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52 Inspiring Quotes By Dallas Willard, The Author Of The Divine Conspiracy

Famous As: American Philosopher Known for His Writings on Christian Spiritual Formation
Born On: September 4, 1935
Died On: May 8, 2013
Born In: Buffalo, Missouri, U.S.
Died At Age: 77
Dallas Albert Willard was a U.S. philosopher and professor, whose works were primarily based on the spiritual formation of Christianity and phenomenology. Willard went to William Jewell College and acquired a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Tennessee Temple College, before studying Philosophy from Baylor University. He earned a doctorate in philosophy from Baylor University as well. Willard taught philosophy at University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of South California and the University of Colorado. He had also translated the works of the noted scholar of phenomenology, Edmund Husserl into English. Other than his considerable works on philosophy, Willard also wrote extensively on Christian ways of life and two of his best known works include ‘The Divine Conspiracy’ and ‘Renovation of the Heart’, both of which were awarded Christianity Today’s book of the year award. His thoughts and observations on various subjects became popular over a period of time. We have collected these excerpted his quotes from his writings and works. Here are some of the best known sayings and quotes by Dallas Willard.
We live in a culture that has, for centuries now, cultivated the idea that the skeptical person is always smarter than one who believes. You can almost be as stupid as a cabbage as long as you doubt.

We live in a culture that has, for centuries now, cultivated the idea that the skeptical person is always smarter than one who believes. You can almost be as stupid as a cabbage as long as you doubt.

Dallas Willard
Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action. Grace, you know, does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone.

Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action. Grace, you know, does not just have to do with forgiveness of sins alone.

Dallas Willard
What a child does when not told what to do is the final indicator of what and who that child is.

What a child does when not told what to do is the final indicator of what and who that child is.

Dallas Willard
I'm practicing the discipline of not having to have the last word.

I'm practicing the discipline of not having to have the last word.

Dallas Willard
Suppose our failures occur, not in spite of what we are doing, but precisely because of it.

Suppose our failures occur, not in spite of what we are doing, but precisely because of it.

Dallas Willard
A carefully cultivated heart will, assisted by the grace of God, foresee, forestall, or transform most of the painful situations before which others stand like helpless children saying “Why?

A carefully cultivated heart will, assisted by the grace of God, foresee, forestall, or transform most of the painful situations before which others stand like helpless children saying “Why?

Dallas Willard
In many cases, our need to wonder about or be told what God wants in a certain situation is nothing short of a clear indication of how little we are engaged in His work.

In many cases, our need to wonder about or be told what God wants in a certain situation is nothing short of a clear indication of how little we are engaged in His work.

Dallas Willard
Few people arise in the morning as hungry for God as they are for cornflakes or toast and eggs.

Few people arise in the morning as hungry for God as they are for cornflakes or toast and eggs.

Dallas Willard
The aim of God in history is the creation of an all-inclusive community of loving persons, with Himself included in that community as its prime sustainer and most glorious inhabitant.

The aim of God in history is the creation of an all-inclusive community of loving persons, with Himself included in that community as its prime sustainer and most glorious inhabitant.

Dallas Willard
What is truly profound is thought to be stupid and trivial, or worse, boring, while what is actually stupid and trivial is thought to be profound. That is what it means to fly upside down.

What is truly profound is thought to be stupid and trivial, or worse, boring, while what is actually stupid and trivial is thought to be profound. That is what it means to fly upside down.

Dallas Willard
Sometimes we get caught up in trying to glorify God by praising what He can do and we lose sight of the practical point of what He actually does do.

Sometimes we get caught up in trying to glorify God by praising what He can do and we lose sight of the practical point of what He actually does do.

Dallas Willard
Jesus, Willard says, “does not call us to do what he did, but to be as he was, permeated with love. Then the doing of what he did and said becomes the natural expression of who we are in him.

Jesus, Willard says, “does not call us to do what he did, but to be as he was, permeated with love. Then the doing of what he did and said becomes the natural expression of who we are in him.

Dallas Willard
Our failure to hear His voice when we want to is due to the fact that we do not in general want to hear it, that we want it only when we think we need it.

