Top 100 Stephen R. Lawhead Quotes (2025 Update)
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51. “Streams of consequence flow from every action, and from every conflict there are two paths by which events may go.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

52. “All life is rooted in pain. There can be no escape, but love makes the hurt bearable.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

53. “Alas, words were but empty things, devoid of power and all too easily broken, discarded, and forgotten.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

54. “In order to welcome redemption, one must first embrace the utter hopelessness of failure. For how can a man look for rescue unless he knows he is truly lost?”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

55. “Young Bran, striving to please and yearning for the approving touch of a father’s hand, only ever saw that hand raised in anger. Thus, he learned at an early age that since he could never please his father, he might as well please himself.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

56. “I may speak freely, my lord,” began Tuck. “I doubt anything in heaven or earth could prevent you,” remarked Bran. “Speak, priest.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

57. “Over and over again, we see that when anyone willingly gives whatever resources they have to Him – whether it is nothing more than five smooth stones gathered from a dry streambed or five little loaves of bread and two dried sprats – then God’s greater purpose can proceed. Small and insignificant? Undoubtedly. But on the day of decision, everything depended on those five smooth stones – with them, David killed Goliath and saved a nation.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

58. “In truth I had forgotten all about Arthur and our reason for coming to Benowyc in the first place.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

59. “There is nothing so fine as a new friend, for in time they become the most precious of all the Comforter’s gifts – old friends!”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

60. “Pity.” The elder gentleman sniffed. “Sad, really. Names are very important.” “It’s a matter of taste, surely.” “Nothing of the sort,” replied the elder Cosimo. “People get named all sorts of things – that I will concede. Whimsy, ignorance, sudden inspiration – all play a part. But if anyone guessed how monumentally important it was, the process would be taken a lot more seriously.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

61. “I could not see the unholy creature, but I could feel the bone-aching chill of its presence, and I heard the howl of its mindless hate. I quailed to think of the power that had called it into being and loosed it on the world.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

62. “May you always have ale enough to wet your tongues, wit enough to know friend from foe, and strength enough for every fight.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

63. “In my years as a priest and a scientist, I have been guided by two allied principles,” Gianni began. “One, that the universe was created for a purpose. And two, that the purpose for which it was created was guided by a loving Creator who desired that its purpose should be fulfilled.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

64. “The spell is Morgians.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

65. “The Lord came, not to remove our suffering, but to show us the way through it to the glory beyond.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

66. “People did not go jumping from one place to another with nothing in between. It simply did not happen.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

67. “Anyone who tells you he knows the mind of God is selling something. You can take that to the bank.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

68. “And his valour was such that it was exceeded only by his virtue, which was exceeded only by his wisdom, which was itself exceeded only by his honesty.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

69. “The dead are so long dead,” explained Merlin. “Better to have lived while alive, yes? Besides, if they achieve this, they will have conquered a giant; they will be invincible!”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

70. “It is right to pay heed to the stories of our people, for that is how we learn who we are and what is required of us in this life and the life beyond.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

71. “It was Arthur’s welcome alone, I believe, which turned the tide of misery for Merlin.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

72. “You see, this universe we inhabit is made up of billions of galaxies literally beyond counting and this is only one universe.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

73. “He sighed and shook his head slowly. ‘And there will be no bringing back the light once it has gone.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

74. “Contrary to what many may think, immortality is not a fairy tale invented to compensate for an unhappy life.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

75. “Your faith is admirable, Pelleas. But I know nothing of sorcery. As it is, I have not been able to discover how the spell may be broken or how Merlin may be released from it.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

76. “Who upholds the gorsedd if not You? Who counts the ages of the world if not You? Who commands the Wheel of Heaven if not You? Who quickens life in the womb if not You? Therefore, God of All Virtue and Power, sain us and shield us with Your Swift Sure Hand.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

77. “We kissed, then, and the ardour of her kiss stole my breath away. I returned her passion with all the fervor I possessed. A lifetime of vows and heart-felt disciplines had prepared me well, for in that kiss I sealed with all my soul the fate before me, embracing a mystery clothed in warm and yielding female flesh. Holding only the moment, with neither thought nor care for the future, I kissed her, and drank deep the strong wine of desire.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

78. “Humility, if it comes at all, almost always comes too late.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

79. “What else is love,” Mathiax had asked her one day, “but taking the pain of another as your own – especially when you are not obliged to?” Thus, pain was woven into the very fabric of the universe – because there could be no love without it, and because the Infinite Father had set love as the cornerstone of His creation.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

80. “Knowledge is easy,” the old woman told her. “Wisdom is hard.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

81. “Blame, now. There is a nasty black bog if ever there was one.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

82. “If I have learned anything in my time among you, it is this: true honor lives not in the skill of weapons or the strength of arms, but in virtue. Skill fades and strength fails; virtue alone remains. Therefore, let us put off all that is false. Let us prefer instead the valor of virtue, and the glory of right.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

83. “True poetry is born of scrutiny, Scrutiny, the son of meditation, Meditation, the son of lore, Lore, the son of inquiry, Inquiry, the son of investigation, Investigation, the son of knowledge, Knowledge, the son of understanding, Understanding, the son of wisdom, Wisdom, the son of Surrender to the Divine Will. The.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

84. “All he had, in fact, was Merlin’s shining promise.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

85. “Arthur was simply there in their midst, the sword in his hand.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

86. “Had he but known that before the day was over he would discover the hidden dimensions of the universe, Kit might have been better prepared.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

87. “The female heart is a world unto itself, incomprehensible to men. Yet I perceive that you have been of a mood today: pensive, contemplative, hesitant, expectant. And you have spent the better part of the day watching me as if you thought I might follow your merlin into the sky and never return.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

88. “I learned long ago that when a thing defies rational explanation then it is because I lack a complete understanding of the facts.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

89. “For once a person accepted the idea that the Infinite Father of the entire universe actually desired commerce with individual men, literally no sphere of mortal endeavor was untouched. Each and every thought and action had to be examined in light of an expressed partnership with an infinite and eternal patron.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

90. “None of us ever knows what impact we have on the world around us.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

91. “It had long been an ambition to find the line of force that might lead to the Holy Land in the time of Christ.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

92. “A Supreme Being existed who insisted on concerning Himself with the affairs of men in order to draw them into friendship with Him.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

93. “I will write: for myself, for those who come after, and for the voices that cry out not to be forgotten.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

94. “God has always worked through the small, the insignificant, the powerless – it seems to be sewn into the very fabric of the universe.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

95. “And, Lord, does it have to be so blasted hot?”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

96. “To protect those least able to protect themselves. That much, at least, has not changed. That was ever the sole purpose and duty of kingship. Since the beginning of time it has not changed.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

97. “I searched until I panted for breath, but could not find it. The solid stone structure was nowhere to be seen. The house was gone – and Merlin with it.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

98. “I raised my spear to heaven. ‘For God and Britain!’ I cried, and my cry was answered in kind. And then I was racing down the hillside, my cloak rippling out behind me, the wind singing from my dark-glinting spearhead.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

99. “You seem a thoughtful sort of man, Will,” the cheerful cleric observed. “I hope I am,” I replied.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead

100. “For ourselves, Mighty Father, I pray you keep us from the sin of hatred, keep us from the sin of vengeance, keep us from the sin of despair, but protect us from the wicked schemes of our enemies.”

— Stephen R. Lawhead