“It was a child's awareness, never spoken or even fully acknowledged, but deeply felt.”

“Thunder sounded, very near, and the child woke.”

“Heed my words, daughter, if you ever mean to be happy: Never give yourself to a man.”

“Shattered by the cumulative effect of so much horror and death, Joan was again afflicted by a crisis of faith. How could a good and benevolent God let such a thing happen? How could He so terribly afflict even children and babies, who were not guilty of any sin?”

“She had discovered that her love of knowing was not unnatural or sinful but the direct consequence of a God-given ability to reason.”

“Who was to know what went on in a person's heart? A wise woman kept her own counsel.”

“The bud of a rose grows in darkness. It knows nothing of the sun, yet it pushes at the darkness that confines it until at last the walls give way and the rose bursts forth, spreading its petals into the light. I love him.”