Peterson Quotes

I thought I was Superman until I experienced that life-changing anaphylactic shock. I was eating lunch and gobbled down a couple of bowls of gumbo. Then, 15 minutes later, I'm in my dorm room resting up. My eyes started itching and my throat was swelling up. I could barely breathe. ~ Adrian Peterson

I must persevere ~ Graham Peterson

The test of any relationship lies in rewarding vulnerability instead of punishing it. ~ Gayle Peterson

More birds have adapted to a changing world than have failed. Very few have the narrow tolerance of the ivory-billed woodpecker or the Bachman's warbler. ~ Roger Tory Peterson

We're mortal, yet without a known expiration date. It's an inevitable fate worthy of acceptance, but not deserving of predictions. ~ Joe Peterson

The power that the world acknowledges comes out of the mouth of a gun; the power that the person of faith respects comes from the mouth of Christ. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

You guys pair up in groups of three, then line up in a circle. ~ Bill Peterson

But caveat lector: we do not read the Bible in order to reduce our lives to what is convenient to us or manageable by us - we want to get in on the great invisibles of the Trinity, the soaring adorations of the angels, the quirky cragginess of the prophets, and ... Jesus. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

As we grow into maturity in Christ our distinctiveness is accentuated, not blunted. General directions, useful as they are, don't take into account the details that face us as holiness takes root in the particular social and personal place we are planted. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

Prayer is the disciplined refusal to act before God acts. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

Happiness doesn't come from doing what we like to do but from liking what we have to do. ~ Wilferd Peterson

It is looking for the joys that come in small, precious packages and making the most of them, knowing that big packages of joy are few and far between. ~ Wilferd Peterson

There's nobody who doesn't have problems with the church, because there's sin in the church. But there's no other place to be a Christian except the church. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

Horses in the Book of Mormon would be another. You have relatively few mentions of horses, but there are some, and we don't know exactly how they were used; they don't seem to be all that common. Were they horses as we understood them, [or] does the term describe some other animal? Languages don't always and cultures don't always classify things the way we would expect. We have what we call common-sense ways of doing it. They're not common sense; they're just ours. But again, we don't have a strong case there. We're just problem solving there. ~ Daniel C. Peterson

I often wonder what Einstein would have done in my position. At Peterson, I kept an Einstein poster in my room, the one that says 'Imagination is more important than knowledge.' Einstein was smart, maybe even as smart as Laserator, but he played it way too safe. Then again, nobody ever threw a grappling hook at Einstein. I like to think he would have enjoyed my work, if he could have seen it. But no one sees anything I do, not until it's hovering over Chicago. ~ Austin Grossman

You bite off more than you can chew, 'course you're going to choke. One bite at a time. And that goes for thinking things, too, not just food. ~ Margaret Peterson Haddix

The mind is a curious thing, Abby. We see what we want to see, we hear what we're hoping to hear. The one thing we all do well is fool ourselves. ~ Shelley Peterson

Every call to worship is a call into the Real World ... I encounter such constant and widespread lying about reality each day and meet with such skilled and systematic distortion of the truth that I'm always in danger of losing my grip on reality. The reality, of course, is that God is sovereign and Christ is savior. The reality is that prayer is my mother tongue and the eucharist my basic food. The reality is that baptism, not Myers-Briggs, defines who I am. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

My approach to strategy: shoot, aim...then unleash hell! ~ Mark Anthony Peterson

Good will is a power that can be used every day of the year and every hour of the day. It is instantly available. By continuously practicing good will we cultivate a deep subconscious habit of good will. It becomes a pattern of our response in all situations. Good will works as silently as the sun and with as much power. It thaws the ice and snow of resistance and indifference. It warms and wins human hearts. It draws forth the best in others as flowers are drawn from the soil. It stimulates growth. ~ Wilferd Peterson

Isn't it interesting that all of the biblical prophets and psalmists were poets? ~ Eugene H. Peterson

Inequality is the deepest of problems, built into the structure of reality itself, and will not be solved by the presumptuous, ideology-inspiring retooling of the rare free, stable and productive democracies of the world. ~ Jordan B. Peterson

