Quotes about Experience

All temporal, partial experience of God inevitably leaves a sense of dissatisfaction behind.

We have wandered so far from fundamental spiritual knowledge in our culture that literally tens of millions of people—many of whom have long-term ties with the Christian church—have no clue how to even describe a true spiritual experience.

One thing we hear from churchless and churched people alike is that they intensely desire the local church to provide what no other group can offer: an experience of the presence of God.

Our studies consistently show a large majority of people leave their church's service without feeling as though they have connected with God. If those who regularly attend depart with such disappointment and confusion, what must it be like for those who are new to the church adventure?

Half of all regular church-going adults admit that they have not experienced God's presence at any time during the past year. The younger the adult, the more likely they are to state that God is a distant, impersonal reality for them. And even among those who say God's presence was evident to them, most of them say that happened only one or two times throughout the course of the year.

Every man over forty is a scoundrel.

You have learnt something. That always feels at first as if you had lost something.

A life spent in making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent in doing nothing.

Activity is the only road to knowledge.

There are some experiences in life which should not be demanded twice from any man, and one of them is listening to the Brahms Requiem.

Youth is wasted on the young.

I'd realized that in writing happiness is useless-without suffering there is no story.