Relatable Excerpts & Quotes
Living History
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Pg. 51. I certainly didn’t know that I was about to meet the person who would cause my life to spin in directions that I would have never imagined.
Pg. 61. I thought of him as a force of nature and wondered whether I’d be up to the task of living through his seasons.
Pg. 61. Bill Clinton is nothing if not persistent.
Pg. 63. We both loved the same man.
Pg. 75. Even after all these years, he is still the most interesting, energizing and fully alive person I have ever met.
Pg. 110. Take criticism seriously, but not personally.
Pg. 137. Jackie spoke frankly about the peculiar and dangerous attraction evoked by charismatic politicians, she cautioned me that Bill, like President Kennedy had a personal magnetism that inspired strong feeling in people.
Pg .195. . as like shoveling smoke.
Pg .215. They were both experienced criminal lawyers who understood that the innocent could be persecuted.
Pg .222. If an issue is everyone business, it becomes no one responsibility.
Pg .253. He conveyed an unique combination of gentleness and power.
Pg .328. Even though I have done nothing wrong, I’m well aware that, in the immortal words of Edward Bennett Williams a prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich if the chooses.
Pg .42. After the second election, I felt I was entering this new chapter of my life like steel tempered in fire: a bit harder at the edge, but more durable. Bill had grown into his presidency, and it endowed him with a gravitas that showed on his face and his eyes.
Pg. 59. We also visited Cape Town and saw Nelson Mandela who once told us that “the greatest glory of living, lies not in never falling, but in rising every time you fall”
Pg. 406. Anyone who believe that prosecutors can’t abuse the American criminal justice system should read Susan’s Book “The Woman Who Wouldn’t Talk: Why I Refused to Testify Against the Clintons and What I Learned in Jail.
Pg. 480. He encouraged me to be strong and not give in to bitterness and anger in the face of pain and injustice.
Pg. 447. His experience as a holocaust survivor has given Elie and kind of genius for empathy. He never flinches from anyone else’s suffering, and his heart is big enough to absorb a friend’s pain without a second thought.
Pg. 455. Sitting in an airport lounge with survivors of one of the worst genocides in human history reminded me again what human beings are capable of doing to one another.
Pg. 469. Where do you turn when your best friend, the one who always helps you through hard times, is the one who wounded you.
Pg. 503. I ran across another Chinese saying that summoned up my opinion of Stars investigation: “Where there is a will to condemn, there is evidence”
The Line Between Right & Wrong
Charles Colson
Pg.30. I really thought that way, and I never once in my life thought I was breaking the law. I would have been terrified to do it because I would jeopardize the law degree, I had worked four years at night to earn. I wouldn’t put that in jeopardy for anything in the world!
Pg.33. Second, and even more important – and this goes to the heart of the ethical dilemma in America today – even if I had known I was doing wrong, would I have had the will to do what is right?
Pg.51. We have way to many people in prison. Half of them are in for non-violent offenses, which to me is ludicrous. They should be put to work.
Born Again
Charles W. Colson
Pg.108. Never before had I felt the awful frustration of knowing in my own heart what was true but being unable to persuade anyone.
Pg.112. Where the law touches lives. I was beginning to sense how it felt to be personally caught in the cumbersome machinery.
Pg. 118. Was creating a madness I had never witnessed in twenty years.
Pg. 125. Pride leads to every other vice. As long as you are proud you cannot know God.
Pg.126. My self-centered past was washing over me in waves.
Pg. 127. Never once thanking Him for any of His gifts to me. Foxhole religion is just a way of using God.
Pg.152. It is not what Mr. Cox or Bill Merrill think or do, but what God knows. There would be a trial and if I lost, I could go to prison.
Pg.154. When a prosecutor is out to get you - and these Cox guys are out to nail your hide to the wall- it’s rough to beat it.
Pg.159. The old was dying, all right, but not without pain, not without resistance, not without tears and sorrow.
Pg. 210. What do you say to a man who is penniless, jobless, headed for prison and yet has this kind of faith?
Pg.218. My all-out loyalty to the Commander in Chief had warped and blurred my sense of right and wrong, no question about that, but actual crimes as defined in the statues? – no.
Pg.220. Anything would be better than the suspenseful waiting
Pg.224. I knew now what it was like for one person to stand virtually alone against the vast power of government.
Pg.225. I lowered my eyes “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers can separate us from Jesus.
Pg.224. And it was only one of a dozen congressional committees digging into every corner and crevice of our lives.
Pg.241. When I ask the spirit of God to speak through me, the pressure leaves.
Pg.242. I had to put the past behind me completely. If I meant going to prison, so be it.
