Criss Jami Quotes

Religion, like science, is only noteworthy when it emphasizes a matter of what is true rather than whose belief is greater or lesser or which deity works for whom. Sincere religion and tested science are similar in that their assertions can be argued logically and objectively; otherwise, we get false cults and babble.

~ Criss Jami

When you find that a theology has nothing more to offer than what the world already offers, then that theology as a theology is impractical, and therefore, useless.

~ Criss Jami

As individuals die every moment, how insensitive and fabricated a love it is to set aside a day from selfish routine in prideful, patriotic commemoration of tragedy. Just as God is provoked by those who tithe simply because they feel that they must tithe, I am provoked by those who commemorate simply because they feel that they must commemorate.

~ Criss Jami

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.

~ Criss Jami

God tests, but he does not tempt.

~ Criss Jami

God will save whomever He chooses to save. The Christian should proselytize not because he thinks he can change everybody, he should proselytize because the Gospel being shared is the ultimate act of love: because he thinks he can love everybody.

~ Criss Jami

A steampunk nationBaby pollution rises up then the loving comes arraigning 'causeOur art's official and only partially artificialAnd our heart's in the middle of sharp hardened shards of metal butThere's not where it settlesBecause it's beating to the steaming of God's hottest pot or kettleAnd now we face it, this creation we made toTo save our craving for a synthetic rebelnation it'sOur safeway they make into a pathetic revelationIn our steampunk nationOur steampunk nation

~ Criss Jami

There is a greater Christian faith than one which settles for the temporal happiness, and that is the augmentation of faith. The more faithful you become, the harder the obstacles get; but the harder the obstacles get, the tougher your spine grows; and the tougher your spine grows, the less dependent you are on man's approval. I came to know this about Christianity when valuing faith before comfort.

~ Criss Jami

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

~ Criss Jami

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.

~ Criss Jami

God's relationship with man does not work in a way in which man stumbles and then God has to drop what he is doing in order to lift him up; rather, man stumbles so that God can lift him up. Hence it is utterly impossible to truly diminish his glory.

~ Criss Jami

Everyone claims to be okay with freedom of religion, but the moment you mention God there is a strange tension that fills the air. If there was a 6th sense, that would be it.

~ Criss Jami

Man was designed in a way in which he must eat in order to give him a solid reason to go to work everyday. This helps to keep him out of trouble. God is wise.

~ Criss Jami

Faith, in its most correct form, never removes responsibility; it removes fear of responsibility. The results are complete opposites with the greater saying, 'God's will is my delight.

~ Criss Jami

The barrier during self-improvement is not so much that we hate learning, rather we hate being taught. To learn entails that the knowledge was achieved on one's own accord - it feels great - but to be taught often leaves a feeling of inferiority. Thus it takes a bit of determination and a lot of humility in order for one to fully develop.

~ Criss Jami

Old words are reborn with new faces.

~ Criss Jami

Learning isn't acquiring knowledge so much as it is trimming information that has already been acquired.

~ Criss Jami

Love begets wisdom, thus it is, as often misconceived, more than vain layers of tenderness; it is inherently rational and comprehensive of the problem within the problem: for instance, envy is one of the most excused sins in the media of political correctness. Those you find most attractive, or seem to have it all, are often some of the most insecure at heart, and that is because people assume that they do not need anything but defamation.

~ Criss Jami

Peaceful disputes are maintained when men sincerely believe that they are morally, logically correct about the issues at hand. It is when neither side is really certain that wars are instigated.

~ Criss Jami

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

~ Criss Jami

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

~ Criss Jami

Never marry when under the guise you need to 'see if it'll work', but rather marry because in your mind you want to make it work.

~ Criss Jami

I've come to the point where I never feel the need to stop and evaluate whether or not I am happy. I'm just 'being', and without question, by default, it works.

~ Criss Jami

You can't be a rebel without the scars that come with it. Truth is, some days scars are just as ugly as they are beautiful.

~ Criss Jami

Good...if you've done things you aren't proud of. It means you have a conscience.

~ Criss Jami

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.

~ Criss Jami

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

~ Criss Jami

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.

~ Criss Jami

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.

~ Criss Jami

Store up knowledge. Then question your own knowledge in order to expand your mind, both to build and to create more space. Then store up more knowledge. And so on. That is wisdom.

~ Criss Jami

Most men either compromise or drop their greatest talents and start running after, what they perceive to be, a more reasonable success, and somewhere in between they end up with a discontented settlement. Safety is indeed stability, but it is not progression.

~ Criss Jami

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

~ Criss Jami

The devil's happy when the critics run you off.

~ Criss Jami

I am thankful when I am hungry because then I know that when I eat, the food will taste better. Life has taught me that my true contentment rests in hope, and the pleasure itself is secondary. It is self-awareness, not happiness, that maintains peace.

~ Criss Jami

Happiness is good, but well-overrated: what we hate most are the very motivators that put us in gear. A man drifts along with little to contribute until something agitates him enough to make a difference, whether for himself or for his communities.

~ Criss Jami

Imagination doesn't always make you long for what you cannot have, but rather thrive in what you do not have.

~ Criss Jami

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

~ Criss Jami

Respect? Of course, always, to all, because everything seems funnier when you're trying to show respect.

~ Criss Jami

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

~ Criss Jami

Ultimate prosperity is one's value within. It takes a man of depth, morality, and charm to be envied yet without a sign of wealth or romance. A passion to prove such inner worth is his permission to achieve whatever he desires.

~ Criss Jami