You'd learn more about the world by lying on the couch and drinking gin out of a bottle than by watching the news.

Winter: It's not just a season, it's who we are.

Easter is so disappointing. You suffer all the way through lent, and what do you get for it? A ham.

English is the perfect language for preachers because it allows you to talk until you think of what to say.

The funniest line in English is 'Get it?' When you say that, everyone chortles.

What keeps faith cheerful is the extreme persistence of gentleness and humor. Gentleness is everywhere in daily life, a sign that faith rules through ordinary things: through cooking and small talk, through storytelling, making love, fishing, tending animals and sweet corn and flowers, through sports, music, and books, raising kids-all the places where the gravy soaks in and grace shines through. Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people. Lacking any other purpose in life, it would be good enough to live for their sake.

The relationship between truth and a newspaper is like the relationship between the color green and the number seven. Occasionally you will see the number seven written in green, but you learn not to expect this.