850 Quotes by Madeleine L'Engle

If she wanted to write Christian fiction, how was she to go about it? I told her that if she is truly and deeply a Christian, what she writes is going to be Christian, whether she mentions Jesus or not. And if she is not, in the most profound sense, Christian, then what she writes is not going to be Christian, no matter how many times she invokes the name of the Lord.

You’ve got to accept the fact that you are basically not teaching a subject, you are teaching children.

And we mustn’t lose our sense of humor,” Mrs. Which said. “The only way to cope with something deadly serious is to try to treat it a little lightly.

Ananda: that joy without which the universe will fall apart and collapse.

And When is not what matters. It’s what happens in the When that matters.

In other words, to put it into Euclid, or old-fashioned plane geometry, a straight line is not the shortest distance between two points.

It’s a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand. It stops us from taking anything for granted. It has also taught me about living in the immediate moment.

Just relax and don’t worry over things that needn’t trouble you,” Mrs Whatsit said.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’... I am grateful that Jesus cried out those words, because it means that I need never fear to cry them out myself. I need never fear, nor feel any sense of guilt, during the inevitable moments of forsakenness. They come to us all. They are part of the soul’s growth.