The Christian doctrine of suffering explains, I believe, a very curious fact about the world we live in. The settled happiness and security which we all desire, God withholds from us by the nature of the world: but joy, pleasure, and merriment He has scattered broadcast...The security we crave would teach us to rest our hearts in this world and oppose an obstacle to our return to God...Our Father refreshes us on the journey with some pleasant inns, but will not encourage us to mistake them for home.
There is so much of gratitude or vanity in almost every attachment, that it is not safe to leave any to itself. We can all BEGIN freely--a slight preference is natural enough; but there are very few of us who have heart enough to be really in love without encouragement. In nine cases out of ten a women had better show MORE affection than she feels. Bingley likes your sister undoubtedly; but he may never do more than like her, if she does not help him on.
One the one hand, our economists treat human beings as rational actors making choices to maximize their own economic benefit. On the other hand, the same companies that hire those economists also pay for advertising campaigns that use the raw materials of myth and magic to encourage people to act against their own best interests, whether it's a matter of buying overpriced fizzy sugar water or the much more serious matter of continuing to support the unthinking pursuit of business as usual in the teeth of approaching disaster.
Olive was way beyond hearing anything, but her chin was set and she was determined to help the pilot so that he would not be too afraid before they hit the earth. She smiled and nodded again. At the end of each stunt he looked back, and each time she encouraged him. Afterward he said over and over, "She's the goddamest woman I ever saw. I tore up the rule book and she wanted more. Good Christ, what a pilot she would have made!
If you want to leave a legacy...leave it now, every day of your life, not just after you are gone or only as a result of a narrowly defined way of contributing. With every thought, word, and deed you leave something behind. You get to choose whether you leave a legacy of impossibility or possibility, of denigration, or celebration, of unkindness, or kindness, of judgment, or acceptance, of struggles or grace, of discouragement or encouragement, of frailty or strength, of tears of laughter, of fear or love. What is n your heart to leave as a legacy, in this moment...and now this one?
Encourage others each and every day–nothing’s more important than our words.Did you know that, on average, each of us speaks about twenty-five thousand words daily? My last book didn’t have that many words. A lot of language is flowing out of our mouths every day and having an impact on those around us. But how much of that flow is fulfilling God’s intended purpose for our speech? How much of it reflects pride, rather than a gospel-motivated humility?
“Most of our kids are aged between 6 and 12, and just need a bit of encouragement to turn reading into an enjoyable activity. We don't need our teens to be in the Academic stream at high school, or to be intellectual over-achievers. They simply need to know how to read, and enjoy being with a younger kid for an hour a week. The time they put in counts towards the Community Service hours they need in order to graduate, so it's a classic win-win situation for any teen who enjoys reading and who's prepared to help a younger child.”
“We should be better than we were last year. I'd be disappointed if we weren't showing improvement. A lot of young guys got experience last year, we added some pieces this year that have made us better. The longer guys spend in a system, the better they should get. We're not there yet, and we can get a lot better. But I think everyone's encouraged by the progress we're showing. Our next step is to turn the losses into wins. We need to get to a point where we're not happy just to be competitive.”
“We all know that 2005 saw dramatic increases in energy prices and even greater volatility in the market. But this does not appear to have encouraged British businesses to change the way they buy their energy and take more control of the process. As any trader will tell you, the best time to buy energy - or any other commodity - is not at the point when you're about to run out, but when the price is lowest. Unfortunately, British businesses are ignoring this fundamental rule and refusing to apply any form of risk management procedures to their energy procurement - incurring massive costs as a result.”
“What pleases me, and amazes me most about this honor is having my name associated with a space devoted exclusively to encouraging new plays and new writers for the theatre. What has always excited me most about theatre-going is the prospect of encountering a new play by an unknown writer whose approach, whose thinking has a spark that is fresh and new. Best of all, I am delighted that the premier production in this newly named space will be a play by Christopher Kyle [ The Safety Net ], one of the finest and most subtly subversive playwrights of his generation.”