“A man must walk only his own path...Never another's or his feet will grow tired and sore. And he will feel lost even when he arrives.”

“My lady,' said the servant girl, 'are those who sit at the table great if they are enslaved to their own selfish needs and wishes? Are those who serve the table less if they are free to love? The giver of love receives. The one who understands is understood. The one who consoles receives consolation...' That day the servant was set free for saying strong things gently and gentle things strongly.”

“Each morning, when you awaken, promise the dawn that you'll keep your heart as light as a feather. Commit again each night at sunset.”

“What if each child was taught from the cradle to sing the song of peace...would the cynics not call it foolish, saying that to be gentle is to be weak? But I tell you that until we are as innocent and pure as doves, our journey will be long and the way dark. Raise doves, not wolves.”

“Make me a channel of your peaceWhere there is hatred, let me sow loveWhere there is injury, let me sow pardonWhere there is doubt, let me sow faithWhere there is despair, let me sow hopeWhere there is sadness, let me sow joyWhere there is darkness, let me bring lightFor it is in giving that we receiveIt is in pardoning that we are pardonedAnd it is in dying that we are born to eternal lifeFor this is the Law of Substitution”

“Of course if a person looked at his life from above, he could see the whole thing for what it was; he'd only feel lost while he was living it, when he still hadn't figured out that it was in fact a maze and that both the way in and the way out led to the same enormous empty place surrounding it. (From The Thin Place)”

“You'll never forget," Alden said, for the first time the pure evil of his soul showing in his eyes. His voice was bloodcurdingly gentle as he added, "And neither will I. Nothing feels as good as your own flesh and blood.”