Barbara Harper > Barbara's Quotes

“The books that help you most are those which make you think the most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty.”
― Pablo Neruda

“the fatal false step which, once taken, would thrust her down into the terrible slavery of appetite and hate and economics and government which our race knows so well.”
― C.S. Lewis, Perelandra

“Was he willing to blend into the life of another human being for the rest of his days, and have hers blend into his? That, of course, was the Bible’s bottom line on marriage: one flesh. Not separate entities, not two autonomous beings merely coming together at dinnertime or brushing past one another in the hallway, holding on to their singleness, guarding against invasion. One flesh!" (p. 207).”
― Jan Karon, A Light in the Window

“Good teachers make it possible for people to change their positions without shame. Even as Ken prayed for my soul, he did it in a way that welcomed me into the church rather than made me a scapegoat of Christian fear or an example of what not to become," (p 14).”
― Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor's Journey Into Christian Faith

“Many people in our community protect themselves from inconvenience as though inconvenience is deadly. We have decided that we are not inconvenienced by inconvenience. The needs of children come up unexpectedly. We are sure that the Good Samaritan had other plans that fateful day. Our plans are not sacred” (p. 126).”
― Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert: An English Professor's Journey Into Christian Faith

“The carpet was so thick I could have made carpet angels.”
― Stephen Altrogge, The Last Superhero

“Mom was getting really worked up, and tears began to trickle down her cheeks. As I’m sure you know, it’s a really, really bad sign when your mom starts crying. It can’t get much worse than that. Mom tears are one of the most powerful forces in the universe.”
― Stephen Altrogge, The Last Superhero

“If you have been afraid that your love of beautiful flowers and the flickering flame of the candle is somehow less spiritual than living in starkness and ugliness, remember that He who created you to be creative gave you the things with which to make beauty and the sensitivity to appreciate and respond to His creation.”
― Edith Schaeffer

“The tight little segregated life, always spent with people your own age, economic group, educational background, and culture tends to bring an ingrown, static sort of condition. Fresh ideas, reality of communication and shared experiences will be sparks to light up fires of creativity, especially if the people spending time together are a true cross-section of ages, nationalities, kindred, and tongues" (p. 202).”
― Edith Schaeffer, The Hidden Art of Homemaking

“Food cannot take care of spiritual, psychological and emotional problems, but the feeling of being loved and cared for, the actual comfort of the beauty and flavour of food, the increase of blood sugar and physical well-being, help one to go on during the next hours better equipped to meet the problems (p. 124).”
― Edith Schaeffer, The Hidden Art of Homemaking

“All art involves conscious discipline. If one is going to paint, do sculpture, design a building or write a book, it will involve discipline in time and energy — or there would never be any production at all to be seen, felt or enjoyed by ourselves or others. To develop ‘Hidden Art’ will also, of course, take time and energy – and the balance of the use of time is a constant individual problem for all of us: what to do, and what to leave undone. One is always having to neglect one thing in order to give precedence to something else. The question is one of priorities” (p. 32).”
― Edith Schaeffer, The Hidden Art of Homemaking

“It is true that all men are created in the image of God, but Christians are supposed to be conscious of that fact, and being conscious of it should recognize the importance of living artistically, aesthetically, and creatively, as creative creatures of the Creator. If we have been created in the image of an Artist, then we should look for expressions of artistry, and be sensitive to beauty, responsive to what has been created for us” (p. 32).”
― Edith Schaeffer, The Hidden Art of Homemaking

“Interior decoration is not just one's artistic efforts, but it is that which your home (even if it is just a room) is. If you are 'decorating' with clothes draped on every chair, with scratched and broken furniture- it is still your interior decoration! Your home expresses you to other people, and they cannot see or feel your daydreams of what you expect to make in that misty future, when all the circumstances are what you think they must be before you will find it worthwhile to start. You have started, whether you recognize that fact or not! We foolish mortals sometimes live through years not realizing how short life is, and that TODAY is your life.”
― Edith Schaeffer, The Hidden Art of Homemaking

“There are various art forms we may or may not have talent for, may or may not have time for, and we may or may not be able to express ourselves in, but we ought to consider this fact-that whether we choose to be an environment or not, we are. We produce an environment other people have to live in. We should be conscious of the fact that this environment which we produce by our very 'being' can affect the people who live with us or work with us.”
― Edith Schaeffer, The Hidden Art of Homemaking

