“more than a half million books, all of them smelling like dust and ink, two terrible smells that blend mystically to make something beautiful. Powells is another church to me, a paperback sort of h...”

“ I will give you this, my love, and I will not bargain or barter any longer. I will love you, as sure as He has loved me. I will discover what I can discover and though you remain a mystery, save G...”

“Fear is a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life.”

“I know, from the three visits I made to him, the blended composite of love and fear that exists only in a boy's notion of his father.”

“I think this is when most people give up on their stories. They come out of college wanting to change the world, wanting to get married, wanting to have kids and change the way people buy office su...”

“And if these mountains had eyes, they would wake to find two strangers in their fences, standing in admiration as a breathing red pours its tinge upon earth's shore. These mountains, which have see...”

“I can no more understand the totality of God than the pancake I made for breakfast understands the complexity of me”

“When I walked into the Christian section of a bookstore, the message was clear: Faith is something you do alone. Rick does not have much tolerance for people living alone. Hes like Bill Clinton in ...”

“Everybody wants to be somebody fancy. Even if they're shy.”

“We are working well when we use ourselves as the fellow creatures of the plants, animals, materials, and other people we are working with. Such work is unifying, healing. It brings us home from pri...”

“My life's work is to help people step into their God-given abilities and make a positive difference in their community.”

“In a world of knowledge and expertise, fame and fortune, status and ranks....nothing has the power to affect change as much as love and compassion.”