#ow

We feel that, for the honour of God (and also, though we do not say this, for the sake of our own reputation as spiritual Christians), it is necessary for us to claim that we are, so to speak, already in the signal-box, here and now enjoying the inside information as to the why and wherefore of God’s doings. This comforting pretence becomes part of us: we feel sure that God has enabled us to understand all His ways with us and our circle thus far, and we take if for granted that we shall be able to see at once the reason for anything that may happen to us in the future. And then something very painful and quite inexplicable comes along, and our cheerful illusion of being in God’s secret councils is shattered. Our pride is wounded; we feel that God has slighted us; and unless at this point we repent, and humble ourselves very thoroughly for our former presumption, our whole subsequent spriritual life may be blighted. ↗

— J.I. Packer

#knowledge #questions #life

الحياة هي الفناء ، والفناء هي الحياة . عليه أن يعرف أنّ رغبة الحياة متآكلة ، أنّ مولّد المشاعر هو انهيار المشاعر ، أنّ استعمال القوة هو نهاية القوّة ↗

— Johannes V. Jensen

#life-lessons #novel #power #life

Largeness is a lifelong matter,” he wrote. “. . . You grow because you are not content not to. You are like a beaver that chews constantly because if it doesn’t, its teeth grow long and lock. You grow because you are a grower; you’re large because you can’t stand to be small. ↗

— William Stegner

#life #life

In una parola, ero troppo codardo per fare quello che sapevo essere giusto, così come ero stato troppo codardo per evitare di fare quello che sapevo sbagliato. A quel tempo, non avevo avuto nessuna esperienza del mondo e non imitavo nessuno dei suoi molti abitanti che agiscono in questo modo. Genio assolutamente naturale, scoprii questa linea di condotta tutto da solo. ↗

— Charles Dickens

#growth #italiano #life #morality #pip

While it is relatively easy to recognize the perennial grasses and seed-eating sparrows as characteristic of meadows, the ecosystems exist in their fullest sense underground. What we see aboveground is only the outer margin of an ecosystem that explodes in intricacy and life below. ↗

— Amy Seidl

#meadows #soil #life

High in the hazy sky, the snowfkakes looked tiny and all alike, but as they drifted past the narrow window of the sewing room, all were unique - long or round or triangular - as if they'd borrowed their shapes from the clouds they'd come from. ↗

— Ursula Hegi

#life-in-small-german-town #rise-of-nazis #life

If you hold a cat by the tail, you learn things you can't learn any other way.--Mark Twain ↗

— Tony-Paul de Vissage

#knowledge #learning #life #mark-twain #life

The most special times in a person's life are not meant to last forever. They're like bubbles rising from a plastic ring dipped into a soapy solution. The soap bubbles rise, with the sun flashing brilliant colors, then bursts into a showery memory mist. ↗

— Julius Thompson

#brooklyn #brownstone #ghost #philly #profille

A lot of childhood effort, worry, and whispering goes into cracking the codes of adult life. Children have to be accomplished spies. ↗

— Vera B. Williams

#growing-up #life

I am a horror movie buff, man. In real life, I am proudly an official coward. ↗

— Cameron Jace

#life