"If the true revelation of God is in Christ, the Bible is not properly a revelation, but the History of a Revelation. This is not only a Fact but a necessity, for a Person cannot be revealed in a Book, but must find revelation, if at all, in a Person."

-- Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), The Law of Growth [1902]

"There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats."

-- Albert Schweitzer

"Thats the spirit, George... If nothing else works, then a total pig headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through!"

--General Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett

"Life does not consist in piety, but in striving to become devout; not in health, but in becoming healthy — as a whole, not in being, but in becoming. Not passivity, but practice. We have still not arrived, but we shall. It is still not done; it has not happened; yet it has been conceived. It has not yet shone upon all, but it has stirred all. We are not yet at home, but we are on the way."

-- Martin Luther

"But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people."

--Paul the Apostle, Letter to Titus 3:5-8

"The Justice memo likewise reveals a brazen Republican willingness to put politics above sound legal reasoning. The appointees didn't break money-laundering laws, and they aren't the only partisans to ever put politics first. But the memo gives the Supreme Court ample reason to hear an appeal of Texas' congressional map. We had originally opposed keeping the case alive, but the new evidence is too much to ignore."

-- The Dallas Morning News editorial board

"...the endemic corruption of conservatives in power we are witnessing today is not just a morality play about power's corrupting influence, or about the descent of ideologues into the practical swamps of politics. Worse than that, it's about the consequences of entrusting government's vast power to people who can't think of it as a force for the common good, and thus, inevitably, treat it as a force for private gain."

-- Marshall Whitman

"By far the most significant event in the whole course of human history will be celebrated, with or without understanding, at the end of this season, Advent. What we are in fact celebrating is the awe-inspiring humility of God, and no amount of familiarity with the trappings of Christmas should ever blind us to it. God’s intervening into human history came about with an almost frightening quietness and self-effacement, and as millions will testify, he will come once again with the same silence and the same devastating humility into any heart ready to receive him."

-- J.B. Phillips

"I am resigning from the House of Representatives because I’ve compromised the trust of my constituents.

When I announced several months ago that I would not seek re-election, I publicly declared my innocence because I was not strong enough to face the truth. So, I misled my family, staff, friends, colleagues, the public -- even myself. For all of this, I am deeply sorry.

The truth is -- I broke the law, concealed my conduct, and disgraced my high office. I know that I will forfeit my freedom, my reputation, my worldly possessions, and most importantly, the trust of my friends and family.

Some time ago, I asked my lawyers to inform the U.S. Attorney Carol Lam that I would like to plead guilty and begin serving a prison term. Today is the culmination of that process. I will continue to cooperate with the government’s ongoing investigation to the best of my ability.

In my life, I have known great joy and great sorrow. And now I know great shame. I learned in Viet Nam that the true measure of a man is how he responds to adversity. I cannot undo what I have done. But I can atone. I am now almost 65 years old and, as I enter the twilight of my life, I intend to use the remaining time that God grants me to make amends.

The first step in that journey is to admit fault and apologize. The next step is to face the consequences of my actions like a man. Today, I have taken the first step and, with God’s grace, I will soon take the second.

Thank you."

- Rep. Randy Cunningham (R-CA)

"The whole thing (being an NFL analyst for ESPN) means such a great deal for me, and hopefully one day it will be there. But my friends and my family mean a little more. I would rather be helping them, even if it hurts that."

-- Michael Irvin

" We need to listen again to the biblical criticism of religion. No book, not even by Marx and his followers, is more scathing of empty religion than the Bible. The prophets of the eighth and seventh centuries BC were outspoken in their denunciation of the formalism and hypocrisy of Israelite worship. Jesus then applied their critique to the Pharisees of his day: 'These people ... honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me' (Is. 29:13; Mk. 7:6). And this indictment of religion by the Old Testament prophets and by Jesus is uncomfortably applicable to us and our churches today. Too much of our worship is ritual without reality, form without power, fun without fear, religion without God."

-- John R.W. Stott

"But if there is an ounce of truth in the notion that George Bush seriously proposed the destruction of al-Jazeera, and was only dissuaded by the Prime Minister, then we need to know, and we need to know urgently. We need to know what we have been fighting for, and there is only one way to find out.

The Attorney General's ban is ridiculous, untenable, and redolent of guilt. I do not like people to break the Official Secrets Act, and, as it happens, I would not object to the continued prosecution of those who are alleged to have broken it. But we now have allegations of such severity, against the US President and his motives, that we need to clear them up.

If someone passes me the document within the next few days I will be very happy to publish it in The Spectator, and risk a jail sentence. The public need to judge for themselves. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. If we suppress the truth, we forget what we are fighting for, and in an important respect we become as sick and as bad as our enemies."

-- Boris Johnson, British MP (Tory)

"We give you thanks, Almighty God, for all the benefits you have given us."

-- Unknown Catholic

"If you cannot believe, love from the bottom of your heart and don’t have so many questions about your faith. Just give your love to everyone! Most people are unable to express themselves about formal faith; but everyone understands what love is. Let love surge up in your heart and you will be one with God. If you are looking for a way forward, if you belong to those who strive for the kingdom of God, for a new heaven and a new earth, then love! God loves the world. Anyone can see that, otherwise God would not have wanted to make everything new."

-- Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt

"War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today."

-- John F. Kennedy

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."

-- Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda, 1933-1945

"Any suggestion that prewar information was distorted, hyped, fabricated by the leader of the nation is utterly false. This is revisionism of the most corrupt and shameless variety."

-- Dick Cheney

"Any suggestion that prewar information was distorted, hyped, fabricated by the leader of the nation is utterly false. This is revisionism of the most corrupt and shameless variety."

-- Dick Cheney

"Providence watches over each of us as we journey through life, providing us with two guides: repentance and remorse. The one calls us forward. The other calls us back. Yet they do not contradict each other, nor do they leave the traveler in doubt or confusion. For the one calls forward to the Good, the other back from the evil. And there are two of them, because in order to make our journey secure we must look ahead as well as back."

-- Soren Kierkegaard

"I resent the fact that on Veterans Day, they criticized Democrats for criticizing them. I like guys who've never been there that criticize us who've been there. I like that. I like guys who got five deferments and never been there and send people to war, and then don't like to hear suggestions about what needs to be done."

-- Rep. John Murtha (D-PA), Col., USMC, Ret.