JoAnn

“A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. … You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down” (Mere Christianity, New York: Macmillan, 1960, p. 124).”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

“Hate is the beginning of a disease, like cancer. It may kill your enemy, but it will destroy you in the process too.”
― Eddie Jaku, The Happiest Man on Earth

“Under the clear water they saw the female swimmer (salmon) digging the seed beds with her torn tail, her sides deep red and blue, her fins battered and worn.
"When she has laid her eggs and the waiting males have covered them with milt, she will linger, guarding them for several days," Jim said. "Let's tray another pool." The moved again and saw the end of the swimmer. They watched her last valiant fight for lief, her struggle to right herself when the gentle stream turned her, and they watched the water force open her gills and draw her slowly downstream, tail first, as she had started to the sea as a fingerling. Then they crept away from the pool's edge and returned to Marta, and Mark saw that Keetah's eyes there were tears.
"It is always the same," she said. "The end of the swimmer is sad"
"But, Keetah, it isn't. The whole life of the swimmer is one of courage and adventure. All of it builds to the climax and the end. When the swimmer dies he has spent himself completely for the end for which he was made, and this is not sadness. It is triumph."
"Mark is right, Keetah," Marta said. "It its not sad. It is natural.”
― Margaret Craven, I Heard the Owl Call My Name

“I am still in awe of the human body and what it is capable of. I am a precision engineer, and I have spent years making the most complicated, intricate machinery, but I could not make a machine like the human body. It is the best machine ever made. It turns fuel into life, can repair itself, can do anything you need it to. That is why today it breaks my heart to see the way some people treat their bodies, ruining this wonderful machine we are all gifted by smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, poisoning themselves with drugs. They are demolishing the best machine ever put onto this Earth, and it is such a terrible waste.”
― Eddie Jaku, The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor – A New York Times Bestseller with Timeless Lessons on Gratitude and Hope