Pg.250. Finally, he nodded his head. “If this is what it takes to give you freedom of the spirit, then I’m with you”
Pg.265. Okay friend, now that the girls can’t hear us, tell me what is was really like” I said, “It’s hell, Chuck. But you’re tough: you’ll do okay. Be careful whom you associate with. You’ll see a lot of ugly things going on around you – a guy once had his skull crushed for changing a tv station in the middle of a program. Just stay out of it and keep to yourself.
I looked at prison as cleansing time – and for self- examination.
Pg. 266. Men are never the same after confinement.
Pg.279. One who was incapable of bringing himself to quit anything.
Pg.280. Then like a man clinging to a rock in rushing rapids, his last ounce of strength gone, he heaved one final gasp, relaxed his iron grip and washed helplessly away in the swirling waters.
Pg.281. There is a special torture in seeing freedom dangled before your eyes and then pulled away.
Pg.287. The painful, animal – like process that prisoners endure when traveling.
Pg.290. In cells there is privacy and a degree of quiet. In dormitories there is constant noise and crowding together.
Pg.296. Sleep was fitful. The snores, groans, and other body noises of the men continued throughout the night.
Pg.302. My assignment to the laundry was also, I’m convinced, another step in my ego-busting process.
Pg.306. Shedding of my old life and to be free to live the new. He was preparing me, chastening me for the future perhaps, but for what purpose now?
Pg.307. Could it be that I had to become a prisoner to better understand suffering and deprivations. No one could understand this without being part of it, feeling the anxieties, knowing the helplessness, living in the desolation.
For the rest of my life I would know and feel what it is like to be imprisoned, the steady, gradual corrosion of a man’s soul.
Pg.315. Very few prisoners, I discovered, were able to maintain a sense of personal identity, without becoming resentful of the injustice they saw about them.
Pg.324. In the prisoner’s eyes it was just one more example of planned dehumanization; men stripped of self-worth and dignity are easier to control.
Pg.339. How easy it is to backslide, to succumb unknowingly to temptations of the moment.
Pg.347. So overwhelming are the pressures during the last days of confinement that even someone as even-tempered as Doc nearly snapped.
Pg.352. I bit my tongue and turned away in anger I couldn’t look at Peyton. Christ said to love your oppressor, but I could only feel utter contempt for the guard and his arrogance.
Pg.358. For wounded men to rebuild their lives.
Pg.364. And how long must the agony continue? My license to practice law was gone, my son imprisoned, my dad gone, my compatriots freed and over two years of a three-year sentence still staring me in the face. Though I knew I could not give up, those next days were the most difficult of any that I had spent in prison, probably the most difficult of my life.
Pg.369. God had put me in prison for purpose.
Exceeding Gratitude for the Creator’s Plan
James P. Gills
Pg.16. Instead of expressing gratitude daily for what we have, we focus on what we do not.
X~ We are not grateful for the terrible situations themselves, but for the fact that God is God and He is with us.
Pg.1. I am convinced that the cause of many life`s failures is that we, as human beings, lack exceeding gratitude for our Creator. As a result of taking His divine gift of life for granted, we live in discontent and misery, complaining about what we don’t have and failing to express genuine appreciation for what we do have.
Pg.2. As you learn to receive the redemption found in Christ alone, you will discover your personal destiny – the reason for which you were born. As a result of the deep gratitude born in your heart for your Creator- Redeemer, you will know the joy and freedom of living an anointed life- releasing the “dance” of your DNA.
Pg.3. He is kind, benevolent, and longsuffering. We need not beg Him, bribe Him, or appease Him. He actually longs to bless us every single moment, every single day. He comes down to us rather than demanding that we climb the impossible ladder to infinity to reach Him. Grace is God taking the initiative.
Instead of suffering the effects of selfish unhappiness, you can learn to cultivate a lifestyle of radical gratitude by gaining knowledge of the wonders of life.
Pg.7. And may your life blossom with the radiance of joy and peace that emanate from a heart filled with “exceeding gratitude for the Creator’s plan” for the life He has given you to enjoy.
Pg.12. Perhaps the greatest sin of omission is our failure the properly appreciate the gift of life.
Pg.16. Instead of expressing gratitude daily for what we have, we focus on what we do not have.
Pg.32. And seeking to know His purpose for your life will not only bring fulfillment to you in your journey on Earth, it will also reap great rewards for your future.
Pg.58. When we live stress -filled lives and allow negative thoughts and emotions of anger, self- pity, and bitterness to consume us, we hinder the beautiful expression of our DNA. When we fail to get proper exercise, and do not eat properly, we cripple the function of the marvelous DNA we have been given. Every poor lifestyle choice we make drain us of energy and creativity, weakens our physical body, challenges our immune system, and hinders the dance of our DNA.
Pg.18. If we give ourselves to worry, it makes us irritable and more susceptible to panic attacks. Anxiety can cause us to become depressed, negative, critical, judgmental, domineering and controlling. As a result, we insulate ourselves from people and become lonely. As a progressive disease, worry depletes us emotionally. It can sometime cause hypertension and destroy our ability to fight against other diseases by decreasing our natural immunity.
