“You can't test courage cautiously.” — Annie Dillard Quote

You can't test courage cautiously.

The writer studies literature, not the world. He is careful of what he reads, for that is what he will write.

Say you could view a time lapse film of our planet: what would you see?

People love pretty much the same things best. A writer looking for subjects inquires not after what he loves best, but after what he alone loves at all.

We are here to witness. There is nothing else to do with those mute materials we do not need. Until Larry teaches his stone to talk, until God changes his mind, or until the pagan gods slip back to their hilltop groves, all we can do with the whole inhuman array is watch it.

I feel most alive, most electric with faith, breath, and courage, when I think of God as a current that runs through all that is. Not by will or by choice. Not as a benediction but because there are laws even God must obey.

When you question this war on poverty, you get all the criticisms from adherents to the status quo who just don't want to see anything change. We got to have the courage to face that down, just as we did in the welfare reform of the late 1990s, and if we succeeded, we can help resuscitate this culture and get people back to work.

I want to be a voice to young children and women and people of all ages to go for their dreams, to be resilient and have courage. Don't let fear motivate you. The American Dream says that all things are possible, and I genuinely believe that.

Courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can't practice any other virtue consistently. You can practice any virtue erratically, but nothing consistently without courage.