We can't give our children the future, strive though we may to make it secure. But we can give them the present.

I've come to see conspiracy theories as the refuge of those who have lost their natural curiosity and ability to cope with change.

Wariness about change is a kind of prairie wisdom.

There are men I could spend eternity with. But not this life.

The demon of acedia -- also called the noonday demon -- is the one that causes the most serious trouble of all. . . . He makes it seem that the sun barely moves, if at all, and . . . he instills in the heart of the monk a hatred for the place, a hatred for his very life itself.

But in order to have an adult faith, most of us have to outgrow and unlearn much of what we were taught about religion.

The ordinary activities I find most compatible with contemplation are walking, baking bread, and doing laundry.