41 Quotes by Karen Swallow Prior

Books have formed the soul of me. I know that spiritual formation is of God, but I also know – mainly because I learned it from books – that there are other kinds of formation, too, everyday gifts, and that God uses the things of this earth to teach us and shape us, and to help us find truth.

From that moment, and for the rest of my life, my mother’s words – perceptive and many others – have helped me to be the thing she saw and named in me.

I struggled against God. Not as many do. But still I did, in my own way. I didn’t doubt his being. I doubted his ways. I doubted that his ways were better than my ways.

The fullness of literary language echoes meaning – and reminds us that there is, in fact, meaning.

The marital relationship is singular in the way each partner shapes and forms the other. The good habits practiced by one partner contribute to the positive formation of the other. The same is true of bad habits. This mutuality doubles the effects of one person’s habits, whether positively or negatively.

It is no coincidence that the term “voice” has come to mean in modern usage much more than just the sound made by the vocal organs, but also the means by which we make our individual selves known, not only to others but to ourselves. For the connection between the self and language is inseparable: it is through language that the self becomes.

Humility is not, therefore, simply a low regard for oneself; rather, it is a proper view of oneself that is low in comparison to God and in recognition of our own fallenness. “Humility is thinking less about yourself, not thinking less of yourself.

Certainly, some reading material merits a quick read, but habitual skimming is for the mind what a steady diet of fast food is for the body.

A book that requires nothing from you might offer the same diversion as that of a television sitcom, but it is unlikely to provide intellectual, aesthetic, or spiritual rewards long after the cover is closed.