Vance Quotes

I'm convinced that a large percentage of people that we call worldly Christians are perhaps not Christian to begin with and that may be the trouble. ~ Vance Havner

Because the Lord loves us He chastens and rebukes us. Modern sentimentality has reduced God to a tolerant indulgent grandfatherly being who winks at our transgressions. ~ Vance Havner

Your problem, hon, is that you turn every simple box of a problem into a Rubik's Cube. ~ Brad Vance

Abraham did not know where he was going immediately, but he knew where he was going ultimately. He did not know the Whither but he knew the Whom. He believed God, and, being sure of his destiny, he did not worry about his destination. ~ Vance Havner

Sometimes your medicine bottle has on it, 'Shake well before using.' That is what God has to do with some of His people. He has to shake them well before they are ever usable. ~ Vance Havner

A lot of students just don't understand what's out there," she told me, shaking her head. "You have the kids who plan on being baseball players but don't even play on the high school team because the coach is mean to them. ~ J.D. Vance

I've done a lot of Shakespeare as a young man; I was involved with Shakespeare and Company. ~ Courtney B. Vance

I told Elon we could put another engine on there, but I was really, really frustrated and just tired and mad and was kinda short with Elon. I said, 'We can put another fucking thing on there, but I've blown up enough shit today.' He said, 'Okay, all right, that's fine. Just calm down. We'll do it again tomorrow. ~ Ashlee Vance

Who are our basic enemies? This is a secret, unknown even to these basic enemies. - Xaviar Skolcamp, Over-Centennial Fellow of the Institute, indulgently, in response to a journalist's too-searching question ~ Jack Vance

Either we fix [the marriage] today, or I will divorce you tomorrow. ~ Ashlee Vance

To build character of purpose and integrity is our high mark, and that cannot be done in a world where there are no adverse elements. ~ Vance Havner

I really honestly can't see myself as a lawyer. It's pretty much safe to say I'll never become one. ~ Vance Joy

During my last year of high school, I tried out for the varsity golf team. For about a year, I'd taken golf lessons from an old golf pro. ~ J.D. Vance

You are beaten to earth? Well, well, what's that? Come up with a smiling face, It's nothing against you to fall down flat But to lie there - that's a disgrace. ~ Edmund Vance Cooke

The gospel is for lifeboats, not showboats, and a man must make up his mind which boat he is going to operate. ~ Vance Havner

The Internet is the crime scene of the 21st Century. ~ Cyrus Vance, Jr.

It would not be better if things happened to men just as they wish. ~ Vance Havner

I become drunk as circumstances dictate. ~ Jack Vance

There are also several practical aspects to learning more about
our eternal home. Having a better perspective on the purpose of
our lives helps us to handle difficult times better. It helps us focus
on what is truly important. It also helps us to enjoy this life more
fully. ~ Vance C. Kessler

I'd be dong something creative - something I could express my personality through. I enjoyed working as a gardener before music consumed more of my time. I would probably be still working as a gardener, perhaps, and I wouldn't mind doing odd jobs on the side that were creative, but I'm not sure what they'd be. ~ Vance Joy

The world now lacks a " Sir Pom-pom", with all his funny ways! I wonder where he is now? Or is he anywhere at all? Can someone be nowhere? ~ Jack Vance

When Musk is present, the chats tend toward the absurd and fantastic ~ Ashlee Vance

Slowing down is sometimes the best way to speed up. ~ Mike Vance

Today people look at me, at my job and my Ivy League credentials, and assume that I'm some sort of genius, that only a truly extraordinary person could have made it to where I am today. With all due respect to those people, I think that theory is a load of bullshit. Whatever ~ J.D. Vance

An enemy, perhaps. Ah, so simple. Liane will kill you ten men. Two steps forward, thrust - thus!" He lunged. "And souls go thrilling up like bubbles in a beaker of mead. ~ Jack Vance

No command of art,
No toil, can help you hear;
Earth's minstrelsy falls clear
But on the listening heart. ~ John Vance Cheney

A preacher who is too big for a little crowd would be too little for a big crowd. ~ Vance Havner

