It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

I think, for years, people have been pushed down by religion, and I don’t say that disrespectfully, but they’ve been shown a God that you can’t measure up to.

The history of science shows that theories are perishable. With every new truth that is revealed we get a better understanding of Nature and our conceptions and views are modified.

A witty saying proves nothing.

The greatest service that can be offered to children who show personality traits or inclinations that might not be understood by the adults around them is to allow them to express their own unique humanity.

A friend should be a master at guessing and keeping still: you must not want to see everything.

I think Bible principles are principles for life.

Religion is just mind control.

It says nothing against the ripeness of a spirit that it has a few worms.

My faith was tested like Job. That’s the message I try to tell other people: just because you believe in God, serve God, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, people gotta realize, it don’t mean things not gonna happen to you.

God gives the nuts, but he does not crack them.

The best place to find God is in a garden. You can dig for him there.

God always wants us to be growing.

My word will never be as strong as God’s word. All I am is just a vessel, doing His work.

Don’t let anybody make you think God chose America as His divine messianic force to be a sort of policeman of the whole world.

There’s many a man has more hair than wit.

As a member of the Church, you have made sacred covenants with the Lord.

It is another’s fault if he be ungrateful, but it is mine if I do not give. To find one thankful man, I will oblige a great many that are not so.

I’d rather learn from one bird how to sing than teach 10,000 stars how not to dance.

I am not going to Heaven because I have preached to great crowds or read the Bible many times. I’m going to Heaven just like the thief on the cross who said in that last moment: ‚Lord, remember me.‘

The ‚New Testament‘, now, I quite liked. Jesus had a lot of good things to say, and as for his father, he must have been highly thought of by the community to work with wood – a material that couldn’t have been widely available in Palestine.

If the Christian is a restorationist, a legalist, if he wants everything clear and safe, then he will find nothing. Tradition and memory of the past must help us to have the courage to open up new areas to God.

When you feel like it’s too hard to obey God, remember that He will never tell you to do something without giving you the grace, power and ability to do it.

You should not believe your conscience and your feelings more than the word which the Lord who receives sinners preaches to you.

It is not Kafka’s fault that his wonderful writings have lately turned into a fad, and are read by people who have neither the ability nor the desire to absorb literature.

A saint serves others, knowing that the more one serves, the greater the opportunity for the Spirit to sanctify and purify.

A sense of the universe, a sense of the all, the nostalgia which seizes us when confronted by nature, beauty, music – these seem to be an expectation and awareness of a Great Presence.

Most people do not pray; they only beg.

I don’t have a problem with Hulk Hogan. People say things and do things, and who am I to judge?

If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss bank.

Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?

If we are hungry enough for God, we will find a way into His presence. We should be so hungry for the presence of God that we absolutely will not go out of our house or tackle any kind of project until we have spent some time with Him.

The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use we feel very good. Understanding is joyous.

I am a simple Buddhist monk – no more, no less.

All generalizations are false, including this one.

The book to read is not the one which thinks for you, but the one which makes you think. No book in the world equals the Bible for that.

I do believe in God. But you won’t find me visiting temples every now and then. I believe in self-realization. Peace of mind matters a lot to me. What’s the point in doing something just for the sake of it? I’d rather do something I like doing as long as I’m being true to myself.

The problem isn’t that Johnny can’t read. The problem isn’t even that Johnny can’t think. The problem is that Johnny doesn’t know what thinking is; he confuses it with feeling.

Now I am older, I understand we have to accept who we are.

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.

There is nothing so absurd that some philosopher has not already said it.

In this world filled with challenges, we do need help from time to time. Religion, eternal truth, and our missionaries are vital parts of that help.

Ultimately, a real understanding of history means that we face nothing new under the sun.

If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.

If you suffer, thank God! It is a sure sign that you are alive.

In married life three is company and two none.

Glory be and praise to God. I didn’t do any of this. God did. I don’t have a recipe or a blueprint. I prayed for it, and my prayers are continuing to be answered.

My wife and I don’t compete. We know each other’s preferences, and we work to provide those for each other. One will take over when the other is faced with something he or she dislikes. That’s what friends do.

Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.

There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know.

There are some Christian people who taste and see and enjoy religion in their own souls, and who get at a deeper knowledge of it than books can ever give them, though they should search all their days.

The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible.

To see clearly is poetry, prophecy and religion all in one.

At first when I heard about climate change, I was a climate denier. I didn’t think it was happening. Because if there really was an existential crisis like that, that would threaten our civilisation, we wouldn’t be focusing on anything else. That would be our first priority. So I didn’t understand how that added up.

The violence in the Bible is appalling.

Every picture has its own demands, and every picture stimulates something within you to tell it a certain way. I don’t know what that is; I don’t think too much about that.

There is always the danger that we may just do the work for the sake of the work. This is where the respect and the love and the devotion come in – that we do it to God, to Christ, and that’s why we try to do it as beautifully as possible.

You know, God has some really weird kids, and I find it hard to be in their company most of the time.

We have to stop and be humble enough to understand that there is something called mystery.

It’s hard for me to grasp the concept of somebody being nervous when I’m talking to them.