Thank you, Lore, swimming through is what I’m getting, and I’m with you. Speaking of swimming:
“I just love the way my life is now. I get to advocate for people with limb differences, I get to have a purpose with my life, and I get to have a relationship with God.”
Lulu Gribbin(at age 15, attacked by a shark, changing the entire trajectory of her athletic life)
I’ve held on to a few quotes this year. One is “Above all, trust in the slow work of God,” by Teilhard De Chardin.
Another is by Rainer Maria Rilke: “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”
Gandalf: Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.
I was reading L'Engle's A Live Coal in the Sea one morning over breakfast, and after a harrowing passage, arrived at the quote by William Langland, from which her title was taken, and suddenly I was sobbing all over my breakfast. Later I borrowed it for an email signature: “But all the wickedness in the world which man may do or think is no more to the mercy of God than a live coal dropped in the sea.” ― William Langland (c 1330 - c 1386)
I love quotes; thank you for sharing your redemptive list.
There are some gems here--thank you for sharing these!
My book coach, Helena Sorensen, was interviewed about her novel this past year, in which she said, "When we muster the courage to look darkness in the eye and hold its gaze, it is always the first to look away." That has been definitive for me since I read it, and I think it will continue to be. It has resonated strongly with my own coaching clients as well!
This is wonderful! I always write a quote on the first page of my planner - something of a theme for the year. I hadn’t found my 2026 quote yet but there are some good contenders here! Leaning toward the good words of Brian Doyle.
I don't even know if I've shared this one on Instagram, but one that comes to mind is by Kathryn Schulz: "However terrible our sorrow may be, we understand that it is made in the image of love." This is one that I've returned to again and again.
Thank you, Lore, swimming through is what I’m getting, and I’m with you. Speaking of swimming:
“I just love the way my life is now. I get to advocate for people with limb differences, I get to have a purpose with my life, and I get to have a relationship with God.”
Lulu Gribbin(at age 15, attacked by a shark, changing the entire trajectory of her athletic life)
Oh wow! Thank you for sharing that.
I’ve held on to a few quotes this year. One is “Above all, trust in the slow work of God,” by Teilhard De Chardin.
Another is by Rainer Maria Rilke: “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”
You know I love that Rilke quote! It has been a guiding one for me since I was in my twenties!
Gandalf: Saruman believes it is only great power that can hold evil in check, but that is not what I have found. I found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love.
I have never read the trilogy but there are so many powerful quotes that I think I will have to someday =)
I was reading L'Engle's A Live Coal in the Sea one morning over breakfast, and after a harrowing passage, arrived at the quote by William Langland, from which her title was taken, and suddenly I was sobbing all over my breakfast. Later I borrowed it for an email signature: “But all the wickedness in the world which man may do or think is no more to the mercy of God than a live coal dropped in the sea.” ― William Langland (c 1330 - c 1386)
I love quotes; thank you for sharing your redemptive list.
Oh my. I need to reread that one. I don't think I've read it since college!
Love the Krista Tippett quote! Feels like really important perspective for these days.
Right? The interview she said it in was with Mike Cosper and really encouraged me.
I was able to find, and listened on my commute home tonight. So grateful for her (and your) voice.
There are some gems here--thank you for sharing these!
My book coach, Helena Sorensen, was interviewed about her novel this past year, in which she said, "When we muster the courage to look darkness in the eye and hold its gaze, it is always the first to look away." That has been definitive for me since I read it, and I think it will continue to be. It has resonated strongly with my own coaching clients as well!
Wow. That is gorgeous! Helen is so wise. I'm going to save that one.
Any time I find a fellow Rilke appreciator, it gives me joy.
I love that =) One of our dogs is named Rilke if that says anything ;)
This is wonderful! I always write a quote on the first page of my planner - something of a theme for the year. I hadn’t found my 2026 quote yet but there are some good contenders here! Leaning toward the good words of Brian Doyle.
One Long River of Song is my favorite of his and is probably due for a reread this year!
When I google the Rilke quote, your post is the only one that comes up. Can you share your source? Thank you!
Which Rilke quote? There are two.
My apologies, the freeze in place quote. Thanks for sharing the book!
I don't believe the widening circle poem is available online, although I've shared about it in other posts (and in The Understory).
The other quote is from The Dark Interval: Letters for a grieving heart. Here's an excerpt from it: https://magazine.tank.tv/tank/2018/09/the-dark-interval-1
This is a treasure trove! Thanks for sharing these.
Of course! I love all the quotes you share on Instagram, have any in particular been guiding lights for you?
I don't even know if I've shared this one on Instagram, but one that comes to mind is by Kathryn Schulz: "However terrible our sorrow may be, we understand that it is made in the image of love." This is one that I've returned to again and again.
Great quotes! Thank you!
Of course =)