From Across the Ancient Water by Michael Phillips

Creation reveals itself in secrets, but as secrets that are outer cloaks of truths waiting to be discovered. pg 152 "It is humility that leads us home. It is that same humility that leads us to reconciliation in our lives. Humility, my friends. The humility to say to one we have wronged, to one who has wronged us, to one with whom misunderstandings have separated us for whatever reason...to say, 'I no longer want to be disconnected. I do not want to be apart from this one whom I once loved.' In humility I am ready to say, "I will arise and go to my brother...my sister...my mother...my daughter...my father...my son.' I will say, 'With all my heart I desire again to be in a relationship with you. I am sorry to have failed in loving you, but I will try to love you again.' "The humility to acknowledge, 'I do not want to be separated on day more. I will arise and go.' "Humility, my friends. Humility to recognize that life is not what we had hoped. Humility to recognize that life is full of mistakes, that we have made our own share of them. Humility to apologize. humility to arise and go to the one we have hurt. Humility to go to one who has hurt us. "Humility is the doorway, my friends. It is the door to all healings, the door that leads to our brethren, the door that leads to our sons and daughters and mothers and fathers and our friends...the door that leads to the heart of God." pg 174 & 175 "My father says that God makes His will in our lives known by the subtle inner nudges in response to our prayers, and He confirms that leading by circumstance. He says that the Lord uses circumstances to confirm his leading, even occasionally to change the direction of his leading. As long as we're not in a hurry and willing to wait, the two always line up at some point--the direction of the leading and the circumstances that make it possible to follow that leading. When the two line up, you can be confident that God might indeed be indicating a certain direction. "Might be. That doesn't sound very definite.' "You never know 100 percent. There's a certain amount of guesswork involved in following the Lord's leading. My father says that our own desires can interfere and make us think God is leading when we are really just following what we want to do ourselves. It is also easy to misinterpret circumstances and think they're saying something they're not. That's why the most important thing in listening to God's voice is to set aside your own desire and ambitions. And then be willing to go slow in making decisions. That's another thing my father says, that God is never in a hurry." pg 396

Brisingr Christopher Paolini

"Love can be a terrible curse, Eragon. It can make you overlook even the largest flaws in a person's behavior." pg 617


"The first time we visited Tronjheim, the fortuneteller Angela told me that it was Brom's wyrd to fail at everything he attempted, except for killing Morzan."

Oromis inclined his head. "One might think that. Another might conclude that Brom achieved many great and diifficult things. It depends upon how you choose to view the world. The words of fortunetellers are rarely easy to decipher. It has been my experience that their predictions are never conducive to peace of mind. If you wish to be happy, Eragon, think not of what is to come nor of that which you have no control over but rather of the now and of that which you are able to change." pg 618

Eldest Christopher Paolini

"Therefore...I will go to her, I will apologize, and I will reassure her that I never intend to cause her such hardship again." It was difficult for him to say, but once he did, he felt a sense of relief, as if acknowledging his mistake cleansed him of it. page 389

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

"Do not worry about these things. Find peace in where and what you are. People often know what must be done. All you need do is show them the way--that is wisdom." pg 429