Gregory Leszyk

“Then they grow away from the earth
then they grow away from the sun
then they grow away from the plants and the animals.

They see no life.
When they look
they see only objects.
The world is a dead thing for them
the trees and the rivers are not alive.
the mountains and stones are not alive.
The deer and bear are objects.
They see no life.

They fear.
They fear the world.
They destroy what they fear.
They fear themselves.”
― Leslie Marmon Silko

“Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: it is easier to say “My tooth is aching” than to say “My heart is broken.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

“If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down. But I can find no such case.”
― Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species

“All your life an unattainable ecstasy has hovered just beyond the grasp of your consciousness. The day is coming when you will wake to find, beyond all hope, that you have attained it, or else, that it was within your reach and you have lost it forever.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain