I heard the voice of God all around me, but I was unafraid. I should have trembled before the Almighty and hid myself from sight. I should have taken a knife to my own flesh to cut away the mark of my past deeds. But now I understood that, although words were God's first creation, silence was closer to His divine spirit, and that prayers given in silence were infinitely greater than the thousands of words men might offer up to heaven.

If you're silent for a long time, people just arrive in your mind.

I live a very secluded life, a very contemplative life and a very meditative one. That is my ideal life.

For her life, like human life everywhere on the planet, had speeded up and speeded up until peace was rarely possible. Always there was movement, noise, inevitable and constant distraction [. ...] a madness had seized the earth. The madness of speed. As if to speed things up meant to actually go somewhere. And where, after all, was there to go? The present is all there ever is, no matter how much you lean forward or back.

But if God love me, Celie, I don't have to do all that. Unless I want to. There's a lot of other things I can do that I speck God likes. Like what? I ast. Oh, she say. I can lay back and just admire stuff. Be happy. Have a good time.

Now. Is this life or not? I be so calm. If she come, I be happy. If she don't, I be content. And then I figure this the lesson I was suppose to learn.

There's a lot of other things I can do that I speck God likes. Like what? I ast. Oh, she say. I can lay back and just admire stuff. Be happy. Have a good time.

Trying to chase that old white man out of my head. I been so busy thinking bout him I never truly notice nothing God make. Not a blade of corn (how it do that?) not the color purple (where it come from?). Not the little wildflowers. Nothing.

All stress is self-induced, he reminded himself. It's in your mind. You don't need it. Lay it down. Panic is contagious. But so is calm. Stay calm. Do your work. Slow is smooth. Smooth is smart. Smart is straight. Straight is deadly.

If you will remain at rest and hold your peace, then the battle is not yours, but the battle is the Lord's.

When you understand that everything serves His plan, you won't live frustrated by things that aren't fair, stressed over things you don't like, upset because it's taking too long.

You shouldn't be constantly uptight, worried, rebuking, resisting, and trying to fix things. It takes a mature person to say, "Everything is not perfect. I have some struggles and some situations I wish were different, but can I tell you that all is well? I'm at peace. I'm not upset. I know at the right time God will remove the weeds. Until then I'm going to relax and enjoy my life." First the Weed, Then the Harvest