“We can retreat and retreat and let ourselves get backed into corners forever,” she’d said once. “Or we can go out and meet the enemy at the timeand place we choose. Not them.”Okay, Tasha, I thought. Let’s see if your advice gets me killed.”

“Let’s get out of here.” “Where are we going?” “You’ll see.”

“Like, each of us starts out as a watertight vessel. And these things happen--these people leave us, or don't love us, or don't get us, or we don't get them, and we lose and fail and hurt one another. And the vessel starts to crack open in places. And I mean, yeah, once the vessel cracks open, the end becomes inevitable... But there is all this time between the cracks start to open up and when we finally fall apart. And it's only in that time that we can see one another because we see out of ourselves through our cracks and into others through theirs......But once the vessel cracks, the light can get in. The light can get out.”

“The antidote for pride is humility; meekness; submissiveness...Let us choose to be humble.We can choose to humble ourselves byconquering enmity toward our brothers and sisters,esteeming them as ourselves,and lifting them as high or higher than we are...We can choose to humble ourselvesby receiving counsel and chastisement...We can choose to humble ourselves byforgiving those who have offended us...We can choose to humble ourselves byrendering selfless service...We can chose to humble ourselves bygoing on missions and preaching the word that can humble others...We can choose to humble ourselves bygetting to the temple more frequently...We can choose to humble ourselves byconfessing and forsaking our sins and being born of God...We can choose to humble ourselves by loving God,submitting our will to His, and putting Him first in our lives”

“The novels we read allow us to encounter possible persons, versions of ourselves hat we would never see, never permit ourselves to see, never permit ourselves to become, in places we can never go and might not care to, while assuring that we get to return home again”

“It's okay," I said soothingly. "You're just getting your stride back. Once you're up to full power, I'll go crack a rib or something so we can test it."She groaned. "The horrible part is that I don't think you're joking.”