“Words are tools which automatically carve concepts out of experience.”  ~Julian S. Huxley

Usually, writers will do anything to avoid writing. For instance, the previous sentence was written at one o’clock this afternoon. It is now a quarter to four. I have spent the past two hours and forty-five minutes sorting my neckties by width, looking up the word “paisly” in three dictionaries, attempting to find the town of that name on The New York Times Atlas of the World map of Scotland, sorting my reference books by width, trying to get the bookcase to stop wobbling by stuffing a matchbook cover under its corner, dialing the telephone number on the matchbook cover to see if I should take computer courses at night, looking at the computer ads in the newspaper and deciding to buy a computer because writing seems to be so difficult on my old Remington, reading an interesting article on sorghum farming in Uruguay that was in the newspaper next to the computer ads, cutting that and other interesting articles out of the newspaper, sorting—by width—all the interesting articles I’ve cut out of newspapers recently, fastening them neatly together with paper clips and making a very attractive paper clip necklace and bracelet set, which I will present to my girlfriend as soon as she comes home from the three-hour low-impact aerobic workout that I made her go to so I could have some time alone to write.  ~P. J. O’Rourke, The Wit and Wisdom of P. J. O’Rourke

HT: Michael Hyatt

“I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

HT: Eleventary

Be careful with health books. You might die of a misprint.  ~Mark Twain

HT: Eleventary

Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.  ~Georgia O’Keeffe

Great innovators and original thinkers and artists attract the wrath of mediocrities as lightning rods draw the flashes.  ~Theodor Reik

Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.  ~Stephen King

HT: Parish Life

Sometime ago a magazine asked the Swiss theologian Karl Barth what he would do if in the light of past experiences he was only now beginning his work as a theological teacher.

Karl Barth graciously declined saying his method had never been to work to programs but rather his thinking and writing and speaking had issued from living encounters with people and conditions that spoke to him.

Barth said he felt like a man in a boat which must be rowed and steered diligently but which swims in a stream that he does not control. It glides along between new and often totally strange shores, carrying him toward the goal set for him, goals which he sees and chooses only as he approaches them. He said, “As I see it now, my theological career has been a succession of present moments.”  ~Geoff Pound

HT: Stories for Speakers and Writers

What I love about story is it doesn’t force. It simply guides you down a path and ebbs and flows. You can learn so much from a story but you’re never spoon fed easy answers. ~Anne Jackson (blogger, author, and advocate for those living in poverty)

Visit Anne’s blog

It is not easy to convey a sense of wonder, let alone resurrection wonder, to another. It’s the very nature of wonder to catch us off guard, to circumvent expectations and assumptions. Wonder can’t be packaged, and it can’t be worked up. It requires some sense of being there and some sense of engagement.  ~Eugene Peterson