Criss Jami Quotes:

When a man is penalized for honesty he learns to lie.

source: - Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.106, Criss Jami

Topics: Honesty, Lying, Men

The man who is most aggressive in teaching tolerance is the most intolerant of all: he wants a world full of people too timid and ashamed to really disagree with anything.

source: - Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.32, Criss Jami

Topics: Teaching, Men, People

It is a noble responsibility to not back down when you know that you know that you know that you are right.

source: - Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.68, Criss Jami

Topics: Responsibility, Noble

There are two circumstances that lead to arrogance: one is when you're wrong and you can't face it; the other is when you're right and nobody else can face it.

source: - Criss Jami (2013). “Diotima, Battery, Electric Personality”, p.47, Criss Jami

Topics: Two, Arrogance, Faces

If you want to find the real competition, just look in the mirror. After awhile you'll see your rivals scrambling for second place.

source: - Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.45, Criss Jami

Topics: Real, Mirrors, Competition, Second Place, Athletic Competition

The best ideas will eat at you for days, maybe even weeks, until something, some incident, some impulse, triggers you to finally express them.

Topics: Ideas, Week, Incidents

Disasters work like alarm clocks to the world, hence God allows them. They are shouting, 'Wake up! Love! Pray!

Topics: World, Alarms, Wake Up, Alarm Clocks

One who enjoys finding errors will then start creating errors to find.

source: - Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.1, Criss Jami

Topics: Creating, Errors, Enjoy

I think there is a song out there to describe just about any situation.

Topics: Song, Thinking, Situation

What may intimidate a man is a woman who thinks with her mind before she feels with her heart. Nevertheless what determines the strength in the man is his ability to accept one when he sees one.

Topics: Heart, Thinking, Men

A lonely day is God's way of saying that he wants to spend some quality time with you.

source: - Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.101, Criss Jami

Topics: Lonely, Quality, Want, Time With You

A poet should be so crafty with words that he is envied even for his pains.

Topics: Pain, Poet, Should, Crafty

You can't let the truth bring out the worst and let it get the best of you.

Topics: Worst

We are to give (and take) true love without falling into the narcissistic habit of only trying to take it in.

Topics: Fall, Giving, Trying

The writer's curse is that even in solitude, no matter its duration, he never grows lonely or bored.

Topics: Lonely, Bored, Solitude

Hypocrisy versus authenticity among men is not always so black and white, and as is righteousness, humility is often self-proclaimed. The Church is most definitely supposed to be a hospital for the spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically sick, hurting, and broken individual, yet ironically, many of its critics are those who ran away and permanently denounced its members after they visited and felt that they were sneezed on.

Topics: Hurt, Humility, Black And White

It's not at all hard to understand a person; it's only hard to listen without bias

source: - Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.59, Criss Jami

Topics: Bias, Persons, Bias And Prejudice

To be truly positive in the eyes of some, you have to risk appearing negative in the eyes of others.

Topics: Eye, Risk, Negative

When emerging from humble beginnings, those around you tend to underestimate your authenticity because they knew you before you were 'somebody'.

Topics: Humble, Underestimate, Authenticity, Humble Beginnings

In order to share one's true brilliance one initially has to risk looking like a fool: genius is like a wheel that spins so fast, it at first glance appears to be sitting still.

Topics: Order, Risk, Fool, Sitting Still, Brilliance

Society tells me to follow my own truth, but I don't let society tell me what to do. If you need someone to tell you that, chances are you're part of the crowd that will move on to the next fashion that comes around.

Topics: Fashion, Moving, Crowds

To be acceptable is for one to ignore his weakness while knowing his strength, to cover the scar even though it's always there, however, to be impossible is for one to see his weakness as, not an adversary, but the cherry on top of his strength, to rearrange the scar so that it compliments his features.

Topics: Knowing, Weakness, Impossible

Cleverness isn't always true nor is the truth always clever

Topics: Clever, Cleverness

The hated man is the result of his hater's pride rather than his hater's conscience.

Topics: Hater, Pride, Men, Man Hater, Man Hating

The theistic philosopher has a tendency to devalue insufficient worldviews, ideologies, and quite often common sense for the greater good, and in such cases, one should not be discouraged when seen as a bad guy. If he stresses over man's perception of a righteous heart, then he has given his heart to man.

Topics: Stress, Heart, Men, Devalue

Man has 2 common problems with God: the one is that there is evil in the world; the other is that free will is limited. The one, he is charging that the world is too evil; the other is that it is not evil enough.

Topics: Men, Evil, World

The weather is nature's disruptor of human plans and busybodies. Of all the things on earth, nature's disruption is what we know we can depend on, as it is essentially uncontrolled by men.

