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I’ve always loved a good quotation. It condenses so much wisdom into so few words. In fact, I like to read short books. It seems to me that almost anything can be said with fewer words. It was John Calvin, a primary figure in the Protestant Reformation, who coined the phrase “lucid brevity.” I will try to follow my own advice in this preface.

A long time ago a friend of mine, well equipped to speak on the subject, said that progress in science is nothing more than finding order in confusion. In science one begins with a mass of data. Observation of the data hopefully brings a clue as to how one might handle it. For instance, drop a ball 100 times and it always hits the ground. Aha! The law of gravity is discovered. And so it goes. That set me to thinking about language. When the concept is not clear, it presents itself as little more than verbal data—complexity with no unifying principle. Then, someone gets it. The data is put into a meaningful relationship and out comes a pithy quotation. For example: the opposition is fierce, our forces are weak, we want to win but question our strength, what should be my choice in the face of defeat—“Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death.” The birth of a quotation is clarity out of confusion.

So I started paying attention to quotes, not in the huge anthologies conveniently arranged by subject or author, but those that you run onto rather accidentally. Many came from reading, others from conversation. What attracted me was the opportunity they provided for reaction, sometimes positively, other times in opposition—it didn’t make any difference. My reactions came from my own understanding of reality that, in turn, has been conditioned by a Christian upbringing. It is my worldview. When I object to a clever statement by Mr. Somebody I want it to show how I see the issue from a Christian worldview. My intention is not to put someone down. Perhaps the majority of the quotations in this book are one with which I agree—well, for the most part. My efforts are to challenge, support, alter slightly, or to enhance the quote. I apologize to the person quoted realizing that they will probably not have the chance to respond.

So what you have in this little book is a series of good quotations and my reflections on them. May the quotes themselves, and hopefully my responses, stir you to think about the subjects addressed. I wish you a good journey into an exercise that I have found intriguing. Few things would please me more than to incite a reaction from you!

Robert Mounce