We do not draw people to Christ by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.
Interpretation
Influencing others positively requires demonstrating love and goodness rather than criticizing their beliefs.
In this quote, Madeleine L'Engle emphasizes the importance of embodying qualities that inspire others rather than confronting them with negativity or criticism. By leading through example and showcasing the beauty and truth of one's own beliefs, one can draw others to explore and understand those beliefs more genuinely and willingly.
In practice
A speaker at a conference about spiritual growth might use this quote to encourage attendees to lead by example in their communities.
Truth is what is true, and it's not necessarily factual. Truth and fact are not the same thing. Truth does not contradict or deny facts, but it goes through and beyond facts. This is something that it is very difficult for some people to understand. Truth can be dangerous.
George MacDonald gives me renewed strength during times of trouble--times when I have seen people tempted to deny God--when he says, "The Son of God suffered unto death, not that men might not suffer, but that their sufferings might be like his.
If you don't recount your family history, it will be lost. Honor your own stories and tell them too. The tales may not seem very important, but they are what binds families and makes each of us who we are.
I never want to lose the story-loving child within me, or the adolescent, or the young woman, or the middle-aged one, because all together they help me to be fully alive on this journey, and show me that I must be willing to go where it takes me, even through the valley of the shadow.
The minute we begin to think we have all the answers, we forget the questions.
When we believe in the impossible, it becomes possible, and we can do all kinds of extraordinary things.
I went to collect the few personal belongings which...I held to be invaluable: my cat, my resolve to travel, and my solitude.
Envy creates the beginning of strife.
Today when we say the West we are already referring to the West and to Russia. We could use the word 'modernity' if we exclude Africa, and the Islamic world, and partially China.
Love of glory, fear of shame, greed for fortune, the desire to make life agreeable and comfortable, and the wish to depreciate others - all of these are often the causes of the bravery that is spoken so highly of by men.
Where some people are very wealthy and others have nothing, the result will be either extreme democracy or absolute oligarchy, or despotism will come from either of those excesses.
Strategy is the craft of the warrior.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.