Topics: Men, Weather, Earth, Busybodies

One of the greatest gifts from God is the eternal perspective. It is a level of fearlessness, a level of understanding where one can experience even emotional harmony with God.

Topics: Emotional, Perspective, Understanding

Everyone has their own ways of expression. I believe we all have a lot to say, but finding ways to say it is more than half the battle.

Topics: Believe, Expression, Battle

I often ask myself, 'Who would Jesus vote for?' Then I start to think that he wouldn't vote at all; however, it would not be out of apathy or disinterest, but out of perfection and light. As a miracle worker, I think he would, by the power of God's teachings, the perseverance and the truth, influence in a modern sense whoever is put into office how to best serve his fellow men. One, like his skeptics, may find that impractical. But there is a message in that no man in power can slow the momentum of the will of God, and the miracles of his teachings will be forever victorious.

Topics: Perseverance, Jesus, Teaching, Miracle Worker, Disinterest

Seemingly minor yet persistent things penetrate the mind over time making it difficult to ever realize the impact; hence, though quite unfortunate, the most dangerous forms of corruption are those that are subtle and below the radar.

Topics: Impact, Mind, Realizing, Radar

I would rather my descendants have greater abilities and a greater knowledge of the love of Christ than I do, much like standing on one's shoulders in order to get a clearer view of the valley.

Topics: Views, Order, Valleys

Great minds think alike because a greater Mind is thinking through them.

Topics: Thinking, Mind, Great Minds

I don't pretend to know everything; I just only speak on matters I know I'll win.

Topics: Winning, Matter, Speak

It's not about going around trying to stir up trouble. As long as you're honest and you articulate what you believe to be true, somebody somewhere will become your enemy whether you like it or not.

Topics: Believe, Long, Enemy

The humble sinner will sometimes be interpreted as one of the filthiest in the eyes of man yet immersed in the eyes of God, and this is due to the volition of honesty regarding his own corruption.

Topics: Honesty, Humble, Eye

Beyond all sciences, philosophies, theologies, and histories, a child's relentless inquiry is truly all it takes to remind us that we don't know as much as we think we know.

Topics: Children, Philosophy, Thinking

Friends ask you questions; enemies question you.

source: - Criss Jami (2016). “Healology”, p.37, Criss Jami

Topics: Enemy

We are often taught to look for the beauty in all things, so in finding it, the layman asks the philosopher while the philosopher asks the photographer.

Topics: Looks, Taught, Philosopher

It is neither just the religious, the spiritual, the power-hungry, the evil, the ignorant, the corrupt, the Christian, the Muslim, the Hindu, the Buddhist, the Jew, nor the atheist that makes a hypocrite, but being a human being. Any man who thinks himself to be free of hypocrisy while committed to cherry-picking others for such, I am confident, the Almighty can prove to him a great deal of his own hypocrisy even beyond his earthly comprehension.

Topics: Christian, Spiritual, Religious, Power Hungry

It is the nature of physics to hear the loudest of mouths over the most comprehensive ones.

Topics: Mouths, Physics

When you aren't satisfied with what has already been done, make something better. That is the greatest responsibility and the true freedom of creativity. The freedom is in that it doesn't need to complain.

Topics: Creativity, Responsibility, Needs

Good intentions but bad results; bad results but lessons learned. There is a dark corner on every task beautiful and a beautiful corner on every task dark.

Topics: Beautiful, Dark, Lesson Learned

What is a genius? A person who demands little to nothing from others, but is often found extremely difficult to have around.

Topics: Genius, Demand, Littles

In God's eyes, a man who teaches one truth and nothing else is more righteous than a man who teaches a million truths and one lie.

Topics: Lying, Eye, Men

I imagine that the intelligent people are the ones so intelligent that they don't even need or want to look 'intelligent' anymore.

Topics: Intelligent, People, Want

Thoughts are like burning stars, and ideas, they flood, they stretch the universe.

Topics: Stars, Ideas, Burning

When good people consider you the bad guy, you develop a heart to help the bad ones. You actually understand them.

Topics: Heart, People, Guy

I think a lot of psychopaths are just geniuses who drove so fast that they lost control.

Topics: Thinking, Genius, Psychopath

A writer is one who communicates ideas and emotions people want to communicate but aren't quite sure how, or even if, they should communicate them.

Topics: Ideas, People, Want

The role of genius is not to complicate the simple, but to simplify the complicated.

Topics: Simple, Roles, Genius

If the entire world sought to make itself worthy of happiness rather than make itself happy, then the entire world would be happy.

