“If a catechumen or a believer seeks to become a soldier, they must be rejected, for they have despised God.”

“A soldier of the civil authority must be taught not to kill men and to refuse to do so if he is commanded, and to refuse to take an oath; if he is unwilling to comply, he must be rejected.”

Hippolytus of Rome (170–235) 3rd-century theologian in the Christian Church

“God knows that we should not despise anything. We must do our best.”

Georges Bernanos (1888–1948) French writer

“The novelist, thinks Sam, perspiring beneath blankets, must live in paranoia and seek to be one with the world; he must be terrified of experience and hungry for it; he must think himself nothing and believe he is superior to all. The feminine in his nature cries out for proof he is a man; he loves himself and therefore despises all that he is.”

Norman Mailer (1923–2007) American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, film maker, actor and political candidate

“If God exists, not seeking God must be the gravest error imaginable. If one decides to sincerely seek for God and doesn't find God, the lost effort is negligible in comparison to what is at risk in not seeking God in the first place.”

Blaise Pascal (1623–1662) French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer, and Christian philosopher

“Of course, the human soul will always have the power to reject God, for choice is essential to its nature, but I cannot believe that anyone will finally do this.”

Leslie Weatherhead (1893–1976) English theologian

“You must create your own path if you wish to become successful in life. Meaning, you must seek for success where you believe it can't be found and not where many individuals claim it's found.”

Mwanandeke Kindembo (1996) Congolese author

“Master, Master of Light,
Whose eye dwells in the seeking fingers of the blind,
You are still despised and mocked,
A man too weak and infirm to be God,
A God too much man to call forth adoration.”

Khalil Gibran book Jesus, The Son of Man

“If we would despise the enemy, our thoughts must always be of God and our souls always glad with hope.”

Anthony the Great (251–357) Christian saint, monk, and hermit

“[I]f you believe in God omnipresent, then you must believe everything that comes into your life, person or event, must have something of God in it to be experienced and loved; not hated.”

Elizabeth Goudge book Green Dolphin Street