Quotes About Ordinary

Vimalakirti elsewhere preached that "enza" meant acting like ordinary men of the world without deviating from the Buddhist Way and Dharma. Thus, "enza" means living neither in mind nor outside it, mastering the thirty-seven teachings without being agitated by various opinions, and entering Nirvana65 without getting rid of desires and agonies.

Calling transforms life so that even the commonplace and menial are invested with the splendour of the ordinary.

The problem with the common person is that he is so unbearably common!

We are built for the valley, for the ordinary stuff we are in, and that is where we have to prove our mettle.

We are not built for mountains and dawns and artistic affinities; they are for moments of inspiration, that is all. We are built for the valley, for the ordinary stuff of life, and this is where we have to prove our mettle. A false Christianity takes us up on the mount and we want to stay there. But what about the devil-possessed world? Oh, let it go to hell! We are having a great time up here.

We are not meant to be seen as God's perfect, bright-shining examples, but to be seen as the everyday essence of ordinary life exhibiting the miracle of His grace.

It is inbred in us that we have to do exceptional things for God; but we have not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things.

Our Lord Himself, not being detached from things externally. Our Lord was amazingly in and out among ordinary things; His detachment was on the inside towards God. External detachment is often an indication of a secret vital attachment to the things we keep away from externally.

it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours in every day as a saint, to go through drudgery as a disciple, to live an ordinary, unobserved, ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is inbred in us that we have to do exceptional things for God; but we have not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things, to be holy in mean streets, among mean people, and this is not learned in five minutes.

The test of a man's religious life and character is not what he does in the exceptional moments of life, but what he does in the ordinary times, when there is nothing tremendous or exciting on. The worth of a man is revealed in his attitude to ordinary things when he is not before the footlights.

At the foundation of Jesus Christ's kingdom is the genuine loveliness of those who are commonplace.

I do not believe it is possible to exaggerate what she has been in the way of a Sacrament out here—God conveying His presence through the common elements of an ordinary life.

Tis because I am ordinary, / Thy ways so often look ordinary to me. It is through the discipline of obedience that I get to the place where Abraham was and I see who God is.

When the Spirit of God comes to us, He does not give us glorious visions, but He tells us to do the most ordinary things imaginable.

We are not made for brilliant moments, but we have to walk in the light of them in ordinary ways.

The true test of a person's spiritual life and character is not what he does in the extraordinary moments of life, but what he does during the ordinary times when there is nothing tremendous or exciting happening. A person's worth is revealed in his attitude toward the ordinary things of life when he is not under the spotlight (see John 1:35–37 and 3:30).

We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing—that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future. But as we grow in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God's assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life.

It is inbred in us that we have to do exceptional things for God: but we have not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things, to be holy in mean streets, among mean people, and this is not learned in five minutes

We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life - those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength.

The "show business," which is so incorporated into our view of Christian work today, has caused us to drift far from Our Lord's conception of discipleship. It is instilled in us to think that we have to do exceptional things for God; we have not. We have to be exceptional in ordinary things, to be holy in mean streets, among mean people, surrounded by sordid sinners. That is not learned in five minutes.

If it really were the case, as popular opinion has tried to establish, that the genius were separated from ordinary men by a thick wall through which no sound could penetrate, then all understanding of the efforts of genius would be denied to ordinary men, and their works would fail to make any impression on them. All hopes of progress depend on this being untrue. And it is untrue. The difference between men of genius and the others is quantitative not qualitative, of degree not of kind.

Let what is irksome become habitual, no more will it trouble you.

The courage of very ordinary people is all that stands between us and the dark.

You know, I've always wondered why they call themselves 'special agents.' All FBI agents are special agents. Apparently, there are no ordinary agents in the FBI, but no one's special if everyone's special.