Topics: Would Be, World, Worthy

God favors men and women who delight in being made worthy of happiness before the happiness itself.

Topics: Men, Delight, Favors

Everyone pretends to be 'free thinkers', but few individuals pass the line into expressive territories that may be detrimental to their own social well-being.

Topics: Lines, May, Territory, Expressive, Detrimental

I'm convinced that most men don't know what they believe, rather, they only know what they wish to believe. How many people blame God for man's atrocities, but wouldn't dream of imprisoning a mother for her son's crime?

Topics: Mother, Dream, Believe

Tolerance never exists without negative judgment. It is the sentiment of having a negative opinion about something yet still putting up with it.

Topics: Tolerance, Negative, Opinion

Authors can write stories without people assuming that they are autobiographies, but songwriters and poets are often considered to be the characters in their works. I like Michelangelo's vision, 'I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.

Topics: Character, Angel, Writing

Peace is more of an internal settlement rather than what is visible on the external.

Topics: Settlement, Internals

Emotion is always multiplied in the art of a person who doesn't really show much emotion. It once expanded deep within his hidden soul, and following the downplay his audience is blown away.

Topics: Art, Soul, Emotion, Blown Away

Tension, in the long run, is a more dangerous force than any feud known to man.

Topics: Running, Men, Long

Everyone judges constantly: positively judging one person is the same as negatively judging everyone else; it is to say that that person is superior in some sense.

Topics: Judging, Persons, Positively

We are to love God most importantly so that we can grow to love people as he loved us, not so that we can feel more divine and worthy than the worldly.

Topics: People, God Love, Divine, Worldly

Never rebel for the sake of rebelling, but always rebel for the sake of truth.

Topics: Rebel, Sake

If I were to envy any persons on this planet, it would be mountain hermits. You often hear old platitudes such as, 'Speak out. Be heard.' On the contrary, a breath of fresh air would be something like: 'Silence, think for at least 15 minutes, and then maybe speak out.

Topics: Thinking, Air, Envy, Fresh Air

Christ delves far beyond the means of superficiality, not simply because of his immaculate love, but also because he considers the distinct cases of each individual rather than withholding a broadened perception by use of stereotypes.

Topics: Mean, Perception, Use, Withholding, Superficiality

As followers of Christ, we are to be careful not to remain victims of the many cultural presuppositions of who he is, and what he teaches, insofar as taking for granted our own caricatures of him. Let it boil in both mind and heart the question, 'If Jesus were to appear today, how many of us would actually recognize him and his teachings (or would it simply be a recount of his first visit)?

Topics: Jesus, Teaching, Heart

It always seems as though the definition of love will remain debatable by an opinionated world.

Topics: Definitions, World, Definition Of Love

If love is blind, then maybe a blind person that loves has a greater understanding of it.

Topics: Love Is, Understanding, Blind, Love Is Blind, Blind Person

Every man has a specific skill, whether it is discovered or not, that more readily and naturally comes to him than it would to another, and his own should be sought and polished. He excels best in his niche - originality loses its authenticity in one's efforts to obtain originality.

Topics: Men, Skills, Effort

I'm never proud of my old work. I always feel as though my skills have since improved.

Topics: Skills, Proud, Feels

When we find that God's ways always coincide with our own ways, it's time to question who we're really worshipping, God or ourselves.

source: - Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.23, Criss Jami

Topics: Faith, Way, Worship God

A young outcast will often feel that there is something wrong with himself, but as he gets older, grows more confident in who he is, he will adapt, he will begin to feel that there is something wrong with everyone else.

Topics: Outcast, Young, Grows

If ever you feel like an animal among men be a lion.

source: - Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.81, Criss Jami

Topics: Animal, Men, Lions

Humility is, in a sense, admitting how egotistical you are.

Topics: Humility, Admitting, Egotistical

I'm often painted as the bad guy, and the artistic part of me wants to hand out the brush.

Topics: Hands, Guy, Want, Bad Guys

Faithfulness imparts God's reason for all circumstances. No matter what the world says, losing is no longer an option.

Topics: World, Matter, Losing

I would rather a romantic relationship turn into contempt than turn into apathy. The passion in the extremities make it appear as though it once meant something. We grow from hot or cold, but lukewarm is the biggest insult.

Topics: Passion, Apathy, Hot, Romantic Relationship

Thunderstorms are as much our friends as the sunshine.

Topics: Sunshine, Thunderstorm

The artist lives to have stories to tell and to learn to tell them well.

Topics: Artist, Stories, Wells

We first become salesmen as children in the confession booths of our parents.

