“Every man engaged in war tells himself he can alter what has been written, that it is he, not God, who is the maker of destiny, free to change what is meant to be.”

“Perhaps what people said was true, that any man who lived long enough would eventually realize that the way in which he was cursed was also the blessing he received.”

“He wanted pain, I saw that in him, and what a man wants he will often manage to find.”

“He's nothing fierce or terrible or filled with light. He's like us, sometimes we can't even tell him apart. Sometimes we're the ones who try to save him. He's there to show us who we are. Human beings aren't gods. We makes mistakes.”

“What did you see?' he asked then.Nothing,' I told him. 'Because nothing is what you wanted me to see, though the man on the table might disagree.”

“They carried what was holy within them, for every man was a temple, and every prayer spoken could be heard by our Father above us.”

“He stepped off the pavement like a man jumping off a bridge, as calm as a swimmer with an ocean out below. Lucy had known what he was going to do the instant their eyes met. She'd know what he intended because she would have done the very same thing if she'd had his courage. Nothing was going to break his fall.”