Criss Jami

“It is not true that everyone is special. It is true that everyone was once special and still possesses the ability to recover it.”

“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.”

“Never hide things from hardcore thinkers. They get more aggravated, more provoked by confusion than the most painful truths.”

“A man does not have to feel less than human to realize his sin; oppositely, he has to realize that he gets no special vindication for his sin.”

“When it comes to judging individuals, I do not like remarks such as 'too good to be true.' They speak as though one is rewarding the nature of evil. Yet, ironically, we still wonder where all the good people have gone.”

“Listen to God with a broken heart. He is not only the doctor who mends it, but also the father who wipes away the tears.”

“I am a fan of overdoing something, but not running it into the ground. They are complete opposites with only a fine line separating them.”

“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.”

“Just because something isn't a lie does not mean that it isn't deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction.”

“The motive behind criticism often determines its validity. Those who care criticize where necessary. Those who envy criticize the moment they think that they have found a weak spot.”

“Beware: open-mindedness will often say, 'Everything is permissible except a sharp opinion.”

“Most men either compromise or drop their greatest talents and start running after, what they perceive to be, a more reasonable success, and somewhere in between they end up with a discontented settlement. Safety is indeed stability, but it is not progression.”

“The artist lives to have stories to tell and to learn to tell them well.”

“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.”

“The first ingredient to being wrong is to claim that you are right. Geniuses have a knack for raising new questions. Hence by the public they are either admired for their creativity or, even more commonly so, detested for disturbing the daily peace of mind.”

“Sometimes it takes a lowly, title-less man to humble the world. Kings, rulers, CEOs, judges, doctors, pastors, they are already expected to be greater and wiser.”

“With a hint of good judgment, to fear nothing, not failure or suffering or even death, indicates that you value life the most. You live to the extreme; you push limits; you spend your time building legacies. Those do not die.”

“A pure heart does not demean the spirit of an individual, it, instead, compels the individual to examine his spirit.”

“Love is as simple as the absence of self given to another. God, when invited, fills the void of any unrequited love; hence loving is how one is drawn closer to God no matter its most horrific repercussions.”

“There is a greater Christian faith than one which settles for the temporal happiness, and that is the augmentation of faith. The more faithful you become, the harder the obstacles get; but the harder the obstacles get, the tougher your spine grows; and the tougher your spine grows, the less dependent you are on man's approval. I came to know this about Christianity when valuing faith before comfort.”

“It has always seemed that a fear of judgment is the mark of guilt and the burden of insecurity.”

“Tension, in the long run, is a more dangerous force than any feud known to man.”

“A poet should be so crafty with words that he is envied even for his pains.”

“To share your weakness is to make yourself vulnerable; to make yourself vulnerable is to show your strength.”

“As long as I am breathing, in my eyes, I am just beginning.”

“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.”