“We must not be defined by what we do, but we must be what and who we are, then only happen to do what we do!”

“Rules and responsibilities: these are the ties that bind us. We do what we do, because of who we are. If we did otherwise, we would not be ourselves. I will do what I have to do. And I will do what I must.”

“What we can do, we must do: we must use what we are given, and we must use it the best we can, however much or little help we have for the task. What you have been given is a hard thing--a very hard thing... But my darling, what if there were no one who could do the difficult things?”

“life is our battlefield. We must do what we know to do, not what we want to do.”

“We do what we must, we do what we are told, we do what is easiest. What else can we do but solve one sordid problem at a time? Then one day we look up and find that we are . . . this.”

“We do not choose what happens to us. We can only choose what we do after. What we do now. We can only choose to keep going.”