I was four years and 11 months old. My mother's brother, who was a Princeton graduate, came home from years of working in China, met me, ruffled my hair, and said, 'So you're Robert are you? You are going to be a preacher when you grow up.' I said, 'Oh, thank you, Uncle Henry.' And, I took it as a divine declaration. It wasn't a question. It was a prophetic statement, and I bought it, hook, line and sinker.

[on the death of his former co-pastor Bruce Larson]: There is probably no minister in my lifetime who did more to help me become a better person. He will be recognized in the history of the Christian church as one of the top founders of the small group movement.

[Who talked about the wavelength of non-Christians in his area]: My first year in Garden Grove I rang 500 doorbells and asked, 'Why don't you go to church?,' The people said, 'Why go to church? One preacher is telling you why Red China should be admitted into the United Nations; the next preacher is telling you why it should not be admitted. And you go to another church where they say you are going to hell. They spend 20 minutes explaining how hopelessly unworthy and lost you are, and then in five minutes they ask you to come to Jesus, who is perfect.' Is that a sensible way to win people? I came to see that it wasn't.

If you're going to counsel people, and that's all my ministry is, it's a counseling ministry more than anything else, people have to believe that they can trust you and that they can listen to you, that you're going to try to help them and not just politically try to convert them to your views.

[About fear in life should be one that encourages bravery and action]: I'd rather attempt to do something great and fail than to attempt to do nothing and succeed.

Again and again, the impossible decision is solved when we see that the problem is only a tough decision waiting to be made.

[on using one's own form of relaxation to replenish oneself before that big decision is made]: Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come.

[Who said in 2012 if he was asked by his lawyer if the Crystal Cathedral had permission to sell his materials online]: I need to discuss that with the Lord.

If a blade of grass can grow in a concrete walk and a fig tree in the side of a mountain cliff, a human being empowered with an invincible faith can survive all odds the world can throw against his tortured soul.

Always look at what you have left. Never look at what you have lost.

[Who discussed in 2011 about himself contacting the Register to say he did not know about the existence of such a covenant and would have personally never approved it]: I have a reputation worldwide of being tolerant of all people and their views. I'm too well-educated to criticize a certain religion or group of people for what they believe in. It's called freedom.

Better to do something imperfectly, than to do nothing perfectly.

[on the announcement of his son's removal from the ministry]: It is no secret to any of you that my son, Robert, and I have been struggling as we each have different ideas as to the direction and the vision for this ministry. For this lack of shared vision and the jeopardy in which this is placing this entire ministry, it has become necessary for Robert and me to part ways.

If you want to solve your problem, don't wait for somebody else to help you. Tackle it yourself.

A small decision now can change all your tomorrows.

[on adversity] When the going gets tough, the tough get going.