Nancy

“In the ceremony of Mass, the priest takes a piece of bread and a glass of wine and proclaims that the bread is Christ’s flesh, the wine is Christ’s blood, and by eating and drinking them the faithful attain communion with Christ. What could be more real than actually tasting Christ in your mouth? Traditionally, the priest made these bold proclamations in Latin, the ancient language of religion, law, and the secrets of life. In front of the amazed eyes of the assembled peasants the priest held high a piece of bread and exclaimed “Hoc est corpus!”—“This is the body!”—and the bread supposedly became the flesh of Christ. In the minds of the illiterate peasants, who did not speak Latin, “Hoc est corpus!” got garbled into “Hocus-pocus!” Thus was born the powerful spell that can transform a frog into a prince and a pumpkin into a carriage.6”
― Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

“What do you think is the biggest waste of time?"
"Comparing yourself to others," said the mole.”
― Charlie Mackesy, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

“It makes no sense to hurry up, and so mess up, what I am doing now in order to get started on what I plan to do next.
Every moment that I am centered in the future I suffer a temporary loss of this life.”
― Hugh Prather, I Touch the Earth, the Earth Touches Me

“At last week's Sunday service, Reverend Pike read a parade from the Gospels in which Jesus and His disciples, having arrived in a village, are invited by a woman into her home. Having made them all comfortable, this woman Martha, retreats into her kitchen to fix them something to eat. And all the while she's cooking and generally seeing to everyone's needs by filling empty glasses and getting second helpings, her sister, Mary is sitting at Jesus's feet.
Eventually, Martha has had enough and she lets her feelings be known. "Lord," she says, "can't you see that my idler of a sister has left me to do all the work? Why don't you tell her to lend me a hand?" Or something to that effect. And Jesus, He replies, "Martha, you are troubled by too many things when only one thing is needful. And it is Mary who has chosen the better way."
Well, I'm sorry. But if you ever needed proof that the Bible was written by a man, there you have it.”
― Amor Towles, The Lincoln Highway