“C.S. Lewis in his second letter to me at Oxford, asked how it was that I, as a product of a materialistic universe, was not at home there. 'Do fish complain of the sea for being wet? Or if they did, would that fact itself not strongly suggest that they had not always been, or would not always be, purely aquatic creatures? Then, if we complain of time and take such joy in the seemingly timeless moment, what does that suggest? It suggests that we have not always been or will not always be purely temporal creatures. It suggests that we were created for eternity. Not only are we harried by time, we seem unable, despite a thousand generations, even to get used to it. We are always amazed by it--how fast it goes, how slowly it goes, how much of it is gone. Where, we cry, has the time gone? We aren't adapted to it, not at home in it. If that is so, it may appear as a proof, or at least a powerful suggestion, that eternity exists and is our home.”
―
Sheldon Vanauken,
A Severe Mercy: A Story of Faith, Tragedy, and Triumph
“He was like a god to her. What happens when your god dies? Sebastian wondered. When someone is your sun and moon and stars, and then you discover something, something that reveals a hitherto unknown weakness so fundamental, so shattering that it destroys not only your trust in the other person, but your respect, too.Some people never recover from that kind of disillusionment.” ― C.S. Harris, When Gods Die
“those for whom war is lucrative are rarely satiated.” ― C.S. Harris, Why Kings Confess
“She touched her hand to his cheek, and he turned toward her, his arms coming around her to draw her close, his cheek pressed to the side of her hair. She felt his chest lift against hers as he drew in a ragged breath and held her tight. And then he said the words she'd long thought she'd never hear."God, how I love you, Hero. So much. So much...” ― C.S. Harris, Why Kings Confess
“Do you think I don't worry about you?""That's not—""Not the same? Because you are a man and I am a woman?""No. Because it's one thing for me to make the choice to put my own life in danger and something else entirely when my actions endanger someone else."She touched her fingers to his lips. "I knew what I was letting myself in for when I married you, Devlin."He smiled against her hand. "I'm not sure I did.” ― C.S. Harris, What Darkness Brings
“I’ve never attended a Quaker service before.” “We believe that true religion is a personal encounter with God rather than a matter of ritual and ceremony, and that all aspects of life are sacramental. Therefore, no one day or place or activity is any more spiritual than any other. But we gather together at such times to discover in stillness a deeper sense of God’s presence.” ― C.S. Harris, Where Serpents Sleep
“All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo Big Nate series by Lincoln Peirce The Black Cauldron (The Chronicles of Prydain) by Lloyd Alexander The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Brian’s Hunt by Gary Paulsen Brian’s Winter by Gary Paulsen Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis The Call of the Wild by Jack London The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury The Giver by Lois Lowry Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling Hatchet by Gary Paulsen The High King (The Chronicles of Prydain) by Lloyd Alexander The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien Holes by Louis Sachar The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins I Am LeBron James by Grace Norwich I Am Stephen Curry by Jon Fishman Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell Johnny Tremain by Esther Hoskins Forbes Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson LeBron’s Dream Team: How Five Friends Made History by LeBron James and Buzz Bissinger The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) by Rick Riordan A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle Number the Stars by Lois Lowry The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton The River by Gary Paulsen The Sailor Dog by Margaret Wise Brown Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury Star Wars Expanded Universe novels (written by many authors) Star Wars series (written by many authors) The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann D. Wyss Tales from a Not-So-Graceful Ice Princess (Dork Diaries) by Rachel Renée Russell Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt Under the Blood-Red Sun by Graham Salisbury The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle” ― Andrew Clements, The Losers Club
“Storytelling explores the problem with people. Stories without conflict are bad stories that no one repeats. Conflict describes the reality of human life and interaction with others. The resolution of the conflict in which everyone lives happily ever after reflects the human yearning for hope.” ― Harry Lee Poe, The Inklings of Oxford: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and their Friends
“How do you explain a world that gifts evil men with privilege and wealth and looks the other way while they torment and abuse the weakest members of society?” ― C.S. Harris, Where the Dead Lie
“Sometimes he wondered if most people experienced the world around them a little bit differently from their fellows, if the assumption of commonality was simply an illusion.” ― C.S. Harris, What Angels Fear
“Life is full of scary things,” he used to tell Kat. “The trick is not to let your fears get in the way of your living. Whatever else you do, Katherine, don’t settle for a life half-lived.” ― C.S. Harris, What Angels Fear
“Hero . . .” He came to stand behind her. She was aware of his hands hovering for a moment over her shoulders without touching her. Then he turned her in his arms and drew her close. She felt his breath warm against her cheek, the beating of his heart against hers. He said, “I’ve loved Kat since I was twenty-one. There was a time I’d have sworn I could never learn to love anyone again. But . . . I was wrong.” She touched her fingertips to his lips. “You don’t need to tell me what you think I want to hear.” He gave her a strange, crooked smile. “I hope it is what you want to hear, because I’m telling you how I feel.” She said, “It’s what I want to hear.” ― C.S. Harris, What Darkness Brings
“Religion is important to the order of society. It reconciles the lower classes to their lot in life and teaches them to respect their betters.” ― C.S. Harris, When Maidens Mourn
“She had been born with a different name, to a woman with laughing eyes and warmly whispered words of love who’d died degraded and afraid on a misty Irish morning.” ― C.S. Harris, When Gods Die
“When one lived a life that was, essentially, a lie, appearances were everything.” ― C.S. Harris, What Angels Fear
“The world was full of ugliness, Sebastian knew that; ugliness, and ugly people. But you couldn’t let them win, those men who took what they wanted with never a thought or care for the ones who suffered and died as a result. You could never stop fighting them, never let them think that what they did was right or somehow justified. Never let them triumph unchallenged.” ― C.S. Harris, What Angels Fear
