enough PPE and ventilators? Obama’s fault. The President is in charge, but if there’s any failure, it’s the fault of governors and mayors. He keeps repeating his mantra, “The situation is under control.” Pence’s team will whip the virus. Or was it Jared’s team? This virus isn’t as bad as the flu. America always wins. Doesn’t matter who or what the enemy is, we always triumph. We’re going to kill that little bug. Those people wearing masks are doing it to spite me, Donald J. Trump, the greatest President in history. “The situation is under control.”
But the deaths keep mounting. It surpasses annual deaths from auto accidents, 34,000. It surpasses US deaths in the Vietnam War, 58,000. Next, it’s going to surpass total deaths of US soldiers in World War I, 116,500, and it’s not going to stop there.”
― Jeffrey Rasley, Anarchist, Republican... Assassin: a political novel

“You have to get lost before you can be found.”
― Jeffrey Rasley, Light in the Mountains -- A Hoosier Quaker Finds Communal Enlightenment in Nepal

“Shamans enter the dream world of sub-consciousness to wrestle with demons and rally angels. They return with tales of their encounters which become the myths and legends of their communities.”
― Jeff Rasley

“He faces life in prison and the violent hostility of other prisoners. Jack Blair still believes love is the answer.”
― Jeffrey Rasley, Anarchist, Republican... Assassin: a political novel

“When Moses finished inscribing the 10 Commandments, he asked God whether He planned to self publish. God replied that he liked writing, so long as he had a good editor, but hated marketing. He hoped to find a social media influencer to promote his book.”
― Jeffrey Rasley

“My own experiences in the wild rank in value just behind the birth of my children, my wedding, and the memorial services and graduations I’ve attended. I am permanently affected by those solitary encounters with land, sky, and water, and all that’s contained within. I don’t really know if I am a better person because of them, but I am happier for them." Letters, The American Scholar, Autumn 2016”
― Jeff Rasley

“Beliefs divide us; values unite us." Godless - Living a Valuable Life beyond Beliefs.”
― Jeff Rasley

“He'll never give up, but you can't hit him. It's against the rules.
The Day Big Ed Came to Parkside School”
― Jeffrey Rasley, The Day Big Ed Came to Parkside School

“I sat in front of the TV hour after hour watching the news about how Trump was fucking up the government’s response to the spreading corona virus infection. Why didn’t he invoke the federal government’s power under the Defense Production Act as soon as the virus hit Washington State? All the experts knew how fast-spreading and dangerous this corona virus could be? Instead, he ignores the CDC’s advice and downplays the risk to the nation’s health. Not until mid April, when it’s way too late, does Trump finally use some of the government’s power under the DPA, and even then it’s a half-assed measure. Not enough testing, not enough ventilators, not enough PPE, not enough swabs.

The number of infections kept rising. By the end of March the US led the world in infections and deaths caused by the virus. What does Trump do? He refuses to wear a mask. He’s not going to look like a weakling. Testing? Overrated. It increases the number of infections. Why doesn’t the country have enough PPE and ventilators? Obama’s fault. The President is in charge, but if there’s any failure, it’s the fault of governors and mayors. He keeps repeating his mantra, “The situation is under control.” Pence’s team will whip the virus. Or was it Jared’s team? This virus isn’t as bad as the flu. America always wins. Doesn’t matter who or what the enemy is, we always triumph. We’re going to kill that little bug. Those people wearing masks are doing it to spite me, Donald J. Trump, the greatest President in history. “The situation is under control.”

But the deaths keep mounting. It surpasses annual deaths from auto accidents, 34,000. It surpasses US deaths in the Vietnam War, 58,000. Next, it’s going to surpass total deaths of US soldiers in World War I, 116,500, and it’s not going to stop there.”
― Jeffrey Rasley, Anarchist, Republican... Assassin: a political novel

“Do you prefer to be with people who glow with love and compassion or those who burn with anger fueled by religious doctrine or political ideology?”
― Jeff Rasley

“We've become so civilized it is unnatural to be naked.”
― Jeffrey Rasley

“Not saying fashion and outward appearance count for nothing. They're just not very important to people of substance.”
― Jeffrey Rasley, Godless-- Living a Valuable Life Beyond Beliefs

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion." The Dalai Lama, and one of the 72 wisdoms in "72 Wisdoms”
― Jeffrey Rasley, 72 Wisdoms: A practical guide to make life more meaningful

“Choose joy. Choose it like a child chooses the shoe to put on the right foot, the crayon to paint a sky. Choose it at first consciously, effortfully, pressing against the weight of a world heavy with reasons for sorrow.
Maria Popova”
― Jeffrey Rasley

“Pickleball got me through the Pandemic. I mean, is getting me through it.”
― Jeffrey Rasley, A Pickleball Soap Opera: Love, Murder, and Pickleball

“Being alone and lost on the mountain made me feel very small and vulnerable. The congenial fellowship in the meal tent reminded me that we humans are social beings. Community is an essential aspect of our humanity.”
― Jeff Rasley, 72 Wisdoms: A practical guide to make life more meaningful

“Everything in the world looks more beautiful when seen through eyes in love.”
― Jeffrey Rasley, False Prophet: A Legal Thriller

“Between 1492 and the American Revolution, the indigenous population in North America declined by 90%. In 1491 Native people controlled all of the 2.4 billion acres that would become the United States of America. Native Americans now control about 56 million acres, roughly 2 percent.
America's Existential Crisis: Our Inherited Obligations to Native Nations.”
― Jeff Rasley, America’s Existential Crisis: Our Inherited Obligation to Native Nations

“The story of John Ritter illustrates what it means to be a hero and how we treat our heroes. When we idealize real people they lose their humanity. They are turned into idols that we worship and may later want to destroy. Heroes are transformed from conscious-feeling fellow homo sapiens into characters in our stories. The greatest hero-characters will become legends or even mythic characters. We might think we know them, but when they are idolized they become more like treasured memories, existing in our minds as archetypal characters, rather than living-breathing human beings with thoughts and feelings of their own.”
― Jeff Rasley, Hero's Journey: John Ritter, the Chip Hilton of Goshen, Indiana; a Memoir

“Travel makes you more who you are." Thingz of That Nature Podcast, talking about You Have to Get Lost before You Can Be Found.”
― Jeffrey Rasley, You Have to Get Lost Before You Can Be Found: A Memoir of Suffering, Grit, and Love of the Himalayas and Basa Village