documentation quotes

Quotes

Sometimes people say some pretty profound things. Every once in a while, we want to highlight what they said. We can do this in a few different ways: Block Quotes, In-line Quotes, or Interview Quotes.

Block Quotes

Dan says some quotable things and here is an example of a Block Quote in action – Dan B. Allender

Usage

  • Feel free to add the citation, but it’s not necessary.
  • Do not add quotation marks to the block quote.
  • Do not add any formatting to the block quote (bold, italics, underline).
  • Do not use a block quote if the quote is longer than 2 lines.

In-line Quotes

Use an in-line quote when the quote is longer than 2 lines. Dan Allender once said, “I have learned a lot in the past twenty-five years. Mostly I have learned from my clients. I have also gleaned an immense amount of understanding from fellow professional and lay therapists who continue to lean into darkness that most fear to name, let alone enter. While I am encouraged by the advances that have been made in bringing the reality of sexual abuse into the light, I have seen the culture flip from massive denial to indifferent minimization.”

Usage

  • When quotes are too long for a block quote.
  • You don’t want the styling of a block quote.
  • Do not add italics.

Podcast and Interview Quotes

Here are some examples to consider.

One Person

The example below shows a quote from a podcast then the writer’s comments:

“When we create adventures that open the door to danger and risk, to humility, we’re often not thinking about the fact that God wants to join us.”

Because A Story Worth Living is, in part, a showcase for the stunning wilderness of Colorado and the jaw-dropping suspense of a motorcycle adventure, it is a gorgeous and riveting experience. But, Dan says, the film is also so much more than that. The story of this trip is an invitation to explore how to craft adventures that create rich, meaningful stories and open the door to the pursuit of God.

Multiple People

The example below shows more than one person’s voice from a podcast and the writer’s comments:

Dan: “I can’t even imagine what my life would have been without our friendship—not only in terms of my character and survivability, but also calling.”

As young men, Dan says that their friendship was one of the few places that showed him what it means to love someone and to learn how to play together. Later, Tremper played a pivotal role in Dan coming to know God, going into seminary, and stepping into his life’s work of leading others toward healing and restoration. For Tremper, who is a prolific Old Testament scholar, Dan was instrumental in Tremper wanting to write about the Bible not just in an academic way, but in a way that could lead to transformation.

Tremper: “You invited me to a seminar in 1984, where you wanted me to critique your use of the Bible, and I ended up getting my life critiqued in a way that was very meaningful and helpful. It was at that point that I decided that it was very important for me to make sure that whatever study I do of the Bible is not some kind of abstract, disconnected from life study, but that, like Jesus says, the Bible is a seed that transforms our lives.”

Dan: “We’ve sustained our relationship not just on the basis of love, and not just on the basis of history, but on the basis of the kingdom of God and the intersecting of the gifts that God has given each of us.”

Question and Answer Interviews

The example below shows a question from a podcast, the response, and the writer’s comments: (The line break is achieved by using shift+enter.)

Has your story work brought goodness to you?
“If it’s brought goodness, then I think in a world where the kingdom of darkness opposes any kind of narrative connection between our death and the death of Jesus, our rising and the resurrection of Jesus, and our empowerment, our use of skill, gifts, talent, assets, for the larger goal of the kingdom of God—any time our story is linked to God’s story, you ought darn well predict that there will be opposition.”

Before we can engage someone else’s resistance to story work with wisdom and compassion, Dan says there are a few hard questions we need to ask ourselves.