Quotes from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“I used to be afraid of failing at something that really mattered to me, but now I'm more afraid of succeeding at things that don't matter.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“I used to want to fix people, but now I just want to be with them.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“Most people need love and acceptance a lot more than they need advice.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“Failure is just part of the process, and it's not just okay; it's better than okay. God doesn't want failure to shut us down. God didn't make it a three-strikes-and-you're-out sort of thing. It's more about how God helps us dust ourselves off so we can swing for the fences again. And all of this without keeping a meticulous record of our screw-ups.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“You don't need a plan; you just need to be present.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“Living a life fully engaged and full of whimsy and the kind of things that love does is something most people plan to do, but along the way they just kind of forget. Their dreams become one of those "we'll go there next time" deferrals. The sad thing is, for many there is no "next time" because passing on the chance to cross over is an overall attitude toward life rather than a single decision.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“I used to think you had to be special for God to use you, but now I know you simply need to say yes.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“But the kind of love that God created and demonstrated is a costly one because it involves sacrifice and presence. It's a love that operates more like a sign language than being spoken outright.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“The thing I love about God is He intentionally guides people into failure.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“Grace works that way. It's a kind word from a gentle person with an impossible prayer. It's a force sometimes transmitted best hand to hand in a dark place.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“Being engaged is a way of doing life, a way of living and loving. It's about going to extremes and expressing the bright hope that life offers us, a hope that makes us brave and expels darkness with light. That's what I want my life to be all about - full of abandon, whimsy, and in love.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“I don't think anyone aims to be typical, really. Most people even vow to themselves some time in high school or college not to be typical. But still, they just kind of loop back to it somehow. Like the circular rails of a train at an amusement park, the scripts we know offer a brand of security, of predictability, of safety for us. But the problem is, they only take us where we've already been. They loop us back to places where everyone can easily go, not necessarily where we were made to go. Living a different kind of life takes some guts and grit and a new way of seeing things.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“I used to think God wouldn’t talk to me, but now I know I’m just selective with what I choose to hear.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“I want to go barefoot because it’s holy ground; I want to be running because time is short and none of us has as much runway as we think we do; and I want it to be a fight because that’s where we can make a difference. That’s what love does.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“That's what love does - it pursues blindly, unflinchingly, and without end. When you go after something you love, you'll do anything it takes to get it, even if it costs everything.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“Whimsy doesn't care if you are the driver or the passenger; all that matters is that you are on your way.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“It has always seemed to me that broken things, just like broken people, get used more; it's probably because God has more pieces to work with.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“That’s because love is never stationary. In the end, love doesn’t just keep thinking about it or keep planning for it. Simply put: love does.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“For me, it's Jesus plus nothing-...”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“When you trust someone, you don't need to know everything.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“That's one of those things about love. It always assumes it can find a way to express itself.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“Jesus lets us be real with our life and our faith.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“When you are in high school, you don't give much thought to what you can't do. For most people, that gets learned later, and for still fewer, gets unlearned for the rest of life.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“I think God’s hope and plan for us is pretty simple to figure out. For those who resonate with formulas, here it is: add your whole life, your loves, your passions, and your interests together with what God said He wants us to be about, and that’s your answer.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“...we need to stop plotting the course and instead just land the plane on our plans to make a difference by getting to the "do" part of faith.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“If Jesus has taught me anything, though, it's that sometimes you can really want to know somebody and it takes them forever to want to know you back.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“Whimsy...needs to be fully experienced to be fully known. Whimsy doesn't care if you are the driver or the passenger; all that matters is that you are on your way.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“People who follow Jesus, though, are no longer typical - God is constantly inviting them into a life that moves away from typical.”
― Bob Goff, quote from Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

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Popular quotes

“Other letters simply relate the small events that punctuate the passing of time: roses picked at dusk, the laziness of a rainy Sunday, a child crying himself to sleep. Capturing the moment, these small slices of life, these small gusts of happiness, move me more deeply than all the rest. A couple of lines or eight pages, a Middle Eastern stamp or a suburban postmark... I hoard all these letters like treasure.”
― Jean-Dominique Bauby, quote from The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

