Wes Moore

“Fighting for your convictions is important. But finding peace is paramount.”

“But what all these responses have in common is that they point to the decisive power of information and stories [...]”

“-After all this pain and heartache, how are you now able to forgive? You seem so at peace with yourself and your life. How are you so able to move on?...-Because Mr. Mandela asked us to.”

“Sophie Bach from The Maker:You’re a human being with a personality and a will, and you make choices and think and create. Is there no meaning to you, Adrien Bach?And what about us? Is the way we feel about each other just simulated emotions from some biological process—nothing more?”

“Adrien Bach, main character from The Maker:You know, when you’re a kid, you think you’re going to grow up to be something special, do something important. You’re not going to be a regular Joe like everybody else. But then you get out there and life starts to hit you. It hits you so many times, eventually you just can’t get up anymore. Or won’t. And then you just don’t know. Those dreams seem to fade away, and suddenly you’re not sure who you are anymore.”

“When our passion for the Great Commission, becomes our search for the Great Politician, we know we're lost.”

“Why would you accept the Jesus of the Bible, if you have rejected the Bible of Jesus?”

“From the pastor who has an affair with his secretary, to the jerk at the office who happens to be a deacon, to the overbearing boss who can’t miss his Monday night Bible study, Christians today cause more problems for the gospel than all the devil’s demons put together.”

“What is missing in our time is not the willingness of God toact in biblical ways, but the willingness of his people to believehe is still the God of the Bible—and to act on that faith. To throwaway fear, to stride against common wisdom, to risk all that wehave and all that we are so we may follow only our simple beliefthat the God of the Scriptures is still alive and that he will stilldo what he says in his Word.”

“...deeper lesson: that the written word isn't necessarily a chore but can be a window into new worlds.”

“Do you think that we're products of our environments? I think so, or maybe products of our expectations. Others' expectations of us or our expectations. I mean others' expectations that you take on as your own. I realize how difficult it is to seperate the two. The expectations that others place on us help us form our expectations of ourselves.”

“The chilling truth is that his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his.”

“I sat back, allowing Wes's words to sink in. Then I responded, "I guess it's hard sometimes to distinguish between second chances and last chances.”

“When it is time for you to leave this school, leave your job, or even leave this earth, you make sure you have worked hard to make sure it mattered you were even here.”

“The common bond of humanity and decency that we share is stronger than any conflict, any adversity. Fighting for your convictions is important. But finding peace is paramount. Knowing when to fight and when to seek peace is wisdom. Ubuntu was right.”

“Just stand next to the white people. They'll get off by Hundred and Tenth Street." Justin broke down his strategy for securing a seat as we shoved ourselves onto the crowded Number 2 train heading uptown.”

“I learned that the way governors projected the numbers of beds they'd need for prison facilities was by examining the reading scores of third graders. Elected officials deduced that a strong percentage of kids reading below their grade level by third grade would be needing a secure place to stay when they got older.”

“...he was telling me that our [country's] blood-soaked and atrocity-littered past was important but that the future didn't have to be its slave.”