Criss Jami quotes
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When a man is penalized for honesty he learns to lie.
-- Criss Jami -
The man who is most aggressive in teaching tolerance is the most intolerant of all: he wants a world full of people too timid and ashamed to really disagree with anything.
-- Criss Jami -
It is a noble responsibility to not back down when you know that you know that you know that you are right.
-- Criss Jami -
There are two circumstances that lead to arrogance: one is when you're wrong and you can't face it; the other is when you're right and nobody else can face it.
-- Criss Jami -
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If you want to find the real competition, just look in the mirror. After awhile you'll see your rivals scrambling for second place.
-- Criss Jami -
The best ideas will eat at you for days, maybe even weeks, until something, some incident, some impulse, triggers you to finally express them.
-- Criss Jami -
Disasters work like alarm clocks to the world, hence God allows them. They are shouting, 'Wake up! Love! Pray!
-- Criss Jami -
One who enjoys finding errors will then start creating errors to find.
-- Criss Jami -
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I think there is a song out there to describe just about any situation.
-- Criss Jami -
What may intimidate a man is a woman who thinks with her mind before she feels with her heart. Nevertheless what determines the strength in the man is his ability to accept one when he sees one.
-- Criss Jami -
A lonely day is God's way of saying that he wants to spend some quality time with you.
-- Criss Jami -
A poet should be so crafty with words that he is envied even for his pains.
-- Criss Jami -
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You can't let the truth bring out the worst and let it get the best of you.
-- Criss Jami -
We are to give (and take) true love without falling into the narcissistic habit of only trying to take it in.
-- Criss Jami -
The writer's curse is that even in solitude, no matter its duration, he never grows lonely or bored.
-- Criss Jami -
Hypocrisy versus authenticity among men is not always so black and white, and as is righteousness, humility is often self-proclaimed. The Church is most definitely supposed to be a hospital for the spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically sick, hurting, and broken individual, yet ironically, many of its critics are those who ran away and permanently denounced its members after they visited and felt that they were sneezed on.
-- Criss Jami -
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It's not at all hard to understand a person; it's only hard to listen without bias
-- Criss Jami -
To be truly positive in the eyes of some, you have to risk appearing negative in the eyes of others.
-- Criss Jami -
When emerging from humble beginnings, those around you tend to underestimate your authenticity because they knew you before you were 'somebody'.
-- Criss Jami -
In order to share one's true brilliance one initially has to risk looking like a fool: genius is like a wheel that spins so fast, it at first glance appears to be sitting still.
-- Criss Jami -
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Society tells me to follow my own truth, but I don't let society tell me what to do. If you need someone to tell you that, chances are you're part of the crowd that will move on to the next fashion that comes around.
-- Criss Jami -
To be acceptable is for one to ignore his weakness while knowing his strength, to cover the scar even though it's always there, however, to be impossible is for one to see his weakness as, not an adversary, but the cherry on top of his strength, to rearrange the scar so that it compliments his features.
-- Criss Jami -
Cleverness isn't always true nor is the truth always clever
-- Criss Jami -
The hated man is the result of his hater's pride rather than his hater's conscience.
-- Criss Jami -
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The theistic philosopher has a tendency to devalue insufficient worldviews, ideologies, and quite often common sense for the greater good, and in such cases, one should not be discouraged when seen as a bad guy. If he stresses over man's perception of a righteous heart, then he has given his heart to man.
-- Criss Jami -
Man has 2 common problems with God: the one is that there is evil in the world; the other is that free will is limited. The one, he is charging that the world is too evil; the other is that it is not evil enough.
-- Criss Jami -
The weather is nature's disruptor of human plans and busybodies. Of all the things on earth, nature's disruption is what we know we can depend on, as it is essentially uncontrolled by men.
-- Criss Jami -
One of the greatest gifts from God is the eternal perspective. It is a level of fearlessness, a level of understanding where one can experience even emotional harmony with God.
-- Criss Jami -
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Everyone has their own ways of expression. I believe we all have a lot to say, but finding ways to say it is more than half the battle.
-- Criss Jami -
I often ask myself, 'Who would Jesus vote for?' Then I start to think that he wouldn't vote at all; however, it would not be out of apathy or disinterest, but out of perfection and light. As a miracle worker, I think he would, by the power of God's teachings, the perseverance and the truth, influence in a modern sense whoever is put into office how to best serve his fellow men. One, like his skeptics, may find that impractical. But there is a message in that no man in power can slow the momentum of the will of God, and the miracles of his teachings will be forever victorious.
-- Criss Jami -
Seemingly minor yet persistent things penetrate the mind over time making it difficult to ever realize the impact; hence, though quite unfortunate, the most dangerous forms of corruption are those that are subtle and below the radar.
-- Criss Jami -
I would rather my descendants have greater abilities and a greater knowledge of the love of Christ than I do, much like standing on one's shoulders in order to get a clearer view of the valley.
-- Criss Jami -
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Great minds think alike because a greater Mind is thinking through them.
