“There is a loveliness to life that does not fade. Even in the terrors of the night, there is a tendency toward grace that does not fail us. ”

“What I've learned is that there is nothing in this life that does not fail to disappoint us, even our own deaths.”

“Try again. Fail again. Fail better." (quoted from Samuel Buckett)... Failing does not make us a failure. But not trying to do better, to be better, does make us fools.”

“Why does the threat of violent death alter some of us, even if subtly, forever? Why does it make us unusually numb or calm when we ought to feel terrified? Why do scents or sounds trigger in some of us a feeling of terror or unbearable dread, even in situations where we know, at least, intellectually, that we are perfectly safe?”

“I do not understand the mystery of grace -- only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us.”

“Sonia, every dog does not bite, nor does each bee sting. For each schoolmate who insults you, there must be fifty who do not. And for every Muslim terrorist, there are thousands of us who oppose violence. Tell those who are cruel to you that in their cruelty, they are the terror. Then inform them that they are forgiven, for such forgiveness may shame some toward kindness.”