Pg.65. His placing a divine anointing on your life, with that anointing comes revelation of your divine purpose (the reason for which you were born)
Pg.68. Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies.
Pg.69. All God does is exquisite beyond our simple imagination, to such extraordinary heights that we are humbled by His majesty, beauty, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.
Pg.71. We decide whether or not we will adore our Maker, the weight of that choices is amazing to me. That choice -to adore the Creator- Redeemer –is the most important issue of life-
Pg.110. Have you ever received a card that contained the words I love you, words you wanted to hear and made you want to cry with gratitude and joy? That card was written by someone unknown to you. But it was purchased by someone who loves you and wants to express that love to you. The Bible is like that. It is God’s love letter to you uniquely applied to your life situation as you allow the Holy Spirit to quicken the word of God to your mind and heart, you will have that sense, that though written long ago, it is applicable for your personal situation right now. God is speaking through it to you -out of the love of His heart-
Pg.115. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Prov. 23:7, KJV)
Pg.116. It is vital that we consider what “thorns” may be in our lives that would choke and suffocate the divine influence of the word of God, making us unfruitful.
Pg.167. The wonder of divine grace is that no one deserves to receive it, it is unmerited favor.
Pg.168. God has a way of making bad things become good. (Psalm 103:1,3-4,12)
Pg.169. When everything in you wants to hold a grudge, point a finger and remember the pain, God wants you to lay it all aside. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14-15)
Pg.170. You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.
Pg.171. It is possible to face bitter experiences of life without becoming bitter, negative people, the grace of God will keep you in perfect peace as your mind is continually meditating on His love.
Pg.187. It is becoming increasingly difficult for Christians with same sex tendencies to sort out the confusing signs and options related to homosexuality within our culture. I believe we will continue to see the growth of the gay Christian movement-men and women in the evangelized community who are seeking and finding empowerment in their homosexuality.
Pg.189. The riches of God’s grace are not something we can ever earn; they are to be received by faith in Christ.
Pg.193. He actually longs to bless us every single moment, every single day. He comes down to us rather than demanding that we climb the impossible ladder to infinity to reach him. Grace is God taking the initiative.
Pg.194. Cultivating a grateful heart enables us to grow in grace and enjoy living in serenity rather than stress.
Pg.195. Be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
(I Peter 5:5-7)
Pg.196. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
(Hebrews 4:16)
Pg.197. I encourage you to approach His throne of grace boldly to receive His divine favor for whatever your need is this day. There you will find the answer to the longing of your heart. And the peace that only God can give will bless your life -Spirit, Soul and Body.
Pg.210. Peter concedes that you may have to suffer some trials in order that “genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ” ( I Peter 1:7) Trusting God in the midst of difficult circumstances is a test of your faith, proving its strength and genuineness. As your walk-in obedience, your faith will carry you through all the challenges of life.
Pg.224. When believers enter into intimate communion with God, making Him the essence of our lives; when we have lost “everything that was of value to us in that place of total I surrender, we experience the unutterable sweetness of relinquishment.
Pg.225. I suffered under their intimidation, while being wrongly accused.
As I agonized the accusations and potential negative consequences of this situation, I lay before the Lord and relinquished my life and this “care” to Him. Through this painful “cross” brought me into a deeper relationship with Himself that is profoundly satisfying. A more meaningful life were the result of this trial, as I chose to relinquish it all to God.
Pg.236. The secret to finding peace in the midst of great trouble and sorrow is to call on God. Though it may seem difficult to be thankful in the midst of a great loss, as believers, we can express our gratitude for the ability to look up to God and expect Him to help us.
Pg.237. There is not situation so terrible that God’s peace cannot permeate it.
Pg.244. A humble heart comes supernaturally when we let go of our own willfulness. Even Jesus humbled Himself. We have a hard time doing it, but He enables us to take on His thoughts and be broken before the Father.
Pg.245. When your heart is relinquished to Him, you hand over your desire to control your life, in that way you become a living sacrifice.
Pg.246. As we seek to rest in His redemption, we cease from worry and fretting, knowing that our loving God will respond to our request and intervene in our lives with His good will.
Pg.247. Everyone who has ever opened their heart to God done so of God’s drawing and prompting, speaking to their souls.
Pg.248. True prayer is two-way communication with God. True communion with God is the result of a deeply personal love relationship with Him.
Pg.249. As we become more and more filled with the love of God, we will feel His love for others who are hurting. In that way we learn to become intercessors for them, rather than accusers.
Pg.254. It is during these painful times, which the Bible refers to as trials or tests, that is most important for us to engage in the grace.
Pg.254. Of appreciation, adoration, and for our Creator.