-- Criss Jami -
I don't pretend to know everything; I just only speak on matters I know I'll win.
-- Criss Jami -
It's not about going around trying to stir up trouble. As long as you're honest and you articulate what you believe to be true, somebody somewhere will become your enemy whether you like it or not.
-- Criss Jami -
The humble sinner will sometimes be interpreted as one of the filthiest in the eyes of man yet immersed in the eyes of God, and this is due to the volition of honesty regarding his own corruption.
-- Criss Jami -
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Beyond all sciences, philosophies, theologies, and histories, a child's relentless inquiry is truly all it takes to remind us that we don't know as much as we think we know.
-- Criss Jami -
Friends ask you questions; enemies question you.
-- Criss Jami -
We are often taught to look for the beauty in all things, so in finding it, the layman asks the philosopher while the philosopher asks the photographer.
-- Criss Jami -
It is neither just the religious, the spiritual, the power-hungry, the evil, the ignorant, the corrupt, the Christian, the Muslim, the Hindu, the Buddhist, the Jew, nor the atheist that makes a hypocrite, but being a human being. Any man who thinks himself to be free of hypocrisy while committed to cherry-picking others for such, I am confident, the Almighty can prove to him a great deal of his own hypocrisy even beyond his earthly comprehension.
-- Criss Jami -
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It is the nature of physics to hear the loudest of mouths over the most comprehensive ones.
-- Criss Jami -
When you aren't satisfied with what has already been done, make something better. That is the greatest responsibility and the true freedom of creativity. The freedom is in that it doesn't need to complain.
-- Criss Jami -
Good intentions but bad results; bad results but lessons learned. There is a dark corner on every task beautiful and a beautiful corner on every task dark.
-- Criss Jami -
What is a genius? A person who demands little to nothing from others, but is often found extremely difficult to have around.
-- Criss Jami -
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In God's eyes, a man who teaches one truth and nothing else is more righteous than a man who teaches a million truths and one lie.
-- Criss Jami -
I imagine that the intelligent people are the ones so intelligent that they don't even need or want to look 'intelligent' anymore.
-- Criss Jami -
Thoughts are like burning stars, and ideas, they flood, they stretch the universe.
-- Criss Jami -
When good people consider you the bad guy, you develop a heart to help the bad ones. You actually understand them.
-- Criss Jami -
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I think a lot of psychopaths are just geniuses who drove so fast that they lost control.
-- Criss Jami -
A writer is one who communicates ideas and emotions people want to communicate but aren't quite sure how, or even if, they should communicate them.
-- Criss Jami -
The role of genius is not to complicate the simple, but to simplify the complicated.
-- Criss Jami -
If the entire world sought to make itself worthy of happiness rather than make itself happy, then the entire world would be happy.
-- Criss Jami -
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God favors men and women who delight in being made worthy of happiness before the happiness itself.
-- Criss Jami -
Everyone pretends to be 'free thinkers', but few individuals pass the line into expressive territories that may be detrimental to their own social well-being.
-- Criss Jami -
I'm convinced that most men don't know what they believe, rather, they only know what they wish to believe. How many people blame God for man's atrocities, but wouldn't dream of imprisoning a mother for her son's crime?
-- Criss Jami -
Tolerance never exists without negative judgment. It is the sentiment of having a negative opinion about something yet still putting up with it.
-- Criss Jami -
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Authors can write stories without people assuming that they are autobiographies, but songwriters and poets are often considered to be the characters in their works. I like Michelangelo's vision, 'I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.
-- Criss Jami -
Peace is more of an internal settlement rather than what is visible on the external.
-- Criss Jami -
Emotion is always multiplied in the art of a person who doesn't really show much emotion. It once expanded deep within his hidden soul, and following the downplay his audience is blown away.
-- Criss Jami -
Tension, in the long run, is a more dangerous force than any feud known to man.
-- Criss Jami -
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Everyone judges constantly: positively judging one person is the same as negatively judging everyone else; it is to say that that person is superior in some sense.
-- Criss Jami -
We are to love God most importantly so that we can grow to love people as he loved us, not so that we can feel more divine and worthy than the worldly.
-- Criss Jami -
Never rebel for the sake of rebelling, but always rebel for the sake of truth.
-- Criss Jami -
If I were to envy any persons on this planet, it would be mountain hermits. You often hear old platitudes such as, 'Speak out. Be heard.' On the contrary, a breath of fresh air would be something like: 'Silence, think for at least 15 minutes, and then maybe speak out.
-- Criss Jami -
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Christ delves far beyond the means of superficiality, not simply because of his immaculate love, but also because he considers the distinct cases of each individual rather than withholding a broadened perception by use of stereotypes.
-- Criss Jami -
As followers of Christ, we are to be careful not to remain victims of the many cultural presuppositions of who he is, and what he teaches, insofar as taking for granted our own caricatures of him. Let it boil in both mind and heart the question, 'If Jesus were to appear today, how many of us would actually recognize him and his teachings (or would it simply be a recount of his first visit)?