Thinking leads inexorably to the abyss. It did not work for Tolstoy. It might not even have worked for Nietzsche, who arguably thought more clearly about such things than anyone in history. But if it is not thinking that can be relied upon in the direst of situations, what is left? Thought, after all, is the highest of human achievements, is it not?
Perhaps not.
Something supersedes thinking, despite its truly awesome power. When existence reveals itself as existentially intolerable, thinking collapses in on itself. In such situations - in the depths - it's noticing, not thinking, that does the trick. ~ Jordan B. Peterson

We'll start our analysis with a truism, stark, self-evident and understated: Sometimes things do not go well. That seems to have much to do with the terrible nature of the world, with its plagues and famines and tyrannies and betrayals. But here's the rub: sometimes, when things are not going well, it's not the world that's the cause. The cause is instead that which is currently most valued, subjectively and personally. Why? Because the world is revealed, to an indeterminate degree, through the template of your values…If the world you are seeing is not the world you want, therefore, it's time to examine your values. It's time to rid yourself of your current presuppositions. It's time to let go. It might even be time to sacrifice what you love best, so that you can become who you might become, instead of staying who you are. ~ Jordan B. Peterson

Butterflies are very interesting. Here these things are little grubs for a while. And then they go into a little coffin. There they are in a sarcophagus, and then they come out and dance with the angels. ~ Roger Tory Peterson

The minute the church and pastors start saying what do people want and then giving it to them, we betray our calling. We're called to have people follow Jesus. We're called to have people learn how to forgive their enemies. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

There's hope around the corner. ~ Margaret Peterson Haddix

Everyone should play like Adrian Peterson. This guy does everything full speed. Pro Bowl - promoting himself for MVP. ~ Peyton Manning

Smashed fly or the dead pig, gone stiff in the sun. It made his stomach feel funny even trying. "I don't think it's fair we've got to do Luke's chores now," Luke's other brother, ~ Margaret Peterson Haddix

People always say, 'Who is your audience?' and I could never put a finger on it - and I wouldn't want to put a finger on it. ~ Cassandra Peterson

Waiting means going about our assigned tasks, confident that God will provide the meaning and the conclusions. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

They ask themselves: "What will he do?" "How will he react?" "Will he go mad?" "Will he bite?" "Will he be armed?" They're pumped up with fear. Adrenaline pumping, fingers tense on the trigger, brains racing. And I'm cool as a cat! The name 'Charles Bronson' causes panic! The name 'Mickey Peterson' causes stress! The police all love to arrest me, as I'm the most exciting madman they will ever arrest! It's a fact. So here I am years later, and I'm still the madman. There is no escaping my past. ~ Stephen Richards

Never walk away from someone who deserves help; your hand is God's hand for that person. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

For us, it was never about death. It was about life. Knowing that there was a way out, and that his suffering was not going to become unendurable, was the one thing that allowed Mr. Peterson to go on living, much longer than he would have otherwise wanted. It was the weeks leading up to our pact that were shrouded in darkness and despair; after its inception, life became a meaningful prospect once more. ~ Gavin Extence

So watch your step, friends. Make sure there's no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and throw you off course, diverting you from the living God. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

The life of faith is a daily exploration of the constant and countless ways in which Gods grace and love are expereinced ~ Eugene H. Peterson

The task of the prophet is not to smooth things over but to make things right. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

Posture and Social Status...
During the 18th century in European and American society, aspects including station in life, status and dress could easily identify those of financial means. In fact, the garments of this era would hold the wearer in a position that would support and require proper posture. Women, and sometimes men, wore stays in order to shape the torso. Among the more privileged, even children wore stays since people believed these improved their posture and enhanced straight spinal growth. Certain movements were constrained by the cut and design of many garments, including details of the sleeve and back that would hold the person in proper posture. ~ Cindy Ann Peterson