Our failure to hear His voice when we want to is due to the fact that we do not in general want to hear it, that we want it only when we think we need it.

Dallas Willard
We don't believe something by merely saying we believe it, or even when we believe that we believe it. We believe something when we act as if it were true.

We don't believe something by merely saying we believe it, or even when we believe that we believe it. We believe something when we act as if it were true.

Dallas Willard
Anything done in anger can be done better without it!

Anything done in anger can be done better without it!

Dallas Willard
The command is

The command is "Do no work." Just make space. Attend to what is around you. Learn that you don't have to DO to BE. accept the grace of doing nothing. Stay with it until you stop jerking and squirming.

Dallas Willard
The idea of having faith in Jesus has come to be totally isolated from being his apprentice and learning how to do what he said.

The idea of having faith in Jesus has come to be totally isolated from being his apprentice and learning how to do what he said.

Dallas Willard
Actions are not impostions on who we are, but are expressions of who we are. They come out of our heart and the inner realities it supervises and interacts with

Actions are not impostions on who we are, but are expressions of who we are. They come out of our heart and the inner realities it supervises and interacts with

Dallas Willard
To manipulate, drive or manage people is not the same thing as to lead them.

To manipulate, drive or manage people is not the same thing as to lead them.

Dallas Willard
There is no avoiding the fact that we live at the mercy of our ideas This is never more true than with our ideas about God.

There is no avoiding the fact that we live at the mercy of our ideas This is never more true than with our ideas about God.

Dallas Willard
The truly powerful ideas are precisely the ones that never have to justify themselves.

The truly powerful ideas are precisely the ones that never have to justify themselves.

Dallas Willard
The cautious faith that never saws off a limb on which it is sitting, never learns that unattached limbs may find strange unaccountable ways of not falling.

The cautious faith that never saws off a limb on which it is sitting, never learns that unattached limbs may find strange unaccountable ways of not falling.

Dallas Willard
We were built to count, as water is made to run downhill. We are placed in a specific context to count in ways no one else does. That is our destiny.

We were built to count, as water is made to run downhill. We are placed in a specific context to count in ways no one else does. That is our destiny.

Dallas Willard
I think that, when I die, it might be some time until I know it.

I think that, when I die, it might be some time until I know it.

Dallas Willard
God’s care for humanity was so great that he sent his unique Son among us, so that those who count on him might not lead a futile and failing existence, but have the undying life of God Himself. JOHN 3:16

God’s care for humanity was so great that he sent his unique Son among us, so that those who count on him might not lead a futile and failing existence, but have the undying life of God Himself. JOHN 3:16

Dallas Willard
The “interior castle” of the human soul, as Teresa of Avila called it, has many rooms, and they are slowly occupied by God, allowing us time and room to grow.

The “interior castle” of the human soul, as Teresa of Avila called it, has many rooms, and they are slowly occupied by God, allowing us time and room to grow.

Dallas Willard
An obsession merely with doing all God commands may be the very thing that rules out being the kind of person that he calls us to be.

An obsession merely with doing all God commands may be the very thing that rules out being the kind of person that he calls us to be.

Dallas Willard
It was an important day in my life when at last I understood that if he needed forty days in the wilderness at one point, I very likely could use three or four.

It was an important day in my life when at last I understood that if he needed forty days in the wilderness at one point, I very likely could use three or four.

Dallas Willard
The single most obvious trait of those who profess Christ but do not grow into Christ-likeness is their refusal to take the reasonable and time-tested measures for spiritual growth.

The single most obvious trait of those who profess Christ but do not grow into Christ-likeness is their refusal to take the reasonable and time-tested measures for spiritual growth.

Dallas Willard
Hell is not an 'oops!' or a slip. One does not miss heaven by a hair, but by constant effort to avoid and escape God.

Hell is not an 'oops!' or a slip. One does not miss heaven by a hair, but by constant effort to avoid and escape God.

Dallas Willard
Last words of his mother to his father:

Last words of his mother to his father: "Keep eternity before the children.

Dallas Willard
Single-minded and joyous devotion to God and his will, to what God wants for us-and to service to him and to others because of him-is what the will transformed into Christliheness looks like.

