As I finish the recent biography of Madeleine L’Engle by Leonard Marcus, Remembering Madeleine, I pass on one of his most interesting observations, found in the introduction. He identified the way in which Madeleine, as the prototypical Renaissance woman, often drew on literature to strengthen her own points in her writing. Here are just a few:
George MacDonald: “The Son of god suffered unto death, not that men might not suffer, but that their sufferings might be like his.”
Paul Klee: “Art does not reproduce the visible. Rather, it makes visible.”
Toynbee: “We are a sick society because we have refused to accept death and infinity.”
Ruskin: “The cursed animosity of inanimate objects.”
T.S. Eliot: “Dare to disturb the universe.”
But then were her own numerous turns of phrase:
“I take the Bible too seriously to take it literally.”
“Some things have to be believed to be seen.”
“The amoeba has a minimum of structure, but I doubt if it has much fun.”
vitalwholeness 
Most attribute the “I take the Bible too seriously…” to Karl Barth. L’Engle attributes it to him in “Glimpses of Grace” NO MATTER – who said it is not so important as the way it causes one to really think about the meaning.