29 Quotes by Richard Holloway

The use of God in moral debate is so problematic as to be almost worthless.

Never give people power over you until you know how to get rid of them.

The tragedy is to die without knowing who you were, to keep the act going till the end.

Truth is rarely simple and seldom obvious, which is why mature institutions recognise the importance of conflict and disagreement. Christianity was born in conflict, and it has been characterised by conflict ever since. The Church’s obsession with heresy is witness to this fact.

When a popular phenomenon reaches the cover of ‘Time,’ it is already out of fashion.

It is a harsh world, indescribably cruel. It is a gentle world, unbelievably beautiful. It is a world that can make us bitter, hateful, rabid, destroyers of joy. It is a world that can draw forth tenderness from us, as we lean towards one another over broken gates. It is a world of monsters and saints, a mutilated world, but it is the only one we have been given. We should let it shock us not into hatred or anxiety, but into unconditional love.

So be brave in the face of death; be sad at leaving, but don’t let those by your final emotions. Let it be gratitude for the life you had. And even if you think there’s no one to hear you, say “Thank You.

A life takes as long as it takes to bring us to our truth, even if we only make it to our death bed.

Self understanding helps us connect our own weaknesses to the weaknesses of others and forgive them.