Whatever happened to, 'Yes, Mum. Whatever you say, Mum'?" Isabel demanded. "When did you stop obeying instantly?"
…
"We haven't stopped obeying. We just think first now." - Ian ~ Margaret Peterson Haddix

sometimes people couldn't be saved, no matter how much you wanted it, no matter how hard you tried. ~ Ann Voss Peterson

Thrills, chills, spine-tingling mystery, and lots of smiles. It's not easy to combine heart-pounding danger with gut-busting laughs and make it work, but Peterson pulls it off. For readers who want nonstop action infused with powerful, life-changing themes, North! Or Be Eaten is a must-read. ~ Wayne Thomas Batson

My favorite food was seafood, and that's all I used to eat. And then there I was, 27 years old, and bam, I have this allergic reaction - and it's life-threatening. So it's very important to spread the word and spread awareness so people can be better prepared in case anaphylaxis occurs in their life. ~ Adrian Peterson

Angles from their former lofty positions in the sky. Their absence made everything look different, like a fresh haircut exposing a band of untanned skin on a forehead. Even from deep inside the kitchen, Luke could tell the trees were missing because everything was brighter, more open. Scarier. ~ Margaret Peterson Haddix

You will be lucky if you can remember your name, but trust me on this when I say, you will DEFINITELY remember MY name. Selena from Dirty Little Devil ~ Shaunna Peterson

Language consists in equal parts of speaking and silence. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

Civility awareness and a common foundation of considerate conduct are crutial to our future, ~ Cindy Ann Peterson

Penguins are an indicator of the health of our watery planet, and if they are unable to survive, we had better take notice or we might find our own survival threatened. ~ Roger Tory Peterson

Montreal was a very active jazz center until club owners started putting in strippers instead of music. Before long, there was nothing to hear. ~ Oscar Peterson

Without stories we end up with stereotypes
a flat earth with flat cardboard figures that have no texture or depth, no INTERIOR. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

To me, the scariest movie ever made to this day is 'The Exorcist.' It still scares the living hell out of me, and it's because of the fantasy element. It's the exorcism. It's the Devil. It's not a guy breaking into your house trying to torture you or cut your whatever off. Those kinds of movies don't do it for me, and I don't call them horror. ~ Cassandra Peterson

The word 'christian' means different things to different people. To one person it means a stiff, upright, inflexible way of life, colorless and unbending. To another it means a risky, surprised-filled adventure, lived tiptoe at the edge of expectation ... If we get our information from the biblical material, there is no doubt that the Christian life is a dancing, leaping, daring life. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

O God, when my faith gets overladen with dust, blow it clean with the wind of your Spirit. When my habits of obedience get stiff and rusty, anoint them with the oil of your Spirit. Restore the enthusiasm of my first love for you. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

I tried pulling myself out of the gutter once," Natty snickered. "I got bored. ~ S.J.D. Peterson

Marijuana isn't bad for everyone any more than alcohol is bad for everyone. Sometimes it even appears to improve people. ~ Jordan B. Peterson

Haven't you learned you should never judge a book by its cover? There is a lot of assumptions you've made based on appearance. ~ S.J.D. Peterson

I want to believe in a new thing, Lord. I want that more than anything. I want to forget the old things - the bad and ugly things that have sent me here. Please let me see your hand in all of this. Let me see the path through this wilderness. ~ Tracie Peterson

It [ME] is one of the most disabling diseases that I care for, far exceeding HIV disease except for the terminal stages. ~ Daniel L. Peterson

The North American church at present is conspicuous for replacing the Jesus way with the American way. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

There's a class of things to be afraid of: it's "those things that you should be afraid of". Those are the things that go bump in the night, right? You're always exposed to them when you go to horror movies, especially if they're not the gore type of horror movie. They're always hinting at something that's going on outside of your perceptual sphere, and they frighten you because you don't know what's out there. For that the Blair Witch Project was a really good example, because nothing ever happens in that movie but it's frightenting and not gory. It plays on the fact tht you do have a category of Those Things Of Which You Should Be Afraid. So it's a category, frightening things. And only things capable of abstraction can come up with something like the caregory of frightenting things.

