“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
― The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
― The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
“Friendship ... is born at the moment when one man says to another "What! You too? I thought that no one but myself . . .”
― The Four Loves
― The Four Loves
“Thérèse (of Lisieux) told her sister, Celine, who was upset with her own faults, "If you are willing to bear serenely the trial of being displeasing to yourself, then you will be a pleasant place of shelter for Jesus." If you observe yourself, you will see how hard it is to be "displeasing" to yourself, and that this is the initial emotional snag that sends you into terribly bad moods without even realizing the origins of these moods. So to resolve this common problem, both Francis and Thérèse teach you to let go of the very need to "think well of yourself" to begin with! That is your ego talking, not God, they would say. Only those who have surrendered their foundational egocentricity can do this, of course. Psychiatrist and writer Scott Peck once told me that Thérèse's quote was "sheer religious genius" because it made the usual posturing of religion well-nigh impossible.”
― Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi
― Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi
“Farewell," they cried, "Wherever you fare till your eyries receive you at the journey's end!" That is the polite thing to say among eagles.
"May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks," answered Gandalf, who knew the correct reply.”
― The Annotated Hobbit: The Hobbit, or, There and back again
"May the wind under your wings bear you where the sun sails and the moon walks," answered Gandalf, who knew the correct reply.”
― The Annotated Hobbit: The Hobbit, or, There and back again
“The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.”
― War and Peace
― War and Peace
Lance’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Lance’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
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