Quotes About Discernment

Don't be silly, Lillian," I said, waving my hand. "If she can play any kind of instrument, I want her. Just no accordions.

He was a man who'd turned his personal likes and dislikes into a moral code; because he didn't enjoy spending money in the Woodyard cafe, there was something morally suspect about the people who did. The Brethren had been much the same. Matthew thought they'd created a God in their own image, hard, cold and inflexible.

her judgement had been spoton.

There was a sort of magic in his asking the right questions the first time, picking up the clues in a situation, knowing when it was time to move on.

Again, Juliet took a while to answer and wondered how much she should tell. But Vera was a witch; she'd find out anyway.

Boys do not evaluate a book. They divide books into categories. There are sexy books, war books, westerns, travel books, science fiction. A boy will accept anything from a section he knows rather than risk another sort. He has to have the label on the bottle to know it is the mixture as before.

I like westerns, fantasy, sci-fi, graphic novels, thrillers, and I try to avoid the word 'genre' altogether. A good book is a good book.

The best thing about lying in bed late is that you learn to distinguish between first things and trivia, for whatever presses on you has to prove its importance before it makes you move.

When people talk about fake news, you know, a lot of folks just roll their eyes, like 'Oh, you know, whatever; people will figure it out.' The truth is, they don't always figure it out.

An editor is someone who separates the wheat from the chaff and then prints the chaff.

When in doubt, throw it out.

If you can't see the rotation and tell if it's a sink - a fastball, then you have to be able to tell whether that fastball is a two-seamer or a four-seamer. You have to be able to recognize if it's a slider or a curveball. You have to be able to recognize if it's a changeup or a split-finger.

I think it is important to time yourself to make the right choices. It's not responsible to go ahead and say a 'yes' or 'no' on a whim.

I briefly thought of becoming a priest but quickly saw that would be ridiculous.

And I was very interested in the priesthood.

I must be like the princess who felt the pea through seven mattresses; each book is a pea.

Don't assume that all fat people are gluttons. And don't use the word 'fat.' There is a principle here. Learn from logic and experience not to associate things - especially in preaching - that don't necessarily go together.

Meaning comes from the capacity to see what is not in some simple, objective sense there on the printed page.

What people pray for will tell you more than anything else whether they are locked into the vision and priorities of the church.

Prison make you a better judge of character. You pick up on people much faster.

I am not a very private person, but there are certain things that I don't want to share with everyone.

If I have the chance to say something, I will say it - but that doesn't obligate me to always say something, or to shed light on every problem, as if I were a lawmaker.

At fancy and expensive restaurants (say, $50 and up for a dinner), you can follow a simple procedure to choose the best meal. Look at the menu and ask yourself: 'Which of these items do I least want to order?' Or: 'Which one sounds the least appetizing?' Then order that item.

If I'm going to produce something, it's going to be with somebody I think is special. Once I go beyond a handful of directors, like Scorsese, there are very few I want to work with.