#form

I took the other road, all right, but only because it was the easy road for me, the way I wanted to go. If I've encountered some unnecessary resistance that's because most of the traffic is going the other way. ↗

— Edward Abbey

#life #nonconformity #life

Stories were different, though: they came alive in the telling. Without a human voice to read them aloud, or a pair of wide eyes following them by flashlight beneath a blanket, they had no real existence in our world...They could take root in the imagination and transform the reader. Stories wanted to be read, David's mother would whisper. They needed it. It was the reason they forced themselves from their world into ours. They wanted us to give them life. ↗

— John Connolly

#books #imagination #life #reading #stories

To seek Truth is automatically a calling for the innate dissident and the subversive; how many are willing to give up safety and security for the perilous life of the spiritual revolutionary? How many are willing to truly learn that their own cherished concepts are wrong? Striking provocative or mysterious poses in the safety of Internet [social media] is far easier than taking the risks involved in the hard work of genuine initiation. ↗

— Zeena Schreck

#dissidents #outcasts #revolutionary-spirit #self-examination #spiritual-transformation

The Bible is teh means through which we are introduced to Jesus and invited to follow Him in the life of humility and service. Secured by the knowledge that in Christ, our origin... and destination is God, we will yield the fruit of service to God. This is the "so what" of our Bible reading. Does it shape our spirits in love and humility? Does it lead us more fully into life with God? (Life with God, p. 34-35) ↗

— Richard Foster

#devotions #disciplines #life-with-god #spiritual-formation #life

I like the performing part, it gives me a huge rush but it still makes me nervous. Being in front of large crowds is intimidating to me and I feel myself withdrawing. ↗

— Torrie Wilson

#crowds #feel #front #gives #huge

We will not reform the yuan until the time is right even if there is external pressure. ↗

— Wu Yi

#external #pressure #reform #right #time

Artists exist to show us the world. So do windows.
 ↗

— Jarod Kintz

#artists #humor #illuminate #inform #show

I have forced myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste. ↗

— Marcel Duchamp

#conforming #contradict #forced #i #my own

What is it about wearing a tuxedo or that little black dress, that makes us feel confident, beautiful, splendid, even invincible? We put on formal wear and suddenly we become extraordinary. On the days when you feel low and invisible, why not try this on for size: imagine you are wearing a fantastic tailored tuxedo or a stunning formal gown. And then proceed with your day. ↗

— Vera Nazarian

#attire #clothing #confidence #formal #formal-gown

As God delights in his own beauty, he must necessarily delight in the creature's holiness which is a conformity to and participation of it, as truly as [the] brightness of a jewel, held in the sun's beams, is a participation or derivation of the sun's brightness, though immensely less in degree. ↗

— Jonathan Edwards

#reformed #beauty