Jim Wallis Quotes

Religion is often used as a sword to divide, rather than as a balm to heal. ~ Jim Wallis

The principle of always seeking an alternative applies to nonviolence as well. It is this: If nonviolence is to be credible, it must answer the questions that violence purports to answer, but in a better way. ~ Jim Wallis

If you are asking the wrong question, it doesn't matter how good the answer is, you aren't going to get where you want to go. ~ Jim Wallis

Sometimes in history the name of God has been invoked on behalf of actions and movements that have ennobled the human soul and lifted the body politic to a higher plane. Take the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., and the American civil rights movement, or Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the struggle against South African apartheid, as examples. Other times religious fervor has been employed for the worst kinds of sectarian and violent purposes. The Ku Klux Klan, the troubles in Northern Ireland, the wars in the former Yugoslavia, and David Koresh's Branch Davidian standoff in Waco, Texas, are frightening examples.

Is there a reliable guide to when we are really hearing the voice of God, or just a self-interested or even quite ungodly voice in the language of heaven? I think there is. Who speaks for God? When the voice of God is invoked on behalf of those who have no voice, it is time to listen. But when the name of God is used to benefit the interests of those who are speaking, it is time to be very careful. ~ Jim Wallis

A billion dollars every week for Iraq, $87 billion for Iraq. We can't get $5 billion for childcare over five years in welfare reform. ~ Jim Wallis

If the president is going to use so much language of theology and the Bible, then let's use that language for a serious discussion about the war in Iraq. And that was never done. ~ Jim Wallis

Our choice is between cynicism and hope. ~ Jim Wallis

I believe in the separation of church and state, absolutely. But I don't believe in the separation of public life from our values, our basic values, and for many of us, our religious values. ~ Jim Wallis

Faith can cut in so many ways. If you're penitent and not triumphal, it can move us to repentance and accountability and help us reach for something higher than ourselves. That can be a powerful thing, a thing that moves us beyond politics as usual, like Martin Luther King did. But when it's designed to certify our righteousness - that can be a dangerous thing. Then it pushes self criticism aside. There's no reflection. ~ Jim Wallis

We can find common ground only by moving to higher ground. ~ Jim Wallis

Sometimes it takes a natural disaster to reveal a social disaster. ~ Jim Wallis

The best response to bad religion is better religion, not secularism. ~ Jim Wallis

It just doesn't make spiritual sense to suggest that the evil all lies "out there" with our adversaries and enemies, and none of it is "in here" with us - embedded in our own attitudes, behaviors, and policies. ~ Jim Wallis

Last summer we had eight people in the [Christian] congregation who danced four different sun dances. Of course the missionaries have said all along that those ceremonies are pagan and we can't do that. Our people insist that they are free in the gospel, free in Christ Jesus, to participate in Indian religious forms and ceremonies. - George Tinker ~ Jim Wallis

But when we place God on our side of things, that we are now ridding the world of evil - that's very dangerous, that one nation has this role to rid the world of evil. What about the evil we have committed, that we are complicit in? ~ Jim Wallis

The lack of vision in public life and the emptying out of values that visionless leadership creates lead to a politics of complaint. ~ Jim Wallis

Hope is believing in spite of the evidence, and then watching the evidence change. ~ Jim Wallis

I don't think we should discriminate against an organization or congregation because they're religious, if they're doing good work. But government can't subsidize proselytizing or worship or religious activity. It can't. ~ Jim Wallis

But here is the heart of the moral issue for many of us. Simply put, those around the world who have contributed least to global warming and climate change will be the most and first to be impacted by the consequences of it all. Sadly, it's an old story. We, the affluent, create the problem, and the poor pay the price for our sins. It is wrong, and it is a sin-ours. ~ Jim Wallis

But what does it mean to be on God's side? I believe it starts with focusing on the common good - not just in politics, but in all the decisions we make in our personal, family, vocational, financial, communal, and, public lives. That old but always new ethic simply says we must care for more than just ourselves or our own group. We must care for our neighbor as well, and for the health of the life we share with one another. It echoes a very basic tenet of Christianity and other faiths - love your neighbor as yourself - still the most transformational ethic in history. ~ Jim Wallis

How do we nurture both families and communities, promote a civil discourse, and approach problems with solutions and hope instead of fear and blame? ~ Jim Wallis

We are prophetic interrogators. Why are so many people hungry? Why are so many people and families in our shelters? Why do we have one of six of our children poor, and one of three of these are children of color? 'Why?' is the prophetic question. ~ Jim Wallis