Pg.257. If there is anything that can comfort the human heart in a time of difficulty and trial, it is enjoying the intimacy of a loving relationship with God. Learning to know our Creator through the wonders of His creation should evoke adoration from our hearts, which in turn will fill us with the healing presence of God.
Pg.258. It is a sad reality that if often takes a severe trial to draw us to God. In our pain, we look up, and realize that God is waiting for us to call on Him for help. When we do, we experience a divine melding of our souls with God, through the cross and Christ’s forgiveness, which fills us with His divine comfort.
Paradoxically, the pain the believers suffer through trials allows the wonderful grace and comfort of God to be revealed to us through us in deeper ways.
It is simply a fact of human nature that when we feel strong, and have no need of help beyond ourselves, we do not seek the Lord. We usually have to be brought down by the pain of trials to become as children, crying out to God for help and comfort. We lay our pride and arrogance associated with our traditional religion. It is our painful trials that we best learn to lean on God in total dependence.
Pg.259 In the place of humble abandonment to the will of God, we discover the wonderful secrets of His tender care. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.
(I Peter 5:6-7, 10)
Humility is required for us to give our troubles to God and ask for His help.
Pg.260 As natural and easy as it has been to be proud, it must be -it will be- to be humble.
True humility is one of the most beautiful characteristics reflected in the Christian’s life. And it is developed in us largely as a result of our proper response to tests and trials.
Pg.261. Bowing before God in adoration and worship casting our care on Him, and seeking for His divine help, will cause us to grow in the grace of humility. Our minds will be transformed to become Christ like as we trust Him in the trials of our lives. And in that transformation, we will discover divine destiny. The purpose for which we were born.
Pg.265. Rather than placing confidence in our own self-reliant, moral resolve, it is our honest search for truth that transforms us from self-centeredness.
Pg.267. He will reveal your unique purpose for life, which will guarantee personal fulfillment as a unique servant of God.
Pg.271. You don’t have to live in fear, guilt, or remorse over past failures; you simply need to ask God for forgiveness.
Pg.272. As you surrender your life to God, either He will open doors to another kind of employment, or He will empower you to change your attitude and become content and fulfilled where you are
Pg.279. Complete rest is a time for easing all physical, mental, even emotional involvement and simply reposing. As important as physical rest is to the body, so is peace vital to the rest of the soul.
Pg.280. Our state of mind is a key to being able to sleep well at night. As believers, we must follow the counsel of scripture to bring all of our anxieties and fears and conflicts to God in prayer.
Pg.281. It is exhilarating to see the hand of God move into a situation and change it in ways we could never have done.
As we wait on God and fill our minds with His word, we are enabled to trust His love with even the most devastating situations we face.
King Salomon understood the connection between inner wholeness and our physical health.
Pg.282. Scientifically, the primary characteristics of both cure and healing in all of life is understood to be balance.
Balance is also required in order to experience rest for our souls.
Pg.283. Pursuing a relationship with God will create a divine balance for all of life. And that balance will bring profound rest to your life.
It is important that we make choices for our lives that allow for a certain amount of time devoted to meaningful for employment, as well as set aside to have fun, in these ways, also, we achieve balance on which all of creation thrives.
Pg.284. As we learn to rest in the redemption of Christ, we will become completely satisfied with God alone. And as we enjoy His divine rest in our mind and Spirit, we will respond to life’s most demanding situations in a positive way.
The people in whom I recognize to fulfill their divine destiny in life, are those who have found their rest in Christ. They learn from yielding their lives to the Holy spirit, how to find the balance in life that is so necessary. As they cultivate the habit of waiting on God, they are prepared to face any situation in life with a peaceful mind and restful spirit.
Pg.288. Emotional loss, broken hearts, mental anguish – all are part of the human experience; no one is exempt.
Passage of time dulls the ache, they never really “get over” their loss; they learn to manage their pain.
Sadly, they have never appreciated the wonderful promise and power of divine comfort offered to us in scripture and realized by many believers who testify of its healing power.
Pg.294. In a uniquely mysterious way, trouble and sorrow can open our hearts to receive the healing compassion and comfort of God. God’s purpose for the comfort we receive in or troubles is not only to heal our hearts, it is to empower us to comfort others as well.
Pg.295. As we learn to appreciate God’s wonderful gift of comfort and receive it for the healing of our own hearts, we will be empowered to give the comfort to others that they so desperately need.
Pg.298. Remember by definition, that to truly appreciate something or someone we have to have an accurate understanding of their quality of worth
Pg.301. “Laughter lifts; crying cleanses. Both are partners in the process of emotional restoration”
Pg.302. Maximum bodily strength and efficiency depend upon three factors: sleep, exercise, and nutrition. It is a fact that more people die in America of too much food than of too little.