Edge will contact you mind- to- mind and let you know what's going on."
"So I should be prepared to hear voices in my head ... other than the usual ones." Vance added the last part with a grin.
Cory gave him a droll stare and said, "Exactly. ~ Lanie Malone

When it came to my research, I never took any shortcuts. Over the past five years, I'd worked my way down the entire recommended gunter reading list. Douglas Adams. Kurt Vonnegut. Neal Stephenson. Richard K. Morgan. Stephen King. Orson Scott Card. Terry Pratchett. Terry Brooks. Bester, Bradbury, Haldeman, Heinlein, Tolkien, Vance, Gibson, Gaiman, Sterling, Moorcock, Scalzi, Zelazny. ~ Ernest Cline

God's Word is its own best argument. ~ Vance Havner

This is no science, this is art, where equations fall away to elements like resolving chords, and where always prevails a symmetry either explicit or multiplex, but always of a crystalline serenity. ~ Jack Vance

The life we've been leading couldn't last forever. It's a wonder it lasted as long as it did. ~ Jack Vance

People already have a desire for the things Heaven holds. We
simply need to see that these things are not just some fanciful
dream from a song but are a promised future reality. ~ Vance C. Kessler

People talk about hard work all the time in places like Middletown. You can walk through a town where 30 percent of the young men work fewer than twenty hours a week and find not a single person aware of his own laziness. ~ J.D. Vance

But I often wonder: Where would I be without them? I think ~ J.D. Vance

Zip2, PayPal, Tesla, SolarCity - they are all expressions of Musk. SpaceX is Musk. ~ Ashlee Vance

I never made lots of money at it, but I sold enough. ~ Jack Vance

You want him so much that half of me wants him too. ~ Talia Vance

I am Chun the Unavoidable. Tonight, O Lith, tonight it is two long bright threads for you. ~ Jack Vance

What do you think you're doing?" ... "What does it look like, Blake? I'm obviously having wild sex on a cement bench with my best friend's boyfriend fifteen feet from a yard full of people. ~ Talia Vance

The most depressing part is that relationship instability, like home chaos, is a vicious cycle. As sociologists Paula Fornby and Andrew Cherlin found, a "growing body of literature suggests that children who experience multiple transitions in family structure may fare worse developmentally than children raised in stable two-parent families and perhaps even than children raised in stable, single-parent families." For ~ J.D. Vance

Beyond the horizon, or even the knowledge, of the cities along the coast, a great, creative impulse is at work
the only thing, after all, that gives this continent meaning and a guarantee of the future. Every Australian ought to climb up here, once in a way, and glimpse the various, manifold life of which he is a part. ~ Vance Palmer

If they had a social gospel in the days of the prodigal son, somebody would have given him a bed and a sandwich and he never would have gone home. ~ Vance Havner

Musk took to the Mars Society right away and joined its board of directors. He donated another $100,000 to fund a research station in the desert as well. Musk's ~ Ashlee Vance

An inch of foreknowledge is worth ten miles of after-thought. ~ Jack Vance

For my entire life, I had oscillated between fear at my worst moments and a sense of safety and stability at my best. I was either being chased by the bad terminator or protected by the good one. But I had never felt empowered - never believed that I had the ability and the responsibility to care for those I loved. Mamaw could preach about responsibility and hard work, about making something of myself and not making excuses. No pep talk or speech could show me how it felt to transition from seeking shelter to providing it. I had to learn that for myself, and once I did, there was no going back. Mamaw's ~ J.D. Vance

Elon is one of the few people that I feel is more accomplished than I am," said Craig Venter, the man who decoded the human genome and went on to create synthetic lifeforms. At some point he hopes to work with Musk on a type of DNA printer that could be sent to Mars. It would, in theory, allow humans to create medicines, food, and helpful microbes for early settlers of the planet. "I think biological teleportation is what is going to truly enable the colonization of space," he said. "Elon and I have been talking about how this might play out. ~ Ashlee Vance

Rock 'n Roll is monotony tinged with hysteria. ~ Vance Packard

You have not really learned a commandment until you have obeyed it. The Church suffers today from Christians who know volumes more than they practice. ~ Vance Havner