“Good-bye,' he said with sudden force, and his eyes gleamed with their last light. 'Good-bye.... Listen ... you know I didn't kiss you then.... Breathe on the dying lamp, and let it go out ...”
― Ivan Turgenev, quote from Fathers and Sons

“But you sent off that Flounder fellow," Loki said, and I rolled my eyes.
"His name is Finn, and I know you know that," I said as I left the room. Loki grabbed the vacuum and followed me. "You called him by his name this morning."
"Fine, I know his name," Loki admitted. We went into the next room, and he set down the vacuum as I started peeling the dusty blankets off the bed. "But you were okay with Finn going off to Oslinna, but not Duncan?"
"Finn can handle himself," I said tersely. The bedding got stuck on a corner, and Loki came over to help me free it. Once he had, I smiled thinly at him. "Thank you."
"But I know you had a soft spot for Finn," Loki continued.
"My feelings for him have no bearing on his ability to do his job."
I tossed the dirty blankets at Loki. He caught them easily before setting them down by the door, presumably for Duncan to take to the laundry chute again.
"I've never understood exactly what your relationship with him was, anyway," Loki said. I'd started putting new sheets on the bed, and he went around to the other side to help me. "Were you two dating?"
"No." I shook my head. "We never dated. We were never anything."
I continued to pull on the sheets, but Loki stopped, watching me. "I don't know if that's a lie or not, but I do know that he was never good enough for you."
"But I suppose you think you are?" I asked with a sarcastic laugh.
"No, of course I'm not good enough for you," Loki said, and I lifted my head to look up at him, surprised by his response. "But I at least try to be good enough."
"You think Finn doesn't?" I asked, standing up straight.
"Every time I've seen him around you, he's telling you what to do, pushing you around." He shook his head and went back to making the bed. "He wants to love you, I think, but he can't. He won't let himself, or he's incapable. And he never will."
The truth of his words stung harder than I'd thought they would, and I swallowed hard.
"And obviously, you need someone that loves you," Loki continued. "You love fiercely, with all your being. And you need someone that loves you the same. More than duty or the monarchy or the kingdom. More than himself even."
He looked up at me then, his eyes meeting mine, darkly serious. My heart pounded in my chest, the fresh heartache replaced with something new, something warmer that made it hard for me to breathe.
"But you're wrong." I shook my head. "I don't deserve that much."
"On the contrary, Wendy." Loki smiled honestly, and it stirred something inside me. "You deserve all the love a man has to give."
I wanted to laugh or blush or look away, but I couldn't. I was frozen in a moment with Loki, finding myself feeling things for him I didn't think I could ever feel for anyone else.
"I don't know how much more laundry we can fit down the chute," Duncan said as he came back in the room, interrupting the moment.
I looked away from Loki quickly and grabbed the vacuum cleaner.
"Just get as much down there as you can," I told Duncan.
"I'll try." He scooped up another load of bedding to send downstairs.
Once he'd gone, I glanced back at Loki, but, based on the grin on his face, I'd say his earlier seriousness was gone.
"You know, Princess, instead of making that bed, we could close the door and have a roll around in it." Loki wagged his eyebrows. "What do you say?"
Rolling my eyes, I turned on the vacuum cleaner to drown out the conversation.
"I'll take that as a maybe later!" Loki shouted over it.”
― Amanda Hocking, quote from Ascend

“All witches are selfish, the Queen had said. But Tiffany’s Third Thoughts said: Then turn selfishness into a weapon! Make all things yours! Make other lives and dreams and hopes yours! Protect them! Save them! Bring them into the sheepfold! Walk the gale for them! Keep away the wolf! My dreams! My brother! My family! My land! My world! How dare you try to take these things, because they are mine!

I have a duty!”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from The Wee Free Men

“I've traveled all over the world for the Institute, but I never dreamed I'd meet someone like you."

"Strong?"

A chuckle escaped her. "Yes."

"Handsome?"

"Of course."

"Sharp of wit and skilled with a sword?"

"Absolutely." An other chuckle. "But I mean a man… friend… guy. Oh, I don't know what to call you!"

He savored her amusement—and her earnest words. "Just call me yours. That is all I want to be."

(Ashlyn and Maddox)”
― Gena Showalter, quote from The Darkest Night

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