Annie Dillard
  • As soon as beauty is sought not from religion and love, but for pleasure, it degrades the seeker.

  • It is ironic that the one thing that all religions recognize as separating us from our creator, our very self-consciousness, is also the one thing that divides us from our fellow creatures. It was a bitter birthday present from evolution.

  • You can't test courage cautiously.

  • I would like to learn, or remember, how to live.

  • Eskimo: 'If I did not know about God and sin, would I go to hell?' Priest: 'No, not if you did not know.' Eskimo: 'Then why did you tell me?'