Adam tried to hide behind the trees in the garden. There is only one tree that can hide us from Him and that is the tree of the cross. ~ Vance Havner

I give dignity second place to expedience. ~ Jack Vance

They knew that life was a struggle, and though the odds were a bit longer for people like them, that fact didn't excuse failure. "Never be like these fucking losers who think the deck is stacked against them," my grandma often told me. "You can do anything you want to." Their community shared this faith, and in the 1950s that faith appeared well founded. ~ J.D. Vance

One cannot help the evil thoughts that come, but it is the thoughts we cultivate that make the difference between good or evil. We don't have to open the door to the devil and say, "Make yourself at home." ~ Vance Havner

I am a dull fellow ... my person reeks, my conversation consists of insipid platitudes. ~ Jack Vance

I'm tired of hearing sin called sickness and alcoholism a disease. It is the only disease I know of that we're spending hundreds of millions of dollars a year to spread. ~ Vance Havner

Like any other boy in the world that does a little bit of rough-and-tumble and playing around when they're a kid, who doesn't want to be an action star at some point? ~ Chris Vance

Mischief moves somewhere near and I must blast it with my magic. ~ Jack Vance

He was hungry. IN 2014, in the richest country on earth, he wanted a little extra to eat but felt uncomfortable asking. Lord help us. ~ J.D. Vance

The best part about living with Mamaw was that I began to understand what made her tick. Until then, I had resented how rarely we traveled to Kentucky after Mamaw Blanton's death. The ~ J.D. Vance

both of my grandparents had an almost religious faith in hard work and the American Dream. Neither was under any illusions that wealth or privilege didn't matter in America. On politics, for example, Mamaw had one opinion - "They're all a bunch of crooks" - but Papaw became a committed Democrat. He had no problem with Armco, but he and everyone like him hated the coal companies in Kentucky thanks to a long history of labor strife. So, to Papaw and Mamaw, not all rich people were bad, but all bad people were rich. Papaw was a Democrat because that party protected the working people. ~ J.D. Vance

Throughout these early years, the engineers credited Eberhard with making quick, crisp decisions. Rarely did Tesla get hung up overanalyzing a situation. The company would pick a plan of attack, and when it failed at something, it failed fast and then tried a new approach. It ~ Ashlee Vance

I just wrote what I felt like writing since they seemed to sell. ~ Jack Vance

At one of the largest advertising agencies in America psychologists on the staff are probing sample humans in an attempt to find how to identify, and beam messages to, people of high anxiety, body consciousness, hostility, passiveness, and so on. ~ Vance Packard

To some Christianity is an argument. To many it is a performance. To a few, it is experience. ~ Vance Havner

The only thing that's changed is the way Blake looks at me.
And it takes my breath away.
Blake's eyes glow in the firelight. But it's the flames behind his eyes that make my whole body run hot. I can feel myself blush as he brings his hands to my cheek, branding me with his touch. "Brianna Paxton." He lets his fingers rest against my skin, stroking just beneath my chin. "You are even more beautiful than I remembered. ~ Talia Vance

It is a matter of whether one wants to get rich or be rich. We can be rich in Christ Jesus or perhaps get rich in Egypt, but we cannot do both. ~ Vance Havner

My talismans are not obviously useless. ~ Jack Vance

Most songwriting like poetry takes a careful selection of words. Sometimes you're just channeling something and a selection of words come out that you wouldn't normally say, but you come up with an assortment of words that are really special. It just makes sense even if it's normally how you wouldn't express yourself. ~ Vance Joy

Beware of being a religious poseur, trying to live up to a dramatized version of yourself. ~ Vance Havner

Progress is a farce because man's head and hand have created wonders that stun the imagination, but his heart does not keep step and his morals undo all that his mind has wrought. ~ Vance Havner

Violet is missing, and it seems Vance is as well," Damien says on a huff as he exits.

"Why the bloody hell would he leave with her directly after a wolf attack?" I ask as I start toward the door, finishing off my drink. "Without a word?"

"I'm not sure he left with her, so much as chased after her, since it looks like he found her note first," Damien says as he jogs down the stairs.

