Erwin Raphael McManus Quotes

“Courage is not the absence of fear; it is the absence of self.”

“Deeper than our instinct to live is our longing to be alive.”

“Home is ultimately not about a place to live but about the people with whom you are most fully alive. Home is about love, relationship, community, and belonging, and we are all searching for home.”

“How is it, that for many of us, being a good Christian is nothing more than being a good person? The entire focus of our faith has been the elimination of sin, which is important but inadequate; rather than the unleashing of a unique, original, extraordinary, wonderfully untamed, faith.”

“If you were meant to fly, not even running really fast is that impressive.”

“It is amazing how much we can endure when we are convinced there is a purpose to our struggle.”

“It is not balance you need but adaptability.”

“Love, no matter how you come at it, is a huge risk.”

“Problems, obstacles, and challenges can either become the markers of our limits and limitations, or they can become the springboard into a whole new world.”

“The fuel of ambition is not the problem; it is the focus of ambition that frees or betrays us.”

“The more isolated and disconnected we are, the more shattered and distorted our self-identity. We are not healthy when we are alone. We find ourselves when we connect to others. Without community we don't know who we are. When we live outside of healthy community, we not only lose others. We lose ourselves. Who we understand ourselves to be is dramatically affected for better or worse by those we hold closest to us.”

“The most important moments rarely come at a convenient time.”

“The real measure of our power is the freedom and opportunity we create for others.”

“The world doesn't need more great leaders, it needs more great people who lead.”

“We are all hypocrites in transition. I am not who I want to be, but I am on the journey there, and thankfully I am not whom I used to be.”

“When we lack integrity, we use power to control. When we lead with integrity, we use power to bless.”

“While we may never find or receive the love from others that our hearts are desperate for, we can receive a love even greater than that of which we were deprived.”

“Whoever tells the best story shapes the culture.”

“Would you be willing to give your life to save the world if no one ever knew your name? If anonymity was the price you would have to pay for significance, would it be too great a price? To live a life of courage is not a guarantee of prestige or adulation. It only matters if you live and die fulfilling the mission you were born for.”

“You're not supposed to die with your potential. A life well lived squeezes all the potential placed within and does something with it.”

“Your dreams are the product of your longings, a portrait of your potential, and a promise of your future.”

“The most spiritual activity you will engage in today is making choices.”

“To relive the past is to relinquish the future. If you are willing to let go of the past, then you are ready to step into the future. When you choose to remain stuck in a moment, you become incapable of seizing divine moments.”

“Urgency is characterized as impetuousness, while risk management is defined not as taking the right risk, but as avoiding risk altogether.”

“We are all time voyagers leaving history in our wake, pioneering into the future.”

“You were born to live a great adventure; You were created with a divine destiny; You are called to fulfill a great mission. You were designed for a unique purpose. Now you are called to live it out.”

“It’s a troubling thing when your soul demands what your brain rejects.”

“Jesus would rather have us do what is right than what is 'Christian'.”

“To give up on love is to choose a life that is less than human.”

“We all are flawed. If there was a perfect community, it would be ruined the moment I joined it.”