"It has often struck me with awe that some of the most deeply religious people I know have been, on the surface, athetists.... Many atheists deny God because they care so passionately about a caring and personal God and the world around them is inconsistent with a God of love, they feel, and so they say, "There is no God." But even when one denies God, to serve music, or painting, or words is a religious activity, whether or not the conscious mind is willing to accept that fact."

- Madeleine L'Engle, Walking on Water

A beautiful book on how art truly feeds the soul. Madeleine L'Engle is the writer of A Wrinkle in Time, the children's book, and writes about how after the success of her earlier books, of how she dealt with the stagnancy of her post-success years and how she came to terms with her own personal growth as well as inspiration for her art.

"To try to talk about art and about Christianity is for me one and the same thing, and it means attempting to share the meaning of my life, what gives it, for me, its tragedy and its glory." - Interesting, how often I feel like my appreciation for art, music, theater, dance, poetry, is a bit overindulgent and extravagant. But it really is the stuff that feeds my soul - beauty and hope. And it really is similar to the role that religion plays in my life as well.

I read this book while on the subways in NY - i felt, irrationally, that reading a non-guidebook made me less muggable.

"Freedom is a terrible gift, and the theory behind all dictatorships is that "the people" do not want freedom. They want bread and circuses. They want workman's compensation and fringe benefits and TV. Give up your free will, give up your freedom to make choices, listen to the expert, and you will have three cars in your garage, steak on the table, and you will no longer have to suffer the agony of choice." - M. L'Engle