Topics: Children, Parent, Firsts

The love of conflict is most evident when opposing forces join sides to defeat the peacemaker.

Topics: Sides, Conflict, Defeat

What is hard work? It takes strength, energy, and stress to truly care about others enough to place oneself last, but it is easy to wrap oneself up and selfishly scramble on the heads of others.

Topics: Stress, Hard Work, Energy

When we look for success, it should be for the sole purpose of boasting sincerely in Christ. There's no other reason for it. Success is only worth it when the more intense it gets for you, the more you find yourself bragging for his glory rather than your own.

Topics: Finding Yourself, Looks, Purpose

An artistic perspective will jab at you from a different angle; its logic comes like a pitcher with a curveball.

Topics: Perspective, Different, Logic, Curveballs, Different Angles

Man is not, by nature, deserving of all that he wants. When we think that we are automatically entitled to something, that is when we start walking all over others to get it.

Topics: Men, Thinking, Want

My confidence is in the idea that I may be wrong on this or that. No man in this life should ever have to bear the burden of perfection.

Topics: Men, Ideas, Perfection

The first ingredient to being wrong is to claim that you are right.

Topics: Ingredients, Firsts, Claims, Being Wrong

Love does not dwell on how much one receives in return. If there is ever any balance in love, it is in a contest of who can love who more.

Topics: Balance, Doe, Return

Of course, in our train of thought, we would all like to think we're on the right track, or at least the same railroad company as the right track.

Topics: Thinking, Track, Railroads, Right Track, Train Of Thought

The pressure of adversity is the most powerful sustainer of accountability. It's as though everything you do is multiplied by 50 in order to surpass those with a head-start. I was never capable of slacking when at the threshold of failure.

Topics: Powerful, Adversity, Order, Head Start, Slacking

An exceedingly confident student would in theory make a terrible student. Why would he take school seriously when he feels that he can outwit his teachers?

Topics: Teacher, School, Students

The crazy creatives are the creatives who never go completely mad. They aren't so easily disheartened by the seemingly endless amounts of scrutiny that creative individuals tend to receive because they, like insanity, are the ones who feed off of opposition and negative feedback and manage to continue along with a healthy ambition. It is the crazy that teaches us to use our gifts wisely and own all the attackers.

Topics: Crazy, Ambition, Mad, Disheartened, Negative Feedback

Don't change your mind just because people are offended; change your mind if you're wrong.

Topics: People, Mind

Divinity for the sake of the simple-minded is beautiful. Those theological assertions you write, say, or live by that you later feel foolish about, it means God still lives in you enough to tell you that they were indeed foolish. By mistakes you know you are alive.

Topics: Beautiful, Mistake, Mean

To be a philosopher, just reverse everything you have ever been told...and have a sense of humor doing it.

Topics: Philosopher, Sense Of Humor, Reverse

All the good stuff has already been said by someone somewhere at some point in time. You just have to find it. Today, communication pretty much comes down to understanding - saying what you have to say clearly and effectively...and then living it.

Topics: Communication, Understanding, Stuff

Some concepts are so incredibly risky they take an honest fool to try to articulate them.

Topics: Trying, Fool, Honest

When comprehending how different people truly are, you also comprehend the absolute necessity of some divine authority.

Topics: People, Different, Divine

It is ignorance that is at times incomprehensible to the wise; for instance, he may not see 'the positive person' or 'the negative person' in a black and white way as many people do. A wise man may not understand it because, as a catalyst of wisdom, but not wise in his own eyes, even he can learn from and give back to fools. To think that an individual has absolutely nothing to offer to the table is counter-intuitively what the wise man considers to be 'the ignorance of hopelessness'.

Topics: Wise, Eye, Ignorance, Positive Person

I enjoy melancholic music and art. They take me to places I don't normally get to go.

Topics: Art, Enjoy

To reach only for that which pleasantly enchants you is the least of imagination, if even imagination at all, by the obvious reality of remaining within your means. The greater of imagination is parallel to risk. It extends beyond your comfort zone or haven, or sense of beauty, or what you personally believe suits you in exploration of what may not.

Topics: Believe, Mean, Reality

The skeptic says that the believer has lost his own mind under God. On the contrary, it is the people who follow God who are most like his children, who willingly and consciously walk in his will; but those who oppose him oppose him vainly and at their own expense, and, figuratively, seem to be more like his tools. They don't diminish his glory, but instead he still manages to use them in ways of unconsciously carrying out his will.

Topics: Children, People, Mind

I still believe that many Americans have a deep longing for that glorious moment when a sermon is more Biblical than American.