Pg.304. Crowded lives produce fatigue -and fatigue produces irritability- and irritability produces indifference- and indifference can be interpreted by the child as a lack of genuine affection and personal esteem. Everyone needs personal time, family time, sharing time, and God time.
Pg.306. Consider, for example, some of the major areas of life in which you want to succeed- personal health, employment, financial security, civic duties, and relationship- with God, family, friends, and self. It is clear that you need strike a balance of priorities in order to succeed.
As you learn to appreciate your Creator, taking time to wait on Him and seeking His direction for your life, you will become sensitive to what pleases Him. In that place of intimate communion with God, as you bow in adoration and worship of Him, you can expect to receive His wisdom that is promised to those seek Him.
Pg.307. Waiting on the Lord, meditating on scripture and giving ourselves to prayer will bring to us the supernatural wisdom we need to pursue balance in the exacting challenges of life. There can be no true success in life without giving God His rightful place at the center of all we are and all we do.
Pg.311. Grateful people receive a wide range of benefits, simply because of their perspective on life.
Gratitude is one heaping helping of wellness something more beneficial than the thousand vitamins or ten years of workouts at the gym.
Pg.316. Scripture is clear concerning His desire for you to experience love, peace, hope, and joy in your daily life.
Pg.322. It is a paradox that without the very real element of struggle, all is not intended to function optimally.
We cannot underestimate the necessity and power of the struggle that is innate to the healthy development of every form of life.
For example, without monumental struggle, butterflies would not emerge from their deathtrap cocoons, fragile plants would not push their way up through crusted Earth.
Pg.324. The apostle Paul admitted to the possibility of his becoming conceited and proud because of the great revelations of God he had experienced. He knew that God had sent an undesirable “thorn in the flesh” to keep that from happening.
Pg.325. We are called to respond in such a way that our pain serves to strengthen our godly character.
God hears our cry; He cares and delights to deliver us from our troubles.
Pg.326. A “thorn” is a trial that we are “locked into” it will not go away soon, if ever. It will stay with us as we need it, with the purpose of keeping us humble and allowing the grace of God to be perfected in our lives.
Pg.327. If we seek Him and receive His divine help, our “thorns” will make us better people.
Pg.338. Noise is not only toxic to the sensitive hair cells of the ear but is also damaging to the cardiovascular and nervous systems, as well as to our relationship with God and others.
Pg.340. Our Creator endowed us with the inner capacity for hope; it is part of His design for healing, we must nurture it in ourselves and in each other.
To pass words of hope to an emotionally drowning soul is to drag them into the “life raft” by hand. You can’t hold back a man or a woman whose hope is in the Lord.
It should be mentioned that faith gives substance to hope (Heb 11:1) while hope is very important, it lacks substance until it is rooted in faith.
Hope is faith talking aloud, drowning out voices of defeat. Whatever situations we face in life, we can be filled with hope as we learn to wait on God.
Hope breaks out of the net of reasoning and moves forward in faith and confidence in God and His word. Hope renews our minds.
Pg.342. As such joy grows in us, cultivated by our relationship of prayer with our Redeemer, we experience new freedom. No longer do the anxieties and fears of this world bind us. No longer do we struggle to satisfy our own desires or impress others.
While it is not possible to live in this world without suffering sorrows of many kinds, as believers we have the promise of God to heal our broken hearts.
Pg.352. That worrying prevents real intimacy because the other person can get only so close without getting caught up in that unhealthy worry mentality.
Another destructive habit of the tongue is reflected in a critical spirit. The habit of finding fault with everything and everyone devastates relationships.
When we criticize rather than encourage a brother or family member, we can condemn not only him, but also ourselves.
Pg.359. Others believe that if they search hard enough for that “special someone” they will find the joy they seek in the encounter. Unfortunately, they do not understand that unless they become the “right” person themselves, they will continually be disappointed in relationships.
Our own pursuits will inevitably lead to despair, frustration, anger, anxiety, and loneliness. I have described joy as a heart that is changed by knowing God. It takes our breath away. It is an infinite host of angels singing glory to God. It is the greatest music or words we can ever imagine, and still more. This great joy puts everything else out of our heads and our hearts. In turning from earthly things we find God. And by putting our faith in Him, we are filled with abundant joy.
Pg.360. Many Christians still lack joy because their minds and hearts are filled with worry and anxiety. Worry is the greatest sickness of mankind, many illnesses are caused by a broken heart, loneliness, fear and worry.
“People who suppress toxic emotions such as anger become” cancer-susceptible personalities.
Pg.371. I have stated, I believe our biggest failure in life is the lack of appreciation.
Pg.378. Where there is Christ, there is hope. Where there is Christ, there is joy.
Pg.384. The anointed life is, in essence, being a real Christian rather than superficially practicing a religious tradition.
