Lionel Blue

“When you are in a mess, seek not complexity but simplicity.”

“Being gay and Jewish, I have two traditions of guilt to draw on.”

“Prayer is not asking for things, it is listening.”

“The past is a source of strength, not a prison.”

“Religion is at its best when it makes us ask hard questions.”

“A problem is a problem, but a secret is a problem with a barbed-wire fence around it.”

“I have learnt from my dog that when you are joyful, you should show it.”

“Sanctity is not about being different from the rest of us. It’s about being more human than the rest of us.”

“God is the love that will not let me go.”

“Humour is the prelude to faith and laughter is the beginning of prayer.”

“Kindness is the greatest wisdom.”

“The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been.”

“If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.”

“The Ten Commandments are not a multiple choice.”

“Most of us are better at leaving than being left.”

“Forgiveness is a release, not an excuse.”

“I've discovered that if you're not going to be a handsome prince, you'd better be a comical frog.”

“I had to come out because I was fed up of being frightened. Fear is a great killer.”

“God is not a cosmic social worker. God is the inner strength that can get me through the day.”

“Holiness is not a state, it is a direction.”