Single-minded and joyous devotion to God and his will, to what God wants for us-and to service to him and to others because of him-is what the will transformed into Christliheness looks like.

Dallas Willard
The key, then, to loving God is to see Jesus, to hold him before the mind with as much fullness and clarity as possible. It is to adore him.

The key, then, to loving God is to see Jesus, to hold him before the mind with as much fullness and clarity as possible. It is to adore him.

Dallas Willard
Love is not God, but God is love. It is who he is, his very identity.

Love is not God, but God is love. It is who he is, his very identity.

Dallas Willard
Jesus is the human face on the kingdom of God. He makes it concretely accessible.

Jesus is the human face on the kingdom of God. He makes it concretely accessible.

Dallas Willard
Our most serious failure today is the inability to provide effective practical guidance as to how to live the life of Jesus. And I believe that is due to this very real loss of biblical realism for our lives

Our most serious failure today is the inability to provide effective practical guidance as to how to live the life of Jesus. And I believe that is due to this very real loss of biblical realism for our lives

Dallas Willard
The humility that cringes in order that reproof may be escaped or favor obtained is as unchristian as it is profoundly immoral.

The humility that cringes in order that reproof may be escaped or favor obtained is as unchristian as it is profoundly immoral.

Dallas Willard
May I just give you this word? Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action.

May I just give you this word? Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning. Earning is an attitude. Effort is an action.

Dallas Willard
Legalists and theological experts with “lips close to God and hearts far away from him” (Isa. 29:13). The world hardly needs more of these.

Legalists and theological experts with “lips close to God and hearts far away from him” (Isa. 29:13). The world hardly needs more of these.

Dallas Willard
Grace is opposed to earning, but not to effort.

Grace is opposed to earning, but not to effort.

Dallas Willard
Why is it that we look upon our salvation as a moment that began our religious life instead of the daily life we receive from God?

Why is it that we look upon our salvation as a moment that began our religious life instead of the daily life we receive from God?

Dallas Willard
People who love one another can be silent together.”12

People who love one another can be silent together.”12

Dallas Willard
We truly live at the mercy of our ideas; this is never more true than with our ideas about God.

We truly live at the mercy of our ideas; this is never more true than with our ideas about God.

Dallas Willard
Love, as Paul and the New Testament presents it, is not action—not even action with a special intention—but a source of action.

Love, as Paul and the New Testament presents it, is not action—not even action with a special intention—but a source of action.

Dallas Willard
THOSE WHO REALLY do know Christ in the modern world do so by seeking and entering the kingdom of God.

THOSE WHO REALLY do know Christ in the modern world do so by seeking and entering the kingdom of God.

Dallas Willard
And if you are already flying upside down and don’t know it, your cleverness will do you little good.

And if you are already flying upside down and don’t know it, your cleverness will do you little good.

Dallas Willard
Play is the creation of value that is not necessary.

Play is the creation of value that is not necessary.

Dallas Willard
Our destiny is to join a tremendously creative team effort, under unimaginably splendid leadership, on an inconceivably vast plane of activity, with ever more comprehensive cycles of productivity and enjoyment.

Our destiny is to join a tremendously creative team effort, under unimaginably splendid leadership, on an inconceivably vast plane of activity, with ever more comprehensive cycles of productivity and enjoyment.

Dallas Willard
Disciples are those who have been so ravished with Christ that others want to be like them.

Disciples are those who have been so ravished with Christ that others want to be like them.

Dallas Willard
Our most serious failure today is the inability to provide effective practical guidance as to how to live the lifwe of Jesus. And I believe that is due to this very real loss of biblical realism for our lives.

Our most serious failure today is the inability to provide effective practical guidance as to how to live the lifwe of Jesus. And I believe that is due to this very real loss of biblical realism for our lives.

Dallas Willard
Practice routinely purposeful kindnesses and intelligent acts of beauty.

Practice routinely purposeful kindnesses and intelligent acts of beauty.

Dallas Willard
We can become like Christ by doing one thing—by following him in the overall style of life he chose for himself.

We can become like Christ by doing one thing—by following him in the overall style of life he chose for himself.

Dallas Willard