I have the paper snatched out of his hand before he realizes it's missing, and I flip it over, reading it.

DO NOT FOLLOW ME. THIS VACATION SUCKS TOO HARD TO STAY. I'M GOING HOME TO RELAX.

Sincerely,

the SINGLE gypsy girl who can think for herself

P.S. I'LL KEY YOUR FUCKING CARS if you come looking for me before I'm ready to deal with you again.

"Little rude to leave so soon, considering how hard I worked to find out where the hell you'd all gone," I point out before walking out the door.

I'm gone before they can further delay me.

"She put it in shouty caps!" Damien calls to my back, though I have no idea what the hell that's supposed to mean. ~ Kristy Cunning

Astarte said the jacket reminded her of an ancient demon called The Judge, who separated the righteous from the wicked - and then burned the righteous. ~ R.E. Vance

New pressures are causing ever more people to find their main satisfaction in their consumptive role rather than in their productive role. And these pressures are bringing forward such traits as pleasure-mindedness, self-indulgence, materialism, and passivity as conspicuous elements of the American character. ~ Vance Packard

I don't consider myself an action hero, at all. My domestic life is the same as anyone else's. ~ Chris Vance

Psychologists call it "learned helplessness" when a person believes, as I did during my youth, that the choices I made had no effect on the outcomes in my life. ~ J.D. Vance

The church is so subnormal that if it ever got back to the New Testament normal it would seem to people to be abnormal. ~ Vance Havner

When we first talked about the touch-screen, the guys came back and said, 'There's nothing like that in the automotive supply chain,'" Musk said. "I said, 'I know. That's because it's never been put in a fucking car before. ~ Ashlee Vance

I love this song, can you turn it up?"

I reached and turned the dial up on the Vance Joy song "Red Eye." Adam bobbed his head to the music. At the stoplight I looked over at him. He was wearing the black beanie my brother had given him, his black Wayfarers, and the hospital gown.

I laughed.

He turned to me and smiled. "What?" he said.

"You're cute."

"Oh yeah? Wanna fool around?" He grinned.

I was glad that Adam couldn't see my eyes welling up behind my sunglasses.

The car behind us honked. I hit the gas and my car lurched forward from the intersection. "How much time do we have?" I asked.

"What? Are you serious?"

"Yes, Adam, I am serious." He was having a good day.

He reached for my phone. "We have like an hour and a half before Leah freaks out."

I knew I was taking a big chance, but how could I say no to him? There was so much joy in him that day just because he got to go to the drive-thru at In-N-Out.

"Okay." I glanced over at him and flattened my lips. "You better not have a seizure on me."

"I can't think of a better place to have a seizure. Although I can see how that wouldn't be much fun for you."

I laughed hysterically. "Oh man, I didn't mean literally on me; I meant on my watch."

"Well, Charlotte, I don't have much control over that, but I'll try. You know what helps?"

"What?"

"Alcohol ~ Renee Carlino

The life of an editor is not a glamorous one. You're a fixer; you make things better. ~ Courtney B. Vance

We are the salt of the earth, mind you, not the sugar. Our ministry is to truly cleanse and not just to change the taste. ~ Vance Havner

God isn't a talent scout looking for someone who is "good enough" or "strong enough." He is looking for someone with a heart set on Him, and He will do the rest. ~ Vance Havner

I do think Bezos has an insatiable desire to be King Bezos," Musk said. "He has a relentless work ethic and wants to kill everything in e-commerce. But he's not the most fun guy, honestly."* ~ Ashlee Vance

Then I said, "Matt's got a big mouth."
"They all got big mouths, girl, learn that quick. These boys talk more than a pack of women. I lost fifty bucks on you."
I was stunned speechless again, this time it didn't last as long.
"What?"
"See, Lee nailed Indy the first night they were together. Not nailed her nailed her but she was in his bed. Eddie, with Jet, it took a few days. Hank and Roxie, like, a day. Vance, like three, but Jules was a virgin and he had to interrupt the festivities once to go out and shoot someone."
I was blinking rapidly and feeling kind of faint at the amount and sensitivity of information Shirleen was imparting, not to mention what it might mean to me.
"So we had a pool. Everyone threw down money on when they thought Luke would nail you. Mace won five hundred dollars."
Ho-ly crap.
"So," she went on. "Did he nail you nail you or did you two just sleep?"
For some reason, I answered her unbelievably nosy question. "We just slept."
"New pool!" she shouted. ~ Kristen Ashley

