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N.D. Wilson

N.D. Wilson Quotes

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Famous N.D. Wilson Quotes

“Imagine a poem written with such enormous three-dimensional words that we had to invent a smaller word to reference each of the big ones; that we had to rewrite the whole thing in shorthand, smashing it into two dimensions, just to talk about it. Or don’t imagine it. Look outside. Human language is our attempt at navigating God’s language; it is us running between the lines of His epic, climbing on the vowels and building houses out of the consonants.”

HumansLooksTwoWholeBigsRunningThreeHouseLanguageLinesImagineWrittenBuildingEnormousDimensionsClimbingEpicSmashingShorthandBetween The LinesHuman LanguageVowelsConsonantsBuilding Houses
Author:N.D. Wilson
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“Kansas is not easily impressed. It has seen houses fly and cattle soar. When funnel clouds walk through the wheat, big hail falls behind. As the biggest stones melt, turtles and mice and fish and even men can be seen frozen inside. And Kansas is not surprised. Henry York had seen things in Kansas, things he didn't think belonged in this world. Things that didn't. Kansas hadn't flinched.”

ThinkingMenWorldBigsFallHouseWalksBehindsThis WorldStonesCloudsFishesImpressedMiceSoarFrozenWheatCattleHailKansasTurtles
Book:Dandelion Fire: Book 2 of the 100 Cupboards
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“Do not resent your place in the story. Do not imagine yourself elsewhere. Do not close your eyes and picture a world without thorns, without shadows, without hawks. Change this world. Use your body like a tool meant to be used up, discarded, and replaced. Better every life you touch. We will reach the final chapter. When we have eyes that can stare into the sun, eyes that only squint for the Shenikah, then we will see laughing children pulling cobras by their tails, and hawks and rabbits playing tag.”

WorldChildrenStoriesUseBodyEyeUsedLaughingSunImagineThis WorldShadowToolsFinalsYour BodyStaringMeant To BeElsewhereChaptersReplacedPullingTailsRabbitsThornsResentTagHawksDiscardedCobras
Author:N.D. Wilson
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“In this story, the sun moves. In this story, every night meets a dawn and burns away in the bright morning. In this story, Winter can never hold back the Spring... He is the best of all possible audiences, the only Audience to see every scene, the Author who became a Character and heaped every shadow on Himself. The Greeks were right. Live in fear of a grinding end and a dank hereafter. Unless you know a bigger God, or better yet, are related to Him by blood.”

KnowsEndsCharacterStoriesMovingNightMorningAudienceSunBloodSceneSpringShadowBiggerWinterDawnGreekRelatedEvery NightHereafterDank
Author:N.D. Wilson
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“The world is rated R, and no one is checking IDs. Do not try to make it G by imagining the shadows away. Do not try to hide your children from the world forever, but do not pretend there is no danger . Train them. Give them sharp eyes and bellies full of laughter. Make them dangerous. Make them yeast, and when they’ve grown, they will pollute the shadows.”

WorldGivingTryingChildrenEyeForeverDangerousDangerLaughterShadowTrainYour ChildrenBellyYeastSharp Eyes
Author:N.D. Wilson
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“Writer's block — so what? Write something bad. Just throw it in the trash can when you're done, you're always improving. That kind of writing is like doing a bunch of push-ups. Every individual push-up is not the important thing. On Tuesday you're going to think, "Is it really important that I do it today?" No, but the collective impact is. If you write every day, you will improve.”

IfsThinkingWritingKindImportantDoneTodayIndividualImportant ThingsImpactBunchBlockCollectivesImprovingTrashTuesdayWriter's BlockPush UpsTrash CansAlways Improving
Author:N.D. Wilson
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“Do you dislike your role in the story, your place in the shadow? What complaints do you have that the hobbits could not have heaved at Tolkien? You have been born into a narrative, you have been given freedom. Act, and act well until you reach your final scene.”

WellsHas BeensStoriesGivenBornRolesLike YouSceneShadowFinalsNarrativeDislikeComplaints
Book:Notes From The Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-Eyed Wonder in God's Spoken World
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“We're all carnies, though some people are in denial. They want to be above it all, above the mayhem of laughter and people and lights and animals and the dark sadness that lurks in the coners and beneath the rides and in the trailers after hours. So they ride teh Ferris wheel, and at the top, they think they've left it all behind They've ascended to a place where they can take things seriously. Where they can be taken seriously.”

PeopleThinkingWantLightLeftHoursDarkAnimalBehindsTakenSadnessLaughterDenialWheelsTrailersMayhemAfter HoursFerris WheelsCarnies
Author:N.D. Wilson
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“If God gives you (or makes you) a joke, what are you meant to do in response? (Receive it. Laugh.) If God gives you an obstacle, what are you meant to do in response? (Receive it. Climb it. Then laugh.) If God gives you more profound hardship, what are you meant to do in response? (Receive it. Climb it. Then laugh. Exhibit A: His Son.)”

IfsGivingLaughingSonJokesProfoundResponseObstaclesClimbsHardshipExhibits
Book:Death by Living: Life Is Meant to Be Spent
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“To love is to be selfless. To be selfless is to be fearless. To be fearless is to strip your enemies of their greatest weapon. Even if they break our bodies and drain our blood, we are unvanquished. Our goal was never to live; our goal is to love. It is the goal of all truly noble men and women. Give all that can be given. Give even your life itself.”

IfsMenGivingBodyGivenGoalLove IsEnemyBreakBloodWeaponsMen And WomenNobleFearlessSelflessDrainsSelfless GivingNoble Man
Author:N.D. Wilson
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“Understand this: we are both tiny and massive. We are nothing more than molded clay given breath, but we are nothing less than divine self-portraits, huffing and puffing along the mountain ranges of epic narrative arcs prepared for us by the Infinite Word Himself.”

SelfGivenDivineMountainInfiniteBreathsPreparedTinyNarrativeRangeMassiveEpicPortraitsClayArcsSelf PortraitMountain RangesSelf Portrait PhotographyHuffing
Book:Death by Living: Life Is Meant to Be Spent
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“Tragedy isn't an easy thing to kill. It takes more than a turtle. Tragedy must be destroyed by someone willing to be swallowed by it, willing to be broken, torn out of the flesh, but able to return to it. Someone must be able to shatter the tragic from within and exit into comedy, able to rip a hole so wide that a train of souls, a parade, could follow after, banging drums and throwing candy as they strolled into the sun.”

SoulAbleEasySunComedyWillingBrokenReturnTragedyTrainWideFleshHolesDestroyedTragicThrowingTornCandyRipExitParadesTurtlesBangingEasy Things
Author:N.D. Wilson
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