Topics: Believe, Biblical, Longing

If ever it's necessary to ride the bandwagon, it's done with one leg swinging out and eyes scoping the fields.

Topics: Eye, Done, Legs, Bandwagon

Ask anyone and they'll most likely say their family is crazy, and if they don't say their family is crazy, their friends are crazy. That's because everyone is crazy after taking the mask off. People are most themselves when not really trying to fit in, when either alone or around those already closest to them, and that is crazy.

Topics: Crazy, People, Trying, Trying To Fit In

There is a difference between criticizing people and criticizing a people's uninformed ideals. That is, unless one defines himself or others by their ideals, then he is offended, and usually offended secretly. Because oddly enough, this person is the same person quickest to resort to dismissive name-calling, such as 'bigot' or 'zealot'. And oddly enough, he is always the one, the 'open-minded' one, who adamantly protests for, not only himself, but others not to listen to any type of scholarly theological truth inherently for the sake of his own personal, moral beliefs.

Topics: Names, Differences, People, Uninformed, Zealot

It's simple, it's not that simple; or life is simple, but the things in it are not. When a man does not understand it, he tends to inflate it. When he does, he tends to deflate it. In the end, neither images are fully accurate.

Topics: Simple, Men, Doe, Life Is Simple

In the end, only God can see the heart of an individual and distinguish the difference between legalistic deadweight and the passion of holy solemnity.

Topics: Passion, Heart, Differences, Solemnity

If truth is like the terrain, are we the generation who sees it as one who has worn shoes all his life or one who has never worn shoes? Yet still, even if the walk starts out as painful, the experience may be well worth it.

Topics: Shoes, Generations, May

Gloating is a superficial glowing, floating is an idle flowing, and bloatedness is the paralysis of blowing up; because silent movement results in loud victories.

Topics: Glowing, Victory, Floating, Gloating

When focusing only on one's credentials one boasts his own incompetence in his capacity for discernment of the individual.

Topics: Individual, Incompetence, Capacity

Wisdom is nothing more than confirmed imagination: just because one did not study for his exam does not mean that he should leave it blank.

Topics: Mean, Imagination, Doe

When it comes to world news, attitude is what marks the distinction between justice and vengeance. Justice is pure, but vengeance brings more ruin.

Topics: Attitude, Justice, News, World News

We men are fascinated by the things we don't really understand. It gives us something to think and talk about: like females, they drive us nuts.

Topics: Men, Thinking, Nuts

Many people in a rather reckless context claim to 'just tell it like it is'. In actuality, nobody really stresses what one says so much as the motive behind what one says; hence, he is merely blowing hot air and detracting from 'what is'.

Topics: Stress, Air, People, Hot Air

Even if there are instances in which it can be mistook by onlookers, never fool yourself into using misunderstood genius as an excuse to be a fool.

Topics: Misunderstood, Genius, Fool, Misunderstood Genius

Because there are hundreds of different ways to say one thing, I, being a writer, songwriter, and poet, speak childishly and incoherently. In speech there is so much to decide in so little time.

Topics: Different, Speech, Littles

Like most arts, the link between the mind and the pen can chain you like an enslaved workaholic. Even on an intended vacation you suddenly have this killer urge to record whatever the vacation may teach.

Topics: Art, Vacation, Mind

We have better relationships with those who truly seek us rather than those sitting on the couch watching us move mountains trying to prove ourselves.

Topics: Moving, Trying, Mountain

A common mistake we make is that we look for God in places where we ourselves wish to find him, yet even in the physical reality this is a complete failure. For example, if you lost your car keys, you would not search where you want to search, you would search where you must in order to find them.

source: - Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.60, Criss Jami

Topics: Mistake, Reality, Keys, Car Keys

It starts off like climbing a tree or solving a puzzle - poetry, if nothing else, is just fun to write. But deeper into each and every piece, you no longer hesitate to call it work. It's passion. A poet's sense of lyrical accomplishment is then his food and water, his means of survival.

Topics: Fun, Passion, Writing

There's more to logic than identifying logical fallacies.

Topics: Logic, Logical, Fallacy, Logical Fallacy

If one should criticize one should always have a meaningful explanation to accompany.

Topics: Meaningful, Should, Criticize

It is never just disagreement but always intellectual dishonesty that is the apologist's worst enemy. And its apprentice is ignorance.

Topics: Ignorance, Intellectual, Enemy, Intellectual Dishonesty

To love without need or without expectation of restitution, that is how we ought to love.

Topics: Expectations, Needs, Restitution

The real test of love is loving those who we feel are the hardest ones to love.

