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

About the author

Popular quotes

“Pain? He could handle that, no problem; it was the idea that the female he loved was suffering that made him want to either punch something or vomit in the corner.”
― Lara Adrian, quote from Deeper Than Midnight

“No amount of power is worth having when it means hurting the people you love”
― Katie Kacvinsky, quote from Awaken

“WESTMORELAND. O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work to-day!

KING. What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin;
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.”
― William Shakespeare, quote from Henry V

“There, Master Niketas,’ Baudolino said, ‘when I was not prey to the temptations of this world, I devoted my nights to imagining other worlds. A bit with the help of wine, and a bit with that of the green honey. There is nothing better than imagining other worlds,’ he said, ‘to forget the painful one we live in. At least so I thought then. I hadn’t yet realized that, imagining other worlds, you end up changing this one.”
― Umberto Eco, quote from Baudolino

“Tío Luis sat in Papa’s chair as if it were his own. And”
― Pam Muñoz Ryan, quote from Esperanza Rising

Interesting books

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.