There was a writer in the '20s called Christopher Morley, who I remember a little bit of, who had some influence on me, but I couldn't tell you what it was. ~ Jack Vance

If religions are diseases of the human psyche, as the philosopher Grintholde asserts, then religious wars must be reckoned the resultant sores and cankers infecting the aggregate corpus of the human race. Of all wars, these are the most detestable, since they are waged for no tangible gain, but only to impose a set of arbitrary credos upon another's mind. ~ Jack Vance

You have two choices," Vance said.
I stopped in the doorway to the hall and put my hands on my hips.
"And those would be?" I asked.
"We can talk or we can f**k."
My eyes rounded. Then they narrowed. I didn't answer.
"Though," he went on, "I should tell you even if you pick talking, after we're done, we're still gonna f**k."
I frowned at him and leaned in. "You are too much," I snapped.
He ignored my threatening posture. "You don't chose, I will, and I'll pick f**king. We can talk after. ~ Kristen Ashley

Too many Christians are stuffing themselves with gospel blessings while millions have never had a taste. ~ Vance Havner

Each day's dawn is a sweet symphony and as long as I hear the music, my dreams will have to die another day. ~ Eric Vance Walton

What is it like to a be published author? Image clawing your beating heart from your chest and flopping it onto a plate for a room of food critiques expecting an ambrosia that conjures visions of Heaven. That comes pretty close. ~ Vallory Vance

What is an evil man? The man is evil who coerces obedience to his private ends, destroys beauty, produces pain, extinguishes life. ~ Jack Vance

No amount of facts in his head can compensate for the lack of fire on his lips. ~ Vance Havner

Musk's vision, and, of late, execution seem to combine the best of Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller. With ~ Ashlee Vance

No one fucking tells me to behave and gets away with it. Besides Vance. That's only because he's the one who is actually supposed to make us behave, and he can sometimes kick my ass. ~ Kristy Cunning

The thermometer of a church is its prayer meeting. ~ Vance Havner

What Musk had done that the rival automakers missed or didn't have the means to combat was turn Tesla into a lifestyle. It did not just sell someone a car. It sold them an image, a feeling they were tapping into the future, a relationship. Apple did the same thing decades ago with the Mac and then again with the iPod and iPhone. Even those who were not religious about their affiliation to Apple were sucked into its universe once they bought the hardware and downloaded software like iTunes. This ~ Ashlee Vance

Only the fact of my broken limbs prevents me from leaping at your throat. ~ Jack Vance

Vance has a genius in evoking the beauty of strangeness, the strangeness of beauty. ~ Jack Vance

It was sad leaving 'All Saints' because I was leaving a family that had nurtured me and looked after me for a couple of years, and at the same time that particular storyline wasn't a surprise to me. I knew I was going. It had been worked out very carefully over many months. ~ Chris Vance

You're just like, "I like doing this - it's something I have a lot of passion for." You happen to do it, you enjoy songwriting, and eventually if you're writing enough songs, then you fall into it. ~ Vance Joy

Page holds Musk up as a model he wishes others would emulate - a figure that should be replicated during a time in which the businessmen and politicians have fixated on short-term, inconsequential goals. "I don't think we're doing a good job as a society deciding what things are really important to do," Page said. "I think like we're just not educating people in this kind of general way. You should have a pretty broad engineering and scientific background. You should have some leadership training and a bit of MBA training or knowledge of how to run things, organize stuff, and raise money. I don't think most people are doing that, and it's a big problem. Engineers are usually trained in a very fixed area. When you're able to think about all of these disciplines together, you kind of think differently and can dream of much crazier things and how they might work. I think that's really an important thing for the world. That's how we make progress. ~ Ashlee Vance