Topics: Real, Love Is, Tests, Tests Of Love

The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is the pretense of intelligent ignorance. The former is teachable; the latter is not.

source: - Sarah Vowell (2008). “The Wordy Shipmates”, p.10, Penguin

Topics: Ignorance, Intelligent, Latter, Teachable

A thief is one who insists on sharing his victimhood.

Topics: Thieves, Victimhood

To seek greatness is the only righteous vengeance.

Topics: Greatness, Vengeance, Righteous

In a society where dirt sells, for every good story told as it is, you will hear the whole of that day's 10 bad stories sensationalized; although in reality, it could be that 100 good deeds happened that day which went unsung.

Topics: Reality, Stories, Deeds

Hopefully, when your actions and deeds - and therefore other people - boast for you, you're made tired of hearing it, too, from your own mouth because if not, all could lose sight of those actions and deeds behind the gong of your boasting.

Topics: Tired, Sight, People, Gongs

If you're waiting until you feel talented enough to make it, you'll never make it.

Topics: Waiting, Enough, Feels

Let our information and social technologies raise awareness and not propaganda, build connections and not passive-aggression.

Topics: Technology, Connections, Information

Envy is a sign of insecurity, yes; but so is longing to be envied.

Topics: Envy, Insecurity, Longing

It often seems as though the silent, humble servant is secretly wiser and more discerning than the haughty master; yet through dutiful (and sometimes insecure) surrender he continues to serve and carry out petty orders in loyal acquiesce.

Topics: Humble, Insecure, Order, Haughty

The best people are always the worst. They drive everyone mad by being so good at second-guessing everything bad.

Topics: People, Mad, Guessing, Second Guessing

When we begin to reflect Christ, the Bible, when more understood as being centered around Christ, seems to be potentially every man's biography regarding God's promised experiences and truth for him - his individual, unique path of humbling oneself before the Lord and then being exalted by the Lord back into his true and righteous personhood. Many followers may speak of it merely to try to change other people (before changing themselves), but the prophets speak of it as a living word which miraculously tells their very own experiences.

Topics: Unique, Men, People, Humbling Experiences, Personhood

If it's true what is said, that only the wise discover the wise, then it must also be true that the lone wolf symbolizes either the biggest fool on the planet or the biggest Einstein on the planet.

Topics: Wise, Fool, Lone Wolf

Discernment is the son of good judgment and the father of self-control. When mixed with an already clear conscience, the ability to read the true motives of a critic keeps one's conscience both clear and at ease.

Topics: Father, Son, Self, Good Judgment, Clear Conscience

When there's music in your soul, there's soul in your music.

Topics: Soul, Your Soul

The first ingredient to being wrong is to claim that you are right. Geniuses have a knack for raising new questions. Hence by the public they are either admired for their creativity or, even more commonly so, detested for disturbing the daily peace of mind.

Topics: Creativity, Mind, Genius

The evangelist is the world's hopeless romantic, and just like a hopeless romantic, he must hope for the miracle of God more than the romance itself.

Topics: Romance, Miracle, Hopeless Romantic, Miracles Of God

Sometimes a people lose their right to remain silent when pressured to remain silent.

Topics: People, Sometimes, Silent, Nigeria Independence

Honesty is not the same as truth. That is the obstacle of the notion of relative truths. I would like to put my trust in the lunatic. He is the one least concerned of what I think of him, the mark of an honest man. I can always depend on him to be completely honest in what he thinks and feels, about anything, no matter the consequences laid before him, however with no course of rationale, I cannot necessarily take his word for even the well-being of him in his own reality.

Topics: Honesty, Reality, Men, Rationale, Relative Truth

Man was created to glorify God. Now, that may encompass other things which God has planned for each man, but essentially, man was created to glorify God.

Topics: Men, May, Glorify

What further helps to reveal reality is when our personal thinking ceases to take reality for granted.

Topics: Reality, Thinking, Helping

Ingredients to success: know what you do well, know what to do well, and know someone who's swell.

Topics: Ingredients, Wells

The surface of learning is hearing what your ears aren't prepared to hear, and the core of learning is hearing what your ears don't want to hear.

Topics: Ears, Want, Hearing

In societies where coolness and being cool is a top priority, the religious replace the word 'religious' with 'spiritual' to make their faiths seem less extreme.

Topics: Spiritual, Religious, Priorities, Coolness, Top Priorities

People love answers, but only as long as they are the ones who came up with them.

Topics: Long, People, Answers

Let what offends God offend me, and what God pardons, I pardon.

