Quotes for Good Friday

“Alone of all creeds, Christianity has added courage to the virtues of the Creator. For the only courage worth calling courage must necessarily mean that the soul passes a breaking point - and does not break.” --G.K. Chesterton

“1st Roman Soldier—You see me slip the old spear into him?
2d Roman Soldier—You’ll get into trouble doing that some day.
1st Soldier—It was the least I could do for him. I’ll tell you he looked pretty good to me in there today.”--Ernest Hemingway, “Today Is Friday”

“I do not expect ever to solve the mystery of the cross, but I do take heart in the unlikely good news that the cross has already solved me.”--Barbara Brown Taylor, “The Derelict Cross,” in The Christian Century, reprinted in The Best Christian Writing 2002

“Christ died for all men—not just the ones you know and like.”
--"Catholic textbook" cited in The Quotable Quotations Book, compiled by Alec Lewis (1980)

“I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.” --Abraham Lincoln, speech in Washington D.C., 1865 (the President was assassinated on Good Friday only weeks after this speech)

“But He was dying for a dream,
And He was very meek,
And in His eyes there shone a gleam
Men journey far to seek.”
--Countee Cullen, “Simon the Cyrenian Speaks” (1924)

“One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!’
“But the other criminal rebuked him. Don't you fear God," he said, "since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.’
“Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’
“Jesus answered him, ‘I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.’”
--Luke 23:39-43