Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
Ridding the world of poverty is, of course, a fantasy.
In truth, Jesus did not, in his own time, attract much notice.
Honest, simple work for young people is essential to their well-being.
It's not unusual for socio-economic, even racial or ethnic, groups to cluster.
As a Christian, I try to meditate or pray at least once a day, however briefly.
I regard Jesus, like the Buddha, as a figure with the power to shape our lives.
The core of the Jesus message is what has made him relevant for twenty centuries.
One of the first courses I ever taught at Dartmouth was on the Bible as literature.
The idea that owning a gun in America was an individual right only dates to the 1980s.
By the time I went to college, I knew the major passages of the Bible pretty much by heart.
I suspect that the framers of the Bill of Rights have long since rolled over in their graves.
I'm tired of hearing about this 'well-regulated militia' that is so necessary for American freedom.
History is, of course, a made thing. It does not exist by itself in anything like a recognizable form.
Jesus remains the most influential person in history, one who has inspired untold followers for millennia.
Among the disciples of Jesus, it seems most likely that at least Philip was bilingual in Aramaic and Greek.
American politicians who dwell on American exceptionalism only dishonor us by suggesting we play dumb to our past.
The stories about the life and teachings of Jesus were mainly told in Greek, the original language of the gospels.
'Bag of Bones' was a big, distorted yet wonderfully entertaining novel that rode high on the bestseller lists in 1998.
I envy Muslims their practice of regular and genuine prayer. It's a beautiful practice that enriches their daily lives.
A long-running argument exists over whether Christians and Muslims worship the same God. In my view, they certainly do.
My earliest memories of holidays are from when I was about eight. We lived in Pennsylvania, and every year we'd visit Miami.
The most dazzling aspect of 'Possession' is Ms. Byatt's canny invention of letters, poems and diaries from the 19th century.
As 'Possession' progresses, it seems less and less like the usual satire about academia and more like something by Jorge Luis Borges.
One thing a narcissist doesn't like is to look in a mirror that is in any way genuinely reflective of what's on the other side of it.
When you think about 'The Grapes of Wrath,' it's an American masterpiece, and a very long process goes into the making of such a book.
The whole point of the Resurrection stories - and the Resurrection itself - is that we don't recognize Jesus when he comes back to us.
The ability to sympathize with those around us seems crucial to our survival, and it's connected to the mirroring functions of the brain.
I think that the practice of religion allows one to discover emotional and psychological truth of a kind not available in the secular world.
I've spent a good deal of time in the Middle East over the years, lecturing at universities in places like Egypt, Jordan, Israel, and Morocco.
I have a mystical bent, and I pursue daily meditations that follow the liturgical calendar - what are called the 'daily offices' of the church.
God is God, but he has various names in different languages, and each strand of monotheistic religion has multiple ways of describing the godhead.
Actually, a myth is a story that is not just not true, but it's a story that is especially true. And I think the myth of Jesus is especially true.
It's impossible to see the face of Jesus without seeking that face in some concentrated way, in the practice of the faith, through prayer and action.
It's probably incorrect to say that Islam is 'a religion of peace,' as some politicians like to say. Overstatements like that don't clarify anything.
The British, and most European countries, have struggled to accommodate Muslim immigrants, but they have nevertheless welcomed them in large numbers.
A proper respect for nature means that you can't pollute the air, poison the rivers and chop down the forests indiscriminately without suffering greatly.
American failures in Vietnam and Iraq suggest that it's not really possible to create and sustain a proxy government in a country far from our own borders.
When Gore Vidal was coming up, there were three major channels, and he could count on a big audience when he debated someone like William F. Buckley on TV.
In the Dead Sea Scrolls, there are many Aramaic texts from the time of Jesus, so one can get a pretty good idea of what the language of Jesus looked liked.
So who is Jesus? For me, he's the central character in the greatest story ever told. It's a story about a gradually realizing kingdom that lies inside of us.
Although the story of George and Lennie in 'Of Mice and Men' ends on a depressing note, there is a peculiar aura of human dignity in it, a hint of redemption.
'Of Mice and Men,' Steinbeck's fifth novel, adheres to a simple dramatic structure, which observes the classic Aristotelian unities of time, place and action.
American fundamentalist thought connected strongly to reactionary political ideology as nervous Christians pushed back against liberal reforms on many fronts.
It's time that Americans dealt seriously with guns, getting in place strong and appropriate measures - there is no excuse for anything but the strictest controls.
Then I studied theology in college, and when I was getting a Ph.D. in literature, I took courses in New Testament studies and studied Greek versions of the Gospels.
The fact is, we need markers in life, whether we subscribe to a religion or not. And the major holidays, such as Christmas, serve to remind us of the turning world.
For the most part, I think of PC as meaning Plain Civil. You treat people the way you'd like to be treated yourself, and that means not using language that is demeaning.
For no good reason, George W. Bush and the best and brightest he could muster, including the likes of Paul Bremer and Paul Wolfowitz, decided it made sense to attack Iraq.
If you think about it, Jesus was this religious genius who grows up on the Silk Road, and so He's getting from the West all these Greek ideas from Plato about body and soul.
My father was a Baptist preacher, and he used to read the King James Bible to me every single morning. He made me memorize it and repeat verses at night before I went to sleep.