“I worked at magazines for over 10 years before I even thought of writing a book.” Quote by Dave Eggers
“...if you wish to get pure air into your room, or if you go for a walk in the fresh air, think of the pure and of the unclean heart. Many of us like to have pure air in the room (and this is an excellent habit), or are fond of walking in the fresh air, but they do not even think of the necessity of the purity of the spirit or heart (of, so to say, spiritual air, the breath of life); and, living in the fresh air, they allow themselves to indulge in impure thoughts, impure movements of the heart, and even impurity of language, and most impure carnal actions.” IfsThinkingHeartActionChristianSpiritualSpiritLanguageWishWalksRoomsAirMovementHabitWalkingPureLife And LivingBreathsExcellentPurityOrthodoxIndulgeOrthodox ChristianIndulge InFresh AirYour RoomImpurityImpure Thoughts Author:John of Kronstadt
“...knowing God is the condition for the sanctification of a human being by God's assistance and according to His intention. Wherever God is, there He is always creating... He wants to create a new human being. To need God is to become new. And to know God is the crucial thing.” KnowsWantNeedsHumansChristianHuman BeingsKnowingConditionsCreatingIntentionOrthodoxCrucialAssistanceKnowing GodOrthodox ChristianSanctificationNeed GodGod Is There Author:Soren Kierkegaard
“The Word of God makes use of poetic imagery when discussing... formless intelligences but... it does not do so for the sake of art, but as a concession to the nature of our own mind. It uses scriptural passages in an uplifting fashion as a way, provided for us from the first, to uplift our mind in a manner suitable to our nature.” WayMindFirstsDoeArtUseChristianFashionSakeUpliftingOrthodoxPoeticWord Of GodPassagesImagerySuitableDiscussingConcessions Author:Pope Dionysius
“...angels... are always being filled full of light, becoming ever more radiant and making blessed use of their natural ability to change. They dance for joy around the First Light, look continuously towards Him and are enlightened directly by Him, as they tirelessly sing the praises of the Fount of light and, being ministers of light, transmit illuminating grace to those lower beings who are being enlightened.” FirstsLooksUseLightChristianJoyNaturalAbilityGraceBecomingAngelPraiseBlessedFilledMinistersEnlightenedOrthodoxOrthodox ChristianRadiantTransmitIlluminatingAbility To ChangeNatural Ability Author:Gregory Palamas
“...though every thinking being longs for God, the First Cause, it is powerless... to grasp Him. Tired with the yearning it chafes at the bit and, careless of the cost, it tries a second tack. Either it looks at things visible and makes of these a god - a gross mistake, for what visible thing is more sublime, more godlike, than its observer... - or else it discovers God through the beauty and order of things seen, using sight as a guide to what transcends sight without losing God through the grandeur of what it sees.” ThinkingTryingFirstsLooksChristianOrderCausesBitsMistakeCostLosingSightTiredGuidesVisibleOrthodoxYearningSublimePowerlessObserversGrossCarelessGrandeurOrthodox ChristianGodlike Author:Gregory of Nazianzus
“... the more one needs God the more perfect he is. To need God is nothing to be ashamed of but is perfection itself. It is the saddest thing in the world if a human being goes through life without discovering that he needs God!” IfsWorldNeedsHumansChristianHuman BeingsPerfectPerfectionAshamedOrthodoxDiscoveringOrthodox ChristianSaddestNeed God Author:Soren Kierkegaard
“They either attach themselves to God's will, which results in their continuous progress, improvement and advancement, or they oppose God's will, are justly subjected to what He permits, and sink wretchedly from bad to worse.” ChristianTurnsResultsProgressImprovementGods WillReasonableOrthodoxFree WillPermitAdvancement Author:Gregory Palamas
“No one seeing a beautifully elaborated lyre with its harmonious, orderly arrangement, and hearing the lyre's music will fail to form a notion of its craftsman-player, to recur to him in thought though ignorant of him by sight. In this way the creative power, which moves and safeguards its objects, is clear to us, though it be not grasped by the understanding. Anyone who refuses to progress this far in following instinctive proofs must be wanting in judgment. But still, whatever we imagined or figured to ourselves or reason delineated is not the reality of God.” WayStillsReasonRealityChristianMovingFormUnderstandingCreativeClearPlayerProgressFailingSeeingObjectsJudgmentSightNotionFollowingRefuseHearingProofIgnorantOrthodoxArrangementsOrthodox ChristianHarmoniousOrderlyCraftsmanCreative Power Author:Gregory of Nazianzus
“It was not to save a nation that Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac, nor to appease angry gods... Then why does Abraham do it? For God's sake... He does it for the sake of God because God demands proof of his faith... He was not justified by being virtuous, but by being an individual submitted to God in faith.” DoeChristianIndividualNationsSacrificeDemandAngrySakeProofOrthodoxVirtuousJustifiedOrthodox ChristianAbrahamIsaacAppease Author:Soren Kierkegaard
“If... God highly exalted Christ because He humbled Himself, suffered dishonour, was tempted and endured a shameful cross and death for our sake, how will He save, glorify and raise us up if we neither choose humility, nor show love to our fellows, nor gain our souls by enduring temptation (cf. Lk. 21:19), nor follow the saving Guide through the 'strait gate' and along the 'narrow way' leading to eternal life (Mt. 7:14)? To this end we were called, says Peter, the chief Apostle, ' Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow His steps' (I Pet. 2:21).” IfsWayShouldSoulEndsShowsChristianChristStepsExampleHumilityEternalGainsCrossesRaisesFellowsEndureLeavingSakeGuidesTemptationSavingChiefsPetOrthodoxGatesPeterTemptedEternal LifeApostlesOrthodox ChristianShamefulExaltedGlorifyCfsDishonour Author:Gregory Palamas