“The woman had practiced patience all the long days of her life, exercised it to such an extent it had become the strongest muscle of her soul.”

“In the long run, our most deeply held desires will govern our choices, one by one and day by day, until our lives finally add up to what we have really wanted most--for good or otherwise. We can indeed have eternal life, if we really want it, so long as we don't want something else more.”

“The strength of a woman is not measured by the impact that all her hardships in life have had on her; but the strength of a woman is measured by the extent of her refusal to allow those hardships to dictate her and who she becomes.”

“Every life is a march from innocence, through temptation, to virtue or vice.”

“We can have eternal life if we want it, but only if there is nothing else we want more. ”

“I have had more trouble with myself than with any other man I have ever met.”

“Mathin had taught her patience, and she had known all of her life how to be stubborn.”