Bravery

"Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid." - David Hackworth

Liberal "Christianity"

"I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian." - Atheist Christopher Hitchens on liberal Christians

Culture

"A culture is perennially in need of renewal. A culture does not survive and prosper merely by being taken for granted; active defense is always required, and imaginative growth, too." - Russell Kirk

Desire

"To desire the end is to desire the means to that end. If you are unwilling to embrace all actions required to achieve it, you never really wanted it at all." - SM Stirling

Class

“Yeah, black velvet is classy – until somebody paints Elvis on it.”

New Year's Resolution

“My New Year’s Resolution is gonna be to stop dusting and use the coffee table as a message board.” - Anonymous

Long Day?

And this just in, from our 'and you thought your day was long' dept.:

Son: "Mom, are there more than 44 hours in a day?"

Mom, taking full(?) advantage of a teachable moment: "Is 44 more than 27?"

Patience

"Let us be very sincere in our dealings with each other, and have the courage to accept each other as we are. Do not be surprised or become preoccupied at each other's failures—rather, see and find in each other the good, for each of us is created in the image of God." - Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Democracy

"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money." - Alexis de Tocqueville

Dorm Life

“In the bathroom of a girls’ dorm at Olivet Nazarine University, a church-sponsored college in Illinois, there were three totally enclosed toilets, plus one with no privacy door. The residents awoke one morning to find them labeled I John, II John, III John and Revelation.” - Ruth Rupnow

Valentine's Day

“I don’t know why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine’s Day. When I think about romance, the last thing on my mind is a short, chubby toddler coming at me with a weapon.” - Paul McGinty

Imperfection

“Your ‘future dream wedding day’ will be less than perfect because you, your groom and life are less than perfect. The more you ask life to grace you with improbable things (such as, perfection in a catered event involving alcohol and family members), the more gleefully life giggles when it barfs on your dress.” - Advice columnist Carolyn Hax

Hell

“I live for myself and I answer to nobody.” – Steve McQueen

Idolatry

"You can't understand the human race without understanding its passion to have gods." - David Marr

Love

"God loves each of us as if there were only one of us." - St. Augustine

Stupidity

"Life is hard, It's even harder if you are stupid." - John Wayne

Melancholy

Coyote's song at midnight. Says something for the world. The world wants said. - Wendell Berry, A Timbered Choir

Perseverance

The tree is made manifest by its fruit; so those that profess themselves to be Christian shall be recognized by their conduct. For there is not now a demand for mere profession, but that a man be found continuing in the power of faith to the end. - St. Ignatius of Antioch's Letter to the Ephesians

Eucharist

...breaking one and the same bread, which is the medicine of immortality, and the antidote to prevent us from dying. - St. Ignatius of Antioch's Letter to the Ephesians

Courage

Let fire and the cross; let the crowds of wild beasts; let tearings, breakings, and dislocations of bones; let cutting off of members; let shatterings of the whole body; and let all the dreadful torments of the devil come upon me; only let me attain to Jesus Christ. - St. Ignatius of Antioch's Letter to the Romans

CS Lewis On Avoiding God

C. S. Lewis, on avoiding God, from "The Seeing Eye" in Christian Reflections: "Avoid silence, avoid solitude, avoid any train of thought that leads off the beaten track. Concentrate on money, sex, status, health and (above all) on your own grievances. Keep the radio on. Live in a crowd. Use plenty of sedation. If you must read books, select them very carefully. But you’d be safer to stick to the papers. You’ll find the advertisements helpful; especially those with a sexy or a snobbish appeal."