And so Kali is like an embodied representation of the category of frightening things. And then you might ask yourself, well once you come up with the concept of the category of frightening things, maybe you can come up with the concept of what to do in the face of frightening things. Which is not the same as "what do you do when you encounter a lion", or "what do you do when you encounter someone angry". It's a meta question, right?

But then you could say, at a philosophical level: "You will encounter elements of the category of all those things which can frighten and undermine you during your life. Is there something that you can do *as a category* that would help you d ~ Jordan B. Peterson

Anger isn't the only thing that can destroy someone, Ty whispered. ~ S.J.D. Peterson

When we submit our lives to what we read in scripture, we find that we are not being led to see God in our stories but our stories in God's. God is the larger context and plot in which our stories find themselves. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

The experience may have been costly, but it was also priceless. ~ Peter George Peterson

The church is the primary arena in which we learn that glory does not consist in what we do for God but in what God does for us. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

Count yourself lucky, how happy you must be - you get a fresh start, your slate's wiped clean. Count yourself lucky - God holds nothing against you and you're holding nothing back from Him. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

The Hopi Indians of Arizona believe that our daily rituals and prayers literally keep this world spinning on its axis. For me, feeding the seagulls is one of those everyday prayers. ~ Brenda Peterson

Great sermon helped me to reflect on scape goats, forgiveness, revenge and the messiness of community.. where I referenced this sermon. Thanks! Keep preaching the damn Gospel! ~ Bill Peterson

So, listen, to yourself and to those with whom you are speaking. Your wisdom then consists not of the knowledge you already have, but the continual search for knowledge, which is the highest form of wisdom. ~ Jordan B. Peterson

I am personally saddened and stunned by the tragic events that took place in Red Lake. ~ Collin C. Peterson

I can't go back to being who I used to be!'
Hadley looked down at him sympathetically.
'None of us can, kid.' he said. 'That's the point. You get what you get. Life changes you. Time travel or no, you always have to build on what you live through. ~ Margaret Peterson Haddix

I didn't write because I had anything to say, but in order to find out what there was to say. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

Some things just are. They can't be changed or undone or fixed.But people-people can heal. Even from events they believe are unendurable. ~ Margaret Peterson Haddix

He can talk to himself about his dreams, hopes and aspirations. He can convince himself that there is a place for him and an important work for him to do. ~ Wilferd Peterson

A lady, that is an enlightened, cultivated, liberal lady - the only kind to be in a time of increasing classlessness - could espouse any cause: wayward girls, social diseases, unmarried mothers, and/or birth control with impunity. But never by so much as the shadow of a look should she acknowledge her own experience with the Facts of Life. ~ Virgilia Peterson

Stand tall and be proud. Realize confidence is charismatic and something that is something money can't buy, it radiates from within you. ~ Cindy Ann Peterson

The Bible is not a textbook. Nor is it a manual to be studied, mastered, and mechanically applied. Instead, I believe we should listen to the Word of God and reflect upon it like poetry till it infiltrates the soul. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

I can catch the ball. You've got to throw it to me. ~ Adrian Peterson

There are a thousand ways of being religious without submitting to Christ's lordship, and people are practiced in most of them. We live in golden calf country. Religious feeling runs high but in ways far removed from what was said in Sinai and done on Calvary. While everyone has a hunger for God, deep and insatiable, none us has any great desire for him. What we really want is to be our own gods and to have whatever other gods that are around to help in this work. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

The way of Jesus cannot be imposed or mapped - it requires an active participation in following Jesus as he leads us through sometimes strange and unfamiliar territory, in circumstances that become clear only in the hesitations and questionings, in the pauses and reflections where we engage in prayerful conversation with one another and with him. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

The art of humility begins with a recognition of our dependence on others and an appreciation of God's gift of life. ~ Wilferd Peterson

One way to define spiritual life is getting so tired and fed up with yourself you go on to something better, which is following Jesus. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

Peterson remembered with a smile that the US Department of the Interior had made a thorough prediction of trends in 1937, and had missed atomic energy, computers, radar, antibiotics, and World War II. Yet they all kept on, with this simple-minded linear extrapolation that was, despite a bank of computers to refine the numbers, still merely a new way to be stupid in an expensive fashion. ~ Gregory Benford

