A saint has to be a misfit. A person who embodies what his culture considers typical or normal cannot be exemplary.

Even the cry from the depths is an affirmation: Why cry if there is no hint of hope of hearing?

Don't try to impress God with your works" or "Don't attempt to please God with your merits" or "Don't try to keep the rules and regulations in order to earn your salvation." He looked around at nearly slumbering collections of utterly casual Christians and wondered, "Who's trying?

The people who are good at being civil often lack strong convictions and people who have strong convictions often lack civility.

I have a hard time picturing several aspects of the modern world without Luther.

There is no reason to make the search for friendship sound like an animal instinct. Friendship does not always come as a result of a search; it can come when we least look for it, just as it denies itself when we pursue it too earnestly and with pathetic eagerness.

All the truly deep people have at the core of their being the genius to be simple or to know how to seek simplicity