2020: Quotes I Liked from Books I Read

Here are inspiring quotes from my 2020 reading list. Thank you to the artists, experts, and dreamers who penned these words.

One of my top strengths is being committed to growth and progress in my life and others' lives. (In CliftonStrengths®, this is called Developer®). If you looked at me, you would find various ways this strength plays out, including reading books. But not just any kind of book.

I don't read e-books because e-books don't feel real to me. Reading a book is a sensory experience, like making coffee or gardening may be to others. I need to feel the book in my hands, hear the sound of the highlighter moving across the words, smell the ink on the pages. I need to see the book on my bookshelf, have it ready for recall, in order to feel like I "did the book," in order to feel the book did its work in me.

You may remember that I shared some quotes from my summer reading list, which focused on strengths and personal and spiritual growth. The fall lineup didn't include any of the same authors and it wasn't as strengths-heavy. As you'll see below, the focus of my fall reading list was "life calling" and "vocation."

This is a topic that has captured my heart and imagination, and when that happens, you'll see it expressed in my book choices. It was about five years ago that I was wrestling with what to do with my life, which led to some significant changes, and now five years later, I'm brought back to this same topic.

You'll be hearing more about this journey, but for now, here are inspiring quotes from my 2020 reading list. Thank you to the artists, experts, and dreamers who penned these words, which I'm sure were meant to be read in a real, printed book:

“I want you to become fully awake to your biggest and most worthwhile ambitions by becoming fully awake to yourself and your God-given purposes.”

Bob Goff, Dream Big

“Calling is less about figuring out a detailed plan and more about moving toward responsiveness in relationship.”

Kathleen Cahalan & Bonnie Miller-McLemore, Calling All Years Good

“At some point we must delight in what is ours, in the relationships and responsibilities that are ours. It is duty and desire together that make for a good life...”

Steven Garber, Visions of Vocation

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Mary Oliver, "The Summer Day"

“Vocation does not mean a goal that I pursue. It means a calling that I hear.”

Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak

“Even with a particular call, perhaps the question isn’t what specific job title you should pursue, but instead what constitutes your mission in the world and what types of occupations would allow you to use your gifts in pursuit of that mission.”

Bryan Dik & Ryan Duffy, Make Your Job a Calling

“King. Warrior. Mentor. Friend. Four rhythms in a man.”

Stu Weber, Tender Warrior

“Although we are not all writers, we are the keepers of our own stories.”

Deborah Loyd, Your Vocational Credo

“Ask me whether what I have done is my life.”

William Stafford, "Ask Me"

“A calling is a transcendent summons toward purposeful work motivated by a desire to make a positive difference.”

Bryan Dik, 

“Friends are people you make part of your life just because you feel like it.”

Frederick Buechner, Listening to Your Life

“Sustained success comes only when you take what’s unique about you and figure out how to make it useful.”

Marcus Buckingham, StandOut 2.0

“A growing body of evidence suggests that the single greatest driver of both achievement and wellbeing is the understanding of how your daily efforts enhance the lives of others.”

Tom Rath, Life’s Great Question

“Question Thinking is a system of tools for transforming thinking, action, and results through skillful question asking—questions we ask ourselves as well as those we ask others.”

Marilee Adams, Change Your Questions Change Your Life

“Prayer: Your presence and approval are all I need for everlasting joy.”

JD Greear, Gospel

“I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.”

Bronnie Ware, Top Five Regrets of the Dying

“Don’t give yourself to those who don’t absolutely need you at the expense of those who do.”

Patrick Morley, The Christian Man

“Psychological safety is a condition in which you feel (1) included, (2) safe to learn, (3) safe to contribute, and (4) safe to challenge the status quo—all without fear of being embarrassed, marginalized, or punished in any way.”

Timothy R. Clark, The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety

“By catering our worship to the worshippers and not to the Object of our worship, I fear we have created human-centered churches.”

Francis Chan, Letters to the Church

What quotes would you add?