How monotonously alike all the great tyrants and conquerors have been: how gloriously different are the saints.

The Christian claim is: Nothing explains the facts better than an all-powerful, all-knowing, omnipresent god creating the universe and sending Jesus to spread his message. This is about as remarkable a claim as could be stated, and yet it is tossed out lightly. Christians seem to imagine that "God did it" is as plausible as the natural explanation that stories grow with the retelling. The Christian has the burden of proof, and it's an enormous burden given this enormous claim.

When the most important things in our life happen we quite often do not know, at the moment, what is going on. A man does not always say to himself, "hullo! i'm growing up." It is only when he looks back that he realises what has happened and recognises it as what people call "growing up.

Critics who treat adult as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves.

Gratitude looks to the Past and love to the Present; fear, avarice, lust, and ambition look ahead.

When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.

Forgiveness does not mean excusing.