“When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said “Let us pray.” We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.”

Within every hopeless situation and every seemingly hopeless person lies the possibility of transformation

Be nice to whites, they need you to rediscover their humanity.

We are made for loving. If we don’t love, we will be like plants without water.

We are made for goodness. We are made for love. We are made for friendliness. We are made for togetherness. We are made for all of the beautiful things that you and I know.

A person is a person through other persons.

In the end what matters is not how good we are but how good God is. Not how much we love Him but how much He loves us. And God loves us whoever we are, whatever we’ve done or failed to do, whatever we believe or can’t.

We do not heal in isolation. When we reach out and connect with one another—when we tell the story, name the hurt, grant forgiveness, and renew or release the relationship—our suffering begins to transform.

Though wrong gratifies in the moment, good yields its gifts over a lifetime.

Like when you sit in front of a fire in winter – you are just there in front of the fire. You don’t have to be smart or anything. The fire warms you.

Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need for one another.

You show your humanity by how you see yourself not as apart from others but from your connection to others.

Language is very powerful. Language does not just describe reality. Language creates the reality it describes.

Out of the cacophony of random suffering and chaos that can mark human life, the life artist sees or creates a symphony of meaning and order.

When we see others as separate, they become a threat. When we see others as part of us, as connected, as interdependent, then there is no challenge we cannot face—together.

When we see others as the enemy, we risk becoming what we hate. When we oppress others, we end up oppressing ourselves. All of our humanity is dependent upon recognizing the humanity in others.

There is nothing more difficult than waking someone who is only pretending to be asleep.

I gave them hope, and so turned away their eyes from death.

Everywhere we look, complex magic of nature blazes before our eyes.

You must see with eyes unclouded by hate. See the good in that which is evil, and the evil in that which is good. Pledge yourself to neither side, but vow instead to preserve the balance that exists between the two.

Danger gleams like sunshine to a brave man’s eyes.

Then love knew it was called love. And when I lifted my eyes to your name, suddenly your heart showed me my way.

Sometimes I feel like I’m not solid. I’m hollow. There’s nothing behind my eyes. I’m a negative of a person. All I want is blackness, blackness and silence.

Absence may or may not make the heart grow fonder, but it certainly freshens the eye.

Love does not see with the eyes, but with the soul.