Quotable Quotes

"A living tradition is not bequeathed through some law of inheritance; it must be earned, not without dust and heat, and not without humbling grace."
—James Luther Adams (1901–1994), minister

"The Bible is holy scripture because it is a living document and foundation of many important faiths, including Unitarian Universalism. To abandon the Bible would mean alienation from one of the world's most important influences on religious thought—liberal and otherwise. Our UU [Unitarian Universalist] Principles and Purposes are saturated with biblical concepts and ideals. Our concept of respect for the web of existence, for instance, emanates from a stream of thought that flows through the Psalms and the Prophets from that same God of Genesis who declared the goodness of creation."
—David McFarland, minister

"We are a gentle and generous people. But let us not forget our anger. May it fuel not only our com-mitment to compassion but also our commitment to make fundamental changes. Our vision of the Beloved Community must stand against a vision that would allow the privilege of the few to be accepted as just and even holy. Our religious vision must again and again ask the Gospel question 'Who is my neighbor' and strive always to include more and more of us as we intone the words that gave birth to this nation, 'We the people...' We are, and we should be, both a gentle, and an angry people."
—William Sinkford, minister

"Religion is our human response to the dual reality of being alive and having to die."
—Forrest Church, minister

"Perhaps we should realize that our need is not to 'find something to believe'—but rather to discover that our lives indicate what we believe right now. This is the place to start."
—Edith Hunter, religious educator

"We have to 'leave home,' in a sense, leave our comfortable ways of being, to find ourselves and our calling. We need to develop a passionate discontent, an anger that picks us up and shakes us by the neck and will not let us go. The Holy Spirit, you know, is not on the side of order and stability."
—Marilyn Sewell, minister

"The renaissance for human dignity is moving forward, helping not only the oppressed but also the oppressor to find the God within."
—Eugene Sparrow (1921–1978), minister