309 Quotes by John Eldredge

As D. H. Lawrence said, “I am not a mechanism.

You can’t fight a battle you don’t think exists.

I don’t write anything that I haven’t lived. In terms of integrity, you have to write what you live. And if you write beyond what you live, it is theory. And theory is not helpful. It is just not.

We are, all of us, utterly committed and deeply devoted to our “style”, our “way”, our “approach to life.” We have absolutely no intention of giving it up. Not even for love. So God creates an environment where we have to. It’s called marriage.

The first line grabs me by the throat. “Therefore we do not lose heart.” Somebody knows how not to lose heart? I’m all ears. For we are losing heart. All of us. Daily. It is the single most unifying quality shared by the human race on the planet at this time. We are losing – or we have already lost – heart.

Don’t climb on that, don’t break anything, don’t be so aggressive, don’t be so noisy, don’t be so messy, don’t make such crazy risks. But God’s design – which He placed in boys as the picture of Himself – is a resounding yes. Be fierce, be wild, be passionate.

The spirit of our day is a soft acceptance of everything – except deep conviction in anything.

So you can’t demand the broken to live as if they were whole. Discipline is not the issue; apply discipline and you’ll make it worse. What is needed is healing.

Henri Nouwen once asked Mother Teresa for spiritual direction. Spend one hour each day in adoration of your Lord, she said, and never do anything you know is wrong. Follow this and you’ll be fine.