Lewis B. Smedes Quotations

Nothing is more private than a woman's body; it is her physical, emotional, and moral citadel. She cannot be free at all if she is not free to decide for herself, in private, what to do with her body.

My father was only thirty-one when he died of a heart attack, much too young for a father to die and leave his young wife with five rambunctious little kids to take care of. I was the youngest. Only a couple of months old when he died.

Jesus said that we should render to the state what properly belongs to the state, and though he had taxes in mind, we might reasonably infer that giving the state the job of punishing wrongdoers is one way of giving the state its due.

Some people still make promises and keep those they make. When they do, they help make life around them more stably human.

Some people still have causes they will not desert, even though the cause seems lost.

Common sense suggests that if no one ever judged other people, there would be no real human community.

Our society is pluralistic. We who accept the privilege of membership in that society agree to respect the people's right to live by their own religious precepts.

Seeing reality for what it is is what we call discernment. The work of discernment is very hard.

Some people have loved ones they will not forsake, even though they are a pain in the neck.

No one really forgives unless he has been hurt.