Ronald Knox Quotes

One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying.

I think I am a religious person just by nature. I think I sort of view everything through the lens of some inner undying thing in people that drives them to act as they do or to feel ashamed of not acting in some other way.

Some people think we're adrift without any guidelines. I don't. I think we've had instruction on how to live.

I think there's a God and I know it's not me. I don't have a set of tenets, but I live an ethical life.

We live in a complex world. There are many forces calling out, 'Love me.' A sure way to set our guidelines for that which we choose to serve and learn to love is to follow the admonition of Joshua: 'As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

I think morality is so individual and personal, and people draw their own lines of what that means for them.

There’s no such thing as 'one, true way’; the only answers worth having are the ones you find for yourself; leave the world better than you found it. Love, freedom, and the chance to do some good — they’re the things worth living and dying for, and if you aren’t willing to die for the things worth living for, you might as well turn in your membership in the human race.

Each of us has a vision of good and of evil. We have to encourage people to move towards what they think is Good.

I believe in the Bible and I try to follow the Bible. I know I'm an imperfect person … I'm not making myself an angel because I'm not an angel and I'm not a devil either. I try to be the best I can and I try to do what I think is right.

I even agree that the concept of god helps some people lead better lives. That does happen. Don't ever forget it. I just think there are better ways to help people lead better lives.

The most important knowledge is that which guides the way you lead your life.

I think we have to give religion its due. I think we have to respect those for whom religion is important, but equally respect those who can achieve good morality without religion.

When people seriously undertake to identify what really matters most to them in their lives, what they really want to be and do, they become very reverent. They start to think in larger terms than today and tomorrow.

If you going to live by a certain code - as Bob Dylan said, you gotta serve somebody.

I think, like most people, my moral values tend to be pretty fuzzy.

...I wish that I may never think the smiles of the great and powerful a sufficient inducement to turn aside from the straight path of honesty and the convictions of my own mind.

The happiest excitement in life is to be convinced that one is fighting for all one is worth on behalf of some clearly seen and deeply felt good, and against some greatly scorned evil.

Have a spiritual basis which guides you in life. Have a philosophy of life to live by.

Conscience is but a word that cowards use, devised at first to keep the strong in awe

If I should die,” Dalinar said, “then I would do so having lived my life right. It is not the destination that matters, but how one arrives there.” “The Codes?” “No. The Way of Kings.” “That storming book.

We all have different desires and needs, but if we don't discover what we want from ourselves and what we stand for, we will live passively and unfulfilled. Sooner or later, we are all asked to compromise ourselves and the things we care about. We define ourselves by our actions. With each decision, we tell ourselves and the world who we are. Think about what you want out of this life, and recognize that there are many kinds of success.

I think the terminology I would use is 'a continuous process of reflection'. I've always thought of only two questions that have mattered to me personally. One is what is really needed in the world and the second is what's really important to me and how these two intersect. It's always been a reflective process - spiraling around these two poles.

Religion will never show the way.

I think what I've tried to do is make the world a better place. I think that's what's really important. Nobody remembers who sold the most togas in Rome. In terms of legacy, people remember the great villains more than they remember the great heroes. So I think how you feel about yourself is the most significant question. What do you say about yourself when you put your head on the pillow? Are you really proud of what you're doing and the way you're doing it? I think it's really a fundamental question.

God has always been the head of my life, even before I knew it.