Faith reminds us that change is always possible. ~ Jim Wallis

Fuzzy and ideological definitions of terrorism just make it easier to kill people. When you know your actions will kill innocent noncombatants, that's terrorism. And it must be clearly named as unacceptable - no matter who does it (individuals, groups, or states), whatever the weapons, the expressed intentions, or political justifications. ~ Jim Wallis

Once you open that door to a values conversation, it's going to undercut a right-wing economic agenda, which values wealth over work and favors the rich over the poor, or resorts to war as the first resort and not the last. ~ Jim Wallis

No, we are not the master of the state, said King. We are not the servant of the state. We are the conscience of the state. The churches or the religious community should be, I think, the conscience of the state. We're not just service providers. ~ Jim Wallis

Significant numbers of American evangelicals reject the way some have distorted biblical passages as their rationale for uncritical support for every policy and action of the Israeli government instead of judging all actions - of both Israelis and Palestinians - on the basis of biblical standards of justice. ~ Jim Wallis

The media seems to think only abortion and gay marriage are religious issues. Poverty is a moral issue, it's a faith issue, it's a religious issue. ~ Jim Wallis

Martin Luther King Jr. really understood the role of the churches when he said, 'The church is not meant to be the master of the state.' We don't sort of take power and grab the levers of government and impose our agenda down people's throats. ~ Jim Wallis

Pat Robertson is an embarrassment to the church and a danger to American politics, .. It's time for Christian leaders of all stripes to call on Robertson not just to apologize but to retire. ~ Jim Wallis

The great thing about social movements is everybody gets to be a part of them. ~ Jim Wallis

Our calling is not only to pull people out of the river, but to go upstream to find out what or who is pushing them in. ~ Jim Wallis

Why?' is the prophetic question. ~ Jim Wallis

The kingdom of God, which Jesus came to inaugurate, is meant to create an alternate reality in this world, and ultimately to transform the kingdoms of this world. ~ Jim Wallis

More than just a moral issue, hope is a spiritual and even religious choice. Hope is not a feeling; it is a decision. And the decision for hope is based on what you believe at the deepest levels - what your most basic convictions are about the world and what the future holds - all based on your faith. You choose hope, not as a naive wish, but as a choice, with your eyes wide open to the reality of the world - just like the cynics who have not made the decision for hope. ~ Jim Wallis

I met the president when he was president-elect at a meeting in Austin. He spoke of his faith. He spoke of his desire for a compassionate conservatism, for a faith-based initiative that would do something for poor people. ~ Jim Wallis

This year - today - I am repenting of my dependence on fossil fuels. ~ Jim Wallis

So when the only domestic social policy is tax cuts that mostly benefit the wealthiest Americans, we say, 'Where is faith being put into action here?' ~ Jim Wallis

The left and right are not religious categories. They're often not even value categories. ~ Jim Wallis

As I go on in standup, I keep being described as cleaner and cleaner as I do each hour, they're like, 'It's unbelievable how clean,' 'He's the cleanest person in the world.' And then I'll do shows and people will be like, 'You're supposed to be so clean, but you're talking about cancer.' ~ Jim Gaffigan

You just have to speak up. You just have to say, 'I would like to do this,' and it's amazing what people who listen can do for you. ~ Jim Parsons

Well, Frank, my thoughts are very similar. The vast loneliness up here at the moon is awe-inspiring, and it makes you realize what you have back there on earth. The earth from here is a grand oasis in the big vastness of space. ~ Jim Lovell

I wasn't interested in holding onto the evidence of things. ~ Jim Hodges

You don't have to make fun of it."
"Actually I do," I said. "I make fun of almost everything. ~ Jim Butcher

My dad - Victoria's grandfather, "Poppa Jim", as she called him - is forever waist-deep in the warm water of the harbour, holding a body. ~ Linda Collins

Politics has high and low moments. Sometimes it brings out the better angels of our nature; sometimes baser instincts. ~ Jim Leach

Indecision is the thief of opportunity. ~ Jim Rohn

The mind is the shadow of the light it seeks. ~ Jim Dodge

I have a theory. An audience doesn't need to get wrapped up in blackness every time they see a Negro actor. And a movie doesn't have to be about race just because there's a Negro in it. ~ Jim Brown

He had also jinxed my telescope so that every time I looked at Mars, Marvin the Martian popped up and threatened to destroy the Earth with an explosive space-modulator. ~ Jim C. Hines