If you don't get in them and rev them up every now and then, they turn in to cranky old bitches who refuse to do a damn thing for you.
Connerism from Quinn's Need ~ S.J.D. Peterson

By the grace of God you are what you are; glory in your selfhood, accept yourself and go on from there. ~ Wilferd Peterson

The reason progress is slow is that we always expect other men to be the heroes and to live the heroic lives. But we all have hero stuff in us. In our sphere of life we can always live more heroically and triumphantly and grow in heroic stature. ~ Wilferd Peterson

PAYING ATTENTION TO GOD We bless GOD, oh yes - we bless him now, we bless him always! PSALM 115:18, THE MESSAGE Prayer is the most thoroughly present act we have as humans, and the most energetic: it sockets the immediate past into the immediate future and makes a flexible, living joint of them. The Amen gathers what has just happened into the Maranatha of the about to happen and produces a Benediction. We pay attention to God and lead others to pay attention to God. It hardly matters that so many people would rather pay attention to their standards of living, or their self-image, or their zeal to make a mark in the world. The reality is God: worship or flee. THE CONTEMPLATIVE PASTOR ~ Eugene H. Peterson

Kindness is the excuse that social justice warriors use when they want to exercise control over what other people think and say. ~ Jordan B. Peterson

when the cheese belongs to the mitten take the horns off the roller coaster ~ Zach Peterson

"Life is unfair" "The goalposts will move" and above all: "other people matter" ~ Christopher Peterson

The prayer of David traditionally assigned to this story is Psalm 57. While there are lines in that psalm that convey David's fugitive state at the time, its overwhelming impression is of energetic and ebullient praise of God. This means that while Saul was the occasion for David's being in the wilderness, Saul neither defined nor dominated the wilderness. The wilderness was full of God, not Saul. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

Teaching resurrects dead words so they live again. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

What were you supposed to do, talking to a hologram of a dead man, when a younger version of that man was still alive? Should you offer condolences?
Jordan decided that really wasn't necessary. ~ Margaret Peterson Haddix

Just make sure the unknown is a place you the writer understand. If you're going to write, you have to love. ... You have to fall on your face, swim against the tide, make terrible mistakes, and pay the price; you have to tune in, turn on, drop out, drop back in, fight, cry, lose, win. ... Above all, don't get too comfortable. Go out there and get your heart broken. You won't be able to write until you do. ~ Holly Peterson

The fact that power plays a role in human motivation does not mean that it plays the only role, or even the primary role ... Beware of single cause interpretations--and beware the people who purvey them. ~ Jordan B. Peterson

Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground. Let their spirit ignite a fire within you to leave this world better than when you found it ... ~ Wilferd Peterson

Unlike mere action, prayer is not subject to immediate evaluation or verification. If we are addicted to "results" we will quickly lose interest in prayer. ~ Eugene H. Peterson

Your image is your brand and you have only one opportunity to make that first impression. Choose to make a positive first impression. ~ Cindy Ann Peterson

But I don't want to be the Throne Warden," Janner said with all the bitterness he could muster.
"I understand," Nia said. Janner had planned to send her over the edge with that comment, but she didn't seem surprised.
"Sometimes I don't want to be queen. But what I want doesn't change what I am. ~ Andrew Peterson

We're not like pop musicians who have to perform the same top ten tunes every night of a tour. ~ Oscar Peterson

Our behavioral patterns are exceedingly complex, and psychology is a young science. The scope of our behavioral wisdom exceeds the breadth of our explicit interpretation. We act, even instruct, and yet do not understand. How can we do what we cannot explain? ~ Jordan B. Peterson

He was only twelve, but he knew enough to realize that the way before him would be hard. Is it worth it? he asked himself. Was it worth losing his old life in order to learn the truth of who he was and who he was becoming?
Yes.
Like the pluck of a stringed instrument, the first edge of the sun broke loose and poured light over the world. ~ Andrew Peterson