Pg.385. To be anointed is have meaning, direction, and purpose that God appoints, prepares, superintends, and revives along the way. You possess the presence of the Most High with whom nothing is impossible. Anointing is God saying, “I have chosen you, and I am going to be with you”.
The deepest longing of the human heart is to be known completely and accepted unconditionally.
Pg.387. Enoch walked with God; they ended the day closer to heaven than to Enoch’s home. And God just said, “come on, Enoch, and go home with Me”
Pg.389. God’s people have the assurance that God is within us and around us. And He give us a future to believe in.
As we yield our lives to the providence of a loving God, He will anoint our DNA, reveal our purpose and divine destiny- and we will dance!
Pg.391. A result of choosing to live independently from God. It is a choice to adopt a man -God- centered destiny. The former is utterly lacking in gratitude for the gift of life; the latter is filled with exceeding gratitude for the giver.
Pg.394. “Whatever you do, do it heartily”
Knocked Down But Not Out
By: Billy Joe Daugherty
Pg. 08 If you don’t get bitter, you’ll make it.
Pg. 09 Sometimes we’re bleeding on the outside, and sometimes there is bleeding on the inside. Mine was on the outside that day-people could see it. But for many people who have been hit with something bad, there is brokenness in their hearts, pain in their thoughts, and hurting in their emotions – nobody can see that they are bleeding on the inside.
Pg. 10 You can be assured that God will help you get back up so you can continue your destiny, moving forward in Him.
Pg. 21 If you will trust God’s anointing, no matter how far someone tries to put you down, you are going to pop right back up to the top.
Pg. 23 In one day, Joseph went from prisoner to prime minister of the greatest nation on the face of the earth at that time.
Joseph had a dream and he would not let go of it. He chose to forgive, and he didn’t get bitter. He chose to apply himself and work rather than be angry and depressed.
Pg. 24 Even if you’re at the bottom of the prison! God has a way to bring you through to victory.
Pg. 30 You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. (Genesis 50:19 – 21)
Pg. 32 God is for you, remember, God is going to help you!
If God is for us, no one can prevail against us. (Romans 8:31)
Pg. 33 A lot of people say, “well, I don’t know what’s going to happen.” You do! All things are going to work together for good in your life.
Pg. 34 The very things that hurt you can become the key to your promotion or the platform from which you go to the next level of success.
Pg. 35 Your trial or your most horrible experience can become a terrific testimony, depending on your response.
Pg. 36 Jesus is the ultimate example of rising up after He got knocked down.
Pg. 37 Many people spend all of their lives asking “why?” they never give one thought to thanking and praising God that they are still alive.
Pg. 50 Faith and fear repel each other. They are opposites. If fear rises up, faith goes out of the door. If faith rises up, fear goes out of the door.
Pg. 56 You release your faith by the words you speak.
Pg. 65 When the apostle Paul said, “I do not count myself to have apprehended,” he was saying “I haven’t arrived yet. I’m not perfect.” But he continued, “but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind.”
If you are holding on to things of the past, it is impossible to reach out and receive the fresh and new. Paul said, “I let go of those things”
Pg. 81 Some people are nursing scars from divorce, rejection, or time spent in jail. Remember, you aren’t the first person to experience these types of scars.
Start believing, “God has an upward call for me. It is the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, and I will reach for it and attain it.”
Pg. 107 Thank you for delivering my life. Lord, I want to say thank you.
Pg. 112 “Character cannot be developed in ease and quite. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved” HELEN KELLER
Pg. 115 That was the first of 300 nights Don spent in that dark, fear-filled, concrete prison.
His lifelong dream had turned into a nightmare.
Pg. 117 This was the first time he experientially came to know the force we call grace – the empowering presence.
At times he could literally feel the warmth of God’s presence sweeping over the cold gripping his soul.
Pg. 118 He learned during those days that, though it seems like there is no way to get out of our trouble, there is a “higher power” present with us, protecting us and bringing us back into the light. God will help those who have been knocked down and raise them up.
Pg. 143 Jesus sees the entire situation, the things that the devil meant for evil, and as you praise on through, He will turn the evil for your good. It will be a story for his glory!
Cleaning Up: One Man's Redemptive Journey Through the Seductive World of Corporate Crime
By: Barry Minkow
Transcribed by Phillip J. Sears
Pg. 145 All the pain of prison, all the missed birthdays and Christmases, all the demeaning looks from the prison staff, all the inadequate medical care, all the lonely nights and bad meals were suddenly a blur.
Pg. 149 However, I came to the conclusion that prison is not where you are (camp versus maximum security). It is where you are not (with your family and loved ones).
Pg. 156 The fact that I relished speaking in front of audiences made it enjoyable.
Pg. 159 No matter how hard you may work to leave the past behind you, there will always be an incident that makes your past a present tense problem. The key is to be prepared for such an occurrence.
