"Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening the mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others."
- Barbara Bush

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."
- Winston Churchill

"Liberality is not giving largely but giving wisely."
- Thomas Fuller

"People who think they're generous to a fault usually think that's their only fault."
- Sydney J. Harris

"The whole modern scientific organization of charity is a consequence of the failure of simply giving alms."
- William James

"Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life--happiness, freedom and peace of mind--are always attained by giving them to someone else."
- Peyton Conway March

"We'd all like a reputation for generosity, and we'd like to buy it cheap."
- Mignon McMaughlin

"Think of giving not as a duty but as a privilege."
- John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

"The truly beneficent never relapses into a creditor."
- Henry David Thoreau

"Generosity gives assistance rather than advice."
- Vauvenargues

"Money is like manure; it's not worth a thing unless it's spread around encouraging young things to grow."
- Thornton Wilder

Generosity

"Reformations always start with the peasants; they don't start with the elites."
- Rick Warren

Reform

“Every truly great library is a multigenerational library. Books must be able to stand the test of time, demonstrating quality both physically and in terms of content.” - Douglas Phillips

Books

"I look around at people my age and I can see it in their eyes - a kind of bittersweet reflection: 'I didn't live the life that I wanted, and now I've got all this stuff I want to say but nobody want to hear it…. You see billionaires who have everything, yet inside they're still the same lonely, insecure people. You think you've got it all figured out, but then you turn 60 and there's still this little hole inside you. You realize, we're always going to be somewhat half full."
- Sylvester Stallone (NEWSWEEK , December 18, 2006)

Aging

"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today."
- Chinese Proverb

"If You are planning for a year, sow rice.
If you are planning for a decade, plant trees.
If you are planning for a lifetime, educate people."
- Chinese Proverb

Vision

"What we've got to do in the music business is destroy the image that has got through…which has [given] God Almighty and Jesus Christ…an image of a weakling. A slightly effeminate image. A sort of Sunday image. A religious image. This is not the case…This is something we're trying in U2 to do something about."
- Bono

Jesus Christ

“What does real worship look like? There have never been more options in worship style than today. There is the sacred silence of the Quakers; the stately pageantry of Catholics and Episcopalians; the unpredictable emotionalism of old-line Pentecostals; the predictable order of traditional Baptists and Presbyterians and Methodists; the creative and experimental openness of contemporary churches. This is not an exhaustive analysis, but the truth is clear; in American Christianity today, it’s not “one-size-fits-all.”

“Many churches are changing their worship styles in order to accommodate “church growth.” In other words, their worship is “seeker-sensitive” and “client-centered” (to borrow a phrase from the business world). Worship for these churches is all about connecting with the unchurched and the unsaved. The first question these church leaders as is, “How do I connect the message of the gospel with those who need it most?”

“Then there are those churches which believe that the first question to be asked about worship is, “What does God desire of us? How can we glorify and honor Him in our worship?” In these churches, worship is not designed primarily to attract outsiders; it is done to glorify God. Evangelism is a by-product of God-centered worship in these churches, not the primary purpose for gathering and worship.

“The Lord does not want [us] to either remain floating in the eddies of tradition or to ride the wave of “what’s happening now.” He wants us to look into His word, listen to His voice, and follow His leading. The greatest challenge to the 21st century church is not style, but substance. It is not the “order” of the worship, but the “ardor” of the worship. It is not the choreography of the platform team, but the “perichoresis” or sacred dance of the Holy Trinity, moving in freedom in our times of corporate worship."

- Alan Day

Worship

"Let go of a small part of your righteousness, and in a few days, you will be at peace." - Abba Poemen, Sayings of the Fathers

Self-Righteousness

"Loss is transformative if it is met with faith. Faith is our chance to make sense of loss, to cope with the stone that rolls around in the hollow of our stomachs when something we loved, something we thought was forever, is suddenly gone." - David J. Wolfe, Making Loss Matter

Loss

"Knowing God without knowing our own wretchedness makes for pride. Knowing our own wretchedness without knowing God makes for despair. Knowing Jesus Christ strikes the balance, because he shows us both God and our own wretchedness." - Blaise Pascal, Pensees

Knowing God

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince

Heart

"A Christian cannot win God’s forgiveness, but he can lose it by refusing to extend it to a brother." - John P. Meier, The Vision of Matthew

Forgiveness