“It is not necessary to have an extravagant food budget in order to serve things with variety and tastefully cooked. It is not necessary to have expensive food on the plates before they can enter the dining room as things of beauty in colour and texture. Food should be served with real care as to the colour and texture on the plates, as well as with imaginative taste. This is where artistic talent and aesthetic expression and fulfillment come in.”
― Edith Schaeffer, Hidden art

“I am sure that there is no place in the world where your message would not be enhanced by your making the place (whether tiny or large, a hut or a palace) orderly, artistic and beautiful with some form of creativity, some form of ‘art’ (p. 213).”
― Edith Schaeffer, The Hidden Art of Homemaking

“Happiness celebrates how we feel, but we can rejoice over what we know is true regardless of feeling. Joy is the realization that we no longer have to live under our own power. The expression of thanks and the vocalization of delight and hope for a greater purpose that we know nothing of is fullness of joy. In that dark prison ward, the ten Boom sisters felt a pleasure not in the fleas but in the God who allowed them. They rejoiced not in the hunger and sickness but in the God who never forgets or rejects those who love Him and seek His face” (p. 44).”
― Hayley DiMarco, The Fruitful Wife: Cultivating a Love Only God Can Produce

“When you understand who God is, you can see beyond a shadow of a doubt why your weakness is nothing to be feared, because it just leaves more room for him and his strength.”
― Hayley and Michael DiMarco

“We have to understand that to rejoice is to do something, not to feel something” (p. 44).”
― Hayley DiMarco, The Fruitful Wife: Cultivating a Love Only God Can Produce

“o sit and wait for joy to arrive without turning your mind to the things of Christ is like expecting the Holy Spirit to take 15 pounds off your body while sitting on the couch eating ice cream (p. 57).”
― Hayley DiMarco, The Fruitful Wife: Cultivating a Love Only God Can Produce

“Remember that while He walked this earth, Christ didn’t micromanage the lives of people around Him. He wasn’t controlling in His demands of their obedience. He didn’t run after the rich young ruler who wouldn’t sell all he had to follow Him. Jesus didn’t chase him down and demand compliance. If then, being so perfect and wise, He can allow people to fail, why do we believe it our job to micromanage the life of [others] Can we trust God to speak to [them], teach [them], and lead [them]?” (p. 168).”
― Hayley DiMarco, The Fruitful Wife: Cultivating a Love Only God Can Produce

“Living for the satisfaction of only one part of my body (my mouth) [is] unholy.”
― Lisa Morrone, Overcoming Overeating: It's Not What You Eat, It's What's Eating You!

“Most everything ‘quick and easy’ you bring home is filled with nutritional shortcuts. Be good to yourself and your family: eat quality fuel.”
― Lisa Morrone, Overcoming Overeating: It's Not What You Eat, It's What's Eating You!

“Each year the winning team of the Super Bowl loses some ground (yardage) throughout the game. Yet they always keep their minds fixed on the goal, push through the opposition, and, as a result, advance to victory in the end.”
― Lisa Morrone, Overcoming Overeating: It's Not What You Eat, It's What's Eating You!

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”
― Jim Elliot

“Everything is permissible'—but not everything is beneficial” (1 Corinthians 10:23).”
― Lysa TerKeurst, Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food

“Jesus didn’t mean this as a sweeping command for everyone who has a lot of money. Jesus meant this for any of us who wallow in whatever abundance we have. I imagine Jesus looked straight into this young man’s soul and said, “I want you to give up the one thing you crave more than me. Then come, follow me.”
― Lysa TerKeurst, Made to Crave: Satisfying Your Deepest Desire with God, Not Food

“I came to Him because I did not know which way to turn. I remained with Him because there is no other way I wish to turn. I came to Him longing for something I did not have. I remain with Him because I have something I will not trade. I came to Him as a stranger. I remain with Him in the most intimate of friendships. I came to Him unsure about the future. I remain with Him certain about my destiny. I came amid the thunderous cries of a culture that has 330 million deities. I remain with Him knowing that truth cannot be all-inclusive.”
― Ravi Zacharias, Jesus Among Other Gods: The Absolute Claims of the Christian Message

“Sometimes in the shadows of one’s self lie the problems, and in the shadows of one’s shaping lie the answers.”
― Ravi Zacharias, Walking from East to West: God in the Shadows

“I thank the Lord that, even though things were so wrong in my life here, I finally was brought to the realization of what all those struggles were about. There are some wonderful things from your painful past, things with a beauty you may not have realized at the time.”
― Ravi Zacharias, Walking from East to West: God in the Shadows