Every one of our greatest national treasures, our liberty, enterprise, vitality, wealth, military power, global authority, flow from a surprising source: our ability to give thanks.
We want lives of simple, predictable ease-smooth, even trails as far as the eye can see-but God likes to go off-road.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that while people desire comfort and stability, life's unpredictable nature often leads to unexpected challenges.
Tony Snow's quote reflects the human tendency to seek a life of simplicity and predictability, desiring a path that is smooth and straightforward. However, it also acknowledges that the divine or the larger forces at play often lead us into uncharted territory, challenging our comfort zones and encouraging growth through life's complexities. This contrast highlights the importance of embracing the unexpected instead of resisting it, as those off-road experiences may lead to profound personal development.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about embracing life's challenges.
More from Tony Snow
All quotes →Voting is a right best exercised by people who have taken time to learn about the issues.
In many cases, a bout with sickness stretches your soul, opens your eyes, and introduces you to a world of unimagined grandeur, possibility and joy.
The secret of learning to be sick is this: Illness doesn't make you less of what you were. You are still you.
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Get the most out of everything in your life; the happiness and the sadness, the success and the failure...get a good perspective of what life is all about. Let the orchestra of your life play all the notes, the high notes, the low rumblings of the difficulties and perplexities that all we all face.
Our lives are songs; God write the words And we set them to music at pleasure; And the song grows glad, or sweet or sad, As we choose to fashion the measure.
The bus roared on. I was going home in October. Everybody goes home in October.
In her opinion, the parrots were annoying arrogant. You could buy the most beautiful one in town, she observed, but that won't make it love you. You could feed it, care for it and exclaim over its loveliness, but there was nothing to guarantee that it would stay home with you. There had to be a lesson in there somewhere.