By and large, the gospel of grace is neither proclaimed, understood, nor lived.

— Brennan Manning

Charles de Foucauld, the found of the Little Brothers of Jesus, wrote a single sentence that's had a profound impact on my life. He said, "The one thing we owe absolutely to God is never to be afraid of anything." Never to be afraid of anything, even death, which, after all, is but that final breakthrough into the open, waiting, outstretched arms of Abbey.

— Brennan Manning

Childlike surrender and trust, I believe, is the defining spirit of authentic discipleship.

— Brennan Manning

Creation discloses a power that baffles our minds and beggars our speech. We are enamored and enchanted by God's power. We stutter and stammer about God's holiness. Furthermore, we tremble before God's majesty... and yet, we grow squeamish and skittish before God's love.

— Brennan Manning

Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion.

— Brennan Manning

Drinking gave me a rush of confidence, and for a boy hounded by feelings of inadequacy, the buzz was a welcome relief. What was impossible to realize at the time was that I was shooting myself in the head in some strange time warp where the bullet takes many years to finally reach its target.

— Brennan Manning

Everybody has a vocation to some form of life-work. However, behind that call (and deeper than any call), everybody has a vocation to be a person to be fully and deeply human in Christ Jesus.

— Brennan Manning

For Foucauld and the Little Brothers, life in the desert was not a flight from the world but rather a school of love and prayer to learn to enter more deeply into humanity. Their goal was to shout the gospel not so much with their mouths as with their lives.

— Brennan Manning

For me the most radical demand of Christian faith lies in summoning the courage to say yes to the present ripeness of Jesus Christ.

— Brennan Manning

For Ragamuffins, God's name is Mercy. We see our darkness as a prized possession because it drives us into the heart of God. Without mercy our darkness would plunge us into despair - for some, self-destruction. Time alone with God reveals the unfathomable depths of the poverty of the spirit. We are so poor that even our poverty is not our own: It belongs to the mysterious tremendous of a loving God.

— Brennan Manning