“Imagine the wizened quality of a life blanched of contradiction and double standard. p 44” — Michael Perry Contradiction Copy Share Image
“Seed catalogs are responsible for more unfulfilled fantasies than Enron and Playboy combined.” — Michael Perry Fantasies Enron Copy Share Image
“Grievance is a sullen little boat, blown in the creepy breeze of ridiculous sighs.” — Michael Perry Copy Share Image
“Memory is a means of possession, but eventually, the greatest grace is found in letting go. _Population: 485_, p 178.” — Michael Perry Grace Copy Share Image
“In specific moments of ground-level clarity, I recognize the dumbing down of the nation for what it is: an act of charity… — Michael Perry Generosity Copy Share Image
“Alice once told me artistry does not reside in motivation but rather stems from showing up, with the intent to be honest.… — Michael Perry Artist Copy Share Image
“We plunge into love with a naivete that ignores all prior humiliations. Thank goodness, I guess. Because we never learn, we reach… — Michael Perry Love Copy Share Image
“It (a singer's voice) sounds as if it was aged in a whiskey cask, cured in an Ozarks smokehouse, dropped down a… — Michael Perry Wordsmith Copy Share Image
“Inevitably, our children come to see us as we are. Not as we wish we were, or even as we should be.” — Michael Perry Child Copy Share Image
“Mom is a compulsive reader. She reads for pleasure, she reads to edify herself, but more often than not, she reads because… — Michael Perry Books Copy Share Image
“I am a stranger in a strange town, and the man standing beside me has just removed his pants. There are mitigating… — Michael Perry Registered Nurse Copy Share Image
“The amateur study of philosophy is like taking a few laps with a NASCAR driver. You’re not qualified to do it on… — Michael Perry Amateur Copy Share Image
“It’s hard to talk about guns without sounding defensive or blustery. I’m pro-gun the same way I’m pro-potato fork. I use them… — Michael Perry Amendment Copy Share Image
“Part of the blame lies with intellectuals who are unable or unwilling to convey their ideas in terms that will play down… — Michael Perry Intellectualism Copy Share Image
“I understand that what you're doing when you call 911--it sounds so perfunctory--is announcing to strangers that you are losing the battle.… — Michael Perry Firefighters Copy Share Image
“... Tom got to rattling off the pranks he and his school boy buddies pulled ... and what I saw wasn't an… — Michael Perry Old man Copy Share Image
“Her eyes are wide and steady beneath the brim of her floppy cap. How far out of infancy do we lose this… — Michael Perry Babies Copy Share Image
“If you had gone around the table last night ticking off the Ten Commandments and asking for a show of hands to… — Michael Perry Last night Copy Share Image
“Over the years, I have developed a visceral reaction to families and victims expressing surprise at tragedy. Why are we surprised? Why… — Michael Perry Bad thing Copy Share Image
“We were the church. As the New Testament instructed. When it was time for Sunday morning meeting, we convened in private homes.… — Michael Perry Church Copy Share Image
“Sleeping in the same bed with someone to whom you can admit your failings is a lasting comfort indeed. This is not… — Michael Perry Failure Copy Share Image
“We talk about how he and Leanne are doing knowing full well there is no sufficient answer. p 294” — Michael Perry Grief Copy Share Image
“It is the blessing of dumb work done close to the earth-one gritty minute at a time, we move forward.” — Michael Perry Earth Copy Share Image
“Summer here comes on like a zaftig hippie chick, jazzed on chlorophyll and flinging fistfuls of butterflies to the sun.” — Michael Perry Summer Copy Share Image
“We sort the past in an attempt to sort the present and anticipate the future.” — Michael Perry Future Copy Share Image
“I got religion in the third grade, and jeepers, did I need it. The devil was in me, and Hardy Biesterveld wasn't… — Michael Perry Catholic Copy Share Image
“Even as a guy with pickup truck sensibilities, I have always gone a little in the liver for patchouli.” — Michael Perry Copy Share Image
“The sky is deep black, the stars pressing down brilliantly all around, and I am reminded that we are not beneath the… — Michael Perry Astronomy Copy Share Image
“But I hope we don't burden Amy with the idea that living outside the city limits is an inherently pious act. That… — Michael Perry Copy Share Image
“We spend this life looking for a center, a place where we can suspend without a wobble. The specific coordinates are elusive,… — Michael Perry Life Copy Share Image
“Cynicism is overrated, and far too easy. In small doses, cynicism--like irony--provides an essential tempering quality. But to wallow in it, and… — Michael Perry Hope and faith Copy Share Image
“From the get-go, my hair was programmed to fall out. One is grateful this so rarely happens with the pancreas or the… — Michael Perry Eyeballs Copy Share Image
“I am content in bachelor life, but at moments like this, I admit to old-fashioned sexist longing. Sometimes I cook up comfort… — Michael Perry Comfort food Copy Share Image
“I deserve a swift kick in the shorts for all the times I've stubbornly wound my way through the library stacks, my… — Michael Perry Librarian Copy Share Image
“I stand beside Tom's barn and ponder the benign heedlessness of the people in the speeding cars, and here I am in… — Michael Perry Progress Copy Share Image
“Humans possess no monopoly on the powers of preservation and destruction. Our ability to wield these powers with sustained intent, however, is… — Michael Perry Humankind Copy Share Image
“I will never cut it as a Quaker - I cannot find it in me to renounce all violence, not with two… — Michael Perry Busy life Copy Share Image
