Hippo Quotes

We were born in a Jewish world, as part of a Jewish faith tradition. We had to translate ourselves into the neo-Platonic thinking Greek world; that took us about 400 years. Then, finally a man named Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo, recast Christianity in terms of neo-Platonic thought.

I know at least two people who have never been killed by hippos.

Hippo in a skirt: this was a comic reference to one of Solomon’s principal wives, the one from Moab. Childish? Yes. But in the days before printing we had limited opportunities for satire.

The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself.

We traveled for two weeks with a pickled hippo.

For what is faith unless it is to believe what you do not see?

The people who remained victorious were less like conquerors than conquered.

To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement.

There is an eagle in me that wants to soar.

Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.

If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.

I believe that every paper in the country should have one headline that when you read it, you laugh so hard you can’t stand it. It has to be that way. What about a headline like this: ‘Hippo Eats Dwarf’? How good is that? You read that headline, and you immediately close the paper and say, ‘Wow, it’s gonna be a great day.

Seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.

God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination.

The good Christian should beware the mathematician and all those who make empty prophecies. The danger already exists that the mathematicians have made a covenant with the devil to darken the spirit and to confine man in the bonds of hell.

Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.

Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.

We wandered the halls of an infinite magic nursing home, led by a hippo nurse with a torch. Really, just an ordinary night for the Kanes.

Hungry Hungry Hippos is so depressing. You continuously chomp away at those balls and you are alone and it’s your birthday.’

It looks like a miniature hippopotamus with badly-fitting panty hose all over.

God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.

Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.

I found thee not, O Lord, without, because I erred in seeking thee without that wert within.

But this plan of yous!’ Tawaret shuddered, causing a tsunami of jiggling hippo flesh.

Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden.

Give me chastity and continence, but not yet.

What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.

The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.

‘You told me, Father, that after my past life it is still possible to become another St. Augustine. I don’t doubt it, and today more than yesterday I want to try to prove it.’ But you have to cut out sin courageously from the root, as the holy Bishop of Hippo did.

It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.

Habit, if not resisted, soon becomes necessity.

I’d say the best is when I was in Africa, I saw a hippo in a house. Someone had a pet hippo. And they’re meant to be one of the most dangerous animals on the planet, and they had one that was sort of just wandering in and out of their house, just sort of roaming about.

Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who, by the accidents of time, or place, or circumstances, are brought into closer connection with you.

Augustine of Hippo used to say that, but for God’s grace, he should have been capable of committing any crime; and it is when we feel this sincerely, that we are most likely to be really improving, and best able to give assistance to others without moral loss to ourselves.

Don’t you believe that there is in man a deep so profound as to be hidden even to him in whom it is?

No eulogy is due to him who simply does his duty and nothing more.

Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending.

A thing is not necessarily true because badly uttered, nor false because spoken magnificently.

African cavalry mounted on rhinos or hippos would have made mincemeat of European cavalry mounted on horses. But it couldnt happen.

Since love grows within you, so beauty grows. For love is the beauty of the soul.

Will is to grace as the horse is to the rider.

Order your soul; reduce your wants; live in charity; associate in Christian community; obey the laws; trust in Providence.

And the Hippos were boiled in their tanks!

I respect hippos. They just look the way they do; they can’t do anything about it, but they don’t seem bothered.

His lion and hippo legs twitched. I wondered if netherworld monsters dreamed of chasing rabbits.

Thou must be emptied of that wherewith thou art full, that thou mayest be filled with that whereof thou art empty.

Southampton’s barrage balloons floated gleaming in the moonlight like the ghosts of elephants and hippos.

Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.