Quotes about Stakes

There's no escaping the adversity waiting for each of us if we follow the path of Jesus. The stakes are high and the eternal rewards priceless. You have a vicious enemy who, to put it bluntly, wants to destroy your influence and wreck your God-assigned mission. As far as Satan's concerned, you are a threat and need to be stopped—indeed, he will be happy when you are "dead."

Most of us struggle with the opposite. We don't bring up the negative stakes enough and so the story we're telling falls flat. Remember, if there are no stakes, there is no story.

After all, the purpose of negative stakes in a story is to contrast with the happy ending we all want to experience.

War is often about making the least-worst decision. The same could be said about politics. But the stakes are higher in war, when the commander-in-chief is called upon to defend the nation.

Thrillers provide the reader with a safe escape into a dangerous world where the stakes are as high as can be imagined with unpredictable outcomes. It's a perfect genre in which to explore hard issues of good and evil, a mirror that allows the reader to see both the good and not so good in themselves.

Life is too short, time is too precious, and the stakes are too high to dwell on what might have been. We have to work together for what still can be.

Prayer in a combat zone serves exactly the same purpose as it does in peacetime. In war, the stakes are life and death, true; but if you believe in God and in the notion of a human soul, then we are always making decisions of tremendous significance.

It went fine for us," I said. "But based on what I just saw, we better win this thing or the country is screwed.

Cancer is such a wake-up call to remind us how high the cosmic stakes really are and how short and brief and frail life really is.