Topics: Pardon

The conscious attempt to be a good person without Christ is as legalistic as an attempt to make it into Heaven through empty religiosity.

Topics: Heaven, Good Person, Christ

It is not so much freedom of speech but the right to truth that great men protect.

Topics: Men, Freedom Of Speech, Protect

Part of God's work in his people is synchronizing the heart and the mind thus providing freedom from the deceit of emotion-based beliefs. Emotions are changing while truth is absolute. They don't believe simply because it sounds good, or deep, beautiful, happy, fun, cool, simple, or intelligent to them; but because it's true.

Topics: Beautiful, Fun, Believe, Providing

Love is one of those topics that plenty of people try to write about but not enough try to do.

Topics: Writing, Love Is, People

The love of Christ is always there and unchanging, no matter what we do, but it is when we are obedient that we actually begin to feel it.

Topics: Matter, Christ, Unchanging

When it comes to judging individuals, I do not like remarks such as 'too good to be true.' They speak as though one is rewarding the nature of evil. Yet, ironically, we still wonder where all the good people have gone.

Topics: People, Evil, Judging, Nature Of Evil

Showing a lack of self-control is in the same vein granting authority to others: 'Perhaps I need someone else to control me.

Topics: Self, Veins, Needs

If you have to say or do something controversial, aim so that people will hate that they love it and not love that they hate it.

Topics: Hate, People, Controversial

The reality of loving God is loving him like he's a Superhero who actually saved you from stuff rather than a Santa Claus who merely gave you some stuff.

Topics: Life, Reality, Superhero, Loving Him

Telling an introvert to go to a party is like telling a saint to go to Hell.

Topics: Party, Saint, Introvert, Introversion

Companionship is a foreign concept to some people. They fear it as much as the majority of people fear loneliness.

Topics: Loneliness, People, Majority, Introversion

When you're socially awkward, you're isolated more than usual, and when you're isolated more than usual, your creativity is less compromised by what has already been said and done. All your hope in life starts to depend on your craft, so you try to perfect it. One reason I stay isolated more than the average person is to keep my creativity as fierce as possible. Being the odd one out may have its temporary disadvantages, but more importantly, it has its permanent advantages.

Topics: Creativity, Average, Perfect, Introversion, Odd One

I would rather be an artist than a leader. Ironically, a leader has to follow the rules.

Topics: Artist, Leader

To be heroic is to be courageous enough to die for something.

Topics: Memorial Day, Courageous, Heroic

It takes a courageous fool to say things that have not been said and to do things that have not been done.

Topics: Done, Fool, Originality

The humble ones are always learning and improving, and their secret is always that it's a secret...

source: - Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.34, Criss Jami

Topics: Humble, Secret, Always Learning

To say that one waits a lifetime for his soulmate to come around is a paradox. People eventually get sick of waiting, take a chance on someone, and by the art of commitment become soulmates, which takes a lifetime to perfect.

source: - Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.97, Criss Jami

Topics: Soulmate, Art, Commitment, Lifetime Commitment, My Soul Mate

Time and time again does the pride of man influence his very own fall. While denying it, one gradually starts to believe that he is the authority, or that he possesses great moral dominion over others, yet it is spiritually unwarranted. By that point he loses steam; in result, he falsely begins trying to prove that unwarranted dominion by seizing the role of a condemner.

Topics: Fall, Believe, Pride

The only activity a cynic will find contagious is yawning, that is, with other people, at other people.

Topics: Yawning, People, Bored

I've been able to sleep with my eyes open ever since I started watching baseball." "Drinking is such a necessity to human life that people cannot fathom an individual who, like a child confined to a church pew, gets little enjoyment out of it and would rather do other things.

Topics: Baseball, Children, Drinking

Feel what it's like to truly starve, and I guarantee that you'll forever think twice before wasting food.

Topics: Blessed, Blessing, Thinking, Think Twice

Good works is giving to the poor and the helpless, but divine works is showing them their worth to the One who matters.

Topics: Giving, Matter, Poor, Giving To Others, Giving To The Poor

When your only regret is if anyone thinks you regret anything - that is the definition of conviction.

Topics: Motivational, Regret, Thinking

There's nothing more contagious than the laughter of young children; it doesn't even have to matter what they're laughing about.

Topics: Laughter, Children, Laughing, Young Children

In an extroverted society, the difference between an introvert and an extrovert is that an introvert is often unconsciously deemed guilty until proven innocent.

