You asked for quotes... You'll get a page full!
These are some of my favorites:
"I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life. To put to rout all that was not life, and not when I had come to die, discover that I had not lived."
~~ Henry David Thoreau
"Above me I saw, beyond the pale blue sky, bright beams of starlight, fixed and frozen in their empty firmament. The stars shone down, shedding their light upon us by day and night, untouched and uninfluenced by the deeds of men. What are men, after all? Frail creatures, frail as the grass that grows green one day and withers the next, blown away on every wind.
God help us, we are mingled starlight and dust, and we know not who we are. We are lost unless we find ourselves in you, Great Light....
Look you! We are not abandoned, nor do we strive with our own strength alone. Call on your Creator, O Man, cling to him, and he will carry you. Honor him, and he will establish guardian spirits round about you. Though you walk through flood and fire, you will not be harmed; your Redeemer will uphold you. Bright armies of angels go before us, surrounding us on every side if we could but see!"
~~
Pendragon, by Stephen Lawhead
"To be alive to the wonder of the commonplace, I thought, that is the very gift of a wildly generous Creator, who ever invites his creatures to contemplate the exuberance of his excellent handiwork. There is a deep and abiding joy at work in this worlds-realm, and we who toil through our lives do often forget this, or overlook it. But look: it is all around! Ceaseless, unrelenting, certain as sunrise, and constant as the rhythm of a heartbeat."
~~
Pendragon, by Stephen Lawhead
"This, I believe, is the spirit's highest consummation -- holding fast to faith by dint of will alone when the fire of certainty has grown cold. For when the fire-wind of ardor gusts high, even the weakest soul can fly. But when the fire dies and the wind fails, the real test of a soul's worth begins. Those who perservere through all things gain strength and find great favor with God."
~~
Pendragon, by Stephen Lawhead
"Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary use words." ~~St. Francis of Assisi
“I, who live by words, am wordless when I try my words in prayer. All language turns to silence…â€