Richard Paul Evans Quotes

If God came to save the world, why are so many of His professed followers intent on damning it?

. . . Harboring an emotion as powerful as gratitude has power of its own.

Dwelling on him would make him a bigger part of my life than I want him to be.

But more than brave, you have love. And love is brave.

Like all living things, love, too, struggles against hardship, and in the process sheds its fatuous skin to expose one composed of more than just a storm of emotion-one of loyalty and divine friendship. And though it may be temporarily blinded by adversity, it never gives in or up, holding tight to lofty ideals that transcend this earth and time- while its counterfeit simply concludes it was mistaken and quickly runs off to find the next real thing.

Leah taught me that the greatest secret of life is that we find exactly what we're looking for. In spite of what happens to us, ultimately we decide whether our lives are good or bad, ugly or beautiful.

Raising or caring for children requires sacrifice and service, which, I believe, heals us from the destructive forces of self-centeredness.

People aren't wired to be alone. Even in the stressful population of prison, solitary confinement is still considered a cruel punishment.

It's a shame that humans don't come with reset buttons.

Procrastinatio n is the thief of dreams

We humans are born egocentric. The sky thunders and children believe that God is mad at them for something they've done - parents divorce and children believe it's their fault for not being good enough. Growing up means putting aside our egocentricity for truth. Still, some people cling to this childish mind-set. As painful as their self-flagellation may be, they'd rather believe their crises are their fault so they can believe they have control. In doing so they make fools and false gods of themselves.

Joy isn't the natural response to blessings - joy is what comes from acknowledging them.

Without great mountains we cannot reach great heights.

I have learned a great truth of life. We do not succeed in spite of our challenges and difficulties, but rather, precisely because of them.

To choose the path is to choose the destination, but sometimes it seems that the path is under our feet even before we know we're walking.

If you passed me walking home from school, you probably wouldn't even notice me. That's because I'm just a kid like you. I go to school like you. I get bullied like you. Unlike you, I live in Idaho. Don't ask me what state Idaho is in––news flash––Idaho IS a state. ~Michael Vey

What a culture we live in, we are swimming in an ocean of information, and drowning in ignorance.

Broken vows are like broken mirrors. They leave those who held to them bleeding and staring at fractured images of themselves.

Commitment to a plan or thought carries with it a force that can influence the unconscious mind and bring about the desired effect. In other words, once we decide to have something, the mind unconsciously begins to create the reality necessary to bring to pass what we desire.

Some people deal with their problems by talking them to death. In fact, some enjoy the execution so much they resurrect their problems just so they can kill them again.-Nathan Hurst

There's no hurt so great that love can't heal it.

The thing is, the only real sign of life is growth. And growth requires pain. So to choose life is to accept pain.

I don't want to go to Peru. "How do you know? You've never been there." I've never been to hell either and I'm pretty sure I don't want to go there.

Roses can grow in slums just as weeds can grow around mansions.

Life is what happens to us while we're planning something else.

You're the type who thinks of the glass as being half full, instead of half empty. "No," she said, "I'm just grateful for the glass.

Suffering ceases to be suffering when we form a clear picture of it.

Sometimes our arms are so full with the burdens we carry that it hinders our view of the load those around us are staggering beneath.

Usually the most interesting stories are written not on paper but hearts.

I am facing the most difficult thing of my life, my own greatest failure.

In the end, we all lose it. Remember that. In the end, we own nothing.

I don't think it is as much a human foible as it is a human curse that we cannot understand the beauty of a thing until it is gone.

...for we are all amateurs at life, but if we do not focus too much on our mistakes, a miraculous picture emerges. And we learn that it's not the beauty of the image that warrants our gratitude--it's the chance to paint.

The concept of spiritual healing was something I was raised with.

It has been a mistake living my life in the past. One cannot ride a horse backwards and still hold its reins.

The sweetness of reunion is the joy of heaven.

I have a penchant for fresh notebooks and mechanical pencils. It seems every time I go to the store, I buy a new notebook. I have dozens of them just sitting around.

Don't try to write what other people are writing - write what is true to you.

Often times, the greatest peace comes of surrender.

Those with the softest hearts build the hardest shells.

That which we expect of life is indeed all that it ever can be.

Psychologists tested the story of the Good Samaritan. What they learned gives us reason to pause. The greatest determinant of who stopped to help the stranger in need was not compassion, morality, or religious creed. It was those who had the time. Makes me wonder if I have time to do good.

It is often during the worst of times that we see the best of humanity–awakening within the most ordinary of us that which is most sublime. I do not believe that it is circumstance that produces such greatness any more than it is the canvas that makes the artist. Adversity merely presents the surface on which we render our souls’ most exacting likeness. It is in the darkest skies that stars are best seen.

It is better to be loved by one person who knows your soul than millions who don't even know your phone number.

We can only lose what we have first claimed.

The universe is a trillion, trillion threads moving in seemingly unrelated directions. Yet when you look at them together, they create a remarkable tapestry.

People can become so blinded by their own perceived victimhood that they make victims of everyone around them.

Some people spend so much time hunting treasure that they fail to see it all around them. It's like sifting through gold to find the silt.