Pg. 165 And I have this simple philosophy I follow. Never do anything to anyone in prison that would cause them or you to stay one day longer in this place.
Pg. 184 That is when I remembered what an old college professor once taught me: truth discovered is a better teacher than truth proclaimed.
Pg. 192 They predicted I would not continue with “the church thing” because I was one of those “born again until you are out again” prison conversion stories.
Pg. 203 “If God be for us, who can be against us.” I intoned.
“And do you know what that means?” he asked rhetorically. “it means that the only thing Barry Minkow needs to do is to stay right with God and no matter what happens in life or who turns against you, God will see you through.
“There will be more setbacks like this, you know, and you’ve got to be ready for them. And remember one thing. Don’t ever quit on me, Barry. I believe in you. Promise me you will never quit.”
Pg. 204 That was wrong, and you paid a heavy price for those mistakes and in some ways are still paying. But not disclosing to people, to those who are closest to you, the pain and struggles.
You are going through is another kind of material presentation. It is what I call a material disclosure, and although not as bad as a premeditated lie, it can be just as damaging.
Pg. 215 Our minds do not remember pain too well, especially when we’re busy seeking external excuses for internal issues.
Pg. 228 If God isn’t in something, you will never succeed no matter how hard you work.”
Company was divinely doomed.
Pg. 241 My life was finally developing like a black and white photograph, the images of pain from the past joining with a vision of hope for the future.
Pg. 242 Because that mistake you made was in the first half of the game.
Now I want you to go out there and play your heart out for me in the second half.
I still had a full second half play to play.
Pg. 290 I soon learned that many reporters are slammed simply trying to keep up with daily events. There was little time to dedicate to proactive investigative reporting.
Pg. 310 You are destinated to do great things when you get out of here. There is no limit to what you will do. I’ve met a lot of people over these past years in prison, and there are none as talented and gifted as you. But despite all that – many people will simply not believe you.
Pg. 311 And all the darkness in the world cannot overcome the power of the light, one person who wholeheartedly loves and believes in you.
My Life a Guided Tour
Kenneth Taylor
Pg. 5 In subsequent years I’ve had many other great ideas that backfired, and I held on to them for longer than I should have. Still, some of them succeeded. How does one know when to quit?
Pg. 12 The open heart and open house attitude.
Pg. 22 The temptation to take dangerous risks should be recognized for what it is, and one should use safeguards, such as seeking counsel from competent advisors.
Pg. 38 Each of us is essentially alone with himself and with God in his own changing world.
Pg. 56 “My plight is like that hedge over there across the street-impenetrable. No way through. Look! I’ll show you!” and to demonstrate to God my impossible situation. I worked across the street to the hedge. “See, God” I exclaimed, “I can’t get through. I can’t find the way. I am exhausted with trying.” Just as I arrived at the hedge, I saw a hidden pathway through it, where I suppose students had worn a short-cut – invisible until one was at the spot. I walked through in a daze, silent before God. Yes, God would show me the way. But when?
Pg. 59 “Lord, here is my life. Take it and use it any way you want to.” I have never turned back from that decision – a decision that completely changed my life directions. It was a decision that made it possible for God to lead me onward in a “guided tour” for the rest of my life.
Pg. 83 As I lay on my cot that night, thinking over the events of the day, I realized more clearly than ever how foolish it would be to try to run my own life. God sees both the beginning and the end, and everything in between, and he is happy to tell me what to do and where to go if I am willing to obey. I vowed to try harder to be willing to do his will, not my own, as I walked along the trail of my life. Yes, it would be a safely guided tour if I would only let him be the guide.
Pg. 290 To use a football term, flags were down all over the field, but I went ahead anyways.
Pg. 293 Looking back, I think dollar signs were dancing in my eyes, and worst of all in my heart, where the love of money takes root and brings forth all manner of evil.
Pg. 313 Don’t forget my friend, that when we were youngsters, our first classroom was under a mango tree. If the Swedish missionary who was teaching us under that tree had demanded a better facility before accepting the assignment of teaching us to “read and write, you and I would not hold the PHD we have today.
Pg. 361 “A rising tide lifts all ships”
Chosen by God
R.C. Sproul
Pg. 173 Our tribulations have the ultimate effect not of destroying our HOPE but of establishing it.
Pg. 159 We are not always entirely pleased by what God is doing in our lives. Sometimes we experience a conflict between the purpose of God and our own purpose. I never choose to suffer on purpose.
Through my Eyes
Tim Tebow
Pg. X We all have the ability to influence others, whether through our words or actions, or both.
Pg. 12 Losing simply isn’t any fun. If there’s a score, then there’s a purpose to the game beyond having fun—it’s having a greater score.
Pg. 15 I never felt like I was created to be average.
Pg. 33 Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.
