cast your line @castyourline - Tumblr Blog

“There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say…a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, ‘I don’t see the use of this; let us clear it away.’ To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: ‘If you don’t see the use of it, I certainly won’t let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.’”

G.K. Chesterton

#gk chesterton

“The less we respect ourselves as persons made to God’s image, the more shall we be led to identifying ourselves with our social role.”

— Alice von Hildebrand

#alice von hildebrand

“We are not living in a world where all roads are radii of a circle and where all, if followed long enough, will therefore draw gradually nearer and finally meet at the centre: rather in a world where every road, after a few miles, forks into two, and each of those into two again, and at each fork you must make a decision. Even on the biological level life is not like a pool but like a tree. It does not move towards unity but away from it and the creatures grow further apart as they increase in perfection. Good, as it ripens, becomes continually more different not only from evil but from other good." ⏤ C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

#cs lewis

And this is the forbidden truth, the unspeakable taboo - that evil is not always repellent but frequently attractive; that it has the power to make of us not simply victims, as nature and accident do, but active accomplices.

Joyce Carol Oates

#joyce carol oates

#antoine de saint exupéry

"To give advice to a man who asks what to do with his life implies something very close to egomania. To presume to point a man to the right and ultimate goal — to point with a trembling finger in the RIGHT direction is something only a fool would take upon himself."

😎 Hunter S. Thompson

#hunter s thompson

“Seldom do we consider what the quality is of our interior life, or Who dwells there, or how precious it really is. As a result, we make little effort to preserve the beauty of the soul. Instead, all our interest is focused on the externals like the rough setting of a diamond, or upon the outer wall of a castle; that is to say we focus upon these bodies of ours.”

⏤ Teresa of Avila, A Life of Prayer

#teresa of Avila

On losing someone important

"But you will get over their death, although you don't believe it now. Know why? Because you knew him alive. Memories of life and living always win. You knew him dead for one terrible night but you knew him alive for a lifetime.

Death is strong and has a viciously powerful hold for a while, but life is constant and insistent. It refuses to let go or be pushed back. When his death has eventually stopped bullying your memories, life will shove it aside and say, "Get out of my place. You have had your time in the spotlight but it is over. Go to the background where you know you belong."

#Jonathan Carroll