Author Shauna Niequist writes, “I’m a big believer in the old truth that reading good writing is required in order to produce good writing…you can’t add your words to the big conversation that authors have been engaged in for thousands of years without listening to that conversation first. You have to know what stories can do, how language shapes us and how the rhythm of words lined up just right can move us so deeply. Writers have to be readers.”
Because I might as well introduce a post about my favorite quotes with a quote, right?
I agree with Shauna. I think reading dramatically improves writing, and even for those who don’t like to write, reading enriches the soul.
A co-worker of mine has a New Year’s resolution of reading 52 books in 52 weeks (#goals) and as for me, I’m aiming for at least two a month. A while back I shared a list of good books I’d recently read, and I plan to share another soon as I continue to work through some new titles. For now, I wanted to share some of my favorite quotes. Comin’ at ya below!
1. “Love is the effort and desire to make someone else everything they were created to be.” – Timothy Keller
2. “The great stories go to those who don’t give into fear.” – Donald Miller
3. “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” – Theodore Roosevelt
4. “If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man’s life enough sorrow and suffering to disarm all hostility.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
5. “I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn’t change God, it changes me.” – C.S. Lewis
6. “May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears.” – Nelson Mandela
7. “Don’t dig up in doubt what you planted in faith.” – Elisabeth Elliot
8. “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
9. “You either walk inside your story and own it or you stand outside your story and hustle for your worthiness.” – Brené Brown
10. “God never uses anyone greatly until he tests them deeply.” – A.W. Tozer
11. “Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy.” – Henri Nouwen
12. “The more we fill our lives with purpose, the less time we’ll spend looking for approval.” – Bob Goff
It was hard not to include 100 quotes because there are SO many I love! What are some of your favorites?
P.S. If you live in the Bay Area, check out Mount Davidson (the highest point in SF!) for the perfect reading spot with a killer view. Photos below!
One of those best friends who “gets in the arena” with you and believes in the best versions of people. SO incredibly thankful for time spent with her.
“Karl the Fog” rollin’ in over Sutro Tower.