Pg. 34 Waiting on the Lord. Doesn’t mean being complacent. It means understanding that He has a time and a plan and that we’re not the ones in control. In the meantime, however, we need to strive to use our gifts and abilities fully and to the best of our ability for whatever He does have in store for us, whenever the times comes.
Pg. 39 Better yet, I figured that I’d put up a number that he wouldn’t want to beat –and that way beat him before he even got started.
Pg. 40 Just because I understood this, however, didn’t mean I liked it.
Pg. 52 It was always our responsibility to identify and fully develop the abilities, talents, and gifts God created within us.
Pg. 61 I know that God is the one who changes hearts, but I am always eager to try and plant a seed.
Pg. 85 People often seem to think that when your following the Lord and trying to do His will, your path will always be clear, the decisions smooth and easy, and life will be lived happily ever after and all that. The muddled decisions still seem muddled, bad things still happen to believers, and great things can happen to nonbelievers. When it comes to making our decisions, the key that God is concerned with is that we are trusting and seeking Him. God’s desire is for us to align our lives with His world and His will.
Pg. 172 I’ve missed more than nine thousand shots in my career. I’ve lost almost three hundred games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. Michael Jordan
Pg. 173 I believe God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure. Eric Liddell
Pg. 205 Finish. Eventually some people are going to stop, some people are going to quit, and some people are going to start going slower, but the people who can finish and finish at the same pace or stronger than when they started, those are the ones who are going to succeed; those are the ones who are going to be great. Those are the ones who are going to have an impact in this world and on the lives of others around them. How much more so in life to finish strong. For yourself for the world. For others. For the God who created you.
Pg. 206 The legacy God intended each of us to leave has to do with the impact our lives have had on the lives of others whom He calls to serve. It has to do with difference our lives make in the world – in our family, with friends, at work, at school, with our coaches and teammates, and all those others around us. Our legacy should be about building in the lives of all those others, doing something for others that will not only that in their lives here, but for eternity.
Pg. 238 Sometimes, people see more of your witness when your facing adversity than when everything is going your way. When you are able to reflect God’s light during those times of great disappointment, it can have quite an impact.
Pg. 239 I don’t know what the future holds, but I know Who holds my future.
Pg. 250 Now what is there for me to worry about with God already there to care and lay out His plan for me.
Walk to beautiful
Jimmy Wayne
Pg. 98 Mrs. Friday taught me that your circumstances do not define you.
Pg. 108 I’ve since learned that showing off is a common trait of many ex-convicts after they have been released from prison. They want to let everyone know, “I just got out of prison.” It’s an intimidation game.
Pg. 155 One of the most basic lessons of life in the system: don’t get to close to anybody because he or she may not be tomorrow.
Pg. 184 There’s nothing you have done or ever could do that would keep God from loving you, Jimmy.
Pg. 346 money doesn’t change people; it exposes them.
The Upside of Fear
Weldon Long
Pg. 33 Eventually the wife’s visits will end.
Pg. 32 Visits in prison are proof that you’re still alive. They are a light shining under a door in a pitch-black room. They are a gasp of air when you are buried alive. Visits are a welcome back from the insanity.
Pg. 34 When you have no control over significant things, control over insignificant details takes on an exaggerated importance.
Pg. 106 The law of attraction stands for the idea that our thoughts attract things into our lives.
Pg. 107 Time will expose you or promote you.
Pg. 110 Values are knowing what to do, character is having the strength to do it, and integrity is doing it when nobody else is watching.
It was equally important to understand that the quality of my responses would determine the quality of my life.
The difference between successful people and losers is not in the nature of their problems; it is in the nature of their responses to those problems.
Pg. 111 We can’t control everything that comes our way in life, but we have total control over how we deal with it.
Pg. 115 I came across the universal principle that states, “we attract that which we fear.”
Job said, “for the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.”
Pg. 122 I spent countless hours sitting quietly in my cell reading anything I could find while the rest of my cellblock was insanely loud around me.
Pg. 126 I didn’t have to feel the negative emotions one would naturally associate with my circumstances.
Pg. 128 I had learned over the years that anything a person will do “with you” they will eventually do “to you.”
Pg. 160 I came to believe my experiences could benefit me and others like me.
Pg. 161 There is nothing more debilitating than being powerless, and there is nothing more pathetic than acting powerless when we are not.
Pg. 162 I remembered a quote from Emerson that said what we do speaks so loudly others can’t hear what we say.
Pg. 163 I had also come to believe that sometimes things that seem to be bad turn out to be good, so I was willing to let the situation unfold as it would.
Pg. 170 DOC numbers serve as a benchmark in a perverse ranking system.
Pg. 172 “Destiny is not a matter of chance. It is a matter of choice.”
Pg. 176 “Circumstances do not make the man, they reveal him.”
Pg. 187 Our character is determined by how well we deal with adversity, not by how we deal with success.