-- Criss Jami -
It always seems as though the definition of love will remain debatable by an opinionated world.
-- Criss Jami -
If love is blind, then maybe a blind person that loves has a greater understanding of it.
-- Criss Jami -
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Every man has a specific skill, whether it is discovered or not, that more readily and naturally comes to him than it would to another, and his own should be sought and polished. He excels best in his niche - originality loses its authenticity in one's efforts to obtain originality.
-- Criss Jami -
I'm never proud of my old work. I always feel as though my skills have since improved.
-- Criss Jami -
When we find that God's ways always coincide with our own ways, it's time to question who we're really worshipping, God or ourselves.
-- Criss Jami -
A young outcast will often feel that there is something wrong with himself, but as he gets older, grows more confident in who he is, he will adapt, he will begin to feel that there is something wrong with everyone else.
-- Criss Jami -
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If ever you feel like an animal among men be a lion.
-- Criss Jami -
Humility is, in a sense, admitting how egotistical you are.
-- Criss Jami -
I'm often painted as the bad guy, and the artistic part of me wants to hand out the brush.
-- Criss Jami -
Faithfulness imparts God's reason for all circumstances. No matter what the world says, losing is no longer an option.
-- Criss Jami -
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I would rather a romantic relationship turn into contempt than turn into apathy. The passion in the extremities make it appear as though it once meant something. We grow from hot or cold, but lukewarm is the biggest insult.
-- Criss Jami -
Thunderstorms are as much our friends as the sunshine.
-- Criss Jami -
The artist lives to have stories to tell and to learn to tell them well.
-- Criss Jami -
We first become salesmen as children in the confession booths of our parents.
-- Criss Jami -
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The love of conflict is most evident when opposing forces join sides to defeat the peacemaker.
-- Criss Jami -
What is hard work? It takes strength, energy, and stress to truly care about others enough to place oneself last, but it is easy to wrap oneself up and selfishly scramble on the heads of others.
-- Criss Jami -
When we look for success, it should be for the sole purpose of boasting sincerely in Christ. There's no other reason for it. Success is only worth it when the more intense it gets for you, the more you find yourself bragging for his glory rather than your own.
-- Criss Jami -
An artistic perspective will jab at you from a different angle; its logic comes like a pitcher with a curveball.
-- Criss Jami -
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Man is not, by nature, deserving of all that he wants. When we think that we are automatically entitled to something, that is when we start walking all over others to get it.
-- Criss Jami -
My confidence is in the idea that I may be wrong on this or that. No man in this life should ever have to bear the burden of perfection.
-- Criss Jami -
The first ingredient to being wrong is to claim that you are right.
-- Criss Jami -
Love does not dwell on how much one receives in return. If there is ever any balance in love, it is in a contest of who can love who more.
-- Criss Jami -
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Of course, in our train of thought, we would all like to think we're on the right track, or at least the same railroad company as the right track.
-- Criss Jami -
The pressure of adversity is the most powerful sustainer of accountability. It's as though everything you do is multiplied by 50 in order to surpass those with a head-start. I was never capable of slacking when at the threshold of failure.
-- Criss Jami -
An exceedingly confident student would in theory make a terrible student. Why would he take school seriously when he feels that he can outwit his teachers?
-- Criss Jami -
The crazy creatives are the creatives who never go completely mad. They aren't so easily disheartened by the seemingly endless amounts of scrutiny that creative individuals tend to receive because they, like insanity, are the ones who feed off of opposition and negative feedback and manage to continue along with a healthy ambition. It is the crazy that teaches us to use our gifts wisely and own all the attackers.
-- Criss Jami -
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Don't change your mind just because people are offended; change your mind if you're wrong.
-- Criss Jami -
Divinity for the sake of the simple-minded is beautiful. Those theological assertions you write, say, or live by that you later feel foolish about, it means God still lives in you enough to tell you that they were indeed foolish. By mistakes you know you are alive.
-- Criss Jami -
To be a philosopher, just reverse everything you have ever been told...and have a sense of humor doing it.
-- Criss Jami -
All the good stuff has already been said by someone somewhere at some point in time. You just have to find it. Today, communication pretty much comes down to understanding - saying what you have to say clearly and effectively...and then living it.
-- Criss Jami -
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Some concepts are so incredibly risky they take an honest fool to try to articulate them.
-- Criss Jami -
When comprehending how different people truly are, you also comprehend the absolute necessity of some divine authority.
-- Criss Jami -
It is ignorance that is at times incomprehensible to the wise; for instance, he may not see 'the positive person' or 'the negative person' in a black and white way as many people do. A wise man may not understand it because, as a catalyst of wisdom, but not wise in his own eyes, even he can learn from and give back to fools. To think that an individual has absolutely nothing to offer to the table is counter-intuitively what the wise man considers to be 'the ignorance of hopelessness'.
-- Criss Jami -
I enjoy melancholic music and art. They take me to places I don't normally get to go.
-- Criss Jami -
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