Tom

“About you and me, Croaker and his gang, the Lady, Silent, Darling. About all the things we had in common but still couldn’t get along.” “I didn’t see all that much you had in common. Not once you got past having the same enemies.” “Neither did I for a long time. And none of them saw it, either. Else we all might have tried a little harder.” I tried to look like I gave a shit at three in the morning. “Basically we’re all lonely, unhappy people looking for our place, Case. Loners who’d really rather not be but don’t know how. When we get to the door that would let us in—or out—we can’t figure out how to work the latch string.”
― Glen Cook, The Books of the South

“…but it was Mamdali who brought together the two things that were going on, the grief and the necessity of facing it, and blended them into a mood which gave due regard to each, the old Iranian acceptance of fate. ‘Nothing lasts,’ he said. ‘Neither this Garden, nor ourselves, nor anything else. God wishes it.’” - pg. 213”
― Terence O'Donnell, Garden of the Brave in War: Recollections of Iran

“When one considers deconversion narratives...it becomes apparent that a common thread woven throughout the stories of ex-Christians is the role of the church in their deconversion. Time after time, former believers claim that being wounded by church leadership or rank-and-file believers was the catalyst that started their deconversion. Therefore, if deconversion necessarily means no longer believing the claims of Christianity are true, it appears being mistreated by fellow believers has the power to elevate doubts and uncertainties to critical levels. Undoubtedly, experience shows the body of Christ has an unfortunate practice of executing their own wounded. Rather than coming alongside struggling believers and helping to bear their burden, the testimony of former believers indicates that, all too often, we (the church) add to it.”
― John Marriott, A Recipe for Disaster: Four Ways Churches and Parents Prepare Individuals to Lose Their Faith and How They Can Instill a Faith That Endures

“(Von Rundstedt) was not a man of great original thought nor an intellect, but never tried to conceal this. On the other hand, he had much commonsense, an ability to see both sides of an argument, and was possessed with clarity of thought, especially when it came to reducing a problem to its fundamental essentials quickly. He also had, at least until his later years, a capacity for hard work. - pg. 309-310”
― Charles Messenger, The Last Prussian: A Biography of Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt 1875-1953