Topics: Differences, Extroverts, Introvert, Introversion, Guilty Until Proven Innocent

Constantly stopping to explain oneself may expand into a frustrating burden for the rare individual, so ceasing to do so is like finally dropping the weights and sprinting towards his goals. Those who insincerely misunderstand, who intentionally distort the motives of a pure-intentioned individual, then, no longer have the opportunity to block his path; instead, they are the ones left to stand on the sidelines shouting frustratedly in the wind of his trail.

Topics: Running, Block, Opportunity

Find a purpose to serve, not a lifestyle to live.

Topics: Purpose, Lifestyle

I do not care about happiness simply because I believe that joy is something worth fighting for.

Topics: Believe, Fighting, Joy

Closed in a room, my imagination becomes the universe, and the rest of the world is missing out.

Topics: Life, Imagination, Missing, Missing Out

Listen to God with a broken heart. He is not only the doctor who mends it, but also the father who wipes away the tears.

Topics: God, Father, Heart

Never hide things from hardcore thinkers. They get more aggravated, more provoked by confusion than the most painful truths.

Topics: Honesty, Confusion, Painful, Painful Truth, Aggravated

When a poet digs himself into a hole, he doesn't climb out. He digs deeper, enjoys the scenery, and comes out the other side enlightened.

Topics: Sides, Poet, Enlightened, Dig Deep

The challenge of abating one with a genuine ego problem is to not try to put him down. Any and all antagonization, in his mind, is merely compensated for by his own descriptions: his feelings of persecution by the envious and his ideals of worth. Arguably, the genuine ego is more of a circumstantial defense mechanism rather than a steady arrogance in need of starvation.

Topics: Ego, Challenges, Feelings, Defense Mechanisms, Ego Problem

Whenever I think of something but can't think of what it was I was thinking of, I can't stop thinking until I think I'm thinking of it again. I think I think too much.

Topics: Thinking, Brain, Too Much

The manlier you are, the harder it is to understand what a woman wants: there is not a hint of female brain in you.

Topics: Brain, Female, Hints, Women Want

Wise men are not pacifists; they are merely less likely to jump up and retaliate against their antagonizers. They know that needless antagonizers are virtually already insecure enough.

Topics: Wise, Patience, Insecure

The common man prays, 'I want a cookie right now!' And God responds, 'If you'd listen to what I say, tomorrow it will bring you 100 cookies.

Topics: Patience, Men, Cookies

I believe in evolution in the sense that a short-tempered man is the successor of a crybaby.

Topics: Patience, Believe, Men, Crybabies

Absurdity is the ecstasy of intellectualism.

Topics: Mind, Ecstasy, Absurdity, Intellectualism

The older you get, the more you understand how your conscience works. The biggest and only critic lives in your perception of people's perception of you rather than people's perception of you.

Topics: People, Perception, Mind

To share your weakness is to make yourself vulnerable; to make yourself vulnerable is to show your strength.

source: - Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.82, Criss Jami

Topics: Courage, Weakness, Vulnerable, Humble Yourself

Doubt is a question mark; faith is an exclamation point. The most compelling, believable, realistic stories have included them both.

Topics: Doubt, Stories, Realistic, Question Mark, Faith And Doubt

Just because something isn't a lie does not mean that it isn't deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction.

source: - Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.45, Criss Jami

Topics: Leadership, Liars, Lying, Deceptive

Popular culture is a place where pity is called compassion, flattery is called love, propaganda is called knowledge, tension is called peace, gossip is called news, and auto-tune is called singing.

source: - Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.80, Criss Jami

Topics: Compassion, Auto Tune, Gossip

Your love is as stable as you are: It's not about how good a person makes you feel, but rather what good you can do for them.

source: - Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.2, Criss Jami

Topics: Love Is, Feels, Persons

For the believer, humility is honesty about one's greatest flaws to a degree in which he fearless about truly appearing less righteous than another.

source: - Criss Jami (2011). “Salomé: In Every Inch in Every Mile”, p.82, Criss Jami

Topics: Honesty, Humility, Pride

I believe God himself will someday debate with and answer every objection arrogant men can come up with against him; I believe he will humble us and humor himself. Know-it-alls, pseudo-intellectuals, militant anti-theists, for Christ's sake, or rather their own sake, best beware of getting roasted by their own medicine. Ah! Our delusions of trying to argue against an omniscient Creator.

source: - Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.7, Criss Jami

Topics: Believe, Humble, Men, Omniscient, Pseudo Intellectuals

God tests, but he does not tempt.

source: - Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.114, Criss Jami

Topics: Temptation, Doe, Tests

When you're the only sane person, you look like the only insane person.

source: - Criss Jami (2013). “Diotima, Battery, Electric Personality”, p.73, Criss Jami

Topics: Insane Person, Being Different, Looks