Unfermented grape juice is a bland and pleasant drink, especially on a warm afternoon mixed half-and-half with ginger ale. It is a ghastly symbol of the life blood of Jesus Christ, especially when served in individual antiseptic, thimble-sized glasses.

“Wine is booze, which means it is dangerous and drunk-making. It makes the timid brave and the reserved amorous. It loosens the tongue and breaks the ice, especially when served in a loving cup. It kills germs. As symbols go, it is a rather splendid one.”

— Frederick Buechner
Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC

I write when I’m inspired, and I see to it that I’m inspired at nine o’clock every morning.”

— Peter DeVries

Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.”

— Stephen King

. . . the world that throbbed outside the library seemed to be losing its memory, day after day, unknowingly, feeling all the wiser the more it forgot.”

— Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Shadow of the Wind

The best thing a leader can bring to their team is their energy.”

— Bill Hybels
As quoted by Andy Stanley

To reach people no one else is reaching, we must do things no one else is doing.”

— Craig Groeschel
As quoted by Andy Stanley

One day some of the brethren came to see Abba Antony, and among them was Abba Joseph. Wishing to test them, the old man mentioned a text from Scripture, and starting with the youngest he asked them what it meant.

Each explained it the best he could. But to each one the old man said, ‘You have not yet found the answer.’

Last of all he said to Abba Joseph, ‘And what do you think the text means?’

He replied, ‘I do not know.’

Then Abba Antony said, ‘Truly, Abba Joseph has found the way, for he said: I do not know.’”

— The Sayings of the Desert Fathers
As Quoted in The Orthodox Way (p. 11)
Bishop Kallistos Ware

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do”

— Helen Keller

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creativity there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans:

That the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.

All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets:

‘Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it; boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.’”

— W.H. Murray

As a leader, you rarely have certainty, but you should always have clarity.”

— Andy Stanley
“Leading in Uncertain Times”
Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast