“Helplessness in the face of a child's suffering is the curse of parenthood.”
“Along with the joy of parenthood, with every child comes a piercing vulnerability. It is at once sublime and terrifying”
“Often a man can play the helpless child in front of a woman, but he can almost never bring it off when he feels most like a helpless child.”
“Enough wars have been started over this face. My face. My curse—and my mother’s curse, and her mother’s curse, and so on all the way back to the first woman to ever wear this face. Helen of Troy.”
“Perhaps it is only human nature to inflict suffering on anything that will endure suffering, whether by reason of its genuine humility, or indifference, or sheer helplessness.”
“The suffering of a loved one was in many ways worse than one's one suffering because it left one feeling so very helpless.”