“Theirs was a bond that transcended class, nationality, and other such trivialities.” ― C.S. Harris, Who Speaks for the Damned
“He wanted to tell her that he’d learned a man could come to love again without betraying his first love.” ― C.S. Harris, When Maidens Mourn
“Christopher didn’t understand that there was a fine line between seeking death and being indifferent to its occurrence.” ― C.S. Harris, What Angels Fear
“He was like a god to her. What happens when your god dies? Sebastian wondered. When someone is your sun and moon and stars, and then you discover something, something that reveals a hitherto unknown weakness so fundamental, so shattering that it destroys not only your trust in the other person, but your respect, too.Some people never recover from that kind of disillusionment.” ― C.S. Harris, When Gods Die
“those for whom war is lucrative are rarely satiated.” ― C.S. Harris, Why Kings Confess
“She touched her hand to his cheek, and he turned toward her, his arms coming around her to draw her close, his cheek pressed to the side of her hair. She felt his chest lift against hers as he drew in a ragged breath and held her tight. And then he said the words she'd long thought she'd never hear."God, how I love you, Hero. So much. So much...” ― C.S. Harris, Why Kings Confess
“Do you think I don't worry about you?""That's not—""Not the same? Because you are a man and I am a woman?""No. Because it's one thing for me to make the choice to put my own life in danger and something else entirely when my actions endanger someone else."She touched her fingers to his lips. "I knew what I was letting myself in for when I married you, Devlin."He smiled against her hand. "I'm not sure I did.” ― C.S. Harris, What Darkness Brings
“I’ve never attended a Quaker service before.” “We believe that true religion is a personal encounter with God rather than a matter of ritual and ceremony, and that all aspects of life are sacramental. Therefore, no one day or place or activity is any more spiritual than any other. But we gather together at such times to discover in stillness a deeper sense of God’s presence.” ― C.S. Harris, Where Serpents Sleep
“All Summer in a Day” by Ray Bradbury Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo Big Nate series by Lincoln Peirce The Black Cauldron (The Chronicles of Prydain) by Lloyd Alexander The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Brian’s Hunt by Gary Paulsen Brian’s Winter by Gary Paulsen Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis The Call of the Wild by Jack London The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White The Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury The Giver by Lois Lowry Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling Hatchet by Gary Paulsen The High King (The Chronicles of Prydain) by Lloyd Alexander The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien Holes by Louis Sachar The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins I Am LeBron James by Grace Norwich I Am Stephen Curry by Jon Fishman Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell Johnny Tremain by Esther Hoskins Forbes Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson LeBron’s Dream Team: How Five Friends Made History by LeBron James and Buzz Bissinger The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians) by Rick Riordan A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle Number the Stars by Lois Lowry The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton The River by Gary Paulsen The Sailor Dog by Margaret Wise Brown Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan Shiloh by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury Star Wars Expanded Universe novels (written by many authors) Star Wars series (written by many authors) The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann D. Wyss Tales from a Not-So-Graceful Ice Princess (Dork Diaries) by Rachel Renée Russell Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt Under the Blood-Red Sun by Graham Salisbury The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle” ― Andrew Clements, The Losers Club
“Storytelling explores the problem with people. Stories without conflict are bad stories that no one repeats. Conflict describes the reality of human life and interaction with others. The resolution of the conflict in which everyone lives happily ever after reflects the human yearning for hope.” ― Harry Lee Poe, The Inklings of Oxford: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and their Friends
“How do you explain a world that gifts evil men with privilege and wealth and looks the other way while they torment and abuse the weakest members of society?” ― C.S. Harris, Where the Dead Lie
“Sometimes he wondered if most people experienced the world around them a little bit differently from their fellows, if the assumption of commonality was simply an illusion.” ― C.S. Harris, What Angels Fear
“Life is full of scary things,” he used to tell Kat. “The trick is not to let your fears get in the way of your living. Whatever else you do, Katherine, don’t settle for a life half-lived.” ― C.S. Harris, What Angels Fear
“Hero . . .” He came to stand behind her. She was aware of his hands hovering for a moment over her shoulders without touching her. Then he turned her in his arms and drew her close. She felt his breath warm against her cheek, the beating of his heart against hers. He said, “I’ve loved Kat since I was twenty-one. There was a time I’d have sworn I could never learn to love anyone again. But . . . I was wrong.” She touched her fingertips to his lips. “You don’t need to tell me what you think I want to hear.” He gave her a strange, crooked smile. “I hope it is what you want to hear, because I’m telling you how I feel.” She said, “It’s what I want to hear.” ― C.S. Harris, What Darkness Brings
“Religion is important to the order of society. It reconciles the lower classes to their lot in life and teaches them to respect their betters.” ― C.S. Harris, When Maidens Mourn
“She had been born with a different name, to a woman with laughing eyes and warmly whispered words of love who’d died degraded and afraid on a misty Irish morning.” ― C.S. Harris, When Gods Die
“When one lived a life that was, essentially, a lie, appearances were everything.” ― C.S. Harris, What Angels Fear
“The world was full of ugliness, Sebastian knew that; ugliness, and ugly people. But you couldn’t let them win, those men who took what they wanted with never a thought or care for the ones who suffered and died as a result. You could never stop fighting them, never let them think that what they did was right or somehow justified. Never let them triumph unchallenged.” ― C.S. Harris, What Angels Fear
“Theirs was a bond that transcended class, nationality, and other such trivialities.” ― C.S. Harris, Who Speaks for the Damned
“He wanted to tell her that he’d learned a man could come to love again without betraying his first love.” ― C.S. Harris, When Maidens Mourn
“Christopher didn’t understand that there was a fine line between seeking death and being indifferent to its occurrence.” ― C.S. Harris, What Angels Fear