It can be a great temptation to rest on the field and let the opponent have a play without making him pay for every inch. I must hold his pain where it is. Mine does not matter ... The punishment I inflict, his fatigue, and that he is up against something that he does not comprehend is everything. ~ Jim Harbaugh

You think when gym teachers were younger, they're thinking, "You know, I want to teach ... but I don't want to read. How about kickball for 40 years?" ~ Jim Gaffigan

I was a long time learning that wisdom and experience are things apart; that to taste life is not to be confused with understanding what life is really all about. ~ Wallis Simpson

If everyone saw himself as a citizen of the world rather than of his town, city or country, the world would be a more peaceful, better place where success in all forms is abundant and available to all. (A Gift to My Children) ~ Jim Rogers

To sit in this awful mess and maybe smoke some dope and watch some innocuous shit on a dumb glass tube and feel fine about it and know there's really nothing you have to do, ever, but feel your warm friend's silent content. You don't feel guilty about not fighting a war or carrying signs to protest it either. We've just mastered the life of doing nothing, which when you think about it, may be the hardest thing of all to do. ~ Jim Carroll

Unions do have a proper role in negotiating for employees and advising employees, but they have to engage with the employer. ~ Jim Ratcliffe

Whoever came up with the term "terrible twos" must have felt very foolish after their kid turned three. ~ Jim Gaffigan

The world seems dark and ugly sometimes. But there are still good things in it. And good people. ~ Jim Butcher

I go out and take oysters, clams and mussels every 2 weeks or so during late fall, winter and early spring. I particularly like to go out when there is a below-average ebb tide because that exposes clamming grounds and oysters that are usually under water. ~ Jim Himes

I made a ridiculous statement when I first went to North Carolina State. I said I know basketball down there was like life or death. It was very wrong. It's more important. ~ Jim Valvano

If you're playing any real person, live or dead, you certainly have a responsibility to produce that reputation in some way. ~ Jim Broadbent

The first time I drew a Superman story was 'For Tomorrow' with Brian Azzarello in 2004. It didn't really hit me how important it was until I drew a scene early-on in the book that featured Superman crossing paths with a giant, intergalactic space armada. ~ Jim Lee

I died. I died and someone made a clerical error and I am in Heaven. ~ Jim Butcher

A typical day in the Senate requires several trips to the Senate floor and back, although the journey is usually underground so that on some days, once I arrive at work, I never see the sun. ~ Jim Webb

I have never been an activist for anything. ~ Jim Parsons

Ah, how many Marahs have been sweetened by a simple, satisfying glimpse of the Tree and the Love which underwent its worst confict there. Yes, the Cross is the tree that sweetens the waters. 'Love never faileth. ~ Jim Elliot

Nobody I ever broke bread with, and I see players all the time, talked about using their head running the football. ~ Jim Brown

Our forebears back in the camp meeting days used to say that if people left a meeting talking about what a wonderful sermon the preacher gave or how beautifully the singers sang, the meeting had failed. But if people went home saying things like "Isn't God good? He met me tonight in such a wonderful way," it was a good meeting. There was to be no sharing the stage with the Lord. ~ Jim Cymbala

Like most Catholic boys, I wanted to be Jesus Christ. I could never get the turn-the-other-cheek thing down, though. ~ Jim Carrey

Nicodemus is a murderous murdering murderer ... ~ Jim Butcher

I give 'em the hip, then I take it away. ~ Jim Thorpe

To help cement the friendship between Japan and Disney, Emperor Hirohito personally presented to Roy O. Disney, for the dedication of the Magic Kingdom, a stone Japanese lantern known as a Toro to light the way to success and happiness. ~ Jim Korkis

We all make mistakes and sometimes you say things and you really don't realize what you're saying at that moment. ~ Jim Thome

As for working with a partner, he didn't like that either. It cut the score right down the middle. It put an apple on your head, and handed the other guy a shotgun. Because grifters, it seemed, suffered an irresistible urge to beat their colleagues. There was little glory in whipping a fool - hell, fools were made to be whipped. But to take a professional, even if it cost you in the long run, ah, that was something to polish your pride. ~ Jim Thompson

My first winner was on Legal Steps, in Ireland, at Thurles, in March 1992. I rode for Jim Bolger, and his stable jockey was Christy Roche. ~ Tony McCoy

The Pearly Gates. Am I the only one who finds it odd that Heaven has gates? What kind of neighborhood is Heaven in? ~ Jim Gaffigan